Red Giant Software releases Magic Bullet Steady

Chris Meyer | 08/11- 07:06 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- 07:01 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.

Soundbooth Beta Open to Public from Adobe

Richard Harrington | 06/01- 06:00 PM

Adobe Soundbooth is a great tool to fix everyday audio problems and production workflows.  It works well for video or Flash workflows and is built around a fairly intuitive set of task-based tools. Adobe is giving its customers a chance to play with Soundbooth CS4. If you are already a CS3 owner, the beta works until after CS4 is released.  If you don’t own CS3.... then it only works for 48 hours.

Here are some of the core features worth checking out:
• Arranging audio files on multiple tracks
• Making quick edits and applying fades
• Matching volume levels with a single command
• Removing unwanted noises and background sounds
• Adjusting tempo and pitch
• Recording and polishing voice-overs
• Adding effects and filters
• Previewing MP3 compression quality
• Easily creating customized music — without musical expertise
• With the new Adobe Sound Document file format you can take “snapshots” of your work-in-progress and undo changes made to your audio assets.

The Mac OS X 10.5.3 Update

Richard Harrington | 06/01- 04:20 AM

I know a lot of folks who are hesitant to upgrade....  I admit, I’ve been burned by installing updates as soon as they come out… but hey, that’s why I’m an early adopter.  The latest Mac update looks to include several important bug fixes and enhancements.  Here’s a few that tip the scale in favor of installing.

• Addresses an issue with stuttering video and audio playback in certain USB devices.
• Fixes an issue in which certain attached hard drives may not show up in the Finder.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several cameras.
• Improves 802.1X behavior and reliability.
• Improves reliability when using Time Capsule.
• Fixes reliability issues with authenticated RSS feeds.
• Addresses compatibility issues with Aperture 2.
• Addresses reliability issues when performing a full restore from a Time Machine backup.

You can access the update through your Apple Menu....  I’ve been running it for several days and all seems happy.  Additionally, several new pro digital cameras were added for Raw support.

Adobe Demos Future Technology At NAB

Richard Harrington | 05/06- 06:47 PM

Adobe showed some awesome stuff at NAB. My favorite was a future version of Premiere that transcribes your footage, then makes the transcription searchable for both editing and publishing to the web.

Final Cut Server Now Shipping

Frank Capria | 04/08- 05:26 AM

From Apple’s website: Apple today announced that it has begun shipping Final Cut Server, a powerful software solution for media asset management and workflow automation. A scaleable server application, Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets, allows searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes, and enables viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a PC or Mac. “With the introduction of Final Cut Server, collaboration just got a whole lot easier for millions of editors, producers and clients who work with Final Cut Studio,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing.

Media 100 Mac Intel Codecs Available

Frank Capria | 03/25- 09:46 AM

After customer complaints, Media 100 relented and and is offering its latest codecs for Intel-based Macs as a free download. With these free codecs, editors and graphics professionals can playback and render modern and legacy Media 100 media files in any QuickTime-based application. The codecs include Universal Binary versions of the Media 100 i and Media 100 HD codecs as well as the PowerPC Instant Media 844/X codec. Download here.

Artbeats Raises the Bar on Royalty-free Stock Footage, Unveiling Dozens of New HD Titles at NAB 2008

Scott Gentry | 03/05- 08:12 AM

Myrtle Creek, Ore. –— March 5, 2008 –— Artbeats, the industry’s leading creative footage resource, today announced it will debut a wide range of exclusive royalty-free collections and solo clips during the 2008 National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB). New titles scheduled for release at NAB include: Ultra Water 2 and Ultra Nature, which feature 1000fps (frames per second) slow-motion footage shot with the Phantom HD, the first use of that camera for stock footage. Additionally, Artbeats will unveil its newest series of HD aerial titles: Miami Aerials; Atlanta Aerials; Dallas Aerials and Texas City Aerials. The company also plans to release Energy and Environmental; Energy includes aerial clips of wind, water, solar, petroleum and nuclear energy; Environmental features footage of air pollution, recycling, replanted timber and more. Other titles planned for release during NAB include Executive Jet, which offers landings and takeoffs of business jets plus exclusive air-to-air footage of a Gulfstream IV, and City Edges, which has unique and dramatic close-up shots of city skyscrapers and architecture.

Artbeats will showcase these and many other royalty-free titles on the company’s massive HD plasma display wall at NAB 2008, booth SL5413. To learn more about Artbeats’ NAB 2008 product releases, as well as special discounts and offers available exclusively for NAB attendees, please visit http://www.artbeats.com/nab2008. 

Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >