Areté Entertainment: Testimonials

	Stefan Andersson FilmTecknarna Animation The speed, the interactivity and the features are plain and simple awesome! Moving from Softimage\|3D to Softimage\|XSI with DNT was done in a heartbeat when we first tried it. Being able to use DNTs excellent features with XSI's powerful render tree really made our jobs easier. Realistic water is one thing, but being able to stylize the water really gave us a chance to use it with our cartoon projects.
	Asylum Visual FX Pearl Harbor Areté proved to be our saving grace for one particular shot on Pearl Harbor. After several attempts to remove a jetty from a shot that supposed to be in the middle of the ocean, we decided to replace the water all together. Making water look beautiful from scratch is one thing, but actually having to match it to an existing scene was quite a challenge. Areté was the obvious solution. All of our tracking data was built in Maya so we used the Psunami plug-in to animate the water and then Areté's RenderWorld to achieve the proper look. The plug-in allowed Asylum's artists to work easily in a familiar 3D environment and then export their RenderWorld script for rendering. RenderWorld is known for its photo-real images but is tricky to work with because it only uses text files. With the Psunami plug-in we were able to quickly approximate the look in Maya, and then dial in the refined effect in RenderWorld. Areté was very helpful when we had specific issues to match the existing wave speed and amplitude. We worked very closely with Areté's support team trading frames and scripts until we had all of our questions answered. They wanted to make sure we were happy. In the end, the final effect was achieved: you can't even tell that there are any effects in the shot.
	Damijan Saccio Phactory Productions, *Dasani* We just wanted you to know how much using your Advanced Fluid Simulator helped us for the spot we did recently for the Coca-Cola Company. Using the AFS was in fact critical to the success of the ad. We needed an extremely realistic simulation of water pouring and splashing. We checked every available water simulator out there and none compared to Areté's Advanced Fluid Simulator. It was the only one that looked truly natural. No other software we were able to find truly simulates water splashing and pouring than Areté's AFS. Areté was very good about working with us to meet our specific needs. In the end we were very happy with the product we came up with and look forward to working with Areté in the future.
	Mike Brown Presto Studios, Inc., Lead Animator, Myst III: Exile Creating realistic looking water can be one of the most challenging problems in 3D. Riven, the sequel to Myst, is well known for it's superb water; the entire game takes place on an island. Myst III: Exile is no different. Each Age or island in the game is surrounded by water. We knew up front that water would be a big part of the visual appeal of the game, so we decided to pull out all the stops and use Digital Nature Tools for all the large areas of water in the game. Using DNT in association with 3D Studio Max, we were able to achieve the look we were after. Nothing else even came close.
	George Cairns 3D World Magazine, June 2001 This software gives you the power of a Greek god over the virtual elements.
	Jesse Andrewartha 3D Magazine, March 2000 Overall Digital NatureTools is amazing...the water plug-in defies belief...Nature may be the ultimate machine but Areté mimics it very well and DNT shows the beauty and complexity of nature at the click of a button.
	Rob Legato Visual Effects Supervisor, Titanic Areté's RenderWorld software allowed me to create shots for Titanic that could not have been done in any other way. I couldn't have shot a water plate by any conventional means and match, frame-for-frame, the types of shots we wanted to create. Areté's software basically became an instant second unit where I was able to specify the exact lens, the camera movement, the time of day, the type of sky, the amount of reflection, the type of reflection - all instantly - avoiding the need of actually going out and shooting plates. I couldn't get the type of plates I needed because I couldn't motion-control the helicopter to get them. With the use of RenderWorld, I was not only able to get an absolutely realistic ocean view, it matched, motion-control wise, frame-for-frame to the miniature shots I was using it for.
	Karen E. Goulekas Digital Effects Supervisor, The Fifth Element We used Areté on The Fifth Element on four shots. Three shots were for the Fhloston Shuttle sequence in which everything in the scene was created in the computer, except for the ship, which was miniature. Areté software was able to create believable water for the Planet Fhloston, the tropical vacation paradise. We also used Areté for FS11, a wide shot of the shuttle taking off from New York's Airport. The shot shows a futuristic NYC landscape with Areté water in the foreground. Very cool software. It is very difficult to tell the difference from the real thing.
	Seth Lippman Pacific Ocean Post, CGI Animator, Devil's Advocate It's within the movement of Areté's water that you achieve realism. Not only through it's motion, but how the water naturally and dynamically interacts with other objects. Other software can make realistic looking water...if it's not moving. It's how it reacts under different circumstances that makes RenderWorld superior to other packages.
	Joaquin "Kino" Gil .KINO.digital, Director and CEO Power, integration, flexibility and elegance make this software a joy to use, especially when you don't have a lot of time for your production and quality is a must.