Toxik 2009 Announced at SIGGRAPH

Toxik 2009 software brings compositing and visual effects tools to high-end 2D effects artists working at HD, 2K, 4K or above, in film, television, and design. When combined with Maya 2009, the two products together create a highly efficient, iterative, and collaborative environment that accelerates everyday workflows and facilitates the addition of an extra dimension to 2D imagery. The Toxik high dynamic range (HDR) creative toolset includes keying, color correction, tracking, camera mapping, paint, spline-based warping, motion blur, and depth of field.

Toxik 2009 NEW FEATURES:

Render Pass and Render Layer Import from Maya
You can now automatically generate and update compositions based on Render Layer and Render Pass setups provided by Maya. This new feature (leveraging updated Maya 2009 Render Pass functionality) accelerates and streamlines the 3D to 2D workflow by allowing you to previsualize your scene in the form of the final composite, while you continue to iterate and refine only the required elements.

Data Management
New file-based data model offers individual artists, system administrators, and developers a number of advantages. Artists gain more control over their Toxik while enjoying improved data integrity, and developers can readily integrate Toxik into existing pipelines. This new system supports collaboration without complexity; versioning functionality lets you keep track of multiple iterations, while team members working simultaneously on linked compositions within a project are notified when updates are made by another user. In addition, a new hierarchical bookmarking system makes it easy to save and access links to footage, projects, and compositions.

Stereoscopic Content Creation
Facilitates the creation of stereoscopic content through a range of new enhancements, including support for stereo playback with linked pan and zoom, and a Multi-Stream feature that enables you to simultaneously process pairs of images via a single node. With the appropriate hardware, high-performance interactive playback at 2K is possible; this feature helps you make informed, artistic choices. This functionality, combined with a new Camera Mapping feature and the ability to import simple geometry as FBX files from Maya and other 3D applications, enables you to produce truly convincing stereoscopic content.

Lens Blur Tool
A new Lens Blur tool enables you to simulate the depth-of-field effects associated with real-world cameras. Animate the blur to produce a rack defocus effect. A number of different iris shapes are available to help you customize the shape and profile of the blur.

Warp 2D Functionality
A new Warp 2D tool delivers advanced, nonlinear, spline-based warping of an image with precise local control, as well as a smooth and continuous transformation across the image and in time. Use this new tool to quickly change or animate the geometric shape and position of objects within an image, to create everything from extremely stylized effects to subtle perspective corrections.

Pixel Expression Language Tool
You can now create and customize plug-in effects to manipulate your output image using the powerful new Pixel Expression Language (PXL) tool. This intuitive, C-like programming language offers a rich set of features, including conditionals, looping, and numerous built-in functions.

Color Transformation Language
Now you can also write and apply color transforms using the Color Transformation Language (CTL) technology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This new functionality enables you to implement a strong color management solution within Toxik.

Enhanced Display
Images created in Toxik can now be viewed on broadcast-quality display devices with serial digital interface (SDI) or HD-SDI inputs. This streamlines the compositing workflow by enabling broadcast content creators to make informed color decisions.