Thursday, May 15, 2008

NewTek Announces Free LightWave 3D Trial Edition Available for Download

Scott Gentry | 05/15- 11:54 AM

New LightWave Trial Edition features 24 hours of free online training

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced award-winning LightWave® 9.3.1 is now available as a free 30-day trial for Mac OS X and both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows immediately from here: http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/lwtrial

The software is fully functional with no restrictions or watermarks for a full 30-day period and has 24 hours of video training on many topics to enable quick use of LightWave’s powerful tools. In addition, the complete manuals in PDF format are available for download, allowing users to reference tools and features. 130 MB of royalty-free content is also provided, which can continue to be loaded and studied even after the 30-day trial period is over. 

"LightWave has always provided a stunning amount of bang for the buck - there’s nothing out there as fast for me to get the results I want.” says Andrew Bishop, director of Darkside Animation currently working on The Kitchen Games, a CG-animated theatrical feature film. “Now that the trial edition is available a whole new generation of 3D artists can try it out and experience what we do here at Darkside Animation.” In a television environment where speed and budget are mission critical, LightWave is the leader, resulting in more Emmy® Awards for artists than any other 3D application. Primetime shows such as CSI, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, 24 and Battlestar Galactica all use LightWave for its speed and reliability. Hollywood also relies on LightWave for high-end feature film work with credits for Iron Man, Nim’s Island and Hancock being the most recent entries. 

Pricing and Availability
The LightWave Trial Edition is available for free download immediately. LightWave® v9 is available now at suggested retail price of $895US. LightWave v9.5 will be available as a free update to registered LightWave v9 owners. Registered owners of LightWave 3D® [8] or earlier are eligible to purchase an upgrade to LightWave v9 for $395US. For more information or to purchase, please visit http://www.lightwave3d.com or call NewTek Sales at 1-800-368-5441, for international inquiries dial +1-210-370-8000.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Band Pro East Office Opens in New York City’s Chelsea Neighborhood

Scott Gentry | 05/14- 07:53 AM

Band Pro Film & Digital has opened Band Pro East, a new branch office dedicated to servicing the needs of production industry professionals in the Northeast, Southeast and eastern states. Located at 645 W. 27th St., Band Pro East is headquartered in the heart of New York’s Chelsea district - the fast-rising area that is home to the city’s rapidly expanding media, art and fashion industries. The new location will include a spacious showroom.

Band Pro offers the full line of Sony Professional, Broadcast and Cine Alta product lines such as the F23 and PMW-EX1 cameras in addition to other digital cinematography equipment including the Codex Portable Digital Recorder, Carl Zeiss DigiPrime™ and DigiZoom™ lenses, and more.

At the helm of Band Pro East is Managing Director Jim Hegadorn who notes, “Band Pro’s move to the east Coast is now complete with the opening of our office here. We are proud of what we have accomplished in NY this past year will continue to expand our commitment to the NYC production environment as well as to the eastern half of the United States with technical expertise and support of our extensive line of high-end digital cinematography products.”

Band Pro’s technical experts Jeff Cree, Michael Bravin and Randy Wedick are available 24/7 for phone support and will frequently be on hand in person to answer one-on-one questions and lead group seminars.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

NewTek Now Shipping TriCaster Portable Live Production Systems

Scott Gentry | 05/14- 07:48 AM

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, today announced the next generation of its award-winning TriCaster™ line of portable live production and virtual set systems is shipping. Included in new TriCaster STUDIO™, TriCaster PRO, and TriCaster models are MPEG-2 format recording during live shows, which allows the file to be used on any editing system, a wide range of performance improvements and support for a new line of accessories including: LiveControl™, TimeWarp™, LiveText™ and DataLink™.

Support for the new line of TriCaster accessories from NewTek gives TriCaster users the flexibility to work independently or expand their production team by offering a range of new capabilities in production:

• LiveControl™ ($1,995US) provides a physical control surface that allows for transition between sources without the use of a keyboard or mouse.
• TimeWarp™ ($995US) provides the ability to assign a dedicated operator for incorporating slow motion and replay in live production.
• LiveText™ ($995US) provides the ability for a dedicated graphics operator to use a remote laptop or other computer system for pre-production of title pages, scrolls and crawls or for updates on the fly during live production.
• DataLink™ ($995US) provides compatibility with external sources for real-time updates of title pages including information from scoreboards and databases.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

DAZ 3D Announces Mimic Pro Facial Animation Software for Carrara

Scott Gentry | 05/14- 07:42 AM

Carrara Users Now Have Direct Access to Mimic’s Advanced Environment

Click for a wink. Click again for a smile. Facial animation has never been simpler as DAZ 3D, a leading developer of professional quality 3D models and software, today announced the immediate availability of Mimic Pro for Carrara, a plug-in enabling seamless lip-synching, sound analysis and speech animation simulations directly within Carrara 6.2. Mimic Pro for Carrara provides an advanced environment for quickly creating facial animation sequences, such as winks, nods and smiles, allowing 3D characters to effortlessly obtain a greater level of expression. To learn more about DAZ 3D, Mimic Pro and Carrara 6.2, or to purchase, please visit http://www.daz3d.com/mimic.

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Automatic Duck Bridges Gap Between Toon Boom StoryBoard Pro and Final Cut Pro

Scott Gentry | 05/14- 07:23 AM

If you don’t know Toon Boom Storyboard yet, perhaps now’s the time to get familiar…

Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced its partnership with Automatic Duck to bring the editing process to the next level. Toon Boom Storyboard Pro exports animatics in the AAF file format and Pro Import FCP takes them straight into Final Cut Pro, with automated relink of video files and unlimited audio tracks.

The combination of these professional tools enables users to speed up the finishing of their video projects, thanks to a more efficient and advanced use of the animatics during editing.

"Pro Import FCP serves as a bridge between Storyboard Pro and Final Cut Pro. Once the animated storyboards are approved, editors can work with enriched animatic files and plan faster the final editing of the projects. We are proud to deliver technology compatible with such a powerful plug-in that will make the editing much smoother,” shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom. 

A Storyboard Pro-Pro Import FCP bundle is available at $1,099.99 US in the Toon Boom online Store.

www.toonboom.com

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Mariner updates screenwriting software

Jim Feeley | 05/13- 10:19 AM

Montage 1.5 for Mac OS X touts improved flexibility, control, and formatting.

Press Release

Minneapolis, MN- May 13, 2008- Mariner Software today released Montage 1.5, the only Mac-only screenwriting software developed exclusively for Mac OS X and Leopard. Touted as one of the product’s most significant behind-the-scenes releases, Montage 1.5 has added a completely rewritten styles system giving the writer much more flexibility and control, as well as easier text formatting.  (more)

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Autodesk Acquires Realviz

Mark Christiansen | 05/07- 02:46 PM

Stitcher, ImageModeler and Moviemento to continue as standalone products, Matchmover and Retimer discontinued

From PR Newswire, Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of REALVIZ S.A., the privately held developer of image-based content creation software. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Autodesk intends to develop and sell REALVIZ’s Stitcher Unlimited, Stitcher Express, ImageModeler and Movimento software as standalone products. Matchmover, Retimer and VTour will no longer be available as standalone products; core technology from these REALVIZ products will be integrated into future versions of Autodesk’s existing products, enabling customers to bring the real world into design environments.

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Panavision posts “Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications” videos

Jim Feeley | 05/07- 08:23 AM

Press Release- Panavision’s John Galt and Canon’s Larry Thorpe Make The Case for Meaningful Metrics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“DEMYSTIFYING DIGITAL CAMERA SPECIFICATIONS,”
SEVEN-PART VIDEO SERIES ILLUMINATING DIGITAL IMAGING TECHNOLOGY, DEBUTS ON PANAVISION WEBSITE

Panavision’s John Galt and Canon’s Larry Thorpe Make The Case for Meaningful Metrics Appropriate for The Age of Digital Movie Making

May 6, 2008 - Woodland Hills, Calif. —“Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications,” a seven-part series focusing on the complex science of image resolution and digital cinema cameras is now available on the Panavision website. The URL is: http://media.panavision.com/ScreeningRoom/Screening_Room/Box_Office.html.

The in-depth symposium is presented by two icons of digital cinema technology: John Galt, Panavision Senior Vice President, Advanced Digital Imaging; and Larry Thorpe, National Marketing Manager, Canon Broadcast & Communication Division.

A master class for motion picture professionals and students, the series is also in the minds of its creators a precursor to a broader, crucial industry-wide discussion: the need for a scientifically valid, objective method of assessing the quality of digital and film images.

Recorded in high-definition video, the symposium was held April 3 before an audience of invited guests in the Panavision Theater, located in the company’s world headquarters in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Imaging resolution science: a closer look

Throughout the series, Galt and Thorpe challenge the simplistic and inaccurate assumption that digital camera resolution is “all about the camera output pixels.” Instead, they help serious motion picture creators to understand the difference between optical sampling from camera imagers (where resolution is totally determined) and the camera digital sampling.

They explore in depth what is meant by Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) and the compounding effect of lens MTF, camera MTF, and the MTF of subsequent production system elements.

Their discussion emphasizes that the relationship between the lens-camera MTF profile and associated residual aliasing – in both the horizontal and vertical domains – constitutes the only rational metric on imaging resolution. These two criteria apply to all 2/3-inch three-imager and to 35mm single-imager digital cameras. Nyquist theory, optical prefiltering and imager sampling lattice are explained in the context of camera design criteria that seek a pragmatic compromise between high MTF and minimum aliasing.

While camera manufacturers generally do not publish camera-specific information regarding lens-camera MTF and aliasing, various test charts are available to enable an objective assessment of both criteria. With these charts, fully demonstrated in the series, content developers can directly compare the performance between any two digital cameras regardless of image format size, number of imagers, or their optical sampling lattice.

Using the MTF metric, Galt and Thorpe conclude, digital movie makers now have better tools to help them gauge precisely what effect each step has on the production of the final image.

In addition to appearing on the Panavision website, the “Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications” series is being made available through various professional, trade and media Internet sites. For film schools, students and instructors, it is being showcased through the University Film and Video Association: http://www.ufva.org, in the news section. The UFVA is an international organization of almost 800 professionals and institutions involved in the production and study of film, video, and other media arts.

Transcripts of the seminars, with embedded slides, will soon be available to accompany the video presentation to facilitate class use or individual study.

“With programs like ‘Demystifying Digital Camera Specifications,’” said Bob Beitcher, President and CEO, “Panavision is trying both to educate our customers as well as raise the level of industry discussion about emerging technologies to focus on the science of what we do. I think that most everyone stands to benefit from a good look-and-listen at this stimulating presentation from two true experts.”

About the company
Founded in 1954, Panavision Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of high-precision camera systems, comprising of film and digital cameras, lenses and accessories for the motion picture and television industries. Panavision systems are rented through its domestic and international owned and operated facilities and distributor network. Panavision also supplies lighting, grip and crane equipment for use by motion picture and television productions.

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