Just off the ticker at Linux Journal's Hollywood bureau and talent agency is entertainment-industry news from SilhouetteFX LLC, whose new Silhouette v5 represents this post-production software's "most significant upgrade in its history". Silhouettefx, first launched in 2004, is a major player in high-end roto and paint for visual effects, as well as an important tool in the 2-D to 3-D conversion workflow. Four key upgrades found in version 5 include the raster/vector hybrid paint system dubbed Auto Paint, semi-automatic 2-D to 3-D conversion, a fresh look at shape-based warping and morphing, and the inclusion of Academy Award-winning planar tracking technology from Imagineer Systems' mocha Pro. In addition to these major advances, Silhouette v5 adds numerous features and changes, such as automatic stereo alignment, depth channel support, local disk caching for speedy playback, filled shapes, object searching, source transformations, an improved and more accurate planar tracker, and the ability to rotate the viewer for upside down and sideways shots. Silhouette is available on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.
