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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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Toolfarm Sales and New Releases

Chris Meyer | 02/17- 10:00 AM

A great deal on Mocha AE, plus other new releases

ToolfarmIs a handy one-stop shop for anyone looking to buy plug-ins for After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Shake, Motion, Cinema 4D, Avid, or Autodesk products. They also sell the host applications themselves, upgrades, stock footage, and training. It is worth getting on their mailing list, as they regularly have special offers, plus inform you about product updates.

Below is an example of some of their current deals and promotions (if not visible, click on the “more” link):

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Friday, February 15, 2008

RE:Vision Effects, Inc. releases SmoothKit 2

Chris Meyer | 02/15- 12:16 PM

A plug-in set for smooth imagery that combines user-directed controls and feature-sensitive methods.

SmoothKit is a set of 9 special purpose filters that complements the basic blurs provided by host applications. SmoothKit’s emphasis is precise control on the filtering process, with no compromise on image quality. SmoothKit allows you to blur without blurring over edges, sharpen with much less ringing, intelligently reduce small image defects, reduce jaggies, blur with per-pixel direction control, and z-blur using greyscale depth images. Many plugins have per-pixel controls, allowing you to vary the amount of blur or the direction of the blur, and many other controls, at each pixel.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Panasonic announces BT-LH1760 17-inch production LCD

Jim Feeley | 02/14- 11:34 AM

[press release]

Company claims BT-LH1760 provides “CRT Performance,” adds built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES CRT PERFORMANCE IN
A NEW 17” LCD PRODUCTION MONITOR

*120 Hz. BT-LH1760 Features Stunning Picture Quality *

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 13, 2008) – Panasonic announced a revolutionary enhancement in the performance of high-quality production LCD monitors – the 120Hz 17” BT-LH1760. The new monitor offers wide off-axis viewing and color reproduction, and provides the motion handling and latency advantages formerly provided only in CRT monitors. The LH1760 is a widescreen high definition display that delivers impressive color reproduction and now offers a vectorscope function in addition to Panasonic’s standard built-in waveform monitoring function.

Utilizing a new In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel with 1280 x 768-pixel native resolution, the LH1760 produces faithful color reproduction with twice the response speed of other currently available professional LCD monitors, so images appear crystal clear, precise and true-to-life, even when displaying fast motion content. 

The LH1760 features a 120Hz refresh rate*, double that of standard 60Hz LCD monitors. This enables the monitor to handle fast motion content exceptionally well, minimizing image blur to a level never before seen in a professional LCD display.

In addition, this high performance production monitor is equipped with a built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope that display all picture lines for signal level monitoring. For critical HD focusing and comparison, the LH1760 comes with valuable functions such as Pixel-to-Pixel matching, which allows the user to see an input signal pixel by pixel without any resizing, and Split Screen/Freeze Frame (live input vs. freeze frame).

The LH1760 features an array of input/outputs to support virtually any production task including DVI-D input, two auto-switching HD-SDI/SDI inputs, component video (Y/Pb/Pr), RGB, PC RGB, external sync, speaker and headphone outputs. Additional standard features include embedded audio, time code, closed caption, and an eight-channel audio level meter (via SDI).

Inheriting the rugged design of Panasonic’s line of production-tough monitors, the rack-mountable
LH1760 is thin, lightweight and durable, with a die-cast aluminum build. The compact monitor has low energy consumption and, because there is no need for a fan, offers quiet operation.

The LH1760 will be available in April 2008 at a suggested list price under $5,000.

The high-performance LH1760 joins Panasonic’s BT family of production LCD monitors, which includes the 7.9” BT-LH80W, 8.4” BT-LH900A, 17” BT-LH1700W and 26” BT-LH2600W models.

About Panasonic Broadcast

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems.  Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations.  For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company’s web site.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Panasonic announces two AVCHD camcorders

Jim Feeley | 02/14- 11:10 AM

One aimed at event market, other at DVX100 crowd

[press releases for both cameras follow]

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL AVCHD
AG-HMC150 HANDHELD HD CAMCORDER

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 13, 2008) – Panasonic announces a new addition to its growing professional AVCHD product line that capitalizes on the phenomenal success of its popular DV-based AG-DVX100. The new, affordable AG-HMC150 handheld is scheduled for shipment later this year.

The HMC150 is designed to provide enhanced HD production capabilities for video enthusiasts who desire professional features, extended recording capability and the fast, simple and highly reliable workflow offered by tapeless, solid-state recording. The HMC150 features three native 16:9 progressive 1/3” CCD imagers with an optical image stabilization (O.I.S.) function to ensure stable shooting and a 28mm Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens (35MM equivalent). The HMC150 handheld offers 1080i and 720p recording at 13Mbps, comparable to current HDV compression formats with bit rates of 25Mbps. In addition, an enhanced mode with a higher bit rate is planned to be incorporated into the HMC150 for higher-level use. It supports a full range of HD formats including 1080/60i, 1080/50i, 1080/30p, 1080/25p, 1080/24p native; 720/60p, 720/50p, 720/30p, 720/25p, 720/24p native; and it is 50Hz/59.94Hz switchable.

The advanced handheld utilizes the second-generation long GOP HD standard called AVCHD. Based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile encoding, AVCHD provides a near doubling of bandwidth efficiency and considerably improved video performance over the older MPEG-2 compression used in HDV formats. Announced by Panasonic and Sony, this industry standard format is now supported by over 30 companies and implemented in numerous camcorders, NLE systems and consumer HD playback devices.

The HMC150 offers professional HD performance with the simplicity of a digital still camera. Since the solid-state handheld records onto SD and SDHC memory cards, professionals can benefit from the reliability and random access of tapeless recording and capitalize on the cost advantages, widespread availability, and growing capacity of standard SD consumer cards. Using the newly announced 32GB SDHC memory card and the camcorder’s 6Mbps recording mode, users can acquire up to 12 hours of HD video and audio on a single SD card.

Additional features of the HMC150 include professional XLR audio input connections and a wide range of data and signal interfaces including HDMI out, USB2.0, component out (D terminal), composite out and RCA audio out jacks, a 3.5-inch LCD monitor to display thumbnail images for quick viewing and playback, and a Time Code/User Bits menu. The camera also has remote jacks for focus iris and start/stop functions, a pre-record feature that allows the camera to capture footage occurring immediately before real-time recording begins, and a time/date stamp menu option for documentation purposes.

Panasonic’s AVCHD camera line brings the benefits of solid-state recording to budget-conscious professionals. Like digital still photography, recording onto SD/SDHC card offers a fast and simple IT-compatible workflow with ultra-reliable performance and resistance to shock, vibration and extreme temperatures and weather. SD and SDHC memory cards are inexpensive and widely available and can be reused repeatedly.  Since AVCHD records video as digital data files, content can be transferred and stored on affordable, high-capacity hard disk drives (HDD) and optical storage media and transferred to future storage media as technology advances.

The HMC150 will be available this fall at a price to be announced.

==============

PANASONIC AG-HMC70, INDUSTRY’S FIRST PROFESSIONAL
AVCHD SHOULDER-MOUNT CAMCORDER, SHIPS IN APRIL

** An Affordable, Second Generation Professional HD Camcorder **

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 13, 2008) – Panasonic announced today that the AG-HMC70, the industry’s first AVCHD shoulder-mount camcorder, will be available in April at a suggested list price of $2,495.  Joining the AG-HSC1U handheld in Panasonic’s professional AVCHD line-up, the HMC70 provides institutional customers, event videographers, and web content producers full high definition quality, professional audio and video connectivity, and the fast production workflow offered by tapeless SD card recording.  Used to capture important events or send live widescreen video to a projector or flat screen display, the HMC70 is as easy to use as a digital still camera.

“The HMC70 is the latest product in our professional AVCHD camcorder line,” said Robert Harris, Vice President of Marketing, Panasonic Broadcast. ”AVCHD is a new industry-standard camera recording format, introduced by Panasonic and Sony, and now supported by over 30 different manufacturers.”

“This second generation HD format utilizes MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression and offers significant improvements in bandwidth efficiency and image quality over older MPEG-2 based systems such as HDV,” Harris said. “Implemented by Panasonic in professional camcorders using standard consumer SD cards, the Panasonic Professional AVCHD camcorder line offers a highly affordable HD video recording solution with tremendous advantages over older tape based products. Unlike HDV, AVCHD content can be captured on a standard SD card and played immediately in a growing number of inexpensive consumer products such as Blu-ray players, game machines, computers, and plasma displays. Now supported by most of the leading NLE products, AVCHD content can also be edited and rendered to almost any format or media. It is a fast and easy way for schools, churches, and businesses to enjoy the advantages of high definition video recording.”

The HMC70 utilizes the AVCHD High Profile video codec, which offers similar image quality to HDV 1080i but uses about half the bandwidth. This means longer recording times and half the storage requirement. Since the HMC70 uses standard SD cards, unlike tape, recording capacity will increase with higher capacity reusable cards, offers random access without fast forward or rewinding, and content is immediately available to editing systems without the ingest delay and additional cost of a playback deck.

The HMC70’s 3-CCD ¼” progressive image system captures 1080i HD, 16:9 images with excellent sensitivity, superb color reproduction and resolution. The camera is equipped with a 12X 38.5mm to 462mm (35mm equivalent) Leica Dicomar™ wide-angle zoom lens, one-push Auto Focus, and integrated Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) that ensures stable images, critical to high definition video display. Professionals can also capture 2.1 Megapixel still images with the camcorder, even during video recording.

With the release of higher-capacity SD cards, professionals have the ability to continuously record for hours. Users can record in one of the camera’s three recording modes – 6Mbps, 9Mbps or 13Mbps. The HMC70 can record over 2.6 hours at 13Mbps, the HMC70’s highest quality mode, or up to 6 hours at 6Mbps, the camera’s extended recording mode—all on just one 16GB SDHC memory card. In addition, solid-state SD card recording eliminates mechanical wear associated with tape, optical disc, or hard drive based systems. 

The HMC70 has a professional, yet lightweight, shoulder mount design that enables exceptionally stable shooting during long recording sessions. The HMC70 is equipped with Y/Pb/Pr BNC connections for playback or live feeds to video projectors or large displays for presenter magnification use in auditoriums and other large venues. It also has high quality audio features such as two locking XLR inputs with switches for mic/line, +48V Phantom Power, Auto/Manual level, mic attenuation, and front/rear assignment. It also features a headphone volume control to match the camera’s output to the shooters’ stereo headphones.

AVCHD editing is currently supported by numerous leading NLE companies on both PC and Mac platforms. In addition, AVCHD can be easily converted to P2 DVCPRO HD for editing on existing systems using a free AVCHD transcoder available on the Panasonic Broadcast web site, or transferred as uncompressed HD video utilizing a simple HDMI to HD-SDI converter.

The HMC70 comes standard with HD Writer software and a 2GB SD card. Optional accessories include a VW-VBG260 battery pack (7.2V 2,640mAh), VW-VBG6 battery pack (7.2V 5,800mAh), VW-AD20 AC adaptor, VW-LDC102 Light, VW-LF43N Filter Kit, VW-W4307H Wide Conversion Lens and a VW-T4314H Tele Conversion Lens.

About AVCHD

Panasonic’s AVCHD camera line brings the benefits of solid-state recording to budget-conscious professionals. Based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 technology, AVCHD delivers twice the recording efficiency of older MPEG-2 codec technologies like HDV, ensuring crisp and clear HD images with exceptional color and motion performance. Like digital still photography, recording onto an SD/SDHC card offers a fast and simple IT-compatible workflow, with ultra-reliable performance due to resistance to shock, vibration and extreme temperatures and weather. SD and SDHC memory cards are inexpensive and widely available and can be reused repeatedly.  Since AVCHD records video as digital data files, content can be transferred and stored on affordable, high-capacity hard disk drives (HDD) and optical storage media and transferred to new ones as advanced technology is introduced in the future.

About Panasonic Broadcast

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co. is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video products and systems.  Panasonic Broadcast is a unit company of Panasonic Corporation of North America. The company is the North American headquarters of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) of Japan, and the hub of its U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations.  For more information on Panasonic Broadcast products, access the company’s web site at http://www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

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