At this week's NAB show in Las Vegas, Autodesk (http://www.autodesk.com) released Autodesk Flame Premium 2012, a new version of the 3D visual effects and finishing software.

Introduced in late 2010, Flame Premium combines the Autodesk Flame visual effects toolset with a timeline workflow for conform and editing, as well as real-time color grading. Flame Premium 2012 features groundbreaking tools for relighting in post, an enhanced stereoscopic 3D (S3D) finishing workflow, and improved integration with Autodesk 3D animation software, says Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment.

With the introduction of relighting capabilities in Flame Premium 2012, artists can now take advantage of the real-world 3D information inherent to their images or composites and dramatically change the look of their final scenes, he adds. With relighting, artists can radically adjust and refine the look of their scenes through a variety of lighting, shading, shadows, 3D lens flares and volumetric light rays tools -- all of which can have their effects isolated by GMasks directly in the Flame Premium Action 3D compositing environment. Flame Premium also uses image-based lighting and camera mapping techniques from the CG (computer graphics) software world that, when combined with certain other relighting tools, enable artists to have total control over the final look of their imagery.

Flame Premium includes: a toolset for S3D visual effects and finishing: technical and creative S3D compositing and graphic design tools, multilayer S3D timeline editing; and real-time S3D color grading. In addition, the advanced S3D creative tools can benefit from the creative relighting tools that are now available in Flame Premium.

Post-production facilities rely on efficient workflows between CG and finishing. Petit sys that with Flame Premium, artists can more quickly and easily use Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max CG content in their projects -- from render passes, Autodesk FBX software models or animated geometries. What's more, the new Gateway Clip gives facilities an open and flexible way to build a finishing workflow using XML that's customized to their CG finishing pipeline needs, he adds.

Autodesk Flare takes advantage of the complete set of Flame creative tools and more. Streamlining workflows between Flame Premium and Maya or 3ds Max, Flare is procedural compositing software that can be used in a broad range of workflows to deliver finished content for commercials, feature films or television -- even in stereoscopic 3D. For more info, including pricing options, go to http://usa.autodesk.com/flame/ .