a consistent interface for choosing and potentially combining Sapphire and Particleillusions effects, Hays said.
Wondertouch’s particle effects differ from most of GenArts’ effects, according to Lorence, in that they are largely automated. “When you talk about a glint or a glow, there are a number of parameters you can adjust to animate them over time, but you have to set up the change,” Lorence says. “A particle system also has a number of parameters, but at a certain point, you no longer have individual control. They are free to go. You are able to create a wide variety of natural-type effects—smoke and fires and explosions—without having to worry about animating every single little of it.”
Because they’re so powerful and relatively affordable, particle-based systems like Particleillusions have appealed so far mainly to effects artists on limited budgets, such as local TV stations or small video game development companies, Lorence says. The GenArts user base, on the other hand, consists of “more high-end users—a lot of feature film work and big budget productions.” But the leading high-end tool for particle effects, Autodesk’s Maya 3D, is difficult to use, he says. “Maya particles can do anything, but you really need a programmer to get it working, because they have a whole programming language built into them. What we are focused on is taking [the effects] away from a few particle wizards and putting those tools into the hands of as many people as possible, regardless of their level of experience.”
This is the second acquisition for GenArts this year—in January the company acquired UK-based SpeedSix, maker of two effects packages called Monsters and Raptors. Lorence, who will remain in St. Louis, is the only person joining GenArts as part of the Wondertouch acquisition; the company’s small support staff is being let go, Lorence says.
