End of Shake, Phenomenon in 2008? - MacRumors
Skip to Content

End of Shake, Phenomenon in 2008?

With the news that Shake 4.1's release brought a $2500 price drop to the popular compositing application, most people seem to have missed a less publicized consequence of the release. According to Apple:

Apple will no longer be selling maintenance for Shake and no further software updates are planned as we begin work on the next generation of Shake compositing software.

This will be the last released version of Shake. This surprising end to Shake was predicted by a Page 2 Rumor along with some new details about this next generation application.

The upcoming high-end compositing replacement software is codenamed Phenomenon and will reportedly be based on the current Motion code, but will build off users existing Shake experience and knowledge. The most unusual aspect of this cross-over is that the new software is not expected until 2008.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Around the World

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event that it will be releasing iOS 27 sometime tomorrow – Monday, September 14. iOS 27 won't be the only release on...
deep black iphone 18 pro

Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Sold in U.S. Differs in One Way

Saturday September 12, 2026 3:27 pm PDT by
As noted by Nicolas Lellouche, who writes for the French tech website Numerama, Apple has updated its tech specs pages for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to clarify which models are equipped with its new C2 cellular modem and where. Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. According...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Tomorrow With These 8 New Features

Sunday September 13, 2026 4:30 pm PDT by
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and changes coming with iOS 27, with the main attraction being a...

Top Rated Comments

264 months ago
Major VFX work

Here's something that doesn't get taken into consideration enough when talking about Shake and Apple... The fact is that (whilst it is used on all the big VFX films) all the big VFX companies use the Linux version. All the Shake shots for King Kong and LOTR were done on Linux boxes. Most of these big FX houses have complex data piplines built round Linux scripts, and the OS X version of Shake just isn't an option. Also the Linux version is the one the big boys go with because it is faster.

Maybe Apple are killing off Shake because they want to recode from scratch so that the OS X version will be industry quality (like the Linux one is)?.

I always find it funny that when Apple shows shots from Kong in their Shake demos that they were not done on Macs. Not that It matters, I'm sure each individual shot could be done just as well on a Mac, but they certainly don't mind people not realising that they weren't.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)