Sapphire Plug-Ins Helps Sony's HD Dreams project Come To Life And Creates Unique X-Ray Look For Fox NHL Promo

SAPPHIRE PLUG-INS HELP SONY'S "HD DREAMS" PROJECT COME TO LIFE AND CREATE UNIQUE X-RAY LOOK FOR FOX NHL PROMO

Cambridge, MA. 20th January 2003 - GenArts Inc., a leading provider of digital visual effects plug-ins for the film, broadcast and video industry, today revealed that long-time customer Rhinoceros Visual Effects made extensive use of Sapphire Plug-ins in a number of high-profile projects including Sony's HD Dreams Project and the latest Fox NHL promo.
Rhinoceros Visual Effects is a New York-based full service effects studio specializing in digital imagery for commercials, music videos, and television programs. Better known for photo realistic CG in live action jobs, the company recently used Sapphire Plug-ins to create the opening of the Sony 'HD Dreams Project' which was designed to promote the use of High Definition within the motion picture industry and the advertising community.
The project involved eight leading TV commercial directors creating short films on the theme of dreams to illustrate the variety of different looks that can be achieved with 24P HDCAM. Nick Sclumpf, Inferno Artist, at Rhinoceros Visual Effects explains:
"Thanks to Sapphire-Plug-ins, we were able to create a unique dreamy feeling for the Sony Project that didn't look like a canned effect, which can so often be the case with other plug-ins. The fact that the tool kit of Sapphire is so diverse gave our artists the freedom to create completely customized effects. With Sapphire we managed to make the end result feel special, unique, and very different. These tools meant a lot in designing the look of this and so many other projects; as a matter of fact I can't think of a single project in recent memory where we didn't use Sapphire!"
Rhinoceros Visual Effects also recently completed a unique promo for Fox Sports Net NHL. Throughout the promo, Sapphire Plug-ins were used to create an x-ray effect that reveals the extraordinary abilities of hockey players, depicting the movements in their legs and springs in their backs as they are playing.

"We made extensive use of the amazing shading capabilities of the Sapphire Plug-ins for Inferno to create the x-ray look in this project," explains Rhinoceros' Creative Director and Partner Vico Sharabani. "I used a number of different tools in Sapphire from Glow to Grain and Edge Detect to create the softness and translucent look of an x-ray image. The variety, ease of use, and pleasing results made me, once again, happy with the choice of Sapphire as our primary plug-ins set," he adds.

About GenArts' Sapphire Plug-ins
Sapphire Plug-ins provide digital artists with a collection of over 200 state-of-the-art image processing and synthesis effects. They fully and seamlessly integrate into a number of editing and compositing systems including: Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere; Apple Final Cut Pro and Shake; Avid Media Composer, Xpress, Xpress DV, Symphony and Avid|DS; Discreet combustion, flint, flame, inferno, fire, and smoke. Sapphire Plug-ins offer a comprehensive suite of tools and effects that can transform any film or video clip. They are resolution-independent, include multi-processor support for faster rendering, and run on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Irix. Effects in the package range from everyday tools such as Glows, EdgeRays, LensFlare, Glint, Blurs and RackDefocus, to more exotic effects like Lightning, FlysEye, JpegDamage, HalfTone and Textures.

About GenArts, Inc.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., GenArts, Inc. is a premier provider of digital visual effects plug-ins for the film and video industry. Introduced in 1996, Sapphire Plug-ins have become an industry standard for high-end visual effects creation at leading studios, broadcast and post production facilities around the world. They are widely recognized for their unrivaled quality and ease-of-use, and have been used extensively to create an array of feature films such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars-Episode I and II, Spider-Man, The Matrix, Ice Age, Pearl Harbor, Final Fantasy, Dinosaur, Titanic, Armageddon, Planet of the Apes, Contact, Star Trek and Godzilla. Additional GenArts product information can be found at http://www.genarts.com.

Contact:
Nicole Panas
GenArts, Inc.
1-617-492-2888
info@genarts.com

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