Autodesk has brought Smoke, its video editing, 3D and finishing effects software, to the Mac. The tool harnesses the 64-bit power of Snow Leopard, according to Autodesk, and will integrate into existing Mac-based workflows using Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer.
Autodesk Smoke is billed as a comprehensive creative editorial system, offering visual effects capabilities.
According to the company, Smoke features a powerful 64-bit architecture and industry-leading tools for conforming, editing, audio, paint, tracking, character generation, graphic design, and visual effects creation in the Action 3D compositing environment, as well as Master Keyer and Colour Warper technologies.
The software benefits from many of the advanced visual effects tools in Autodesk Flame software, as well as the ability to conform from EDLs, AAF, and Apple Final Cut Pro XML files, to potentially create more streamlined content efficiently.
“The business of post-production is evolving. Post-production and broadcast facilities alike are seeking more affordable, integrated creative tools that can help them stand out from the crowd,” said Stig Gruman, Autodesk vice president o Autodesk digital entertainment.
“Smoke 2010 on the Mac has been designed to help editors increase creative output, project quality and turnaround times. It brings production-proven finishing capabilities to the extremely talented community of artists already using the Mac in broadcast and post-production.”
Smoke 2010 offers native support for popular files-based formats including Apple's QuickTime, Panasonic P2 HD and Sony XDCam files.
“Snow Leopard is the world’s most advanced operating system, ideal for high performance applications like Smoke 2010,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations.
“We’re delighted that Autodesk is bringing its premier editorial finishing tool to creative professionals on the Mac.”
Smoke on the Mac OS X platform is available from today, 15 December. It costs £10,000/€13,500.
More details of pricing and features can be found at www.autodesk.com.
Smoke 2010 on Mac OS X is also available as a free 30-day trial here.
(Visit our sister site MacVideo for in-depth details and analysis regarding all the new features found in Final Cut Pro.)
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Comments received
Dragonfly said on Tue, 15 Dec 2009
Only £10,000, what a bargain. How does Autodesk do software so cheap ?
Fonejacker said on Tue, 15 Dec 2009
I wonder if it's worth Apple buying Autodesk? I know they are a big gigantic company, but still, would be nice, if Apple could bring some of their software as an exclusive and bring the price down a bit or two.
London said on Tue, 15 Dec 2009
Let's get this clear, Autodesk's charging structure and Mac costs to run it, put this software at between £20-30K. When you buy Autodesk software you pay first for the software, then the upgrade deal, then the support. Smoke for £10K - you're joking!
Hortense Mule said on Tue, 15 Dec 2009
Now calm down, my lovelies. There's this thing--it's an amazing thing, really--called a *market*, and it has this extraordinary capacity to determine whether a product has been correctly priced.
If Autodesk is selling this computer gewgaw for £10k a year from now then that's what the people who need to use it are willing to pay to use it. If not, Autodesk will go bye-bye or become absorbed by an Apple or some such conglomerate, or this gewgaw will cost £595. See how easy? Have a beer, relax.
Scouter said on Tue, 15 Dec 2009
IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAND!!!!!
@ Hortense said on Wed, 16 Dec 2009
Obviously not had any experience in the post world with Autodesk. And if I was you forget the beer, the grass seems to have fried your brain!
Mark Hattersley said on Wed, 16 Dec 2009
I think it's important to have a sense of perspective when it comes to industrial software.
During the filming of Charlie and The Chocolate factory (the Johnny Depp version) a camera was ruined when it was dropped into a VAT of chocolcate.
The camera was worth $540,000 (approx £300,000).
Tim Burton reportedly said: "we didn't know whether to laugh or cry"
If that was my money I wouldn't be capable of laughing. But the film had a production budget of $150 million dollars; it grossed $56m on its opening weekend and to date has grossed $474 million in total.
Set against that backdrop a £10k software product isn't that remarkable. What is amazing is that Apple went up against a $10k product (Avid Media Composer) and created an industry standard alternative and brought the price down, and down, to where it sits today. About £800 with an express version costing £126. But they do sell the hardware as well.
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