Autodesk Introduces New HDTV Color Grading System for Post Production and Broadcast

Autodesk Introduces New HDTV Color Grading System for Post Production and Broadcast

Autodesk Lustre HD System Enables Facilities to Offer Creative HD Color Grading Capabilities

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK), today launched Autodesk Lustre HD, a new digital color grading system designed for working on high-definition television (HDTV) commercials and programming, as well as HDTV film projects. Lustre HD is the latest addition to the Autodesk Lustre family of nonlinear digital color grading products, which have been used to grade Academy Award-winning films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, in addition to HDTV programs like the BBC Natural History Unit's Planet Earth and Galapagos.

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As blockbuster films and premium television programming raise the bar for visually compelling content, color grading is playing a growing role in creating differentiated content looks. Marc Petit, vice president of Autodesk's Media & Entertainment Division, said, "Nonlinear digital color grading has become the norm for feature film production, with Lustre having set the bar. We're now seeing growing demand for these specialized digital grading tools in the TV industry and for films shot in HD. The new Autodesk Lustre HD system provides post-production facilities and broadcasters with an affordable, software-based color grading solution that has unparalleled workflow and creative tools. It enables digital artists to explore creative options and deliver stunning looks."

Autodesk Lustre HD offers real-time primary and secondary color correction capabilities and real-time formatting of video deliverables using advanced Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology -- available in commodity graphics cards. Petit added, "GPUs are proving to be a powerful and more flexible alternative to older technologies for real-time media processing. They are extremely fast and easily programmable, and are being developed at a faster pace than CPUs. As a result, Autodesk is able to offer Lustre HD, a system with GPU-acceleration technology, at a price that is considerably lower than proprietary hardware-based solutions."

The system offers colorists an intuitive, nonlinear environment for interactive color grading sessions, enabling them to collaborate with producers, directors, art directors and cinematographers to perfectly adjust the colors and looks of HDTV projects. Lustre HD is being beta tested around the world. Beta sites include The Video Lab in South Africa and Digital Pictures Melbourne, among others.

Minneapolis-based post-production facility Pixel Farm has been using Autodesk's Discreet Lustre system to deliver unique looks for feature films, music videos and commercials. Pixel Farm recently completed projects for Arctic Cat, Best Buy and Taco John's with its Lustre system.

"We've been ahead of the curve, using the Autodesk Lustre system for over two years to deliver not just film work, but also HDTV spots and music videos. It won't be long before digital color grading of HD content becomes mainstream," said Mohsen Sadeghi, Pixel Farm owner. "Lustre provides a great option for post-production facilities that want to add HD grading capabilities to their pipeline. Clients are asking for specialized grading services, and we're able to meet their needs with our software-based Lustre. Lustre has given us a competitive edge, while complementing our existing Autodesk visual effects and editing pipeline."

Autodesk Lustre HD Key Features
-- Creative Toolset: Explore creative options and create stunning new
looks with the innovative Lustre creative toolset, including
-- Primary and Selective Color Grading: Modify primary grades before or
after selective correction, featuring multi-layered selectives with
independent inside/outside settings
-- Hierarchical Shape System with schematic view and advanced GMasks:
Create variable-edged softness around shapes to blend colors
organically or imitate natural lighting falloff
-- Image Tracking, Keying, Pan and Scan, and accurate, automated Dust
Removal

-- Nonlinear Grading: With the Lustre nonlinear digital workflow, you
don't need to swap out film reels or cue up video to find the right
shot to grade
-- Move instantly between shots in the timeline or shot bin and re-
order shots before or after grading
-- Easily compare shots side-by-side, such as the first and last shot
in a sequence, in different contexts

-- GPU-Acceleration: Real-time color grading using the powerful NVIDIA
GPU, including
-- Real-time linear and logarithmic primary color grading with control
of shadows, midtones, highlights, input curves and more
-- Multiple HD layers of GPU-accelerated selective color grading using
a shape system with variable softness, keys, brightness, hue shift,
contrast and saturation

-- Real-time Video Deliverables
-- Frame-accurate output of multiple formats to video tape recorder
(VTR) via RS-422 without rendering, for example 2K to HD
-- Capture and conform from interlaced or progressive frame video
material
-- 10-bit HD SDI video output with real-time primary color correction,
3D LUT and animated repositioning and scaling using high-quality
Lanczos 3-Lobe filtering

For a complete listing of Autodesk Lustre HD features, please visit www.autodesk.com/lustre.

New Modular Control Panel

As well, Autodesk has introduced a new control panel for Lustre HD, comprised of three sub-panels that enable it to be easily configured for both left- and right-hand dominant operation. The panel is modular in terms of physical layout and key mapping. This ergonomic panel has a curved design that puts all controls within easy reach of the colorist's fingertips and follows the natural radial movement of the colorist's arms. Its non-reflective paint and filtered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) reduce reflections and unwanted light in a critical viewing environment. Approximate North American pricing of this new control panel is US$25,000.

Pricing and Availability

North American pricing of Autodesk Lustre HD begins at US$120,000. This price includes the Lustre HD workstation with video I/O. North American pricing for a typical Lustre HD system fully configured with the new Autodesk control panel and 1.75TB of 4Gb fibre channel storage is estimated at US$170,000. Autodesk anticipates that Lustre HD and the new control panel will be available worldwide in August 2006.

For further information, please visit www.autodesk.com/lustre or contact Autodesk's Media & Entertainment Division at 800-869-3504.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 company, wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, media and entertainment and wireless data services fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, Discreet, and Lustre are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. We may make statements regarding planned or future development efforts for our existing or new products and services. These statements are not intended to be a promise or guarantee of future delivery of products, services or features but merely reflect our current plans, which may change. Purchasing decisions should not be made based upon reliance on these statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist or change after the date on which they were made.

(C) 2006 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contact: Roohi Saeed, 514-954-7296
Email: roohi.saeed@autodesk.com

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Source: Autodesk, Inc.

CONTACT: Roohi Saeed of Autodesk, Inc., +1-514-954-7296 or
roohi.saeed@autodesk.com

Web site: http://www.autodesk.com/

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