Telestream acquires live production and streaming specialist Vara Software

Randy Boyes | 08/28- 01:53 PM

Nevada City, Calif., August 27, 2008 – Telestream, the provider of Flip4mac, Episode and FlipFactory content repurposing and workflow automation products, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of European-based Vara Software Ltd., a privately-held company. The acquisition adds the products, technologies and employees of Vara Software to those of Telestream, Inc., a privately-held US-based company. Vara Software brings successful, award-winning live production and streaming products to the Telestream product family. The acquisition expands Telestream’s reach beyond encoding-based media workflow solutions for leading broadcast, media and entertainment companies to include powerful tools for real-time creation and distribution of video content over the Web for a broad range of businesses.

wondertouch releases significant feature enhancements for particleillusion for MAC OS X product line

Randy Boyes | 08/28- 01:46 PM

ST. LOUIS (August 27, 2008) - wondertouch™, a leading software developer of high performance particle effects creation tools, today announced that new versions for its particleIllusion™ 3.0 and particleIllusion SE line of product offerings on the Mac® OS® X are now available. The updates to particleIllusion 3.0, wondertouch’s industry standard, full-featured standalone particle effects application, and particleIllusion SE, the company’s introductory version, gives digital content creators working on Apple’s advanced operating system more ways to quickly and easily create complex effects: explosions, smoke, fire, sparkles, motion graphics backgrounds, space effects, creatures, and abstract artistic effects. The new changes and enhancements are available to current wondertouch customers free-of-charge.

Canon U.S.A. announces the introduction of the new EOS 50D digital SLR camera

Randy Boyes | 08/28- 01:35 PM

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., August 26, 2008 – With the demand for digital SLR cameras reaching unprecedented levels, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, is answering the call with the announcement of the next evolution in advanced amateur digital SLR photography, the EOS 50D Digital SLR Camera with 15.1 megapixel resolution and Canon’s new DIGIC 4 image processor. Designed to offer extraordinary quality and image control for the advanced photographer with a passion for the art, the Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR camera includes an expanded ISO range, improved noise reduction, and in-camera photo editing features. Canon has loaded the EOS 50D camera with a number of enhancements and some trickle-down technology from Canon’s professional Digital SLR cameras, as well as a new Creative Auto Mode (CA) that gives users more creative flexibility to make image setting adjustments conveniently without the need to be a photo expert.

Wonderdog Media produces Pacific Northwest medical news network with Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 HD

Randy Boyes | 08/28- 01:28 PM

SECAUCUS, NJ (August 25, 2008) – Wonderdog Media (Tacoma, WA), one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier digital video production companies, has made Panasonic’s solid-state AG-HVX200 P2 HD camcorder its mainstay acquisition tool since early 2006. The award-winning facility specializes in corporate and commercial video, and is dedicated to serving non-profits such as CARE International and Habitat for Humanity.

Century adds lens accessories for Sony HVR-Z7U

Randy Boyes | 08/22- 08:28 AM

Schneider Optics introduces a full array of professional Century HD lens accessories to complement Sony’s HVR-Z7U and HVR-S270OU camcorders. These 72mm lightweight optical attachments provide high resolution image clarity, while enabling the camera to go wider, reach further, and move in closer than the lens alone will allow.

Maxon delivers fully loaded Cinema 4d R11

Chris Meyer | 08/12- 01:26 PM

MAXON Computer, a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, today unveiled CINEMA 4D Release 11 (R11), the next generation of its highly acclaimed 3D animation software suite. The super-charged release is packed with advanced capabilities that deliver dramatically improved ease of use and workflow, image quality and integration into any production pipeline. CINEMA 4D R11 highlights include a non-linear animation system, new global illumination render engine and dramatically improved render speed. Customers also benefit from the powerful Projection Man matte painting system, developed by MAXON for Sony Pictures Imageworks, support for the COLLADA file format and CineMan — a RenderMan-compliant tool that connects to Pixar’s industry-leading rendering solution. Additionally, multiple improvements were made to MAXON’s popular texture painting toolset BodyPaint 3D Release 4. All of these capabilities and more serve to underscore MAXON’s ongoing and deep commitment to helping 3D digital artists further advance creativity and control.

“MAXON has spent the last 20 years developing some of the industry’s most advanced 3D software technologies; continually raising the bar for 3D animation software excellence,” said Harald Egel, CEO and co-founder, MAXON. “CINEMA 4D R11 is no exception. This release contains the next-generation features our customers worldwide have come to expect from MAXON.”

HP Brings DreamColor Accuracy to Mobile Power Users

Scott Gentry | 08/11- 10:50 PM

Today at SIGGRAPH 2008, HP expanded its DreamColor technology portfolio with the introduction of a powerful mobile workstation – the HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation with DreamColor Display – that offers professionals exceptional color accuracy.

In addition, HP introduced the HP EliteBook 8530w Mobile Workstation, the HP EliteBook 8530p Notebook PC, a custom calibration kit for the now-shipping DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display, and two additional high-performance displays to meet the demands of a new generation of visual computing customers.

“Mobility is becoming increasingly important to our most demanding, power-user customers,” said Stephen Dewitt, senior vice president, Personal Systems Group – Americas, HP. “HP is delivering on creative professionals’ most exacting computing needs by enabling power users to take their highly tuned graphics workstations with them wherever they go.”

Red Giant Software releases Magic Bullet Steady

Chris Meyer | 08/11- 09:06 AM

Red Giant Software, with popular products Magic Bullet, Knoll Light Factory and Trapcode, today launched Magic Bullet Steady, a new tool to remove camera shake, jitter, and noise. Magic Bullet Steady is a plug-in for users of Final Cut Pro 6 and After Effects CS3 (Mac and Windows). The stabilizer function removes unwanted camera movement which can be distracting and disturbing to viewers. Magic Bullet Steady is also included in the newly updated Magic Bullet Suite 2008.

Magic Bullet Steady offers powerful algorithms which analyze the video, detect motion, and apply one of four filtering modes. The result is a smooth, stabilized motion that preserves camera pans and other desired movements while eliminating jarring shake. A second filter removes noise and other low-light artifacts. Priced at $199, Magic Bullet Steady is available for purchase from Red Giant Software. 

Highlights

Stabilization
Camera movement and tough shooting conditions can cause distracting, jerky motion; and film sprocket damage on old footage can cause gate jitter and weave. The Stabilizer feature uses a software-based 2D translation to repair this type of footage in near real-time.

Noise Reduction
Too often, noise reduction means everything gets very blurry. Not so with Magic Bullet Steady. It uses spatial and temporal data to work out true image values, and customizable settings give you control over block size. Adjust the optional detail protection feature to find the right results for your desired output. 
 
Blistering Speed
Compared to the built-in stabilization features in After Effects or Final Cut Pro, Magic Bullet Steady yields great results in record time.

For more information, visit the Magic Bullet Steady page.

Why to Buy

• Use instead of a Steadicam on small projects
• Add sophistication to amateur or archival footage
• Faster than built-in solutions available in the host applications

Pricing and Availability

Magic Bullet Steady is available now for $199 USD and supports After Effects CS3 on Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X. The software also runs in Final Cut Pro on Mac OS X. This software is included as part of the updated Magic Bullet Suite 2008.

About Red Giant Software

Red Giant Software LLC is a San Francisco-based company that develops professional tools for digital video production. Products are available as plug-ins for popular video editing and effects applications including After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, and Avid. All tools are based on production-proven technology developed by visual effects veterans.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

IRIDAS to Showcase DualStream and Real-Time RAW 2.0

Chris Meyer | 08/11- 09:01 AM

IRIDAS will demonstrate the latest in playback color correction technologies, including RealTime RAW 2.0 and DualStream at this year’s SIGGRAPH exhibition.

All current FrameCycler and SpeedGrade products include Real-Time RAW 2.0 which supports:

• ARRI D21
• Cineform RAW
• DALSA Origin
• Phantom HD and 65
• Silicon Imaging
• Weisscam HS1 and HS2

IRIDAS will be located in the PNY Booth #747. Stop by and ask for Steve Crouch for a demonstration.

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