Autodesk Media and Entertainment explained

Autodesk Media and Entertainment
Type:Subsidiary of Autodesk, Inc.
Industry:Computer software
Foundation:Montreal, Quebec (1991 as Discreet Logic)
San Francisco, California (1996 as Autodesk Kinetix)
2005 as Autodesk Media and Entertainment
Location:New York City, New York, United States
Products:Maya
Maya LT
FBX
Softimage (discontinued)
3ds Max
Mudbox
Flame
Lustre
Smoke (discontinued)
Beast
Shotgun
Scaleform
HumanIK
Navigation
Arnold
MotionBuilder
Stingray Game Engine (discontinued)
Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection
Wwise (under license from Audiokinetic)

Autodesk Media and Entertainment is a division of Autodesk which offers animation and visual effects products, and was formed by the combination of multiple acquisitions. In 2018, the company began operatingas a single operating segment and reporting unit.[1]

History

Discreet Logic

Montreal-based Discreet Logic was founded in 1991 by former Softimage Company sales director Richard Szalwinski, to commercialize the 2D compositor Eddie, licensed from Australian production company Animal Logic.[2] Eddie was associated with Australian software engineer Bruno Nicoletti, who later founded visual effects software company The Foundry, in London, England.

In 1992, Discreet Logic entered into a European distribution agreement with Softimage, and shifted its focus on Flame, one of the first software-only image compositing products, developed by Australian Gary Tregaskis.[3] Flame, which was originally named Flash, was first shown[4] at NAB in 1992, ran on the Silicon Graphics platform, and became the company's flagship product.

In July 1995, Discreet Logic's initial public offering raised about US$40 million. On May 26, 1995, the company acquired the assets of Brughetti Corporation for about CDN$1 million, and in October acquired Computer-und Serviceverwaltungs AG, located in Innsbruck, Austria and some software from Innovative Medientechnik-und Planungs-GmbH in Geltendorf, Germany.After a 2-for-1 stock split on October 16, 1995, a secondary offering in December 1995 raised an additional $28 million.[5] On April 15, Discreet invested $2.5 million in privately held Essential Communications Corporation.

Kinetix

Autodesk originally created a San Francisco multimedia unit in 1996 under the name Kinetix to publish 3D Studio Max, a product developed by The Yost Group.[6]

In August 1998, Autodesk announced plans to acquire Discreet Logic and its intent to combine that operation with Kinetix.[7] At the time, it was its largest acquisition, valued at about $410 million by the time it closed in March 1999 (down from an estimated $520 million when announced).[8] The new business unit was named the Discreet division.[9]

The combined Discreet-branded product catalog then encompassed all the Discreet Logic products, including Flame, Flint, Fire, Smoke, Effect, Edit, and Kinetix's product, including 3D Studio Max, Lightscape, Character Studio.

Media and Entertainment

In March 2005, Autodesk renamed its business unit Autodesk Media and Entertainment and discontinued the Discreet brand (still headquartered in Montreal).[10] [11]

Through the years, Autodesk augmented its entertainment division with many other acquisitions. One of the most significant was in October 2005, when Autodesk acquired Toronto-based Alias Systems Corporation for an estimated $182 million from Accel-KKR, and merged its animation business into its entertainment division.[12] Alias had been part of SGI until 2004.[13]

In 2008, it acquired technology of the former Softimage Company from Avid Technology.[14]

In 2011, Autodesk acquired image tools and utilities that use cloud computing called Pixlr.[15]

Industry usage

By 2011, these products were used in films that won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for 16 consecutive years.[16] Much of Avatars visual effects were created with Autodesk media and entertainment software. Autodesk software enabled Avatar director James Cameron to aim a camera at actors wearing motion-capture suits in a studio and see them as characters in the fictional world of Pandora in the film.[17] Autodesk software also played a role in the visual effects of Alice in Wonderland, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Inception, Iron Man 2, King Kong, Gladiator, Titanic, Life of Pi, Hugo, and other films.[18]

In November 2010, Ubisoft announced that Autodesk's 3D gaming technology was used in .[19]

Products

The division's products include Maya, 3ds Max (the new name of 3D Studio Max), Softimage, Mudbox, MotionBuilder[20] the game middleware Kynapse, and the creative finishing products Flame, Flare, Lustre, Smoke,[21] Stingray game engine (discontinued, but still supported until end of subscription).

Historical

Creative finishing

IFFInferno, Flame, and Flint (collectively known as IFF) is a series of compositing and visual effects applications originally created for MIPS architecture computers from Silicon Graphics (SGI), running Irix.

Flame was first released in January 1993; by mid-1995, it had become a market leader in visual effects software, with a price around US$175,000, or US$450,000 with a Silicon Graphics workstation. Time with the software was typically rented at a post-production house with an operator.[35] The Flame software is licensed in a variety of forms, including Flint, a lower-priced version of Flame with fewer functions,[36] and Inferno, introduced in 1995, a version intended for the film market, with a price of about US$225,000 without hardware. Traditionally Inferno ran on the SGI Onyx series, while Flame and Flint ran on SGI Indigo² and Octane workstations.Flame/Inferno were implemented on Linux in 2006. Autodesk said the use of more powerful hardware allowed complex 3D composites to be rendered more than 20 times faster than on the previous SGI workstations.[37]

The first movie to use Flame was Super Mario Bros.; the software was then still in beta.[38] The software also saw use on PBS's 1995 graphics package, designed by PMcD Design and animated by Black Logic.

At the 1998 Academy Scientific and Technical Awards, Gary Tregaskis (design), Dominique Boisvert, Phillippe Panzini and Andre Le Blanc (development and implementation) received a Scientific and Engineering Award for Inferno and Flame.[39]

FlareFlare, a software-only subset of Flame for creative assistants, was introduced in 2009 at around one-fifth the cost of a full-featured Flame seat.[40]
LustreLustre is color grading software originally developed by Mark Jaszberenyi, Gyula Priskin and Tamas Perlaki at Colorfront in Hungary. The application was first packaged as a plugin for Flame product under the name "Colorstar" to emulate film type color grading using printer lights controls. It was then developed as a standalone software. It was introduced through British company 5D under the Colossus name in private demonstrations at IBC show in Amsterdam in 2001. Alpha and beta testing were held at Eclair Laboratoires in Paris. During the trials, Colossus was running on the Windows XP operating system, but the same code base was also used on the IRIX operating system.

After the demise of 5D in 2002, Autodesk acquired the license to distribute the Lustre software,[41] and later acquired Colorfront entirely.[42] In the 2009 Academy Scientific and Technical Awards the original developers received a Scientific and Engineering Award for Lustre.[43]

Flame PremiumIn September 2010, Autodesk introduced Flame Premium 2011, a single license for running Flame, Smoke Advanced and Lustre together on a single workstation.[44] At launch, new licenses were priced from US$129,000 excluding hardware, with upgrades from existing Flame licenses priced from US$10,000. Existing users of Smoke Advanced or Lustre could upgrade from US$25,000.[45]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2017 Annual Report . Autodesk . 30 August 2018.
  2. Web site: Discreet Logic Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Discreet Logic Inc . Referenceforbusiness.com . 2012-03-04.
  3. http://www.toysatellite.org/babel/eye/iftech/articles/compositing.html
  4. Web site: NEWS: Toxik in depth + new screen shots ! . https://archive.today/20130123165007/http://www.fxguide.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=209 . dead . January 23, 2013 . October 3, 2010 .
  5. Web site: Quarterly Report For the Quarter Ended April 30, 1996 . July 11, 1996 . Discreet Logic Incorporated . US Securities and Exchange Commission . September 8, 2013 .
  6. Web site: 3dsMax 20th Anniversary . Autodesk . 2010 . September 7, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151024145611/http://area.autodesk.com/maxturns20/history . October 24, 2015 .
  7. News: Autodesk to buy Discreet Logic . CNET News . Dawn Kawamoto . August 21, 1998 . September 7, 2013 .
  8. News: Autodesk Completes Largest Ever Acquisition; Debuts New Discreet Division . Software Industry Report . March 22, 1999 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100614014448/http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/computer-software/164962-1.html . June 14, 2010 . September 7, 2013 .
  9. Web site: Animation Software Companies and Individuals . The Ohio State University Department of Design . Wayne Carlson . September 2, 2008 . September 10, 2013 .
  10. Web site: Discreet to be rebranded Autodesk Media and Entertainment . GFX Diary . April 21, 2005 . September 10, 2013 .
  11. News: Autodesk Re-brands Discreet – Its Industry Leading Film, Television, Post-Production and Gaming Business as Autodesk Media and Entertainment . Press release . March 24, 2005 . September 10, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160110190511/http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=5393058&linkID=14271593 . 2016-01-10 . dead .
  12. Web site: Autodesk Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Alias . Press Release . Autodesk . October 4, 2005 . September 7, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223743/http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?linkID=14271593&id=5983502&siteID=123112 . 2013-10-04 . dead .
  13. Web site: Autodesk acquires Alias . PC World . October 4, 2005 . Peter Cohen . September 10, 2013 .
  14. Web site: Autodesk Acquires Softimage For $35 Million . . October 24, 2008 . Simon Carless . September 10, 2013.
  15. Web site: Robin Wauters . Autodesk Acquires Online Photo Editing Service Pixlr . Tech Crunch . July 19, 2011 . September 7, 2013 .
  16. News: Autodesk Tools Build Pipelines for Oscar Winners and Nominees . Digital Media World . March 15, 2011 . Adriene Hurst . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120321192009/http://www.digitalmedia-world.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3057%3Aautodesk-tools-build-pipelines-for-oscar-winners-and-nominees&catid=38%3Avisual-effects-vfx-cg&Itemid=54 . March 21, 2012 . September 10, 2013 .
  17. Web site: Fiction Film Technology to Shine at Academy Awards (7 News).
  18. News: Autodesk: The Secret Star Behind Oscar-Winning Visual Effects . Fast Company . E.B. Boyd . February 25, 2011 . September 10, 2013 .
  19. Web site: Ubisoft Uses Autodesk Games Technology in Ubisoft 'Assassin's Creed® Brotherhood' Production Pipeline : CAD CAM News. cadcamnews.in . 2011 . 9 August 2011.
  20. Web site: Autodesk Unveils 2011 Versions of Its Digital Entertainment Creation Software . ITnewsLink . 2012-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120313081057/http://www.itnewslink.com/article.php?id_article=9983 . 2012-03-13 . dead .
  21. Web site: Autodesk Announces 2011 Versions of Flame, Flare, Smoke and Lustre . ITnewsLink . 2012-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120313081125/http://www.itnewslink.com/article.php?id_article=10220 . 2012-03-13 . dead .
  22. Web site: Discreet Logic introduces two new desktop-based virtual sets systems; new VAPOUR Preview and Design Station and FROST now support Silicon Graphics Indigo2 IMPACT desktop workstation. - Free Online Library . Thefreelibrary.com . 2012-03-04.
  23. Web site: Autodesk to Acquire Media 100 Software Line . Animationartist.com . 2001-08-30 . 2012-03-04.
  24. Web site: Form 8-K: Acquisition or Disposition of Assets . US SEC . December 30, 1997 . September 10, 2013 .
  25. Web site: Steve Gilbert . Lightscape to be retired . CG Architect Forums . December 16, 2002 . September 10, 2013 . September 11, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130911083036/http://forums.cgarchitect.com/2769-lightscape-retired.html . dead .
  26. Web site: Steve Gilbert . Autodesk Lightscape retires! . CG Society . January 31, 2003 . September 10, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130909210704/http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/autodesk_lightscape_retires . September 9, 2013 . dead . mdy-all .
  27. Web site: Discreet Plasma > Reviews > . Flash Magazine . 2002-10-04 . 2012-03-04.
  28. Web site: Autodesk :: Investor Relations :: News Release . https://web.archive.org/web/20160110190511/http://investors.autodesk.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=117861&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=303022&highlight . dead . 2016-01-10 . Investors.autodesk.com . 2002-06-05 . 2012-03-04 .
  29. Web site: Autodesk Toxik 2007 . Studio Daily . 2006-04-20 . 2012-03-04.
  30. Web site: Toxik RIP (sort of) + New Maya 2010 . fxguide . 2009-08-03 . 2012-03-04.
  31. https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/a/NASDAQ_ADSK_2000.pdf Annual report NASDAQ 2000
  32. Web site: Press Release  - Discreet Ships New Versions of inferno, flame, flint, fire, smoke and lustre Systems . October 28, 2004 . . 2013-09-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130701072737/http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=5603448&linkID=14271594 . 2013-07-01 . dead .
  33. Web site: Business Wire . Autodesk Smoke Software Comes to the Mac . Business Wire . 2009-12-15 . 2013-06-01.
  34. Web site: Autodesk Smoke. 24 February 2024.
  35. Web site: History of Discreet Logic Inc. – FundingUniverse . Fundinguniverse.com . 2013-06-01.
  36. Web site: Autodesk WikiHelp  - About Flint Feature Differences . https://archive.today/20130916100009/http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Creative_Finishing/enu/2012/Help/01_Flame_--_Flame_Premium/0008-Feature_8/0009-About_Fl9 . dead . 2013-09-16 . 2013-09-16 . .
  37. Web site: 20 years of flame . 2013-09-16 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130901172445/http://area.autodesk.com/flame20 . 2013-09-01 .
  38. Web site: Stuart. Keith. 'The stench of it stays with everybody': inside the Super Mario Bros movie. The Guardian. 22 March 2018 . 22 March 2018.
  39. Web site: 1998 (71st) Scientific and Engineering Awards . . 2013-09-16 . dead . https://archive.today/20130916103855/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNominationID=47138 . 2013-09-16 .
  40. Web site: Autodesk Adds Flare to Flame and Inferno . Matt Armstrong . April 19, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160311222108/http://www.studiodaily.com/2009/04/autodesk-adds-flare-to-flame-and-inferno/ . dead . March 11, 2016 . StudioDaily .
  41. Web site: Autodesk acquires license for Lustre. 24 February 2024.
  42. Web site: Autodesk acquires Colorfront . 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160110190511/http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?linkID=14271593&id=5567597&siteID=123112 . 2016-01-10 .
  43. Web site: 2009 (82nd) Scientific and Engineering Awards . . 2013-09-16 .
  44. Web site: fxguidetv from IBC: Flame Premium + Full Length 2011×1 Feature Videos . Fxguide.com . 2010-09-09 . 2013-06-01.
  45. Web site: Autodesk launches Flame Premium 2011 . Jim Thacker . . September 13, 2010 . 2013-09-16.

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