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Open Effects Association Forms to Promote Open Standards for Visual Effects (27/5/2009)

Seven companies joined forces at NAB last month to launch The Open Effects Association. This non-profit, UK-based company aims to develop and promote open standards across the visual effects community. Founding members are Assimilate, Autodesk, Digieffects, FilmLight, The Foundry, GenArts and RE:Vision Effects. These companies have helped artists create ground-breaking VFX shots on just about everything that hits cinema screens.

The Association's initial focus is to improve the OFX image processing plug-in standard launched by The Foundry in 2004. The goal for the OpenFX API is to reduce the level of development and support required for plug-ins across different compositing and editing host platforms. The OpenFX API has, to date, been adopted by:

* Assimilate SCRATCH
* Autodesk Toxik software
* FilmLight's Baselight
* GenArts Sapphire plug-ins
* The Foundry's Nuke compositor and Tinder, Keylight and Furnace plug-ins
* RE:Vision Effects' ReelSmart(tm) Motion Blur and DE:Noise plug-ins
* Digital Vision's FilmMaster
* Grass Valley's Bones
* Eyeon Fusion
* Avid DS
* Photron's Primatte Keyer

The Association hopes that as a new, independent organisation, it will encourage increasingly open communication and collaboration between hosts and plug-in developers and establish a uniform specification to benefit everyone involved, starting with the artists.

Bruno Nicoletti, chief technical officer at The Foundry and main creator of the original OpenFX API comments, "It was always The Foundry's aim to make life easier for everyone. I'm reinvigorated by the formation of this new independent body, delighted to have been appointed to the board and am looking forward to collaborating with the other members and encouraging uptake of OpenFX API as a standard."

Gary Oberbrunner, chief scientist, vice president of engineering at GenArts and newly appointed director of the OFX Association adds, "GenArts Sapphire has a well-earned reputation for supporting a wide range of host platforms. We've been supportive of the OpenFX premise since its inception,and Sapphire runs on all major OpenFX hosts. We at GenArts are excited about the OFX Association and we believe this new approach will enable the industry to advance our common goals more quickly."

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