Leading visual effects software developer, The Foundry has announced a new Beta version of HIERO, allowing users to download and trial the software on the Windows operating system.
HIERO 1.0 was launched on 8th March 2012 and is currently available on Mac OSX and Linux. Since its release HIERO has received praise from a variety of studios that have adopted The Foundry’s new pipeline in a box.
WHO NEEDS A HIERO?
HIERO allows production facilities to efficiently conform, review and export shots to visual effects artists and into finishing systems. HIERO 1.0 is NOT a compositor or a system for finishing, grading or editing.
Specifically designed to work seamlessly with The Foundry’s NUKE and NUKEX compositing applications, HIERO also enables collaborative working with other editorial, VFX and finishing tools.
HUGO GUERRA, JOINT HEAD OF NUKE COMPOSITING, THE MILL:
“In the NUKE department at The Mill HIERO seemed a natural choice to fill the pipeline gap that we were bridging using in-house scripting and third party software. Using HIERO and NUKEX together is the perfect solution for us. With these tools we save time and money on our pipeline, leaving the artists more time to be creative and not be delayed by the technical part of the process. This means our productions get better, faster and more collaborative”
ANDRES KIREJEW, VFX SUPERVISOR/PARTNER, TOWNSHIP:
“HIERO has removed all the tedious, manual labour from conforming. I pointed it towards my EDL and 1.5tb of RED Epic footage magically relinked! HIERO breaks out shots with ease and automatically names, symlinks and prepares them for NUKE roundtripping. HIERO is ******* brilliant. Seriously, at the price point, it’s a no-brainer!”
LUDO FEALY, VFX SUPERVISOR, MPC:
“HIERO has the potential to make NUKE a true stand alone product, and move it up to a level where you can complete projects completely independently in a commercials environment. Everyone wants to see this happen.”
A WINDOW INTO HIERO’S FUTURE
The development team have also been working hard on a range of other features and additions that will be available in upcoming versions of HIERO. As well as Windows support future releases will also include 3:2 Pulldown (a technique used to represent 24p material in NTSC interlaced format), and SDI Monitor Out – allowing users to playback short-form post projects (such as commercials and promos) that match the quality, format and colours that they will be broadcast in.
HIERO’S OFFSPRING
Also in a forthcoming release, The Foundry will be introducing HIERO Player – a powerful playback tool that will allow VFX artists to view their shots in context of a conformed HIERO timeline.
A GROWING PORTFOLIO
As well as HIERO, The Foundry’s other products include NUKE & NUKEX (The Foundry’s high- end VFX compositing systems), the OCULA toolset (stereoscopic workflow plug-ins), MARI (a revolutionary 3D paint system) and KATANA (a recipe based approach to look-dev and lighting).
About The Foundry
The Foundry is a world-leading innovator in visual effects technologies and is internationally renowned for its product design and collaborative approach. Founded in 1996, the company has established itself as a critical partner to major feature film studios and post production houses worldwide including The Mill, ILM, The Moving Picture Company, Walt Disney Animation, Weta Digital, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain.
The company’s products have been used to create breath-taking effects sequences on a wide range of features, television projects and commercials. High profile examples include the 2012 Oscar® winners, HUGO (Best Visual Effects) and Rango (Best Animated Feature Film) as well as the EMMY award winning Boardwalk Empire.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded a Sci-Tech Award® to The Foundry’s development team for the FURNACE image processing suite in 2007 – and the company now holds two products with AMPAS Sci-Tech Award® winning technology including high-end compositing system NUKE.
In 2011 The Foundry ranked 54th in The Sunday Times Tech Track (up three places from 2010), and debuted in both the Sunday Times International Track and the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 lists.
Backed by The Carlyle Group with a substantial portion still owned by the staff, The Foundry is still run by its original management team.
© The Foundry, its logo and product names are registered trademarks in the UK, USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.