MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Foundry are embarking on a reciprocal technology sharing relationship to mutually advance the state of the art in visual effects and digital production.
In this collaboration, The Foundry acquires access to Sony Pictures Imageworks’ 2D/3D lighting technology package, Katana, with which they will be able to collaborate on future developments.
As part of the collaboration, Sony Pictures Imageworks adds The Foundry’s compositing software, Nuke, to its existing stable of the company’s plug-ins. Katana is a production-proven toolset that has been used by Imageworks to facilitate VFX work on films such as the Spider-Man movies, Superman Returns, I am Legend and, most recently, G-Force, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the upcoming Alice in Wonderland. Nuke has most recently been used on such films as District 9, Transformers, and Terminator Salvation.
The agreement also involves close cooperation going forward. The two companies will work together to ensure the successful use and integration of each other’s technology, and exchange updates and new discoveries.
"Artistry enabled by cutting-edge technology is the cornerstone of our business. This creative relationship with The Foundry brings great technologies together and places powerful production tools into the hands of artists," said Sony Pictures Imageworks executive vice president and general manager Randy Lake.
"Imageworks is taking a far more open approach to its technology. Sharing software with a progressive company like The Foundry is an important step for both of our companies. First, it enables Imageworks to provide the best compositing tools to our artists today by adopting Nuke widely into our VFX and animation workflows. And second, The Foundry has a proven track record of taking production proven software and turning it into industry-leading solutions. We’re looking forward to collaborating with The Foundry to help create the next generation of tools leveraging the best of our mutual technologies. We are expecting great things from this relationship to give artists the tools to create even greater imagery," said Sony Pictures Imageworks chief technology officer Rob Bredow.
The Foundry CEO Bill Collis said, "It’s highly unusual for software or post production companies to share technologies and that’s what makes our new relationship with Sony Pictures Imageworks so special. There are some exciting ideas we can explore over the coming years, building on Imageworks’ Katana technology and The Foundry’s customer-driven product focus for Nuke to deliver the next generation of compositing software. Sony is obviously a highly respected player in the industry and the fact that they are implementing our software, and collaborating on future products, is a huge compliment. We are looking forward to working with Sony, and to seeing what fantastic results we can achieve together."
