News

San Francisco, CA (June 25, 2008)—Tweak Software is releasing RV, the company’s first commercially available software package, announced Seth Rosenthal, founder and president. RV is a highly customizable cross-platform image and sequence viewer that is capable of playing back uncompressed film resolution clips.

Band Pro Film & Digital introduces the Carl Zeiss +0.5 DigiDiopter™. This new optic joins the DigiDiopter line of HD-quality diopters, currently available in +1 and +2 magnifications.

The only ZEISS-quality diopters available, DigiDiopters are designed to work in conjunction with the popular ZEISS DigiPrime® and DigiZoom™ series, as well as all other top-grade 2/3” HD lenses. Carl Zeiss DigiDiopters are the ideal optical tool for extreme close ups or wide angle shots with a shallow depth of field. They attach easily to the front of the lens to provide increased close-focus range and magnification capability.

DigiDiopters employ a unique, achromatic dual-lens assembly to minimize color fringing and spherical aberration, common problems with traditional single lens diopters. The ZEISS optical design ensures a high-resolution, high-contrast image with consistent precision anywhere in the frame. Carefully selected optical glass elements and the Zeiss proprietary T* anti-reflective coating —the same coating applied to Carl Zeiss DigiPrime®, and DigiZoom™ lenses—reduce light loss and flare, while improving transmission for crisp images with saturated colors and accurate blacks.  DigiDiopters are designed to optically match the DigiPrime, and DigiZoom’s color balance, contrast, and overall image quality.

Weighing about 10 ounces (285g) each, Zeiss DigiDiopters can be attached to the camera lens - or to each other - via a single thumbscrew. A unique self-centering clamping mechanism maintains a proper distance between diopter and lens and keeps them parallel to each other, ensuring optimal image quality. This mounting system puts the least amount of stress on the lens itself, while keeping the DigiDiopters securely in place. It also enables stacking the diopters on the front of the lens. The +0.5 can be placed on top of the +1 DigiDiopter to provide a +1.5 magnification or on top of the +2 DigiDiopter to offer a +2.5 magnification. Or all three may be stacked together to affect a full +3.5 magnification. 

The ZEISS DigiDiopters are manufactured at the Carl Zeiss Optics factory in Oberkochen, Germany and marketed worldwide exclusively by Band Pro Film & Digital. For more information, go to http://www.digiprimes.com, or contact Michael Bravin at Band Pro Film & Digital, 3403 West Pacific Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505, Phone: 818/841-9655, Fax: 818/841-7649, e-mail:

Wayne, NJ (June 17, 2008) — Belgium-based Alfacam, a leading European television facilities provider, has installed 566 JVC Professional monitors in their HDTV production vans.  JVC monitors will also be used as part of Alfacam’s HD coverage for the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. 

Wilmington, NC - June 17, 2008 - Digieffects, a developer of popular visual effects software plugins today announced that it has shipped Simulate: Illuma, a plugin package offering a specialized collection of effects plugins for creating light and glow effects.

San Mateo, Calif. – June 16, 2008 – Luxology® LLC, developers of modern, artist-focused 3D software, today announced the immediate availability of two additional modo® 302 video albums created by Luxology’s Training Division. The albums, entitled “Concept Car” and “Cartoon Kid,” are provided in high-definition resolution and provide step-by-step instruction on how to efficiently use modo software to model, paint and render.

The Luxology Training Division, led by Andy Brown, was formed over a year ago in an effort to answer the growing demand for high-quality learning materials for both novice and experienced 3D modo artists. Since its formation, there has been a continual flow of professional quality training materials on a variety of real-world topics. A typical video album from Luxology is priced at USD $25 and provides approximately 90 minutes of instruction and sample content. Each video is downloadable for immediate viewing and is formatted for playback on Mac and PC systems.

CHATSWORTH, CA – For ultra long-distance digital video extension, Gefen offers its new DVI-1500HD. This system operates through robust sender and receiver units connected to the source and display at local and remote locations. One 4-link LC-LC multimode fiber cable delivers hi-def video from sender to receiver, supporting resolutions to 1080p full HD or 1920x1200 for computers. Up to 500 meters (1640-feet) in distance can be traveled with an instant delivery of data. HDCP-compliant video may be extended up to 100 meters (330-feet) using an additional CAT-5 cable for DDC transmission.