Frantic Films Software Releases Awake Plugin Pack for eyeon Fusion

Frantic Films Software, the software development division of VFX studio Frantic Films VFX and a division of Prime Focus Group, announces that its Awake plug-in pack for eyeon Fusion 5 is now commercially available. The collection now features 10 powerful plug-ins that streamline stereo 3D compositing and visual effects workflows for artists using Fusion 5. Frantic Films Software will be demonstrating Awake from the eyeon Software booth at this year's NAB Conference at booth #SL2616.

"Stereoscopic filmmaking is on everyone's lips this year, and the Awake plugins were created and production-tested for just that purpose," said Isaac Guenard, Senior Product Manager, eyeon Software. "The Awake suite combines scripts, macros and even plugins to show just how extensively Fusion's stereoscopic abilities can be enhanced. I can't wait to see what Fusion artists do with them!"

eyeon Fusion is a full-featured, node-based compositing system used at leading VFX studios catering to feature film, commercials, motion graphics, television post-production, and stereoscopic production. Seamlessly integrated into Fusion 5, the Awake suite boosts Fusion's already powerful feature set to unlock a host of tools that take advantage of Fusion's speed and interactivity.

"We developed Awake out of production necessity when our effects division, Frantic Films VFX, was working on the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D. The tools simplify many common compositing processes essential to working on a stereo 3D VFX film. We're pleased to make these tools available to artists in the visual effects community," said Brian McKinnon, Lead 2D Software Developer, Frantic Films Software.

The Awake Toolkit has expanded its plug-in offerings to now include:

Depth Blur
• Stimulate photo realistic depth of field effects
• Apply depth blur in 2D using rendered depth maps
• Achieve a level of interactivity impossible with a 3D renderer
• Create a depth blur effect using a simple interface
• Tune real camera parameters to achieve a specific depth of field

Stereo Image Stacking
• Stack input images top/bottom, side-by-side, or interlaced
• Flip left or right image horizontally to correct source images from beam
splitter cameras
• Add watermarks to left and right frames
• Use scripts to enable or disable left or right input to increase preview speed

Stereo Image Unstacking
• Unstack images stored in a top/bottom, side-by-side, or interlace image stack
• Generate anaglyphs using the PS or LSA anaglyph methods
• Generate color or gray-scale anaglyph images
• Use scripts to enable or disable left or right input to increase preview speed

Frequency Blur
• Incredibly fast on large blurs
• Blur an image with the built-in Disk, Polygon, Gaussian, Airy Disk, or Laplacian kernel
• Apply user-defined kernels to achieve the blur shape that best fits your environment
• Use the kernels to convolve (blur) or deconvolve (sharpen) the image
• Edge policy supports black, wrapped, and duplicated edge handling
• Use kernels with fixed or independent heights and widths
• Add customized bokeh to built-in kernels to generate ringed blurring effects

Edge Aware Filter
• Provide noise reduction using a bilateral or median filter
• Reduce nose without sacrificing import details, like edges and texture peaks

Digital Camera Noise
• Apply pixel level CCD camera grain to rendered images
• Choose default settings or modify the noise parameters manually
• Adjust brightness, red, green, and blue noise independently
• Adapt grain levels in light and dark regions of the image

Content Aware Resize
• Use content aware to resize an image so that it can be stretched without distortion
• Apply clues from textured areas of an image, so resizing can be done without damaging the original appearance of an image
• Use user-defined masks, so specific regions of the image can be preserved at original scale
Grid Calibration
• Automate lens distortion removal and correction of chromatic aberrations
• Achieve a level of accuracy by tweaking parameters
• Import calibration parameters into the LensDistort tool to allow preset distortion removal
Lens Distort
• Correct off-center and radially distorted lens
• 5 parameter model supports output from Tsai camera calibration
• Edge policy supports black, wrapped, duplicated and mirrored edge handling

Spherical Distort
• Convert between fish eye, perspective, latitude/longitude, cube face, and cylindrical camera models
• Control field of view, rotation, and output size of images

Availability and Pricing
Awake is available directly through the Frantic Films Software Division, please visit software.franticfilms.com/ or email awake-sales@franticfilms.com with sales inquiries. Awake is available now with a list price starting at $299 USD, and is compatible with eyeon Software's Fusion 5 and higher.