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GENARTS RELEASES SAPPHIRE PLUG-INS VERSION 2 FOR
AFTER EFFECTS AND COMPATIBLE PRODUCTS-- New version features over 30 new effects and many enhancements.
Available immediately for After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Combustion and Fusion. --Cambridge, MA. October 30, 2007 - GenArts, Inc., a leading provider of visual effects plug-ins for the film, broadcast and video industries, today announced the immediate availability of Sapphire Plug-ins version 2 for After Effects and compatible products including Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Autodesk Combustion, and Eyeon Fusion. The new release features over 30 new effects, plus many new parameters and improvements to existing effects in the package.
For over a decade, GenArts Sapphire Plug-ins have set the standard for sophisticated, organic visual effects which natively integrate with leading editing and compositing systems. Version 2 contains all of the visual effects and features that have established Sapphire Plug-ins as an indispensable part of the digital artist's toolkit - and introduces more than 30 new and innovative effects. FilmDamage, ZDefocus, Cartoon, BleachBypass, GradientMulti, SwishPan, Light3D, Deband, and TextureNeurons are a few of the new plug-ins in the collection of over 200 image processing and synthesis effects. Many new effects were designed to improve users' workflow while others offer easy ways to create eye-catching visuals, such as FilmDamage - which simulates aged film by adding scratches, dust, stains, grain, shake and flicker. Enhancements to existing effects in the package include a revamped RackDefocus, 4 new Glares and 14 new LensFlares.
"GenArts has the highest quality plug-ins you can find. I love the new effects in Sapphire 2 such as WarpMagnify, SwishPan and DissolveGlow, and I expect to use Vignette every day," comments Jack Tunnicliffe, Senior Effects Artist at Java Post Production. "The LensFlare additions are also fabulous."
Sapphire 2 includes support for the latest versions of all After Effects and compatible host applications including Adobe CS3 and the "Smart FX" API which provides more efficient processing and support for 32bit image formats. All platforms running v2 will have improved rendering speed.
"We are thrilled with this new release. After Effects, Final Cut Pro and the other compatible products have become integral parts of our high-end users' workflow as we see more and more clients working on multiple host platforms. Version 2 further extends their creative capabilities with many innovative effects and additional functionality," says Anish Dhanda, Managing Director of GenArts.
Key New Features of Sapphire Plug-ins 2 for After Effects and Compatible Products:
- FilmDamage simulates aged film by adding scratches, dust, stains, grain, shake, flicker, etc.
- ZDefocus defocuses areas of the source clip by different amounts using depth values from a z-buffer input.
- Cartoon gives cartoon-like looks with exaggerated edges and flat areas of color.
- Light3D performs 3D relighting of a clip using an input clip describing the surface normals.
- Vignette darkens the outer edges of a clip with various shape options.
- BleachBypass generates a stylized version of the source clip by simulating a bleach bypass process.
- Other new effects include: BlurDirectional, CartoonPaint, Posterize, Deband, DogVision, TileScramble, WarpMagnify, WarpCornerPin, GradientMulti, Shape, TextureTiles, TextureNeurons, TextureLoops, TextureFlux, SwishPan, DissolveGlow, DissolveFilm, FeedbackDistort, Convolve, ConvolveComp, ZConvolve, ZGlow, TriTone, QuadTone, Invert, ShowBadColors and ChannelSwitcher.
- LensFlare has 14 new flare types, new parameters to adjust the look of the flares and an optional Matte input which allows selective blocking or colorizing of flares.
- LensFlareAutoTrack can track and render flares at multiple hotspots.
- RackDefocus has new shape options and improved performance.
- Glare includes 4 new glare types and improved performance.
- Adobe's "Smart FX" API is supported for AE7 and CS3 with more efficient processing and reading of 32bit image formats.
- Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard are supported.
Availability and Pricing
Sapphire Plug-ins version 2 for After Effects and compatible products can be purchased directly from GenArts or through their worldwide channel of authorized resellers. Pricing for Sapphire 2 is $1699 for the entire package or $599 for one of four individual box sets. Special upgrade pricing for existing v1 customers is offered for $599 and $199, respectively. A free trial of the software is available online at www.genarts.com.Sapphire Plug-ins version 2 will also be available on Quantel generationQ products with VDS Synapse. For more information about Sapphire on Quantel please contact VDS.
About GenArts, Inc.
Founded in 1996 in Cambridge, Mass., GenArts, Inc. is the premier provider of digital visual effects plug-ins for the film, broadcast and video industries. Their product, Sapphire Plug-ins, equips digital artists with a collection of over 200 state-of-the-art image processing and synthesis effects such as: Glows, EdgeRays, LensFlare, Lightning, FilmEffect, Warps and Textures. The effects seamlessly integrate into a number of editing and compositing systems including: Adobe® After Effects®, Premiere® Pro and Premiere® Elements; Apple® Final Cut Pro® and Shake®; Avid® AVX Products; Autodesk® Compositing & Editing Systems, and Combustion®; Eyeon® Fusion®; and Quantel® generationQ products.Sapphire Plug-ins have become the industry standard for high-end visual effects creation by providing unrivaled image quality, a unique organic look, and ease of use. They have been used extensively in an array of television programs, music videos and feature films, including: Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, and 3, Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3, Superman Returns, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars - Episode I, II and III, Sin City, The Matrix trilogy, X-Men 1, 2 and 3, Titanic, Lost and CSI. Additional GenArts product information can be found at www.genarts.com.
Contact:
Nicole Panas GenArts, Inc. 1-617-492-2888 nicole@
©2007 GenArts, Inc. All rights reserved. GenArts and Sapphire Plug-ins are registered trademarks of GenArts, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.