j2k is a free Photoshop and After Effects plug-in set for reading and writing the JPEG 2000 file format, the successor to JPEG.

Also known as JP2, JPEG 2000 uses wavelet compression as opposed to the DCT compression used in standard JPEG. The end result is better image quality in a smaller file. JP2 also includes mandatory metadata such as information about an image's color space.

The After Effects version has the ability to Auto Proxy, meaning that when working at half or quarter resolution, j2k will only need to read in a fraction of the file, resulting in dramatic speedups.

"MainConcept, a worldwide leader in codec technology, has announced an aggressive new product roadmap. Together with the newly acquired Elecard team, MainConcept has been working for the past few months on a completely new codec lineup. The new message of MainConcept is "Every Codec. Every Platform." The goal is to offer all of the most-requested codec formats on all of the most-requested platforms."

From the website:

"What is it?
J2K-Codec is a software component, developed to facilitate JPEG2000 usage.
It can save you 8,000 lines of code, replacing them with a single line.

"Who should be interested?
J2K-Codec should interest virtually any person involved in the development of a program that works with graphics one way or another."

"If you are involved in the development of games or any other program that displays images, the newest version of J2K-Codec will be a valuable addition to your software development kit. J2K-Codec is a software component that offers you the easiest way to add JPEG2000 support to application. ..."

Aware, Inc. has a demonstration server online with sample images from various collections. Contact Mike Serafino (+1-781-687-0336) for a username/password.