At the show Apple was demonstrating a preview of Shake (a popular cross-platform compositing system for high resolution visual effects) on OS X. In February Apple acquired NothingReal, the developer of Shake. This package has earned an impressive reputation as a creme de la creme effects and compositing tool and has been used on numerous feature film projects including Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Tomb Raider, and Pleasantville. Now that Shake is an Apple product, what will become of the non-Mac versions? It looks like the Irix and Linux versions will be developed at least through next year but version 2.5 is expected to be the last release on Windows (sorry to all those who support the fortunes of the illegal monopoly). Before the acquisition NothingReal was working on a delayed Mac OS X port, I suspect now the port will receive a lot more attention with Steve Jobs in the mix.
This post is a section from the article “NAB 2002 Roundup” published in the New York Independent Film Monitor, Vol. 7, No. 7 (May 2002)