Discreet Visual Effects Scream on New High-Performance HD-Ready SGI Platforms.Business Editors SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics, www.siggraph.org) The arm of the ACM that specializes in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Providing publications, workshops and conferences, it has served technicians and researchers as well as the artist and business community 2001 Booth No. 1247 LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2001 inferno, flame, and flint Leverage SGI's Latest Visual Workstations Octane2 and ONYX 3200 to Offer Improved Performance and Expanded Capabilities Discreet, a division of Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK ADSK Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ stock symbol) ) today announced that new versions of its Academy Award(R)-winning, online visual effects systems inferno(R), flame(R) and flint(R) now support the latest SGI (SGI, Sunnyvale, CA, www.sgi.com) A manufacturer of workstations and servers, founded in 1982 by Jim Clark. The company was founded as Silicon Graphics, Inc., but changed to its acronym in 1999. (TM) visual workstations, the Octane2(TM) and ONYX(R) 3200. These platforms offer industry-acclaimed performance and creative interactivity for digital artists as they paint, composite and design sophisticated visual effects and motion graphics with film, high-definition and standard-definition images. Discreet's new 7.2 versions of flint and flame are optimized to take advantage of SGI's latest Octane2 workstations and VPro graphics subsystems, providing significant boosts in performance, averaging twice the performance of prior releases. inferno is now available for the ONYX 3200 as well as the ONYX 2(R). "As a high-end visual effects studio with six Discreet systems in place, we were anxiously awaiting the Octane2," said Andreas Wacker Wacker may refer to:
inferno 4.2 provides support for the latest ONYX 3200 visual supercomputer from SGI, providing the ultimate in online performance. Powered by up to eight processors and the IR3 graphic system, inferno offers a truly interactive online environment for even the most complex high-resolution HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates and feature film visual effects work including real-time 2K film playback and 12-bit support. The ONYX 3200 with DMediaPro DM3 provides both standard (SMPTE 259M "SMPTE 259M" is a standard published by SMPTE which "... describes a 10-bit serial digital interface operating at 143/270/360 Mb/s." [1] The goal of "SMPTE 259M" is to define a Serial Digital Interface (based on a coax cable) this interface is usually called SDI or ) and high-definition (SMPTE 292M "SMPTE 292M" is a standard published by SMPTE which expands upon SMPTE 259M and SMPTE 344M allowing for bit-rates of 1.485 Gbit/s, and 1.485/1.001 Gbit/s. These bit-rates are sufficient for High Definition video. ) video I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output capabilities. flame 7.2 takes full advantage of the Octane2's more advanced V12 VPro graphics system and new DMediaPro DM2 HDTV-capable video I/O subsystem. flame on (messaging, jargon) flame on - To begin or continue to flame. The punning reference to Marvel Comics's Human Torch is no longer widely recognised. The phrase "flame on" may actually precede the flame, in which case "flame off" will follow it. See rave, burble. the Octane2 offers real-time HDTV I/O and an almost two-fold increase in graphics performance. The new system ships with serial digital I/O support for SMPTE 292M high-definition video and SMPTE 259M standard-definition video. flame 7.2 now supports real-time I/O for all popular HDTV formats including 720P, 1080i and 1080/24p. "By offering high-performance HD capabilities, flame on the Octane2 makes online HD production more affordable," said Louis Girardin, product manager for visual effects systems at Discreet. "Moreover, by providing full 4:4:4 RGB (Red Green Blue) The computer's native color space, which is the color system for capturing and displaying images. RGB was derived from our own perception of color because human eyes are sensitive to red, green and blue (see trichromaticity). support for storing and processing HD video, flame maintains the highest image quality -- especially important for visual effects work and a significant advantage over YUV The color encoding system used for analog television worldwide (NTSC, PAL and SECAM). The YUV color space (color model) differs from RGB, which is what the camera captures and what humans view. systems, which repeatedly down-sample to 4:2:2." flint on an Octane2 with V10 VPro graphics offers almost double the graphics performance over the previous SE configurations and, for some simpler effects setups, render speeds are almost triple. "The performance of our new flint system is just amazing," said Girardin. "flint owners can complete projects faster than ever -- providing an extremely cost-effective solution for high-end visual effects work." "Discreet's effects and editing solutions have always been optimized to take advantage of the graphics and bandwidth capabilities of the latest Silicon Graphics workstations and digital media products," said Greg Estes, vice president of corporate marketing, SGI. "The powerful combination of Discreet inferno effects and fire(R) editing systems with the SGI ONYX 3200 series with DMediaPro DM3 delivers the most robust solution for real-time HD, film mastering, multi-stream SD and stunning visual effects work." flint, flame and inferno, along with Discreet's full range of products, are being demonstrated at SIGGRAPH in the Discreet booth No. 1247 at the Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center (abbreviated LACC) is a convention center in downtown Los Angeles. The LACC hosts annual events such as the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, and was best known to video games fans as host to E3 until its cessation in 2006. , Aug. 14 through 16. Pricing and Availability Versions 7.2 of flint and flame and version 4.2 of inferno are currently shipping. A standard flint configuration runs on a single-CPU Octane2, with V10 graphics, 512 MB RAM and flame on a dual processor Octane2, with V12 graphics and 1GB RAM. inferno supports the new ONYX 3200 series, with configurations ranging from four to eight CPUs and the IR3 graphic engine. Prices vary based on scalable configurations. For full pricing and configuration details, contact Discreet Sales at 800/869-3504 or 514/393-1616, or visit www.discreet.com. About Discreet Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc., is a worldwide leader in digital content creation The development of newsworthy, educational and entertainment material for distribution over the Internet or other electronic media. See DAMS. , management and distribution tools. Discreet develops systems and software for visual effects, 3D animation, non-linear editing, infrastructure and integrated Universal Mastering workflow solutions, as well as real-time 3D broadcast graphics creation and delivery systems. Discreet serves a broad range of markets involved in content creation, delivery and use, including: film, television and HDTV, Internet broadcast, corporate/government/educational multimedia, post-production, games and animation and rich media for the Web. Note to Editors: Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Discreet, Autodesk, fire, flint, flame, and inferno are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Discreet Logic Inc./Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. |
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