Krause, Kai

1957–

Imaging Software Innovator

Kai Krause is a software programmer and visionary who has greatly influenced digital graphics manipulation, and whose successful graphics software has provided a remarkable canvas for the imagination. His image-manipulation add-ins convey a sense of novelty and uniqueness in a world saturated with commonplace graphical design.

Krause was born in Germany in 1957. He was educated in Essen, West Germany, where he studied several languages, including French and English. He also had an interest in music, and studied classical piano. Krause was also skilled in mathematics, which later fueled his software-programming approach that allowed for quicker image processing. He received a master's degree in image processing, and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy. Krause moved to California and during the late 1970s he became an independent special-effects consultant in the entertainment industry, working in the Disney sound-effects library and on television shows and record albums.

Krause's talent for art and his ability to program a computer led to his developing the first of a series of imaging-effects software programs: Power Tools, the product of a company that he founded called MetaTools. Originally designed as a third-party plug-in for Adobe's Photoshop, an image-processing application, Power Tools is a software-utility program that is used to manipulate images with visual effects. For example, a photograph of a sphere can be given a shadow, an edge, or a glowing effect.

Introduced in 1992, Krause's Power Tools was impressive, creating distinctive effects that would free the user from the long and tedious task of creating the same effects manually. The software interface was also noteworthy due to its appearance, which lacked conformity with the industry standards set by Microsoft and Apple. Krause aims for his software interfaces to encourage users to have fun and experiment—an approach that has drawn adults, as well as children, to his software.

In addition to Power Tools, MetaTools has released different forms and generations of graphics-altering software applications. Each application is distinguishable by the type of effects it can produce, and by the area of image processing in which it works. For instance, Kai's Power Goo contains special effects for drastically altering or morphing an image; an image of a person's face can be stretched as if reflected in a fun house mirror. Another type of image-effects software designed by Krause, called Bryce, works in specific areas of graphical design. It can generate natural and paranormal landscapes that can also be manipulated. Bryce allows image objects, such as weather, to be added into graphic scenes; a landscape of stretching knolls can have fog, rain, or snow coming in from various angles and directions. An additional feature of the professional version of Bryce is the ability to add animation to the graphics.

MetaTools merged with Fractal Design and became MetaCreations in May 1997. The new company had broader horizons, creating more products and adding more employees. In May 1999, Krause left MetaCreations, resigning his position as chief design officer. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Germany to begin building a research facility that he hopes will match the likes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Laboratory. Krause's research lab, named the Byteburg, is housed in a castle along the Rhine River.

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