The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences used the occasion of the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas to announce the availability of its Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) 2.0, a new version of the open-source color and digital image file management system.
ACES was created with an eye toward ensuring color consistency throughout production, post, exhibition, archiving and remastering. It was developed by hundreds of scientists, engineers and end users, working under the auspices of the Academy.
The new version features enhancements in areas such as color rendering, transform invertibility, and support for custom output devices.
ACES 2.0 will be supported in new releases from software developers SGO and Pomfort. That includes the last versions of filmmaking tools Mistika Ultima, Mistika Boutique and Mistika VR from SGO; and Silverstack and Livegrade from Pomfort. Additionally, the Academy Software Foundation’s OpenColorIO (OCIO v2.4.2) open source color management system has implemented ACES 2.0 features, including ACES 2.0 configs, striving for easier and broader software integration across the industry.
This spring, Autodesk Flame will be released with ACES 2.0 support. The Academy anticipates additional ACES 2.0-supported hardware and software releases throughout the year as more industry partners complete their integration efforts. Multiple productions have already used pre-release versions of ACES 2.0 as part of the testing process.
ACES 1.0 was launched a decade ago in 2015, and many tools currently support ACES version 1.3.
The Academy and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) will present a panel today at the NAB Show, during which colorist Alastor Arnold (“Anora”), visual effects supervisor Jeff Budsberg (“The Wild Robot”) and colorist Francesco D’Ascenzo (“Rhythm + Flow”) will discuss color management and the new ACES 2.0 with moderator Carolyn Giardina of Variety.
Also at NAB, Academy president Janet Yang and Academy SciTech Council chair Annie Chang will discuss technology, creativity and the future of filmmaking with moderator Michael Cioni, founder and CEO of AI workflow startup Strada.
