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HimAnI Productions Uses RotoImport on More Than 150 Hellboy FX Shots

San Francisco, CA, May 20, 2004 – Red Giant Software today announced that HimAnI Productions used RotoImport on hundreds of FX shots used in the blockbuster film, Hellboy. The bulk of the work focused on the film’s subway train sequence where Hellboy fights the monster, Sammael. HimAnI Productions created the entire subway train and platform environment in 3D. RotoImport was crucial to making the 200-frame shot work.

RotoImport allows users to import Commotion splines into an After Effects composite for further manipulation for final composition rendering. Compositors can re-use Commotion splines inside an After Effects composition—all splines are translated into After Effects layer masks. The imported masks can be edited without leaving After Effects, saving time and improving workflow.

Hellboy Director, Guillermo Del Toro, wanted to place the title character in tremendous jeopardy at every moment during the subway platform fight sequence. In order to simulate the danger of the rushing subway car digitally, HimAnI Productions had to rotoscope Hellboy throughout the shot and matte his live action over the new computer-generated subway platform.

“Our Roto Artist preferred using Commotion and the Composite Artist was more comfortable with After Effects. We also wanted the flexibility to make any small adjustments to the rotosplines as the composite came together in After Effects without having to send it back to the rotoscoping stage,” said Kevin Kutchaver, President at HimAnI Productions.

“RotoImport solved this perfectly—allowing us to import the rotosplines into After Effects and helping us to open up our talent pool to include Commotion artists without having to double-up our payroll for roto. With RotoImport, we could use the excellent matte tools in Commotion while still retaining their active nature in After Effects. This saved turnaround time and helped place our shots closer to ‘final’ in record time,” added Kutchaver.

Pricing and Availability

RotoImport for After Effects is:

• Available now as a download only—includes both Macintosh and Windows versions.
• Supports Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP, After Effects 5.5 (After Effects 6.0 recommended), and Commotion 2.2 or greater spline files.
• Priced at $299 for a limited time. Multi-unit discounts are available. Purchase a copy at www.redgiantsoftware.com.

About Red Giant Software

Red Giant Software LLC (www.redgiantsoftware.com) offers a vast range of visual effects plug-ins, with over 30 packages designed for Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Avid. The product line features industry-leading effects for designing realistic fire, rain, and water; adding popular looks; and creating perfect keys. Red Giant effects have enhanced feature films such as Angels & Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Mummy 3, and added sparkle to cable and broadcast content from NBC Universal, Food Network, ESPN, Disney, CNN, Comedy Central, MTV, and TNT.

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