Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Maxon delivers fully loaded Cinema 4d R11

Chris Meyer | 08/12- 11:26 AM

Next Generation Product Suite Offers Non-Linear Animation plus many other new features

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.”

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Monday, August 11, 2008

HP Brings DreamColor Accuracy to Mobile Power Users

Scott Gentry | 08/11- 08:50 PM

High resolution “DreamColor” display now in a notebook.

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.”

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Red Giant Software releases Magic Bullet Steady

Chris Meyer | 08/11- 07:06 AM

A new tool to remove camera shake, jitter, and noise.

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. 

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Monday, August 11, 2008

IRIDAS to Showcase DualStream and Real-Time RAW 2.0

Chris Meyer | 08/11- 07:01 AM

Updates to be featured at SIGGRAPH.

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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Friday, August 08, 2008

AJA Gets Into the Game at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Chris Meyer | 08/08- 08:46 PM

AJA Products at CCTV, Televisa, Beijing Olympics Broadcaster, YLE and SVT to Facilitate Broadcasts of the XXIX Olympiad

Grass Valley, CA (August 8, 2008) - AJA Video, a leading manufacturer of professional video interface and conversion solutions, announced that a slate of international AJA customers are using the company’s KONA 3 video capture and playback cards and FS1 converters to facilitate international broadcasts of the Summer Olympic Games in Bejiing. Facilities include China Central Television (CCTV, China), a major Japanese broadcaster, Televisa (Mexico), Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co., Ltd (BOB) and Applied Electronics who is building custom broadcast transmission studios at the Olympics for YLE (Finland) and SVT (Sweden).

KONA 3, AJA’s top-of-the-line uncompressed capture cards for SD, HD, Dual Link HD and 2K for PCI Express (PCIe) Apple Mac Pro systems, are in wide use at the Olympics. Mexico-based Televisa is using 30 KONA 3 cards as part of their Olympics broadcast editorial workflow.  A key Japanese broadcaster has also installed multiple KONA 3 capture cards as has CCTV. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and the International Olympic Committee have integrated KONA 3 cards into the production pipeline for the creation of “The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Official Film.” A time-honored Olympic tradition, the film will be included in a permanent collection maintained by the Lausanne-headquartered International Olympic Committee.

AJA’s FS1, the universal HD and SD, audio and video frame synchronizer and converter, is being employed at the games by both BOB and systems integrator Applied Electronics. BOB has a number of FS1s installed at the National Stadium, or “The Bird’s Nest,” where they will be used for signal distribution, including during live coverage of the opening ceremony. Systems integrator Applied Electronics built broadcast transmission studios for YLE (the national broadcaster of Finland) and SVT (the national broadcaster of Sweden) for installation at the international broadcast center in Beijing. Applied Electronics installed over 60 FS1 converters as an audio format embedding and de-embedding solution for both networks.

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Digital Anarchy sells Visual Effects and 2D Animation product line

Randy Boyes | 08/04- 11:39 AM

Allows company to concentrate on Photoshop and pro photography markets

San Francisco, CA — August 4, 2008 — Digital Anarchy, known for its high quality creative software in both the broadcast and Photoshop markets, has announced today the sale of their full video product line to Red Giant Software. For seven years, Digital Anarchy has made a name for itself by delivering innovative software for visual effects, video editing and 2D animation in the film and television industry. Effective Monday, August 4th, the company will transfer sales and support of 12 plug-in products for host applications that include Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid systems and Autodesk systems.

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Alioscopy to showcase its award-winning 3DHD-40 autostereoscopic display

Randy Boyes | 08/04- 11:24 AM

Advanced display boasts unmatched clarity, contrast and depth of field

SAN DIEGO, CA, Aug. 4, 2008, Alioscopy ® USA, a leader in 3D display technologies, today announced it will introduce its new, state-of-the-art, 3DHD-40 autostereoscopic (no glasses required) 3D LCD display technology at SIGGRAPH 2008- the leading international conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, August 11-14, 2008.

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Monday, August 04, 2008

NewBlueFX bursts into Mac market

Randy Boyes | 08/04- 11:01 AM

Video special effects and transitions for Apple Final Cut Pro

LA JOLLA, CA (August 4, 2008) – NewBlue, Inc. today continued its widening rollout of video effects plugins by unveiling a host of new offerings for Apple Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express. Users of this popular video editing software for Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers can now enjoy 893 presets and 71 effects plug-ins encompassed in 7 distinct and competitively-priced NewBlueFX plug-in collections, designed to enhance the video editing experience. The release follows the company’s progressive launch of video fx plugins for the Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, Avid Xpress Pro, Avid Liquid, Corel VideoStudio, Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas, Thomson Grass Valley Edius product lines.

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