Venerable VFX Facility Replaces In-House Software "Flipper" with RV to
Streamline Dailies, Real-time Color Correction and Playback in Stereo 3D
San Francisco, CA (March 20, 2009)-Tweak Software, developers of RV, the
image and sequence viewer for animation and visual effects, announced today
that Tippett Studio is integrating RV company-wide as its playback tool of
choice. RV will replace Flipper, the proprietary playback software
developed at Tippett Studio, as the backbone of its VFX digital pipeline.
Tippett Studio was founded 25 years ago and has earned a reputation for
groundbreaking animation and visual effects. The studio has launched a
major initiative to retool its pipeline to accommodate increasingly complex
artistic and technical demands-without disrupting existing workflows.
"RV is an industrial strength image playback tool, and the only solution
out there robust and customizable enough to replace Flipper," said Sanjay
Das, Chief Technology Officer at Tippett. "Supporting a proprietary
homegrown playback solution is expensive and not the best use of R&D
resources, but before RV there was no good alternative."
According to Scott Liedtka, VFX Supervisor at Tippett, "Above all, RV is a
tool for artists. It is clean and elegant and adaptable to however you want
to work."
Tippett Studio turned to RV as part of an effort to build the facility's
capacity to handle upwards of 2000 shots per feature. Other features that
attracted Tippett to RV include:
o Customization - RV is a very open platform, not a black box application.
It can be modified to integrate tightly with the rest of a pipeline or to
support proprietary workflows.
o Color Correction-RV does real-time color correction using the graphics
card, and RV's color management is scriptable so a facility can automate
and customize the way images are presented based on scripted rules.
o 3D Stereo-RV has advanced 3D stereo support built in. RV's stereo is
resolution independent, like the rest of RV, so the left/right eyes can be
different resolutions or image formats, and you can zoom, pan, adjust
offset, flip/flop, and swap eyes.
Tippett Studio is currently using RV on "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty
Galore" and will have RV integrated into the entire facility within
three-to-six months. The facility is currently ramping up for VFX
production on the sequel to "Twilight" entitled "New Moon".
About RV
RV is a real-time, film resolution, high-dynamic-range image and sequence
viewer for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The application also includes
native support for stereo 3D. RV combines a flexible architecture and a
hardware accelerated compositing pipeline with a lean, polished design
tailored to professional digital artists. Free downloadable trial versions
of the software are available upon request at www.tweaksoftware.com.
About Tweak Software
San Francisco, CA-based Tweak Software was co-founded by Jim Hourihan and
Seth Rosenthal in 2007. Co-founder and director of R&D Jim Hourihan is the
recipient of two Sci-Tech Academy Awards and is best known for developing
Dynamation, the first commercial particle system that was subsequently
incorporated into Autodesk's Maya software. Under the guidance of this
talented team, Tweak Software is uniquely positioned to develop tools that
address real-world production needs of VFX and animation professionals.
For more information, visit www.tweaksoftware.com.
Streamline Dailies, Real-time Color Correction and Playback in Stereo 3D
San Francisco, CA (March 20, 2009)-Tweak Software, developers of RV, the
image and sequence viewer for animation and visual effects, announced today
that Tippett Studio is integrating RV company-wide as its playback tool of
choice. RV will replace Flipper, the proprietary playback software
developed at Tippett Studio, as the backbone of its VFX digital pipeline.
Tippett Studio was founded 25 years ago and has earned a reputation for
groundbreaking animation and visual effects. The studio has launched a
major initiative to retool its pipeline to accommodate increasingly complex
artistic and technical demands-without disrupting existing workflows.
"RV is an industrial strength image playback tool, and the only solution
out there robust and customizable enough to replace Flipper," said Sanjay
Das, Chief Technology Officer at Tippett. "Supporting a proprietary
homegrown playback solution is expensive and not the best use of R&D
resources, but before RV there was no good alternative."
According to Scott Liedtka, VFX Supervisor at Tippett, "Above all, RV is a
tool for artists. It is clean and elegant and adaptable to however you want
to work."
Tippett Studio turned to RV as part of an effort to build the facility's
capacity to handle upwards of 2000 shots per feature. Other features that
attracted Tippett to RV include:
o Customization - RV is a very open platform, not a black box application.
It can be modified to integrate tightly with the rest of a pipeline or to
support proprietary workflows.
o Color Correction-RV does real-time color correction using the graphics
card, and RV's color management is scriptable so a facility can automate
and customize the way images are presented based on scripted rules.
o 3D Stereo-RV has advanced 3D stereo support built in. RV's stereo is
resolution independent, like the rest of RV, so the left/right eyes can be
different resolutions or image formats, and you can zoom, pan, adjust
offset, flip/flop, and swap eyes.
Tippett Studio is currently using RV on "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty
Galore" and will have RV integrated into the entire facility within
three-to-six months. The facility is currently ramping up for VFX
production on the sequel to "Twilight" entitled "New Moon".
About RV
RV is a real-time, film resolution, high-dynamic-range image and sequence
viewer for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The application also includes
native support for stereo 3D. RV combines a flexible architecture and a
hardware accelerated compositing pipeline with a lean, polished design
tailored to professional digital artists. Free downloadable trial versions
of the software are available upon request at www.tweaksoftware.com.
About Tweak Software
San Francisco, CA-based Tweak Software was co-founded by Jim Hourihan and
Seth Rosenthal in 2007. Co-founder and director of R&D Jim Hourihan is the
recipient of two Sci-Tech Academy Awards and is best known for developing
Dynamation, the first commercial particle system that was subsequently
incorporated into Autodesk's Maya software. Under the guidance of this
talented team, Tweak Software is uniquely positioned to develop tools that
address real-world production needs of VFX and animation professionals.
For more information, visit www.tweaksoftware.com.
