Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/110591
review 20th Anniversary Edition of Flame Premium I Creative Director RuckSack NY www.rucksackny.com New York A hugely diverse toolset in one software. 46 invaluable while using batch or action. A user can literally pull a clip from the left side library menu and drop it in a comp and continue working without delay. The desktop reels have been changed as well. There is now a snapshot reel button on each reel for a quick save of the current state. We are no longer locked into the eight-reel max. While there can only be eight reels present on the screen at any one time, due to screen real estate, you can have unlimited reels on the desktop and make them visible as you need them. This proves especially useful when you have reels with elements, edits, generics, audio, etc. You can simply choose to very helpful for the DI users. The Media Hub opens up the system and allows it to use many file formats natively and keeps things neatly organized. For those who have avoided the gateway in the past, myself included, this is one new module worth getting friendly with. The Conform tab is for assembly of the material. In the old days a conform was using an EDL. Those days are long past, most newbies don't even know what an EDL is — I am mostly kidding. The vast majority of all material is file-based, it's not that tape is dead, but it is on the way out. With the new conform tools you can dig into an XML and scan the network for the files you need. You have a lot of PLENTY OF NEW FEATURES Many of you are not manual readers. Who has the time, right? Well, with 20th Anniversary Edition of Flame Premium 2013 — available to current subscription owners exclusively — make the time to read, watch videos, and do the tutorials. The software is rich with new features and changes to many things that you use everyday. To make the most out of it, and keep competitive, it is important to learn the new offerings in this version. So, let's jump into the software and take it for a spin. The first thing any user will notice is the redesign of the interface. The library module is always present on the screen at the left side. Gone are the days of exiting a module and going to the library to perform a task; the library is readily available without the need to halt the creative process.This is a huge change and time saver, but for those with years of hands-on Flame experience, it will take getting used to. Having instant access to the library is By FRED RUCKEL could sum up this review with just two words….kick ass! Autodesk has really made a mark in the industry over the years, and the new 20th Anniversary Flame Premium 2013 is a testament to the company's commitment to excellence. Through the years we have seen many products come out and fade away, but Flame stands tall… 20 years after being introduced. Flame is still the big gun, must-have tool for visual effects companies working in the fast paced, quick-turnaround market. I started using Flame back in 1995. I grew with it over the years, and was even a beta tester for a time. Being fully immersed in everything that is new, working with the most cutting-edge technology is almost like a drug, an addiction to some extent. Using a machine that gives you infinite creative options, as well as a full suite of tools to fix nearly anything that might have gone wrong on-set, is what the Flame artist is about. The title of the "Flame Artist" carries a lot of weight. There is an expectation... if you are the Flame guy (or girl), you are the one who will make the project look amazing, jump off the screen and cause people to take notice. With all this great power also comes great responsibility, as Spider-Man once said. Mastering Flame is not quick, not painless and not for the faint of heart. This new release has so many new features that even a die-hard 15-year user like myself has got to crack the book (or wiki) to learn how these new tools will change what you do everyday. hide them to keep the workspace uncluttered and faster to navigate. There is also a storyboard view, where before we only had collapsed and uncollapsed view Along the bottom there are tabs with modules that are most commonly used. Among them are Media Hub, Conform, Timeline, Batch and Tools. These tabs allow for a faster-than-before ease of use and will speed up any session. Tabs have become commonplace in many things we do everyday, and they really do speed things up. The Media Hub allows quick access to media across your network. This newlydesigned module replaces the wiretap method and the gateway, both of which never worked properly all the time. The Media Hub allows export of multiple clips at once. There are some issues still with Open EXR slowing the system down a bit, since they are cumbersome data wise. The 16-bit DPX workflow is now supported, which proves criteria you can scan with to create a precise search. You can even take in ProRes files directly now.The event list can be color coded to let you know what is missing, and with one click you can re-link shots. Post • February 2013 Post0213_046-47-Review FlameRAV4finalREADUPDATED.indd 46 THE TIMELINE The timeline is the Smoke timeline. In the past we had Flame and Smoke with round tripping to finish a project, which made users nuts and made for a lot of extra work and clutter. Thankfully this is a thing of the past. Smoke is now completely integrated as the editorial side of the program. On the bottom of the screen there is the timeline tab for quick access. If you want to go into the edit module, it's just a click of the tab and you are ready to make any adjustments to your edit, add layers, trim or whatever your project requires. The Timeline tab allows you to create or access the timeline from almost anywhere in the software. You can create an www.postmagazine.com 1/25/13 2:34 PM