Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/5474
6 December 2009 PRODUCT: POSTPRODUCTION Autodesk remained on a product rollout, continuing to launch 2010 versions of its software with Lustre 2010 digital color- grading software. As with its other new releases, this offering is focused on increasing value to the customer. This is being done through a broader set of creative tools and a more effi - cient workfl ow, with improved support for open platforms and cross-product data formats, such as RED and Avid DNxHD. The 2010 release of Lustre gives artists greater control over fi nal color and lighting effects for both stereoscopic and standard television and fi lm projects. Lustre is available in stand-alone turnkey confi gurations, as well as a software-only companion when installed on the same platform as Smoke and Flame software. The release offers four times more secondary grading power than Lustre 2009, with 48 layers and unlimited shapes per layer. A new Degrain tool enables users to degrain entire shots as well as defi ned areas, while a new Grade Bin provides large view of grades and associated metadata. Lustre 2010 also sports workfl ow enhancements, such as improved interoperability with Flame and Smoke, support for MXF with Avid DNxHD (import), and RED workfl ow with RSX fi le support and real-time 2 K streaming of 4K R3D fi les. In other news, Autodesk has upgraded the workfl ow and feature sets in the 2010 Extension 1 releases of its visual effects and fi nishing software: Flame, Inferno, Flare, Flint, and Smoke. All the products are available now. Pricing varies according to system confi guration. Autodesk Puts Shine on Lustre NEWS: GRAPHICS BOARDS While a market rebound for graphics add-in boards (AIBs) didn't occur in sync with the broader graphics hardware markets, it did eventually materialize in the third quarter, reports Jon Peddie Research (JPR). The market (along with most others) had suffered a major drop in Q4 2008. Volume fl at- tened in the fi rst quarter as drained-down inventories regained some lost weight, and Q2 2009 mercifully showed demand stabilizing and more evidence that the market had bottomed. What was in store for Q3 this year? JPR had been expecting a bounce in the second half, with the fi rst signs to be mani- fested in this year's Q3. And to the relief of many, that's how the story unfolded. The quarter saw 20.3 million graphics cards shipped, up 21.0 percent sequentially, a particularly robust number considering the two major vendors were on the tail end of product cycles. Even in the context of a year-over-year measure, the quarter's 7.2 percent decline was signifi cantly more moderate than JPR had seen in the previous quarters. The market's rebound was belated, as the broader market for graphics hardware had already seen its bounce. In Q2, overall shipments for graphics—including integrated graphics proces- sors (IGPs)—rose, up 31 percent sequentially and an even more impressive 4 percent year-over-year. Yet AIB shipments in the same quarter were generally fl at from the fi rst quarter. JPR attributed the dynamic to more hesitant buyers with tighter wallets in the second quarter. As frugal buyers cautious- ly made their way back to the marketplace, they tended to opt more for lower performance (but essentially free) IGPs over add-in boards. But thanks to improved consumer confi dence, more AIBs left retail shelves (and PC assembly lines) in Q3. A quiet before a coming storm, the third quarter proved to be a virtual stalemate in the Nvidia vs. AMD war, with the latter managing just a one-point gain in unit share. By contrast, the fourth quarter promises to be anything but quiet. AMD has a brand-new set of graphics cards ready for the holiday (and Windows 7) season. Its launch of the Evergreen (Radeon HD 5000 series) generation has equipped the company with strong offerings for the enthusiast and performance segments, ready to entice somewhat more optimistic consumers (see product announcement on pg. 7). Nvidia, however, will have to get by this holiday season with previous-generation products, as it hustles to get prod- ucts based on its ambitious Fermi generation ready for (what appears to be) the fi rst quarter of 2010. The one potential snag for AMD is the broadly reported, less-than-stellar ramp of 40nm product coming out of TSMC. Nvidia is relying on 40nm as well, but should TSMC's struggle with yield be limit- ed to 4Q '09 and not Q1 '10, then it will be AMD that will primarily suffer, not Nvidia. Graphics Add-in Board Market Rebounds