London, 29th August 2019 - Foundry, the leading developer of creative software for the digital design, media and entertainment industries, today announces the release of Katana 3.2. 

The new Katana release showcases an artist-focused material node graph UI with faster workflows. 3Delight NSI now allows artists to render from multiple cameras at the same time and has increased speed and reduced memory needs. Katana has been upgraded to USD 19.05, introducing the ability to use the Hydra render delegate system.

Highlights of Katana 3.2 include:

• Improved Material Node Graph System: A new UI on top of Katana’s powerful shading architecture. Nodes now show all the viable connections when required, enabling a fully exposed, left-to-right workflow. The new Shading Group node allows for the clean organization of a complex network, effectively becoming self-contained widgets.
• 3Delight NSI 1.5 series updates: Artists can now render from multiple cameras at the same time, making it much easier to judge the best choices for the look of an environment. SSS has been improved to use the popular Random Walk method. The 3Delight rendering plug-in is now multithreaded by default, with scene export times improved between 30% to 400%, and instance and VDB Volume rendering memory footprints improved by as much as 8x. 

• USD Hydra Upgraded to USD 19.05: As part of Foundry’s ongoing commitment to USD, we’ve upgraded our Hydra-powered viewport to USD 19.05. This introduces the ability to use the Hydra render delegate system.

Jordan Thistlewood, Group Product Manager, Foundry, comments: “Katana has been used on the world's most challenging CG productions for the last 7 years.  Katana 3.2 represents our belief that being the best requires constant innovation. The new material creation UX builds on top of what was already the industry's best architecture for the creation and management of materials during look development and shot production. We enriched the artist experience with the new UI and workflows, and with the UI engine we will be innovating the Katana look development experience for years to come. ”

Ivaylo Petrov, Lighting Artist, Worldwide FX comments: “Using Katana, some of our artists were averaging 20 shots per day. The actual record is 45 shots, from which almost 40 went to final. This is one of the ways Worldwide FX can output a lot more work than you would think when you hear that we are just five people.”

About Katana

Katana® is an asset-based approach to look development and lighting that gives you the creative scope and scalability to meet the needs of the most demanding CG projects.

About Foundry

Foundry develops creative software for the digital design, media and entertainment industries. With a 20-year heritage and a portfolio of award-winning products, Foundry advances the art and technology of visual experience in partnership with creative leaders around the globe.

Clients and partners include major feature film studios and post-production houses such as Pixar, ILM, MPC, Walt Disney Animation, Weta Digital, DNEG, and Framestore as well as automotive, footwear, apparel and technology companies such as Mercedes, New Balance, Adidas and Google. Foundry partners with these companies to solve complex visualization challenges to turn incredible ideas into reality.

The company’s products are used to create breathtaking visual effects sequences on a wide range of feature films, video-on-demand, television and commercials. Foundry software was integral in the making of every VFX Oscar-winning film, award-winning TV shows and commercials for more than a decade. Founded in 1996, Foundry is headquartered in London, with over 300 employees and a presence in the US, China, Japan, Australia and Europe. In 2019, the London Stock Exchange named Foundry one of the “1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.” It regularly features in The Sunday Times’ Tech Track as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies. 

For more information visit www.foundry.com



Contact:

Madalina Grigorie
PR and Communications Manager, Foundry
+44 (0) 20 3976 1826 (ext. 2421)
+44 (0)738 7059 069
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