GenArts Inc., the premier provider of specialized visual effects software for the film, television and video industries, and The Foundry, the world-leading visual effects software developer, today announced they have entered into a broad strategic alliance. Under the terms of the agreement, GenArts will acquire The Foundry’s Tinder and Tinderbox plug-ins business and the two companies will enter into an arrangement to collaborate closely to expand the capabilities of the Nuke platform.

A well-established suite with a loyal customer following, Tinder and Tinderbox have been stalwarts in the visual effects plug-ins market for many years. GenArts will immediately assume all development, sales, marketing and customer support of Tinder and Tinderbox as they work to breathe new life into the venerable Tinder brand.

The strategic alliance allows the development teams from The Foundry and GenArts to work closely together to fully maximize the functionality of their future products. This collaboration opens the door to more effective delivery of new technology as the host platform and plug-in development can be more synchronized.

“Both GenArts and The Foundry deliver technologies that are essential to the compositing pipeline at Method,” said Janelle Croshaw, of Method Studios. “Host platform development is often independent from the features and schedules of plug-in development. We’re very pleased to see that GenArts and The Foundry understand that the way we use their products is extremely intertwined. This collaboration allows us to provide more seamless solutions to clients as we continue to deliver visual effects that push the limits of our audience’s imagination.”

As part of the alliance, GenArts will become the flagship partner in The Foundry’s new third-party partner program for Nuke. GenArts will have an exclusive co-marketing relationship with The Foundry as a provider of visual effects plug-ins for Nuke and Nuke customers will have the option to install trial versions of GenArts plug-ins on Initial installation.

“The Foundry is very pleased to have come to this new arrangement with GenArts,” said Bill Collis, CEO, The Foundry. “We believe that it’s in the best interest of our customers for Tinder to be looked after by GenArts, while The Foundry concentrates on developing complex, problem-solving, image-processing plug-ins including further work on its award-winning Furnace and Ocula toolsets and new products based on our 3D scene technology. We hope our new third party program, launched today, with GenArts as our first provider, will bring a variety of plug-ins to the attention of Nuke users enabling them to do even more within the platform.”

“GenArts’ portfolio enjoys an unquestioned pedigree as the go-to tools in the arsenal of the world’s best visual effects artists and editors,” said Katherine Hays, CEO of GenArts. “Our alliance with The Foundry presents a unique opportunity to deliver value to Nuke users as the platform continues to gain momentum. Customers across the film, broadcast and commercial industries tell us that they highly value the benefits of standardizing their compositing pipeline on a common toolset from a trusted partner. The GenArts portfolio including Sapphire™, Monsters™, Raptors™, wondertouch™ and now Tinder offers the most comprehensive suite of visual effects in the industry for our current and future customers. This strategic alliance with the Foundry further supports Nuke’s growth into markets where GenArts software is a must-have.”