Thursday, February 28, 2008

ProVideo Coalition Launches Social Network

Scott Gentry | 02/28- 08:41 PM

Provideo social Netowrk is live

We’ve enlisted the technical resources of Ning.com to produce a beta version of our social netowrk here.

Why Bother?
I have personally been a member of several ning-based networks and find they are actually very useful.  For PVC, we’d like to set up different groups on vertical video specialties such as Motion Graphics, Cameras, Video Editing and of course as a member you can create your own.  If you haven’t tried a social network, now may be your chance.  We are just turning this baby live late Thursday evening.  So if you get there and there’s few people (or even just me) don’t be alarmed.  That means you’re an early adopter and ahead of the curve.

The end-goal of the PVC is to really be put together by the professional community. Jump in and help us make this a destination.

Cheers,
Scott

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Petrol Introduces Mini Camera Accessory Bag

Scott Gentry | 02/28- 05:38 PM

Effective: February 28, 2008

Petrol, a Vitec Group brand, introduces the Petrol Mini Camera Accessory Bag. This new semi-rigid carrier is the convenient and comfortable way to transport essential accessories like batteries, chargers, and spare connectors.

The top lid’s dual directional run-around “upside down” zippers open quickly for easy access.  Inside, layers of bright orange padded fabric cradle and safeguard sensitive equipment.  Two removable dividers can be custom configured to provide extra security and protection. Underneath the main chamber, a second basement compartment offers additional cushioned space. Exterior zippered pockets on all four sides offer even more options for storage. Features include Petrol’s U-Grip ergonomic carrying handle and padded adjustable shoulder strap. The bag’s exterior is constructed of heavy duty waterproof blue and black Cordura.

U.S. List Price for the new Petrol Mini Camera Accessory Bag (#PMCAB-1) is $164. For further information on this or other Petrol products please go to http://www.petrolbags.com or contact: Petrol, 709 Executive Blvd., Valley College, NY 10989, Phone: 845-268-0100, Fax: 845-268-0113, Email: 

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Apple Introduces New MacBook and MacBook Pro Models

Scott Gentry | 02/26- 05:30 AM

Multi-Touch Trackpad Comes to MacBook Pro - But No New Form Factor!

CUPERTINO, California—February 26, 2008—Apple® today updated its popular MacBook® and MacBook Pro notebook lines with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard in most models. In addition, MacBook Pro includes the latest NVIDIA graphics processors, now with up to 512MB of video memory, and Apple’s innovative Multi-Touch™ trackpad, first introduced in MacBook Air™. All Mac® notebooks include a built-in iSight® video camera for video conferencing on-the-go*, Apple’s MagSafe® Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain and built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.**

The new MacBook Pro features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo technology with up to a 2.6 GHz processor with 6MB of shared L2 cache; up to 4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory and up to a 300GB hard drive, plus NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with up to 512MB of video memory. Every MacBook Pro now includes a trackpad with Multi-Touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to zoom and rotate photos in iPhoto® or Aperture™ 2 or browse web pages in Safari™; an illuminated keyboard that makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls and a built-in ambient light sensor, which automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the brightness of the display for optimal visibility.

Featuring a gorgeous 13-inch glossy widescreen display, and with prices still starting at just $1,099, the new MacBook lineup comes in three models and includes faster processors and larger hard drives across the line; sleek white 2.1 GHz and 2.4 GHz models with 120GB or 160GB 5400 rpm hard drives and a stunning black 2.4 GHz model with a massive 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive, previously only available as an option. The 2.4 GHz MacBook models ship with 2GB of memory standard, expandable up to 4GB across the line.

Every MacBook and MacBook Pro includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go; Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that magnetically connects the power cord and safely disconnects when under strain; the latest generation of 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g; built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking; Bluetooth; analog and digital audio inputs and outputs; USB 2.0; FireWire® and a built-in SuperDrive®.

Every Mac in the Apple lineup comes with iLife® ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie®, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing***. Every Mac also includes Leopard®, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system which introduces Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder™ that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock and major enhancements to Mail and iChat®. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a Mac over the Internet while out on the road.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

The Foundry releases Nuke 5.0

Mark Christiansen | 02/25- 08:28 PM

First major update since acquisition from Digital Domain includes the much awaited new UI

Although nearly a decade old and tested in production on some of world’s most recognized visual effects films, Nuke is the new kid on the block when compared with its older rivals, such as Shake (which will see no more upgrades from Apple) and After Effects, which just turned 15 last month. Version 5.0 is the first major release since the software was acquired by The Foundry UK, and this release addresses the one shortcoming everyone agreed about: a less than beautiful user interface in previous versions, cluttered (as Adobe applications used to be) with floating palettes. No doubt this UI makeover is about more than looks (but looks are important in an app that a visual artist might stare at for the most waking hours).

Additional new features in version 5.0 include:

- Python scripting (and there was much rejoicing among nerds)

- Stereoscopic Support (for 3D movies, which I can report first hand are tricky to composite)

- Mask Inputs (another feature, like the UI upgrade, which will help Shake artists settle down)

- Proxies (to make an already fast display system even more responsive)

- Global Undo/Redo (especially welcome to the Shake crowd, who never did get a proper undo/redo!)

Nuke 5.0 is $3500. The Foundry offers floating licenses (without adding the usual premium over node-locked licenses). More info at Nuke.

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Vara Software ships ScreenFlow for Mac OS X

Scott Gentry | 02/23- 06:58 PM

Vara Software today shipped ScreenFlow, the most advanced Screencasting software package for Mac OS X Leopard. ScreenFlow’s powerful screen, camera, and audio capture systems allow you to capture everything you do. With ScreenFlow’s advanced timeline-based editing features, you can mix down your Screencast, with such effects as: 3D or 2D Zoom & Pan, Mouse Callouts, Foreground Window Callouts, Picture-in-Picture, Reflection, Drop Shadow, and much more. 

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Friday, February 22, 2008

Claim: NVIDIA Redefines Notebook Workstation Market

Scott Gentry | 02/22- 07:04 AM

New Quadro® FX 3600M Graphics Bring Advanced Visualization to Professionals on the Go with Improved Graphics, and more…

SANTA CLARA, CA — FEBRUARY 21, 2008 – NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the world leader in visual computing technologies, today introduced the NVIDIA Quadro® FX 3600M professional GPU for notebook and laptop workstations. This new graphics solution defines a new level of graphics performance and advanced visual computing for designers, engineers, and scientists who demand the functionality of a desktop workstation on a notebook platform.

“Design professionals, who rely on the high-performance and advanced features of NVIDIA Quadro graphics in a desktop workstation, can also experience this same level of performance in a notebook workstation,” said Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions, NVIDIA. “With the new NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M GPU, the notebook becomes a powerful workstation, allowing professionals to work anywhere, anytime without sacrificing graphics quality or performance.”

“The HP Compaq 8710w mobile workstation, with the new NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M GPU, is our most powerful mobile workstation to date,” said Dan Forlenza, vice president, Business Notebooks, HP. “The implementation of high-performance features such as CUDA and Shader Model 4.0 technology on the mobile GPU, gives professionals the workstation-caliber processing and graphics performance they need to go wherever their work takes them.”

These new platforms deliver a uniform feature set, which include Shader Model 4.0, CUDA™ technology and GPU computing for visualization. Professionals working with large datasets, models, and images in markets such as computer-aided design (CAD), digital content creation (DCC), imaging, computing, and the sciences, are now unchained from their desktop workstations with notebook solutions that feature the latest Quadro professional graphics architecture.

Engineered to deliver high performance and visualization of extensive datasets with extremely high image quality in an ISV-certified, notebook platform, the Quadro FX 3600M is available as a fully qualified MXM v2.1A type-III form factor mobile workstation graphics board with:

512 MB G-DDR3 memory
256-bit memory interface
51.2 GBps graphic memory bandwidth
OpenGL 2.1, Shader Model 4.0, and DirectX 10
PowerMizer™ adaptive power management tools

The complete line of NVIDIA Quadro FX notebook solutions are widely available through leading OEMs such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Fujitsu Japan, and FSC as well as workstation system integrators. For more information about the entire series of NVIDIA professional Quadro solutions, please visit http://www.nvidia.com/quadro.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

NewTek Announces LightWave 3D v9.5

Scott Gentry | 02/21- 12:29 PM

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, today announced LightWave v9.5, a major update to its award-winning 3D application, LightWave 3D. LightWave v9.5 new capabilities include a complete hair and fur solution, new lighting system and many improvements to animation, global illumination, rendering and workflow. The update will be available to registered owners of the LightWave v9 series at no charge. The LightWave v9.5 Open Beta program is scheduled to begin early March; LightWave v9 owners who wish to participate may register now by visiting: register.newtek.com/

“As promised with the LightWave v9 series we’ve added major capabilities with each of the updates we’ve delivered so far and LightWave v9.5 is certainly no exception,” said Jay Roth, president, NewTek 3D Division. “With the addition of a complete hair and fur solution, all new real-world lighting system and GI that is significantly faster with even more beautiful results, LightWave v9.5 has something to offer the 3D community regardless of the specialty - from game developers to character animation to architectural visualization.”

LightWave v9.5 Update Includes:
Character Animation Enhancements
- New Hair and Fur System
- Enhanced IK and Animation Systems
 New Collada, FBX and OBJ I/O
 New IK Calculation Options for Faster Performance
 New Bone Type - Joints
 New Objective Options for IK
 IK/FK blending
 Multi-threaded Mesh Deformation Evaluation
Modeler
 UV Unwrap/UV Relax
 Symmetry Tolerance
Node Editor Enhancements
 Interpolated Soft Rlections/Refractions
 Support for New Light API Functions
 Oren-Nayar Shading Option for Many Materials

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Autodesk Reduces Pricing for Maya Unlimited and Announces Maya 2008 Extension 2

Scott Gentry | 02/19- 03:45 PM

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced reduced pricing for Autodesk Maya Unlimited 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software—the tool of choice for designers and artists working in film, television and games. Autodesk also announced Maya 2008 Extension 2 software, which provides enhanced creative control over polygon modeling and UV texturing, as well as significant improvements to the Maya Muscle toolset. Maya was recently inducted into the Game Developer Front Line Award Hall of Fame for its outstanding contribution to the game development industry.

“The reduced price of Autodesk Maya Unlimited makes its extensive toolset more accessible to new users and existing facilities that want to expand their Maya-based pipelines,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “More artists can now take advantage of the software’s professional tools and advanced workflows to meet demands for captivating content created on shorter deadlines and tighter budgets.”

Maya Unlimited contains everything offered in Maya Complete software, plus innovations such as Maya Fluid Effects, Maya nCloth, Maya Hair, Maya Fur, and Maya Live. Pricing for Autodesk Maya Complete remains unchanged.

The Autodesk suggested retail price of a new license of Maya Unlimited, Standalone has been reduced from US$6,995* to US$4,995*. The Autodesk suggested retail price of a new license of Maya Unlimited, Network has been reduced from US$8,345* to US$6,245*. Maya Complete 2008 customers can now cross-grade to Maya Unlimited 2008 at the reduced Autodesk suggested retail price of US $2,995*. All price changes are effective as of Feb. 18, 2008.

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