Monday, July 22nd, 2013 Posted by Jim Thacker

Tweak Software unveils RV 4.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-eKgmayus
RV’s color pipeline explained, in a video recorded in 2009. The popular image and sequence viewer for VFX and animation work has just received its first major update since the software’s original release.

Tweak Software has announced RV 4.0, the first full-point update to its popular image and sequence-viewing system for VFX and animation work since the product’s original release in 2008.

The software will receive its first public showing at Siggraph 2013.

New hardware-accelerated core
The release is built on top of RVX Core, a new hardware-accelerated architecture, offering faster IO and floating-point image-processing, and resolution-independent image handling.

The focus of the update seems to be performance: most of the functionality listed in the press release below is already present in the existing version.

However, there is one key new feature of RV 4.0: the option for users to author custom GLSL shaders, although this will require a separate development licence of RVX, priced at $995.

RV 4.0 itself will cost $299 to users on maintenance contracts, or $399 bundled with RVIO, Tweak’s command-line tool for transcoding media on the renderfarm. There’s no word on the release date yet.

PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
Tweak Software will unveil RV 4.0 at the SIGGRAPH conference, in Anaheim, Calif. Version 4.0 is a major update to RV, the image and sequence viewer for VFX and animation professionals currently powering image playback and review at industry leading facilities ILM, MPC, WETA Digital and many more. Tweak will be demonstrating RV 4.0 in the Shotgun Software booth, #737 from July 23-25 at the Anaheim Convention Center during exhibit hours.

RV 4.0 combines established industry leading features for playback, review, and collaboration with a new generation of features to enable artists, production teams, and studios to review film resolution digital imagery accurately, in context, and integrated seamlessly with modern workflows and far-flung production models. An in-depth preview of RV 4.0 will be presented at the Tweak User Group Meeting, Tuesday, July 23, 11:45AM-1:15PM in room 213a at the Anaheim Convention Center (RSVP to tweak@tweaksoftware.com).

RV 4.0 is built on top of the RVX Core, a new hardware accelerated image processing architecture that combines fast IO, resolution-independent image handling, hardware accelerated floating point image processing, and advanced color management. The RVX Core also adds a major new dimension to RV’s customizability–user programmable GPU image processing operations (GLSL shaders) that can be integrated into custom RV workflows.

“RV 4.0 is already proving to have great new capabilities. During our extensive beta testing, we developed a custom GLSL shader to display any out-of-gamut pixels when converting images between different color spaces,” said Damien Fagnou, Global Head of Software, MPC.

“Two years ago, we started work on the RVX Core, a major new rendering and image processing architecture designed to exploit the next generation of hardware. RV 4.0 is the first product based on the new architecture. Now that the RVX Core is here, we feel like kids in a LEGO store. We can easily create all kinds of great new features for our existing tools RV, RV-SDI, and RVIO, and we have a really powerful platform on which to build a new generation of artist’s tools. On top of that, we decided to open up the RVX Core to our users, so they can build on it too. The next few years are going to be exciting,” explained Seth Rosenthal, Co-Founder, Tweak Software.

RV 4.0 Key Features

Helps artists see their work accurately and in context

  • Mix formats, resolutions, color spaces, frame rates
  • Editorial transitions and time-warps
  • Linear floating point, HDR image processing and compositing

Enables productions to get the color right

  • Support for CDL, ACES, LUTs, Open Color IO, and user-programmed GLSL shaders
  • PipelineGroups enable completely custom color pipelines
  • Secondary color correction on any RV view

Empowers studios to build seamless collaboration, approval and review workflows

  • Python scripting, Web integration and open source session file format
  • User-programmable image processing operations using GLSL shaders
  • Nuke, Maya, Shotgun integration out of the box
  • Remote sync review among two or more locations

Pricing and Availability
RV 4.0 will be available to existing users under maintenance or for $299, or bundled with RVIO for $399. Licenses can float among workstations or be installed on a single computer. Authoring custom shaders will require a separate development license of RVX ($995 USD). This will enable users to author and publish shaders for use in any other RV based product (RV, RV-SDI, RVIO). RV, RV-SDI, RVX and RVIO are available directly from Tweak Software.

Visit Tweak Software online