Autodesk Inferno

The ultimate interactive design system for high-resolution visual effects.

What's New
Autodesk® Inferno® 2010 visual effects software features significant functionality, performance, and interoperability enhancements. Improvements include extended format support for RED ONE R3D^TM files, 3D text upgrades, Batch workflow enhancements, and new productivity tools.

New Creative Tools
Autodesk® Flare^TM software is a compatible creative companion to Autodesk Inferno and Autodesk® Flame® software, featuring the same creative capabilities as its parent suite. Flare offers a scalable way to help expand your business and develop talent.
The 3D Blur tool helps you to create optical blurs like those generated by lenses. It uses vector passes and z-depth maps as inputs and can accept high-contrast images or patterns. Blurs can be animated.
The Normal Mapping tool allows you to take advantage of render passes typically generated by 3D applications and transported via multi-channel OpenEXR® files. This tool helps you to relight rendered 3D scenes without going back to the 3D application.
The Displacement Map tool is now available as an independent object to enhance workflow and extend the range of control when using displacement maps in the Action 3D compositing environment.
Displacement mapping can also be applied to 3D geometries, such as 3D text, extruded geometries, or objects created with 3D applications.
The redesigned Modular Keyer delivers Inferno software's most extensive and flexible toolset for solving keying problems. All keyer algorithms are now available in the Modular Keyer. New keyer presets help artists to work faster in challenging keying situations.
Enhanced 3D text tool provides motion graphics artists with powerful typesetting tools, including the ability to render 3D text on a path, focus animations on individual characters, and cascade an animation across letters.

Expanded Format Support
Autodesk® WiretapCentral^TM software provides parameters to optimize import properties and color management settings, enabling easy and efficient importing of RED ONE R3D^TM format files directly into storage.
RED files can be imported as isolated files, or in a batch using an EDL file or an Apple® Final Cut Pro® application program XML file to dramatically enhance efficiency.
Automatically import multichannel OpenEXR files using WiretapCentral.
Import and export Avid DNxHD codec in an Apple® QuickTime® application program wrapper to extend the range of collaboration with offline editing application, Avid Media Composer.

Workflow and Productivity Enhancements
Extended support for floating-point processing in all Batch nodes provides greater control over 16-bit file formats, such as OpenEXR image files. Now you can more realistically integrate computer graphic (CG) content into complex scenes in the Action 3D compositing environment.
Faster file-based conform workflow-the redesign of the Recapture module provides more effective recursive searches of directories, the list of recaptured media, and found media.

Action 
Intuitive and interactive 3D visual effects design environment. Ideal for in-context, creative decision-making and brainstorming.
16x9 user interface enhances workflow. Object node bin and Object menu make it easier to add and control elements in the scene.
Supports media layers at many image resolution or aspect ratio. Layer effects can be quickly copied from one layer to another.
3D particle systems enable realistic effects ranging from rain and snow to smoke and explosions.
3D deformation, meshes, and extended bicubics for control and manipulation of 2D surfaces and 3D models.
Precise control of the Displacement Maps tool allows you to manipulate the position, scale, rotation, and animation parameters of a displacement map.
Apply normal and displacement mapping to 3D geometries, such as 3D text and objects created with 3D applications.
Duplication of animations by applying settings to other objects.
Multiple cameras with true-to-life, user-definable lens and camera properties, such as such as depth-of-field. Animate and switch between camera views. Each layer offers independent camera placement and animation for sophisticated effects.
Import 3D geometry, including NURBS objects, lights, and camera data from 3D animation packages using Autodesk® FBX® technology interchange format. Export camera data, axis positions, and 3D point clouds via FBX.
Export camera data and import 3D geometry, light, and camera data from 3D animation packages using FBX interchange format.
Floating-point processing extends the OpenEXR® workflow. Composite high dynamic range image (HDRI) files directly in Action and composite CG elements from applications such as Autodesk® Maya® software or Autodesk® Toxik^TM software.
Multiple animatable light sources.
Integrated 2D and 3D tracking and stabilization.
Texture mapping with material property and shading controls. Map or project textures onto objects.
Normal Map Tool uses 3D generated render passes to simulate lighting and shadow detail on flat images and relight 3D scenes.
Integrated 3D character generator for advanced text creation.
Import Adobe® Photoshop® software PSD files directly into Action while maintaining layers, blend modes, and transparency.
Interoperable with DVE setups from Autodesk® Smoke® editing and finishing systems.
Multitrack clip support automatically builds an Action setup from the video tracks of the clip.

Keying and Rotoscoping
Master Keyer-advanced keying technology. Intuitively refine the key by gesturally modifying the matte. Color spill removal and edge blending. Advanced grain removal, specifically tuned to blue and green screens.
Keyer-fast, accurate RGB, YUV, HLS, RGBCMYL, and custom keying: linear and user-definable keying capabilities with luminance remapping, softness, shrink, and erode; advanced spill suppression, and edge color replacement capabilities.
Modular Keyer has customizable pipeline for advanced keying capability and control over the final result. Algorithms, such as RGB, YUV, RGBCMYL, HLS, and Channel, are available in the Modular Keyer, which also supports 16-bit floating-point processing.
GMasks quickly remove or extract elements from live footage with advanced three-spline vector technology. Customize softness at each point on the spline. Motion blur may be applied selectively to multiple shapes.
Import free-form GMask geometries into Action and extrude them to create 3D objects to more effectively create the illusion of depth and design graphical looks.
GMask geometries imported in to Action can be animated.
Tracer-the accurate edge-keying tool. Based on GMasks, it is ideal for keying hair, fur, and other finely detailed object boundaries that aren't necessarily shot on green or blue screen.

Paint
High-quality, integrated paint system for advanced motion graphics, digital matte painting, rotoscoping, wire removal, and image retouching.
Customizable, user-definable brushes.
Record and animate brush strokes.
Create and animate color gradients, vector shapes, and cutouts.
Load mattes to protect areas of the clip during painting.
Paint node integrated in Batch for easy painting or touch-up of any element in a complex scene. Paint, blur, reveal, or clone layers or mattes and feed the result to any downstream node while viewing in context. Change source clips without having to repaint strokes.

Tracking and Stabilization
Precise motion analysis for 2D tracking of position, scale, and rotation-track up to 1,000 points in a single pass.
Advanced tracking features, such as fully editable tracking data, reverse tracking, keyframe locking, field-based analysis, and curve smoothing functions.
Tracked data can be automatically applied to image layers, GMask shapes, Warper meshes, Distort splines, and Paint brush strokes.
3D tracking extracts original, real-world camera information from a 2D clip. Recalibration options and reference plane display for refining accuracy.
Object tracking in the 3D tracker lets you isolate moving objects in a complex scene.*
View results of a 3D track inside of Action for easier identification of correct anchor positions when inserting objects into a 3D space.
Auto-stabilization node to automatically counteract shakes or bumps in a camera's motion while retaining the overall camera move.
Automatically track an object based on the region of interest.


Color Correction
Colour Warper^TM functionality performs primary and selective color correction, enabling precise fine-tuning with multiple levels of adjustment in a single pass.
Interactive adjustment of gamma, gain, offset, hue, saturation, and contrast. Apply animatable settings to all channels or independently to R, G, and B.
Intuitive hue shift and tint color wheel for fast, accurate color balancing. Visual color sampling palette for precise color matching.
Interactive Histogram and Curves editing modes for subtle, precision tweaking of color components.
Independent controls for color correcting the image's shadow, midtone, and highlight regions-features user-definable luminance ranges.
Match feature for fast scene-to-scene color correction.
Selective feature for sampling up to three different color regions for isolated correction.
16-bit floating-point processing in the Colour Warper and Color Corrector.
UI features include three pressure-sensitive trackballs, a high-quality RGB vector scope, and a 3D histogram for precise color monitoring.

2D and 3D Text
Create title rolls, crawls, slates, text animations, text along a path, and text effects.
Support for Adobe® Type 1 PostScript®, Microsoft® OpenType®, Apple® TrueType® fonts, Asian (CID) fonts, ASCII text file import, and extended Unicode font sets.
Formatting and layout capabilities, spell checking, and custom dictionaries.
Easy generation of matte layers.
3D text creation and animation in Action module.
3D Path is a spline object in the Action module to animate the shape and length of a 3D text path.
Character-focused animations allow you to animate letters individually and cascade an animation across letters.

Warping and Morphing
Choice of mesh- or spline-based tools for intuitive, interactive warping and morphing.
Distort workflow enhanced for improved control of desired result. Multiple splines can be animated independently.
Warp and morph stationary or moving elements. Animate splines, mesh points, and axes with tracking data to automatically fit motion, scale, and rotation.
Lens distortion tool applies or removes distortion artifact to a clip for integration with other footage.
Open splines in distort transform image distortions quickly and more efficiently.

Image Processing: Plug-ins, Filters, and Optics
Filters include sharpen, soften, emboss, and glow, as well as user-customizable convolution filter matrices.
Lanczos filtering provides high-quality resizing when down-scaling images, preserving edge detail during image resizing.
Pixel math operators and blend modes for limitless compositing effects.
Motion analysis tool produces forward and reverse motion vectors. Motion Blur provides motion-estimated timewarps and motion blurs. Selectively set object blur based on relative motion.
Support for many third-party ADN Sparks® plug-ins.

Batch
Advanced flowchart representation of the compositing workflow and clip history to display operations performed on a clip, allowing for easy editing of complex visual effects.
Monitor downstream results with in-context viewers. Show the result at selected nodes while modifying others.
Batch nodes support 16-bit floating point processing.
Custom node bins save effects that you create so you can reapply them at will.
Node grouping with user-definable group display settings. Cleanly organizes the schematic display while permitting rapid switching between node menus.
RGB Blur to create Box, Gaussian, Radial, and Directional blurs.
3D Blur tool creates optical blurs using vector passes and z-depth maps.
Glow node used for creating stylized animations, lighting simulations and glows.
Motif tool, a symmetrical pattern (Kaleidoscope) generation tool, can be used to make textures with ease.
Integrated editing timeline with multiple video and audio tracks offers in-context editing, time warping, and synchronized audio. Vertical timeline editing with nested containers and multiple layers for complex visual effects.
Render soft effects in a clip from Autodesk Smoke. Create new Timewarp, Resize, Blend, and audio soft effects in the Batch timeline.
Improved source and record timeline editing workflow.
Segment FX permits uncommitted visual effects to be dropped into any edited timeline segment.
Proxy processing allows for fast interaction even when working at the highest resolutions.
Intelligent caching and bypassing functions allow automatic or user-defined pre-rendering of parts of the composite, increasing interactivity.
Scripting with the power of Unix® operating system. Scripts can be used to automate tasks ranging from email notification of render completion to generating Apple® QuickTime® application program previews.
Batch Log and Queue Management handle workflow by setting up and prioritizing multiple-render jobs at once and monitoring progress on a web browser.
Unified channel editor allows animation curves for different effects to be displayed and modified simultaneously in Batch.
Digital notepads can be used to annotate nodes and provide reminders and instructions for further work.
Enter Batch to apply effects to a single timeline segment before SoftFX® filters are applied (pre-segment), or to the result of a vertical compositing/soft effects (post-segment).
Batch navigation view mode provides a visual representation of the entire Batch effects tree resulting in a given Batch effects segment.
Batch paint is designed for a procedural compositing environment and includes settings to define how paint strokes are applied to the image sequence, the ability to slip the reveal frame offset as well as the ability to adjust the scale of paint strokes.

Infrastructure
Autodesk® Stone® Direct software storage solution-high-speed fiber channel storage solutions for real-time access to high-resolution media.
Autodesk® Stone® FS software-advanced file system promotes performance and reduces fragmentation risks.
Autodesk® Wiretap^TM technology-API provides convenient access to Stone FS file system by third-party applications.
RAID 5 protection from data loss of audio and video media, and non-obstructive background healing.
Supports Autodesk® Backdraft® Conform software-an assistant utility for project and media management, I/O, conform, and editing.
Autodesk® Wire® software networking for visual browsing and high-speed transfer of clips. Support for InfiniBand® networking protocol delivers faster-than-real-time transfer of clips up to 2K 10-bit resolution.
Supports standard file systems. Multiple Autodesk systems can connect to and share the same storage, such as a SAN or NAS, resulting in significantly faster media access and reduced media duplication (Linux® operating system only).

Motion Estimation Timewarp
High-quality timewarp for speeding up or slowing down frame rate of a clip.
Minimizes the telltale ghosting, softening, and stepping artifacts typical of traditional frame-averaging timewarps.
Powerful optical flow algorithms track changes in image pixels from frame to frame and interpolate movement for crisp, clean rendering of extreme slow motion.
Enables interaction with onscreen motion vectors to improve accuracy. Speed curves facilitate setup and animation of speed changes.

Animation: Channel Editor
Easily create and manipulate animations in the ubiquitous Channel Editor.
16 x 9 user interface is standardized across Autodesk editing/finishing and visual effects systems applications.
Animation capabilities include auto-keyframing, motion paths, expressions, and editable spline curves with choice of interpolation and extrapolation modes.
Convert expression and extrapolated curves into keyframed curves for additional manual control.
Track Editor lets you view and slide individual keyframes on a track with multiple tracks or keyframes selected.
Automatic and user-defined filters organize channel display for improved usability in large, complex setups.

Expressions
Create accurate animations based on user-programmed parameters.
Library of functions includes mathematical, logical operators, conditional operators, vectors, and constants.
Parameters can be linked so that an object's rotation varies as a function of its distance from a light source-as you animate the object's position, its rotation is calculated automatically.
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Desktop Editing
Gestural, picture-based editing interface for easy viewing and intuitive clip manipulation. Cut, splice, trim, and play clips with fast, simple strokes.
Prepare, preview, and compare clips in any resolution and format.
Transition effects and timewarp tools with animatable speed curves, as well as adjustable interframe mixing and trailing.
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Advanced Media Player
Player maximizes image display and minimizes interface clutter for ideal viewing conditions when playing clips.
Provides letterbox masking and safe title overlays for precise viewing of intended result.
Real-time playback of 8- and 10-bit 4:4:4 PAL, NTSC, HDTV, and 2K (2,048 x 1,556) resolutions at all standard frame rates.
Simultaneous display of SD and HDTV video to a broadcast monitor (platform specific).
Send a selected clip to the SDI output of the NVIDIA® graphics card to offer clients a full-image resolution output to the broadcast monitor.
Real-time 3:2 insertion and removal, as well as the ability to mark in/out points and set cue marks for improved interactivity, faster editing, and A-frame timecode setting.
HDR viewer provides a more accurate and flexible view of logarithmic, linear, and video images in modules supporting multiple viewers.

Monitor Calibration and Film Tools
Autodesk® Lustre® color management functionality includes library of display and conversion lookup tables (LUTs) and monitor calibration software.
3D color LUTs work with your calibrated display to accurately display a clip as it will appear on its final medium. Maintains consistency and precision between different products, including Autodesk Lustre color grading software.
Choose to temporarily view a clip with a 3D LUT or apply the 3D LUT process, enabling real-time clip playback.
Provides tools to match images displayed digitally on a computer monitor to the look of projected film.
Supports X-Rite and Barco CaliTalk calibration devices for accurate color measurement.
Import standard color LUTs or create your own using the intuitive tools provided.
Grain management tools accurately match the grain of different film stocks and enable homogenous grain across disparate elements used in the composite (CGI and scans from different film types, for example).

Audio Tools
Unlimited audio tracks with 32 tracks of real-time playback.
Audio Gain Rubberbanding allows the artist to quickly and easily set audio levels in the timeline.
Support for AudioDesk® audio workstation in player and Batch timeline, including audio tools for mixing and mastering audio.
Import, record, and playback stereo audio.
Full audio editing functions, including cut, slip, timestretch with pitch correction control.
Audio mixing capabilities with control of audio levels, pans, and EQ.
Vari-speed audio scrubbing allows for precise work.
Display audio waveform for syncing effects to sound.
VST Audio plug-in support (reverb, modulation, dynamic compression, full parametric EQ).
Dolby® E audio coding support.
Soft effects can be applied to audio segments in the timeline.
Import and export Broadcast Wave and MP3 files.

Input/Output (I/O)
Import RED ONE R3D^TM format files directly into storage using high quality debayering settings as isolated files or as a group using an EDL or Apple® Final Cut Pro® XML files.
Send encoding tasks directly to Autodesk® Cleaner® XL software for expanded Export Media format support. VTR control capabilities via RS-422 support for real-time frame-accurate control of video devices.
New Real-Time Deliverables mastering-to-VTR tool dramatically enhances efficiency by providing real-time down conversions without having to render.
Serial digital interface for both ITU-R 601 standard (PAL/NTSC) and SMPTE 292M high-definition video.
Digital audio connections-1 ADAT input, 1 ADAT output.
HSDL I/O via SMTPE-292 HD-SDI signal for rapid 14-19 fps transfer of progressive 2K files (platform specific).
Analog and AES/EBU I/O audio connectivity for up to two tracks (converter included if needed).
Analog video requires a separate conversion device.
Support for VariCam footage with automatic frame rate conversion.
File-based I/O for most popular graphics formats, including TIFF, PICT, TARGA®, JPEG, Cineon, DPX, SGI®, Autodesk® Softimage®, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, and Maya software formats.
Import Adobe Photoshop PSD files with options to maintain layer structure or flatten image.
Import/export QuickTime files: QuickTime animation with alpha and QuickTime motion-JPEG. QuickTime metadata of the time code and reel name information when importing or soft-importing.
Direct ingest of Panasonic® P2 MXF files.
AVC-Intra media at bit rates of 50 and 100 Mbps.
Soft import workflow and background proxy generation of soft-imported streaming media files.
When working with high-resolution images such as film scans, existing proxies can now be imported.
Codec support for DV, DV25, DV50, and DVCPRO HD compressed codecs.
Support for XDCAM and XDCAM HD codecs.
Import/export Avid DNxHD codec in an Apple QuickTime wrapper.
Quickly and easily browse and recursively scan clips in P2 and XDCAM media directories.
Create, save, and load codec encoding profiles to quickly set up and launch encoding jobs.
Import 16- and 32-bit floating-point OpenEXR image files. Framestore storage, export, and editing support for 16-bit floating-point clips.

Conforming and Archiving
Import/export standard EDL formats with cuts, dissolves, freeze-frames, vari-speed, reverses, split edits, and comments.
Advanced conform tools for EDL, AAF, OMF (with audio media), and Apple® Final Cut Pro® XML files.
Multilayer, multitrack, or container assembly from multiple EDLs.
Multilayer timeline that is compatible with the timeline in Autodesk Smoke and supports the set of Smoke soft effects. NEW
EDL Editor for tweaking and revising EDLs. Sort EDLs for fast capture (A-, B-, C-, S-mode, and more).
Convert EDL frame rates.
Media unlinking and relinking.
Keycode support to conform using scanned film frames.
Automatic tape name assignation on file import.
Recursively scan file directories for streamlined file import. Define search criteria to perform extensive directory and recaptured-media searches, including information about found media.
Multi-Master Editing^TM technology-helps you create multiple formats from a single master, including archiving to 720p tape.
Project archiving for backup of selected clips, libraries, or the entire project in a single operation. Setups can be archived together with the media.
Archives may be stored as files (on networked drives or external USB or FireWire® serial bus drives), on data tapes (LTO, DLT, DTF, and others), or (multi) videotape (SD and HDTV VTR).
Creates HTML/XML table of contents for fast browsing and retrieval. Selective restore from archives.

Interoperability

Interoperates with Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk Smoke, Autodesk® Combustion®, Autodesk Toxik, and Autodesk Lustre software and effects systems, and provides extensive support for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya.
Clip compatibility between all Autodesk editing and effects applications. Supports multitrack, multilayer clips with containers and gaps. Soft-import image and audio files on shared storage without making a local copy, and then publish results back to the open file system.
Open file system applications that support Wiretap (Lustre and Combustion) can read and write Stone FS clips directly from Autodesk Stone Direct storage.
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Workflow and Productivity
Support for Autodesk® Burn® background rendering solution in Batch and desktop modules, and in the Batch timeline.
With the addition of NVIDIA Quadro® FX 3700 graphics card, remote render 16-bit floating-point Action setups using the latest graphical processing unit (GPU)-accelerated version of Autodesk Burn software.
Integrated Autodesk® Backburner^TM software monitoring of Burn background renders.
Project-based dual-view clip library provides media organization and sharing between separate Autodesk systems.
Clip history automatically saves setups of rendered clips, providing a nondestructive way to access intermediate results and to make changes at any time.
Extended search filters (search range of timecode, name, and comment).
Extensive hotkeys enable instant operation of commands and menu selections. Comprehensive hotkey editor enables flexible user customization.
Add notes to desktop clips that are also viewable in Autodesk Flint, Autodesk Flame, and Autodesk Smoke.
Online help and button tooltips provide quick access to documentation and button descriptions.
Access Autodesk® WiretapCentral^TM software directly from the creative application to import and export a variety of codecs and file formats.
Import multi-channel OpenEXR files automatically using Autodesk WiretapCentral software. The software stores channels together as RGB clips to be loaded individually or as a group into Batch.
Autodesk WiretapCentral software browses Autodesk systems clip libraries using a network-connected web browser for quicker reviews and approvals.
Autodesk® SystemCentral technology provides centralized diagnostic tools in a web-based application that simplifies the process of running diagnostic tests on your systems application.