Monday, June 09, 2008

HP technology helps DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda soar to new heights

Randy Boyes | 06/09- 11:29 AM

Breakthrough animation

Moviegoers worldwide are sure to be delighted by the breakthrough animation achieved through the combination of HP technology and DreamWorks Animation’s creativity as DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s (NYSE: DWA) highly anticipated summer movie, Kung Fu Panda, hits theaters today.

HP also partnered with DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon and McDonald’s to bring Kung Fu Panda to life outside the movie theater in fun, interactive ways, including an HP “The Computer Is Personal Again” TV spot featuring Po the Panda, downloadable activities and crafts, and a choreographed “The Panda” dance that the whole family can learn.

“We’ve been working with HP for years to develop and implement technology that enhances our creativity,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer and director, DreamWorks Animation. “With the help of HP technology, our animators are now creating movies that were simply impossible to make even last year.”

The technology and marketing behind the film is the latest example of the ongoing collaboration between HP and DreamWorks Animation that continuously delivers “the next big thing” in the media and entertainment industry. More information on HP and Kung Fu Panda is available at http://hp.com/kungfupanda.

“HP has always been committed to bringing innovations to market that help all types of customers unleash their creative genius, whether they are high-profile studios or everyday people,” said Satjiv S. Chahil, senior vice president, Global Marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP. “By partnering with other leading consumer brands like McDonald’s and Nickelodeon to tell the story of Kung Fu Panda, we can bring DreamWorks Animation’s creativity to life.”

HP technology behind the scenes

HP has helped DreamWorks Animation create groundbreaking animation features from Shrek to Bee Movie. For this latest project, HP technology helped animators solve artistic challenges to bring the story of Po the Panda to life. Audiences will see a wide variety of deeply intricate, organic environments that only exist because of the unprecedented power of HP workstations with multi-core processors.

HP technology allowed DreamWorks Animation to utilize the largest number of moving cameras on any of its films to date. With 400 HP workstations and the largest and most powerful render farm ever used – also powered by HP technology – DreamWorks Animation was able to take creative elements in Kung Fu Panda to new heights. In fact, the film required more than 24 million render hours – four times as many as Shrek.

Kung Fu Panda outside the theater

HP’s latest commercial featuring Po the Panda is currently airing in the United States.

Nickelodeon, along with HP and DreamWorks Animation, created “The Panda” dance so kids and parents can learn to dance like the characters in the film. HP also created a wide variety of fun, downloadable projects and crafts, including 3-D characters, customizable backpack tags and puzzles.

A how-to video with step-by-step instructions to help learn the dance, along with various printable projects are featured on HP’s Kung Fu Panda website, Nickelodeon’s website and McDonald’s website. The video also is being featured at local McDonald’s restaurants and Best Buy and Circuit City retailers.

“The Panda” dance additionally will be featured for the month of June on McDonald’s Global Happy Meals website and Kung Fu Panda will be on McDonald’s tray liners.

On Nickelodeon’s kid-friendly website, kids can create a personalized, mash-up Kung Fu Panda video that incorporates music and video, which they can share with their friends and family or post to the Kung Fu Panda Great Wall, where others can vote on their favorites.

In addition to the web experience, HP has created an HP/Kung Fu Panda Activity CD. More than 1 million discs will be distributed in retail outlets, as a gift with purchase and at a variety of consumer events. Scholastic will be distributing 100,000 educational kits to teachers across the United States and Canada. These kits will include teacher activities to help children learn about Asian culture, a “The Panda” dance how-to video, and special Kung Fu Panda ring tones and screensavers.

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Monday, June 09, 2008

Avid ships next-generation editing and storage systems

Randy Boyes | 06/09- 11:05 AM

New HD editing systems and VideoRAID® solutions. 

Tewksbury, Mass., June 9, 2008 — Avid Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID) today announced the worldwide availability of its new HD editing systems and VideoRAID® solutions. The new lineup, which delivers on a commitment to customers of improved quality, value and performance, includes next-generation versions of Avid® Media Composer® (v3.0), NewsCutter® (v7.0), and Symphony™ (v3.0) software, as well as new hardware configurations, Avid Mojo® DX and Nitris® DX. The products are designed to deliver the ultimate HD editing experience to media professionals by offering greater speed, responsiveness and reliability. On the heels of this availability, Avid is rolling out aggressive pricing on support packages for its new editing products and existing DS Nitris product line. Additionally, the company is announcing upgrades to its Avid Unity™ MediaNetwork, Unity ISIS® and Interplay® product lines.

To see and hear customer reaction to the new products from Avid, see “Customers React to New Products” press release issued today.

Pricing and Configuration of Next-Generation Editing Systems
Avid’s new lineup of HD editing systems offers customers flexible software and hardware configurations designed to meet a range of professional production needs. All Media Composer and NewsCutter systems offer the same software toolset across their respective configurations – with further capabilities coming from different hardware options.

In addition to the previously-announced features, Avid has added a timestamp export tool for Broadcast WAV (BWF) that is available on all Media Composer and NewsCutter configurations.  The timestamp export feature enables customers to insert sequence timecode based on the project type when exporting the timeline audio tracks as BWF, providing fast and easy sync reference.

New editing and storage configurations available today include:

* Media Composer software – priced at $2,495 USMSRP.
* Media Composer Mojo DX - priced at $9,995 USMSRP.
* Media Composer Nitris DX – priced at $14,995 USMSRP (also available with an 8-core MacPro or HP xw8600 workstation starting at $21,995 USMSRP).
* Symphony Nitris DX – priced at $35,995 USMSRP including an 8-core MacPro or HP XW8600 workstation.
* NewsCutter software – priced at $4,995 USMSRP.
* NewsCutter Mojo DX – priced at $19,995 USMSRP including an 8-core HP xw8600 workstation.
* NewsCutter Nitris DX – priced at $24,995 USMSRP including an 8-core HP xw8600 workstation.

* VideoRAID ST and VideoRAID SR - pricing begins at $4,795 USMSRP for 2.5TB configurations.

New Support Pricing
Avid is now offering aggressive new support pricing on all of its next-generation HD editing systems as well as its DS Nitris system. The new support packages are designed to deliver greater value to customers with the addition of new features such as technical alerts, monthly quicktips and advanced parts replacement on hardware. Further, customers who purchase a support contract when they purchase any new Media Composer, NewsCutter, Symphony or DS Nitris product will receive a 15% savings on the price of the contract. To be eligible, contracts must range from one to three years and be purchased between June 1 and December 31, 2008. Avid has also designed a number of specially-priced support packages for educational institutions, which begin as low as $99 USMSRP, per year. For more information on support packages and pricing, contact Avid sales or a local reseller.

“The new pricing has certainly helped Avid put their products into the reach of more professionals and aspiring professionals,” said Avid customer Kevin Tate, creative director of Mossy Oak Productions. “However, the customer support from Avid is always the deciding factor in my purchase decisions, and has been our lifeline far too many times to count. We turn out more than 100 original episodes of TV a year and have for many years now. We couldn’t do what we do, where we do it, the way we do it, without Avid products and support.”

Avid Unity and Interplay Upgrades
In addition to the new editing lineup and VideoRAID offerings, Avid has also announced as upgrades to the following systems:

* Avid Unity MediaNetwork v5.1 which now delivers greater capacity to customers with 1TB drive support and additional add-on chassis support (from 5 to 8), increasing the overall capacity to 128TB. Now shipping on Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard;
* Avid Unity ISIS v1.5 which now offers higher client bandwidths up to DNxHD 220 and is now shipping on Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard”; and
* Avid Interplay 1.4 which now offers a full-screen media player window and increased metadata capabilities such as customized drop down menus as well as a new 64 bit Media Indexer for higher performance indexing.

For additional information, please visit http://www.avid.com or contact your local Avid salesperson or reseller.

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Friday, June 06, 2008

HDTV pioneer David Niles selects Panasonic AJ-HPX3000 1080P P2 HD for video

Randy Boyes | 06/06- 12:09 PM

Groundbreaking video ‘public art’ installation for new Comcast Philadelphia HQ

SECAUCUS, NJ (June 6, 2008) – The new Comcast Center, Philadelphia’s tallest and one of its most stunning buildings, features an enormous public lobby with a breakthrough video installation designed and produced by HDTV trailblazer David Niles.

Niles chose Panasonic’s AJ-HPX3000 native 1080p one-piece P2 HD camcorder to shoot the video for the lobby’s 80’ by 30’ screen, which engages passers-by with spectacular and inspiring imagery including life-sized images of ordinary business people performing extraordinary feats, such as flying through the air with a cup of coffee.

Today marks the official opening of Comcast Corporation’s new corporate headquarters, designed by world-renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern. The 57-story, 975 ft. building is built on top of the city’s Suburban Railroad Station.  The lobby installation was conceived by Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts as a gift to the people of Philadelphia.

Niles, director/DP/designer/editor and principal of Niles Creative Group (New York, NY), enumerated the imposing challenges he faced on the project. “First of all, we knew the Comcast Center would be an instant landmark, demanding the highest level of creative achievement on our part,” he said. “Our audience, which consists of commuters literally in transit to and from the train station, has an attention span of 20-40 seconds at best. The display, an 80’ by 30’ LED screen, larger than an IMAX screen, is built into the lobby architecture and has 10 million pixels. There aren’t any cameras that shoot 10 million pixels!”

“From the onset, we understood that this would not be your typical lobby display flashing the time, temperature and local ads,” Niles continued. “Our mandate was to create original, emotional and ever-changing content—on a reasonable budget—that would be totally integrated into the lobby’s design. Essentially, the video itself would be virtual bricks and mortar—part of the environment yet kinetic.”

“Our screen has 10 million pixels – but a life-size person who appears on the screen doesn’t require 10 million pixels for video capture, two million suffice,” Niles explained. “Thus, the HPX3000, with its 2.2-megapixel CCDs, gave us a 1:1 pixel ratio and, consequently, an utterly photorealistic effect when shooting the actors and acrobats for the Comcast video. That was the paramount reason I chose the Panasonic camera.”

Niles and his production team, including director/choreographer John Dietrich and producer Emmora Irwin, staged three separate week-long shoots last fall in studios in New York and New Jersey. Their subjects, predominantly shot against blue and green screen, comprised up to 22 performers, but with 10 main characters. Niles used the HPX3000’s HD-SDI capability to record to 10-bit uncompressed computer RAIDS, with back-up recordings to DVCPRO HD tape.

“The HPX3000 demonstrates incredible dynamic range, signal-to-noise and colorimetry,” said Niles. “The response of the camera was phenomenal and afforded us the highest quality attainable.”

“I consider the HPX3000 one of the top two HD cameras on the market, and the fact that it shoots master-quality 1080p makes it that much more valuable a tool for me,” he added. “It’s capable of a wide range of applications, from run-and-gun capture to gorgeous filmmaking.”

Niles edited the material using proxies in Final Cut Pro. Then the original footage was laid out on an Adobe After Effects 10 million pixel canvas. This way the content maintains a 1:1 pixel ratio from camera to screen.

“Our workflow was somewhat elaborate but bulletproof,” noted Niles.

It is at the point of delivery that the video becomes a seamless element of the Comcast Center’s architectural artistry. The Niles Creative Group has designed a unique delivery system with Artificial Intelligence (AI) built-in. The delivery system is unmanned, with 30+ HD servers feeding the screen. The wall runs 18 hours a day, seven days a week, with no repeating or looping of video. Instead, with AI control, isolated elements of content are brought together at the time of delivery to create playful and awe-inspiring vignettes.

The display system can run for 45 days without a sequence ever being repeated. Moreover, it’s estimated that it would take a typical Philadelphia commuter two years of hustling through the Comcast Center lobby before he would see all the permutations of images the system can conjure.

About Niles Creative Group

David Niles pioneered commercial applications of high definition television and today is recognized as a foremost authority on HDTV production. He produces, directs and edits original programming for numerous on air networks, consults for Fortune 500 companies, develops new technologies and conceives, designs and executes large format projects from start to finish for companies including Comcast, Radio City Music Hall, Federated Department Stores, Walt Disney / Imagineering and Madison Square Garden. For more information, visit http://www.nilescreative.com.

About the AJ-HPX3000

With three 2/3” high-density 2.2-megapixel CCDs, the HPX3000 captures cinema-quality images in full-raster 1920 x 1080 resolution with 4:2:2 10-bit sampling, utilizing the powerful, new AVC-Intra codec.  The HPX3000 offers intuitive film camera-like operation with advanced gamma settings, including Film-Rec mode (made popular by the VariCam). Designed for episodic television, filmmaking and commercial production where mastering quality is essential, the HPX3000 records in industry-standard DVCPRO HD at 1080 in 24p, 25p, 30p, 50i and 60i, and in AVC-Intra. AVC-Intra, the industry’s most advanced compression technology, provides high-quality 10-bit intra-frame encoding utilizing the Hi-10 and Hi-422 profiles of H.264 in two modes: AVC-Intra 100 for full-raster mastering video quality and AVC-Intra 50 Mbps for DVCPRO HD quality at half the bit rate, thereby doubling the record time on a P2 card. For added flexibility, the HPX3000 can also produce standard definition recordings in DVCPRO50, and is 60/50-Hz switchable for worldwide use. For more information on the HPX3000, visit http://www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

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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Friday, June 06, 2008

Hundreds of thousands in cash and prizes up for grabs at NVISION 08

Randy Boyes | 06/06- 12:00 PM

End the summer with a bang and some serious cash in your pockets

NVIDIA ups the ante at NVISION 08 by throwing down hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and hardware and giving you a chance to win part of the largest prize package in North America this year. All you need to do for your chance to win is participate in one of NVISION’s marquee consumer events: GeForce LAN and NVScene. And you can watch the best video game players in the world battle it out for their share of the prize money at the Electronic Sports World Cup. All this happens this August in San Jose, California.

GeForce LAN, the legendary LAN party that has been five years in the making, features three days of non-stop, adrenaline-pumping, Guinness World Record-setting, fun. For the first time ever, GeForce LAN will be offering over $40,000 in cash in addition to hardware prizes for its tournaments and case-mod competition. Another $60,000 in sponsor prizes is up for grabs in its competitions, raffles, and contests within the BYOC.

NVScene will be the largest-ever US gathering of creative minds in demoscene, machinima, and digital art. Over $40,000 in cash and hardware will be awarded to the best artists and coders as they compete to wow the world with their mind-blowing masterpieces.

Electronic Sports World Cup, the world’s most exciting electronic sports competition, will be hosting its world finals at NVISION 08. Watch the nail-biting competition as the world’s best video game players, representing 53 countries, battle it out for glory and a cash pot worth $200,000.

You can also attend the NVISION 08 keynotes to hear about the state and future of visual computing from leaders and celebrities in the industry, including NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander Eileen Collins, “Battlestar Galactica” star Tricia Helfer, and more to be announced.

And you can learn practical tips and tricks on everything from photo and video editing to building and optimizing PCs at the NVISION 08 workshops. Visit leading companies in the expo hall and witness how they are advancing visual computing. Experience amazing 3D films and video in the HD theater.

Taking place on August 25-27, 2008 in San Jose, California, NVISION 08 is a three-day mega-event for professionals and enthusiasts who are passionate about visual computing.  Thousands of engineers, designers, developers, researchers, artists, enthusiasts, gamers, film makers, business professionals, and consumers from around the world are expected to attend.

For your chance to win these great prize packages, you must sign up for a GeForce LAN or NVScene ticket at NVISION 08. For more information, including the prize breakdown, visit http://www.nvision2008.com . With the biggest prize package announced in North America to date on the line, you can be sure the tickets will go fast. Sign up now!

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Friday, June 06, 2008

Toon Boom launches Pencil Check Pro

Randy Boyes | 06/06- 11:37 AM

Flexible line testing software

Montreal (June 4, 2008) – Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced the launch of Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro, the most flexible line testing software available in the industry. Pencil Check Pro completes the animation pipeline by offering a wide array of capture options, an efficient line testing process and an advanced feature set.

Plug and capture

Pencil Check Pro supports a full range of devices from scanners to DV / HDV cameras, webcams and digital cameras. Pencil Check Pro performs all capture operations from a unique interface and has a real-time preview for devices equipped with live video stream.

Easily learn animation principles

Sketch key poses directly in the software, playback instantly and use the audio track capabilities while filling the exposure sheet. Draw the in-betweens, clean the animation and prepare your work for inking and painting. Finally, add camera motion to deliver a complete line test of your animation.

Beyond line testing

Easily control the colour and opacity of Xsheet columns for accurate preview. Enjoy the digital exposure sheet and use its annotation columns to add comments and sketches. Maximize a highly integrated pipeline with Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Digital Pro and Harmony.

“Toon Boom has always been committed to animators, developing leading-edge technology to support their creative process. As a testament to that, Pencil Check Pro offers an extensive feature set designed around a user friendly interface, and is fully compatible with Storyboard Pro, Digital Pro and Harmony,” shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom.

Pencil Check Pro is available online and retails at $399.99 US. Educational pricing is also offered: $299.99 US for a single license, and $2499.99 US for a 10-unit lab-pack. For more information, please visit http://www.toonboom.com/products/pencilcheckpro/

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Friday, June 06, 2008

Zacuto releases lightweight locking lens support for HD video cameras

Randy Boyes | 06/06- 11:32 AM

Zacuto, a leading provider of HD video cameras and accessories is announcing the release of their new Locking Lens Support for securing and stabilizing lenses attached to Zacuto support systems. The Zacuto Lightweight Locking Lens Support will handle those long and heavy prime or zoom lenses and prevent the lens from rotating.
Components of the Lightweight Locking Lens Support

* Q-Mount – mounts to 15mm rods from underneath – without removing equipment
* 1” Male Rod – a short 15mm rod between Q-Mount and Zupport (also allows adjustment for lens height)
* Zupport – Support for under lens - attaches to 15mm rod and Universal Zip Gear
* Universal Zip Gear – surrounds and secures the lens. Press on the gear locking housing and tighten. One minute installation.

See Zacuto’s Lightweight Locking Lens Support
store.zacuto.com/product.php?productid=332&cat=0&page=1&featured

The Locking Lens support has many functions. It can also act at a Zamerican quick mini style mount, or a lens support for lenses with ¼ 20 female screws.

Price
Lightweight Locking Lens Support #Z-LLS $340

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Friday, June 06, 2008

Zacuto rolls out Z-Focus follow focus accessory for HD video cameras

Randy Boyes | 06/06- 11:20 AM

Zacuto, a leading provider of HD video cameras and accessories has released their own follow focus unit – the Z-Focus. Zacuto chose an important event - the 2008 NAB show - to introduce this important new addition to their full line of products. The Zacuto line is allowing cinematographers to use low cost, light weight HD camcorders for their filmmaking.

The Zacuto design team has thought through all the important issues - allowing their follow focus to be used with any camera and integrating easily with other Zacuto support accessories.

The Z-Focus mechanism employs a set of gears that connect to and spin the focus ring or Zacuto zip gear on the camera lens, thus producing an extremely accurate follow focus that allows the operator or assistant to pull accurate focus. The integrated magnetic white disk allows the focus puller to create distance marked for repeatable focus pulls.

Notable Features of the Z-Focus

* Completely gear-driven design for slip free, accurate movement.
* Worm gear adjustment screw to allow user to tighten gear play
* Interchangeable drive gears
* Magnetic dry erase marking disk
* Standard accessory port for Zacuto or Chrosziel follow focus whip or speed crank
* Lightweight design

The Z-Focus is supplied with Industry-standard 15mm lightweight rod mount. An available accessory, the FF-Adapter (Z-Focus Studio Adapter $255) – converts your Z-Focus to 19mm/15mm Studio rods (perfect for RED camera packages.) This accessory makes the Zacuto Z-focus work exclusively for studio rod spacing and for the use of other studio rod equipment.

Also standard is .8 pitch drive gear. However, Fuji .6, Canon .5 and a 1 inch wide .8 pitch drive gears for photo lenses can be specified when ordering.

Price:
Z-Focus (Z-FF-1) $1110

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

VICON announces MX T-Series camera

Randy Boyes | 06/05- 03:04 PM

MX T-Series quadruples motion capture camera resolution

VICON, developer of Academy Award®-winning motion capture systems, announced the VICON MX T-Series. The T-Series includes an all-new camera design and new Giganet device with cameras available in a variety of resolution options, including the T160 (16 Megapixel), T40 (4 Megapixel) and T20 (2 Megapixel). The T160 16-megapixel camera represents a four-times resolution increase over existing professional optical motion capture solutions.

This revolutionary resolution boost is made possible by VICON’s proprietary Avalon sensor; VICON is the only optical motion camera developer that designs its own camera sensors. “The MX-T Series represents the biggest leap in technology to date for our new release motion capture systems. Not only is the resolution boost significant, but along with the new streamlined camera design and Gigabit Ethernet connections, this system is blazing fast. More speed means our customers get an improved preview mode, meaning better diagnostics making the system easier to set-up and operate,” said Robin Pengelly, Senior Vice President, Entertainment Division, VICON.

The external styling of the camera has been completely reworked and the new mechanical design now makes the 18mm VICON lens a standard fit. Additionally, the system now supports remote focus and aperture setting with Canon mount lenses for the MX T-Series camera, allowing a single operator to adjust focus and aperture settings remotely via the VICON Blade software, resulting in significant time savings when changing setups between shoots.

The new cameras also support 2D on board tracking so that the processing of 2D tracking points is now done in the camera. This makes the reconstruction of 3D data much faster and more accurate, and frees up processing power from the PC. With Gigabit Ethernet connections, the MX-T Series systems allow for the transfer of data at 1000MB/second in preview mode, ten times faster than the current 100MB/second rate.

The T-Series cameras are backwards compatible with VICON MX and MX F-Series cameras, and can be used in combination in the same capture volume. With the 16 Megapixel resolution of the VICON T160 camera, performers can be captured with more markers, and smaller markers can be used allowing them to be closer together. In this way, details such as hands and face can be captured with accurate detail in much larger volumes than ever before. 

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