Indigo2 IMPACT : Post-Production

A New Era of Creative Freedom for Post-Production

In the past decade, the evolution of the language of film and video and the associated customer requirements has been astonishing. Imagery once composed of only a few layers, with transitions based on simple cuts and dissolves, has now evolved to a new standard. This new standard includes sophisticated scenes composed of multiple layers, 2D and 3D animation, special effects, and live action elements.

To meet today's requirements, film and video professionals have been forced to choose between workstations offering application flexibility and 3D animation power, and dedicated function "black boxes" offering applications-specific performance. It has not been possible to create these sophisticated special effects within realistic production scheduls and budgets, except with very high-end graphics workstations. The ability to create has been constrained by the limited access to expensive tools as well as the technical limits of affordable tools.

This era in post-production is now over. The Indigo2 IMPACT workstation from Silicon Graphics combines open-system creative freedom, breakthrough image processing, 3D performance, and high-end production speed to redefine the price/performance standard for the post-production industry.

Unbridled Power to Create

Indigo2 IMPACT brings unprecedented creative freedom to post-production. With dedicated Geometry Engine processors and powerful imaging ASICs, Indigo2 IMPACT delivers the power you need to accomplish what you've only dreamed of - right on your desktop. The system is incredibly fast in all areas of post-production - film and video compositing, non-linear editing, digital image processing, and, of course, texture-mapped 3D animations.

3D Better Than Ever

You can create and choreograph complex 3D models in real time, thanks to dramatic improvements in 3D performance from Indigo2 IMPACT. New features such as hardware texture mapping and accelerated image processing let you wrap realistic textures onto your 3D geometry to give it the look you want and allow you to animate in real time at near-finished quality.

Accelerated Paint and Compositing

In the past, most paint, compositing, and 2D animation applications have relied on dedicated devices to attain on-line production speeds. With dedicated hardware for video processing, Indigo2 IMPACT lets your perform keys, warps, blurs, color correction, even image processing and digital effects, at speeds that will amaze you and your clients. This dramatic boost in video processing performance not only assures instant feedback, but gives you the ability to retouch and composite at your own pace - not the system's.

Real-Time Uncompressed Video I/O

Uncompressed 10-bit quality in real time is now possible with Indigo2 IMPACT Video, our completely digital video I/O card. It lets you capture 8- or 10-bit-per-component SMPTE-259M (D1) video into main system memory in real time. With a fully configured system, that's up to 15 seconds of video (YUV 4:2:2 8-bit-per-component). There's no more waiting for frames that you want to manipulate or add to your effects. Indigo2 IMPACT Video even lets you perform highly accurate color space conversion in real time. With a separate real-time path to and from graphics, you have a range of capabilities at your fingertips - preview in real time at the highest quality, use real-time graphics with key/alpha out for character generation, or apply video as a texture to create low-cost, real-time 3D digital video effects.

In addition to painting, compositing, and creating 3D animations faster than any other desktop system, Indigo2 IMPACT and the Indigo2 IMPACT Compression option card let you edit your work at the quality you want. Whether you are making rough cuts for film, previewing a rendered sequence, or creating a finished piece, this card - whcih supports variable compressions ratios down to 2:1 - and the appropriate application give you the power to put it all together.

Open the Door to New Opportunities

Because Indigo2 IMPACT is binary compatible with all other Silicon Graphics systems, you can leverage your software investment across the entire platform. Indigo2 IMPACT si also built upon an open architecture and integrates into any environment. Not only does this protect your investment, but it opens the door to new opportunities, such as content creation for interactive CDs and the World Wide Web.

Breaking Down the Interactivity Barriers

The flagship of desktop systems, Indigo2 IMPACT, along with a new generation of powerful media applications, ushers in a new era of creative freedom. With this combination of power, flexibility, and innovative empowering applications, post-production professionals can continue to break new ground in visual effects.