Online Trade Show Featuring Live Webinars and New Technology Previews
Marlborough MA - March 10, 2010 - Boris FX , the leading developer of integrated effects technology for video and film, announced that the Boris FX Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Expo, an online trade show, will take place from Monday, March 15, 2010 through Thursday, March 18, 2010. The Boris FX Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Expo will feature:
Live Webinars
New Technology Previews
Partner Presentations
Daily Raffle Prizes
Q&A with Product Managers
The live webinar schedule includes:
Boris Continuum Complete's 3D Objects Filters
Tuesday, March 16th at 1:00pm Eastern Time
Presented by Michele Yamazaki of Toolfarm
Demonstration of Boris Continuum Complete's 3D Objects filters in After Effects
Boris Continuum Complete and Boris XML Transfer
Wednesday, March 17th at 1:00pm Eastern Time
Presented by Kevin P. McAuliffe of Pro Editing @ Home
Learn how to seamlessly export Final Cut Pro timelines to After Effects
Boris New Technology Preview
Thursday, March 18th at 11:00am Eastern Time or 4:00pm Eastern Time
Be the first to preview all-new Boris visual effects technology
For more information regarding the Boris FX Visual Effects and Motion Graphics Expo, including webinar access details, please visit http://www.borisfx.com/events.php#expo
About Boris FX
Founded in 1995, Boris FX is the leading developer of integrated graphics and effects technology, delivering 3D compositing and vector graphic products for broadcast, post-production, film, and multimedia. Boris products have grown to serve millions of artists worldwide. The company's success lies in its ability to integrate and leverage technologies through strong partnerships with industry-leading developers such as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Grass Valley, and Sony.
Next Generation of Award-Winning Visual Effects Software Enables Performance and Productivity Improvements for Linux Flame, Inferno, Flint HD and Smoke HD Users
CAMBRIDGE, MA, Mar 09, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- GenArts Inc., the premier provider of specialized visual effects software for the film, television and video industries, announced today the availability of GenArts Sapphire(TM) v5 for Autodesk systems users. Announced in November, Sapphire 5 promises to unlock artists' creativity with marked improvements to performance and productivity, all while significantly reducing infrastructure costs.
Sapphire 5 enables a completely interactive user experience at HD resolutions, thanks to full GPU-accelerated render speeds up to 700 percent faster than version 4. Now, batch jobs once requiring overnight processing can be processed in a fraction of the time. Sapphire 5 also uses full floating point for all internal processing, which improves visual effects quality - even on 8-, 10- and 12-bit footage -- and offers photorealistic image quality with the highest possible dynamic range. Sapphire 5 can also handle 16-bit floating point footage natively on the desktop and in batch, without clamping. By removing these performance limitations of versions past, Sapphire 5 enables artists to explore the full range of their creativity without the worry of incurring additional infrastructure costs.
"I've been testing Sapphire 5, and I must say I'm impressed with the speed of the plug-ins," said Victor Wolansky, Flame artist from e3 Post. "In addition, the full float support offers a huge difference in effects like blurs or vignettes where I used to see banding. Now they're absolutely perfect, and there is no speed impact. My Flame would not be complete without them."
In addition to performance and productivity improvements, Sapphire 5 also offers 15 vibrant new effects, including TVDamage, TVChannelChange, Technicolor and many new transitions. (A full list of new effects can be found at http://www.genarts.com/product/sapphire/autodesk/whatsnew)
New parameters are also offered in this release - many from customer requests:
All Threshold controls now go beyond 1 to support high dynamic range (HDR).
ZBlur and ZDefocus support Boost Highlights to give an "HDR look" even to normal footage.
New Blur parameters are included in Glint and Glare for improved realism.
Glow now has options for Show Threshold and Combine Mode to enhance flexibility and give new looks.
"Sapphire 5 for Autodesk is a critical component of our strategy to grow GenArts via innovation, as well as through acquisitions and alliances," said Steve Bannerman, CMO of GenArts. "Sapphire has been completely re-architected to not only deliver dramatic performance, usability and image quality enhancements today, but to serve as a platform upon which we can deliver entirely new classes of innovation in the future. We're extremely pleased with the feedback we've received from our early testers, and we're confident that Sapphire 5 will empower visual effects artists in completely new ways as they push the envelope to thrill and amaze audiences around the world."
Since the company's founding in 1996, GenArts software has been utilized in thousands of films, television broadcasts and commercials, including more than 20 Oscar-nominated pieces such as Titanic; I, Robot; Armageddon; Star Wars Episode I, II and III; The Matrix trilogy; The Lord of the Rings trilogy; Pearl Harbor; Spider Man; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Transformers; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Avatar and many more.
About GenArts GenArts, Inc. is the premier provider of specialized digital visual effects for the film, broadcast and video industries. As visual effects have become essential to the art of storytelling, GenArts' tools have emerged as the standard for creating high-end visual effects at leading studio, broadcast and post-production facilities around the world. GenArts' products have been used extensively to create an array of breathtaking effects for not only countless feature films, but television shows, commercials and music videos as well. GenArts enjoys the unique distinction of having been a key component of an Oscar-nominated film for the past 13 consecutive years.
The GenArts Sapphire(TM), Monsters(TM), Raptors(TM), Tinder(TM) and particleIllusion(TM) portfolio equips digital artists with a collection of state-of-the-art visual effects tools such as glows, light rays, lens flares, film, fire, fluid and particles that seamlessly integrate as software plug-ins into leading editing and compositing systems. GenArts was founded in 1996 in Cambridge, Mass. www.genarts.com.
Digital Anarchy Releases a Free, Feature Filled Update to ToonIt! Photo for Photoshop, Elements & Aperture
Version 2.5 Adds New Outline Styles, SuperSmart Blur Option, and Interface Improvements to Popular Cartooning Software
San Francisco, CA - January 13, 2010 -
Digital Anarchy, a leading provider of cost-effective software for photographers and Photoshop artists, today announced a free update to their popular ToonIt! Photo plugin. ToonIt! 2.5 creates cartoon-like images from photographs, freeing artists from time consuming techniques such as hand painting and masking. A believable cel-shaded 'toon' effect is automatic, and users have a great deal of control to customize the cartoon with different paint styles, shading and outlines.
The feature-packed 2.5 update expands ToonIt!'s cartoon outline effect with three new styles: Woodcut Outlines, Conte Outlines and Scratchboard Outlines. A new option called Supersmart Blur has been added for more stylization of the cartoon color fields. ToonIt 2.5 has an improved interface with its controls rearranged into more intuitive groups. Minor UI elements for workflow improvement have also been added.
"We are very proud of the reception that ToonIt! has found in the Photoshop and photography market," said Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy. "We feel it's a great product but there were some additional features that we had wanted to add before ToonIt! 2.0 was released in December 2008. A year later, we have completed those features and are happy to give them to folks who already own the product, as well as ship an improved product."
New & Improved Features for ToonIt! 2.5 include:
New Outline Effects: Woodcut Outlines, Conte Outlines and Scratchboard Outlines provide three new options for stylizing the line quality of the cartoon.
New Color Blur Option: The new Supersmart Blur has been added for more stylization options of the cartoon color fields.
Improved Interface: The ToonIt! interface has been rearranged with its controls placed into more intuitive groups for a better workflow.
Toggled Preview: A Caps Lock disable command gives the option of turning on/off the ToonIt! preview, which makes the design process faster.
New Cartoon Presets: The Preset Manager now ships with more cartoon presets to make the tooning process fun and easy.
About Digital Anarchy
Digital Anarchy is a privately owned company operating out of San Francisco, Calif., that creates high-quality creative software for broadcast designers, 2D animators and professional photographers. These tools solve a wide range of design issues, from creating background design elements to masking out bluescreens for commercial still photography. Digital Anarchy products work in conjunction with host applications from companies like Adobe and Apple. For more information, please see the company’s website at www.digitalanarchy.com or call 415-586-8434.
Digital Anarchy is a registered trademark of Digital Anarchy Inc. All other brand names, product names, service marks, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - December 23, 2009 - wondertouch by GenArts announced today the immediate availability of particleIllusion™ for After Effects (pIAE) for users of Adobe After Effects on Windows. Available as a plug-in for the first time, particleIllusion for After Effects enables artists to create gorgeous particle effects directly within After Effects, producing a more efficient workflow and significantly enhanced productivity. Like its stand-alone sibling particleIllusion 3.0, pIAE is built on the industry's most robust 2D particle generation engine. As a result, it features the same highly acclaimed speed and ease of use that have made wondertouch products so popular with more than 10,000 compositing artists around the world. In addition, pIAE provides access to the thousands of existing wondertouch emitters - downloadable presets designed to allow users to effortlessly create natural, high-quality effects such as smoke, fire, explosions, sparkles, fireworks and countless abstract effects - without ever leaving the After Effects environment.
particleIllusion for After Effects features include:
The same emitter search engine found in wondertouch particleView
Access to all top-level particle parameters, including size, life, number, velocity, etc. to further customize the particles for each project
OpenGL-accelerated rendering
Full support for HD content
The ability to load most of the more than 2,800 existing particleIllusion emitters in After Effects, including the popular “Pro Emitters”
"particleIllusion for After Effects is the particles solution we've been waiting for," said Ernest Chan, Post Production CG Supervisor at Nickelodeon Animation Studios. "We are huge fans of the incredible ease of use and high-quality output that wondertouch products have delivered for years. Now, we get all those benefits in a more streamlined workflow that maximizes our creativity while minimizing our support costs. particleIllusion for After Effects is the right product at just the right time."
Artists using particleIllusion for After Effects can gain even greater control by using it in conjunction with particleIllusion 3.0. An excellent companion to pIAE, particleIllusion 3.0 grants access to all emitter settings and lower-level parameters such as color gradients, particle images, initial angle settings, and so on. Artists can also create new emitters and libraries, or move emitters between libraries using particleIllusion 3.0.
"particleIllusion 3.0 as a standalone application has earned its reputation by allowing customers to create stunning, natural effects that they would never have the time or resources to accomplish with other tools," said Alan Lorence, creator of particleIllusion. "particleIllusion for After Effects further enhances artists' creativity by offering convenient, intuitive access to our amazing preset library without having to leave the After Effects environment." Pricing and Availability
particleIllusion for After Effects is available immediately for Windows users, and will be available in Q1 2010 for Macintosh users. About wondertouch by GenArts
wondertouch by GenArts is an award-winning software developer specializing in particle effects for the visual effects industry. The company's flagship product particleIllusion, a sprite-based particle effects application, is designed to provide the most comprehensive effects creation tool and efficient workflow. Considered one of the most popular solutions for effects creation, particleIllusion is now used worldwide by creative professionals working in film post-production and pre-visualization, standard and HD video, commercial broadcast, motion graphics and game content creation.
Boris Continuum Complete's Smooth Tone, Pixel Fixer, and DV Fixer Filters for $99
Marlborough MA - December 1, 2009 - Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated effects technology for video and film, announced that a new Boris Continuum Unit, Image Restoration, is now available. The Boris Continuum Image Restoration Unit includes the Smooth Tone, Pixel Fixer, and DV Fixer filters from Boris Continuum Complete 6:
BCC Smooth Tone - an "electronic makeup" tool for saving shots with skin blemishes or substandard makeup while preserving sharpness and full image detail. A great tool for working with "talking heads" and on-camera interview footage.
BCC Pixel Fixer - removes bad pixels resulting from a faulty digital camera sensor or dust on a camera lens. Up to 10 bad spots can be repaired with a single filter application - without any degradation of image quality or sharpness.
BCC DV Fixer - remove jaggies and DV compression artifacts from footage originated on consumer DV cameras.
Boris Continuum Image Restoration supports Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Final Cut Express, Apple Motion, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro.
The Image Restoration Unit is the latest addition to previously-released Boris Continuum Units: Chroma Key, Pan and Zoom, UpRez, Motion Key, Lens Flare, Film Look, Glitters, Optical Stabilizer, Light Rays, 3D Objects, Cartoon Look, and Motion Tracker.
Customers who purchase the Boris Continuum Image Restoration Unit or any other Boris Continuum Unit may credit the price of the Unit towards the full Boris Continuum Complete plug-in suite.
About Boris FX:
Founded in 1995, Boris FX is the leading developer of integrated graphics and effects technology, delivering 3D compositing and vector graphic products for broadcast, post-production, film, and multimedia. Boris products have grown to serve millions of artists worldwide. The company's success lies in its ability to integrate and leverage technologies through strong partnerships with industry-leading developers such as Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Grass Valley, and Sony.
Newest Version of mocha products Streamline Corner-Pinning Data Export Directly to Red Giant Warp
GUILDFORD, UK (November 3, 2009) - Imagineer Systems (www.imagineersystems.com) today announced new software point releases of its popular planar tracking and rotoscoping software mocha and mocha for After Effects v2. Most notably with this new release, mocha v1.6 and mocha for After Effects v2 now support tracking data export directly to the Red Giant Warp After Effects plug-in.
mocha for After Effects v2 is a stand alone 2D tracking tool for the After Effects community based on Imagineer Systems' unique 2.5D Planar Tracking technology. mocha for After Effects helps solve problematic shots that traditionally challenge point based trackers, such as footage with objects moving out of frame, lack of detail, motion blur and heavy grain. This helps the artist to generate solid tracks, giving position, scale, rotation, shear and perspective matched tracks and exporting the data to After Effects in less time.
"Many of our users have been requesting a simpler workflow between Red Giant Warp's powerful dual-corner pinning tool and mocha for After Effects' superior planar tracking system," said Sean Safreed, direct of product management for Red Giant Software. "Thanks to Imagineer's work, Warp has direct access to the mocha output. We're excited that users can now use both together seamlessly."
"In the last year, After Effects artists have become reliant on mocha's planar tracker to solve the most challenging shots but are always looking for ways to improve their compositing workflow," added Ross Shain, chief marketing officer for Imagineer Systems. "Red Giant's Warp offers high quality corner pin rendering and the ability to use mocha's data with a simple dual pin interface. This solves some of the existing complexity that can arise when using AE for screen replacements. Partnering with developers like Red Giant to ensure our tools are working effectively and efficiently together ultimately yields the kind of value our customers are looking for."
Imagineer Systems Ltd innovates and markets next-generation visual effects solutions for film, video and broadcast post production markets. Imagineer Systems has made its mark on such marquis Hollywood blockbuster productions as Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter. Imagineer's desktop product line consists of monet - placement station, mokey - removal station, motor - roto station, mocha - tracking station, mocha for After Effects - planar tracker for Adobe After Effects, and mocha shape for After Effects - the new rotoscoping shape import plug in for After Effects users, mocha for Final Cut - planar tracking for Final Cut Pro users, and mocha shape for Final Cut - the new rotoscoping shape import plug in for Final Cut Pro. Imagineer Systems was founded in 2000 and its headquarters is located in Guildford, United Kingdom. For more information visit www.imagineersystems.com.
Sapphire Version 3.02 Supports Avid's AVX2 Plug-In Interface on DS Systems and New Floating and Rental Licensing Options
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - October 20, 2009 - GenArts Inc., the premier provider of specialized visual effects software for the film, television and video industries, announced today GenArts Sapphire™ version 3.02 (v3.02) for Avid Systems. The upgrade extends support for Avid’s AVX2 plug-in interface to Avid DS v10.2.1 and later. This improves conform compatibility with effects generated from offline and online editing systems, allowing all Avid systems to seamlessly conform to DS and Symphony systems. GenArts Sapphire v3.02 also supports floating licenses and license rentals for all Avid systems.
While the prospect of creating sophisticated visual effects on Avid Media Composer and Symphony made the AVX2 plug-in interface popular among offline editors, it also created frustration for online editors using Avid DS systems, which only supported AVX1. Now, with Avid's recent release of DS v10.2.1 supporting AVX2 effects, GenArts Sapphire v3.02 for Avid makes it possible for the Sapphire effects used in any Avid project to work on any Avid system. Visit http://community.avid.com/forums/p/76089/425464.aspx for more details on the Avid DS v10.2.1 update.
With GenArts Sapphire v3.02, Avid DS users can:
Conform from Avid offline projects using AVX2. Online editors are now able to finish Avid projects without worrying which AVX version offline editors are working from; conversely, offline editors can now always use AVX2 (and the temporal Sapphire effects that go with it) to do their initial edits, since it is also available to online editors.
Take full advantage of effects that leverage alternate frame access. An additional 15 Sapphire plug-ins that are only supported on AVX2 are now available to DS users. These effects include the popular Feedback/Trails, TimeWarpRGB and TimeDisplace effects.
Open Avid project files that contain any version of Sapphire effects back to version 1, and automatically promote them to the latest version.
"Full AVX2 support makes it easier than ever to conform projects using the latest GenArts Sapphire plug-ins with Avid DS," said Derek Herr, Lead Compositing Editor at The Post Group. "We're thrilled that we no longer have to worry about AVX version issues between our offline and online editors. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Bravo!"
GenArts Sapphire v3.02 for Avid also supports floating licensing (via RLM servers) and license rentals for all Avid systems. For floating license users, this means maximum flexibility to support the dynamic requirements of temporary and freelance editors; lower support costs and less system downtime by seamlessly moving licenses from one machine to another; and visibility into license and upgrade budgets. License renters can take advantage of lower cost of entry for Avid users and maximum flexibility to assign the cost of using Sapphire licenses directly to a given project. Please visit www.genarts.com/product/sapphire/rent for more information on the Sapphire Rental Program and visit www.genarts.com/product/sapphire/float for more information on the advantages of a Sapphire floating license.
"GenArts Sapphire has become the specialized VFX software of choice for offline Avid editors around the world," said Steve Bannerman, CMO of GenArts. "Version 3 has enjoyed a tremendous adoption rate driven by the measurable productivity enhancements it delivers. Full support for AVX2 and the new licensing options available in v3.02 will raise the productivity bar even higher, offering the seamless support for DS systems that online artists have been hungry for."
Since the company's founding in 1996, GenArts software has been utilized in hundreds of films, television broadcasts and commercials, including more than 20 Oscar-nominated pieces such as Titanic; I, Robot; Armageddon; Star Wars Episode I, II and III; The Matrix trilogy; The Lord of the Rings trilogy; Pearl Harbor; Spider Man; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Transformers; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and many more.
About GenArts GenArts, Inc. is the premier provider of specialized digital visual effects for the film, broadcast and video industries. The GenArts Sapphire, Monsters and Raptors portfolio equips digital artists with a collection of state-of-the-art image processing and synthesis effects such as glows, light rays, lens flares, lightning, film damage, fire and fluid effects. The effects seamlessly integrate as software plug-ins into leading editing and compositing systems from Adobe, Apple, Avid, Autodesk, Assimilate, Eyeon, FilmLight, The Foundry, Quantel and SGO. The company was founded in 1996 in Cambridge, Mass. www.genarts.com.
boujou 5 will be available for download on Monday 7th September.
Emmy Award-Winning Matchmoving software that enages you to add computer generated effects seamlessly into your film or video footage.
Building on its industry leading automatic toolset boujou software, boujou 5 allows you to solve complex shots even faster and to step in and work directly with the data. boujou 5 has a unique way of solving which radically accelerates the way you work, you can now solve even more shots in less time.
boujou 5 takes the headache out of matchmoving. Two clicks and the majority of your shots can be matchmoved automatically. No manual tracking required, saving you time and resources.
boujou 5 Features
New Automatic Sequential Solver
Previous versions of boujou took the entire shot into account before delivering a solve. boujou 5 looks at a single frame at a time, enabling the user to intervene as needed and making the entire process significantly faster.
Fully Functional Graph Editor
The Graph Editor enables the user to manually tweak the camera data and, if necessary, resolve. boujou 5 also provides the ability to lock valid sections of solve data or sections known to be correct. Those sections can then be used to improve other areas.
Reference Frames
The Reference Frames feature enables users to import still images taken with any camera and use them to assist in a solve.
New Target Tracker
The Pattern Matching Tracker in boujou has been completely rewritten so it provides a faster workflow. Target Tracking now can specify a pattern on a single frame as well as tracking multiple patterns simultaneously.
Here's the official press release: 1 September 2009, Oxford, UK: Vicon, developer of motion capture and image understanding systems, for the Entertainment, Life Science and Engineering industries, has today announced that boujou 5 is now available for purchase. boujou is the industry leading matchmoving software, famed for its established ease of use and automation.
Phil Elderfield, Product Manager at Vicon said: "The interest in boujou 5 at Siggraph this year was phenomenal. The feedback we've had so far has been great - I'm confident it will be our most successful boujou release to date."
Some exciting new features that existing boujou users have been eagerly anticipating include:
New Automatic Sequential Solver. Previous versions of boujou took the entire shot into account before delivering a solve. Now, it can look at a single frame at a time, which not only enables the user to intervene, it can make the entire process much faster
A fully functional Graph Editor, which lets the user manually adjust the camera data and, if necessary, resolve. boujou 5 also provides the ability to lock valid sections of solve data or sections which are known to be correct, which animators can then use to improve other areas of the shot
The Reference Frames feature allows users to import still images taken with any camera and use them to assist in a solve
Customers can purchase boujou 5 from 31st August 2009. The software installer will be available to download from the 7th September 2009.
NOTE: This release is for Windows XP and Vista. A Linux and OS X version will follow shortly after this.
About boujou
Vicon's match moving software, boujou (boo-zhoo), was the first fully automated camera calibration and tracking system. Using advanced adaptive algorithms developed from vision science research, the application removes previous limitations on what is achievable in visual effects production by enabling 3D professionals to derive complex camera tracks and calibration data from film and video material.
boujou has made a major contribution to high-profile television and film productions, music videos and commercials by facilitating the creation of visual effects that seamlessly combine live action and 3D. In 2002, boujou was awarded a Primetime Emmy Engineering Award.
About Vicon
Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world’s largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems, and match moving software. It serves customers in the CG animation industry, film, visual effects, computer games, and broadcast television, as well as engineering and life science industries. Vicon operates in four offices worldwide, including its Los Angeles-based Entertainment headquarters: a 26,000 square-foot facility equipped with three performance capture stages for Vicon’s service company House of Moves.
Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group - LSE: OMG), plc., a group of technology companies that produces image understanding solutions for the Entertainment, Defence, Life Science and Engineering markets. Other holdings include: 2d3, a manufacturer of specialised image understanding software for defence applications; Yotta DCL our highways surveying business in the UK; and Yotta MVS, a leading US provider of data collection services for the assessment of property taxation.
Vicon and OMG global clients include: Life Science leaders University of Pennsylvania, the VA Hospitals, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Titleist Golf, The Andrews Institute; Engineering industry leaders Ford, BMW, Airbus, Lockheed, Pratt-Whitney, NASA, Caterpillar, International Truck, and Toyota; and Entertainment companies Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Computer Entertainment, Industrial Light and Magic, Sega, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Electronic Arts, Square Enix and many others.
CineForm CineDDR™ Offers Mastering-Quality Video Recording and Playout As An Affordable Alternative to HDCAM SR. CineForm Compression Technology In Combination with Drastic Technologies DDR Expertise Ushers in a New Era of File-Based Post Production Workflow Efficiency.
Solana Beach, CA, July 22, 2009 - CineForm®, Inc. (www.cineform.com), creators of high-fidelity compression-based workflow solutions for the post production marketplace, today announced it has teamed with Drastic Technologies (www.drastictech.com), a developer of digital disk recording and data infrastructure technology, to accelerate the migration of post production workflows away from expensive and cumbersome tape-based formats towards more efficient and cost-effective file-based recording and playback.
The result of this technology partnership, CineForm CineDDR, combines CineForm's respected mastering-quality compression with Drastic Technologies' expertise in professional DDR technology to provide a software-based alternative for professional acquisition and playout. Leveraging commonly-available PC or Mac hardware, CineDDR delivers an accelerated workflow by creating media files that are immediately usable in post production- a significant development over tape workflows whose recording formats are not widely supported in post-production.
CineForm demonstrated CineDDR for the first time in its booth at NAB 2009 in Las Vegas.
"HDCAM SR has proven to be a workhorse technology for film and television production and post work," said David Taylor, CEO and co-founder of CineForm, Inc. "Our strategy with CineDDR is to offer cost savings and labor efficiency that exceeds tape workflows, while also offering higher visual fidelity and feature compatibility demanded by professional workflows. Partnering with Drastic was a perfect fit for CineDDR because it allowed CineForm to focus on compression features and performance while leveraging the rich deck control features and user interface expertise for which Drastic is known."
"The result of our collaboration with CineForm represents a significant workflow enhancement for the post production market," added James Brooks, Manager of Development, Drastic Technologies. "Combining our expertise in developing tapeless digital disk recording solutions with CineForm's innovative compression workflow creates an entirely new opportunity for customers to adopt a streamlined capture/playback solution with the functionality of a professional production VTR and a familiar VTR-style front end for ease of operation and a minimal learning curve."
CineForm CineDDR Key Features: Economics of Ownership
A unique and valuable attribute of CineDDR is its affordable integrated price point for video capture and playback. CineDDR is available to customers immediately as a software solution, as well as a manufacturer built, optimized turnkey system, which will be available for purchase on August 1, 2009.
As a software-based solution, customers can assemble a CineDDR recording/playout system by adding an Intel Core i7-based PC or Mac with RAID storage plus an AJA Xena (Windows) or Kona (Mac) card. The integration cost for dual-link recording and playout for a CineDDR system is less than $10,000, enabling an ownership model instead of a rental model because the integrated price point is approximately 1/10 the cost of purchasing a fully-featured HDCAM SR deck.
As a turnkey solution, customers can easily order and deploy a specifically-designed and optimized 'bullet proof' turnkey solution. Benefits include professional system design, performance and maintenance for customers with mission critical content. Key features of CineDDR software and turnkey solutions include:
Record into or playback from CineForm's 10-bit YUV or 12-bit RGB mastering format;
Timecode-based video capture and playback to/from HD-SDI and component sources;
9-pin serial control and VTR emulation supporting IN and OUT for integration into an automated environment;
Supports VITC, LTC and absolute time code sources;
Clip metadata maintenance and display;
Setup tools for up, down and cross conversion for output flexibility
Pricing and Availability CineDDR software will be offered in both single-link and dual-link versions, and also in versions that support both Windows and Mac OS X.
The Windows version of CineDDR is available for purchase; the Mac version of CineDDR will be available in the coming weeks. Turnkey solutions will be available August 1, 2009.
About Drastic Technologies® Drastic Technologies Ltd, founded in 1991, is a major industry provider of products for digital media capture, control, conversion and delivery. These products are sold as software only applications or as part of a complete DDR solution built and certified by Drastic. Drastic's head office is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Drastic Technologies Ltd has resellers and distributors operating in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia. www.drastictech.com About CineForm CineForm Inc. develops compression-based workflow solutions for the post production marketplace. Offering the industry's highest fidelity compression technology, CineForm is trusted among Hollywood filmmakers, television producers, videographers and digital media artists who rely on high image quality, high performance and innovative compression-based workflow solutions with up to 4k spatial resolutions for their online content creation projects. Available on both Windows and Mac platforms, CineForm workflow solutions are optimized for direct-to-disk camera recording, high-resolution post production and long-term content archives. For more information, visit www.cineform.com.
Imagineer Systems mocha shape for Final Cut Imports Roto Shape Data from Imagineer Systems Solutions; mocha for Final Cut v2, mocha v1.5 and motor v1.5 Provide Seamless Roto and Shape Export to mocha for Final Cut, mocha for After Effects
GUILDFORD, UK (June 24, 2009) - Imagineer Systems (www.imagineersystems.com) today announced the culmination of an aggressive product development cycle with the release of a powerful new VFX plug-in for Final Cut Pro users - mocha shape for Final Cut. Designed to import rotoscoping shape data exported from mocha into Final Cut, mocha shape for Final Cut enables Final Cut Pro users to easily import multi-layer shape data with variable, per point edge feathering. This new development significantly saves render time and improves the workflow between Imagineer’s mocha family of desktop VFX products and Final Cut Pro.
"For years, Final Cut editors have asked for better masking tools to perform tasks such as isolated color correction and the blurring of objects," said Ross Shain, chief marketing officer for Imagineer Systems. "The new mocha shape FxPlug, combined with mocha for Final Cut offers an affordable and easy to learn solution. Now editors, can quickly track masking shapes to objects, import the XML data and finish their shot within Final Cut rather than another finishing software."
The Company also announced today a series of new product updates to its entire mocha family of desktop planar tracking tools, as well as to motor, its powerful desktop roto station: mocha for Final Cut v2, mocha v1.5 (full version) and motor v1.5. With these new releases, Imagineer Systems is integrating seamless connectivity between its mocha and motor families of desktop VFX solutions.
mocha for Final Cut v2 now exports to mocha shape for Final Cut;
mocha v1.5 (full version) now exports roto shapes to mocha shape for Final Cut and mocha shape for After Effects;
mocha v1.5 also adds tracking export for Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express and After Effect (CS3 and CS4);
motor v1.5 now exports roto shapes to mocha shape for Final Cut and mocha shape for After Effects.
This series of new product developments and upgrades is a direct result of the Company’s continued commitment to extend its powerful planar tracking technology to the desktop and provide affordable, accessible VFX solutions for the entire marketplace - from freelancers to Hollywood studios.
Pricing and Availability
mocha shape for Final Cut, mocha for Final Cut v2, mocha v1.5 and motor v1.5 are all available immediately and are priced as follows:
Imagineer Systems is the award winning creator of planar tracking technology, an industry-unique tracking innovation optimized for compositing and rotoscoping. With monet, mokey and the mocha family of desktop VFX software solutions, Imagineer delivers affordable and practical VFX tools for independent digital artists, while also offering sophisticated compositing, roto and tracking capabilities ideal for boutique agencies, facilities and major Hollywood studios. For more information, please visit www.imagineersystems.com.
Innovative New Workflows Leverage Deep Functionality Improvements in the Fourth Major Release of modo
San Mateo, Calif. - June 19, 2009 - The rapid evolution of modo took another leap today as Luxology® LLC announced the immediate availability of its latest 3D content creation software, modo 401. With a focus on rendering and animation enhancements, modo® 401 delivers a wealth of new features and innovative workflows, which enable users to easily model on top of existing geometry, see changes in their scene immediately from the radically improved Preview renderer and efficiently re-use assets throughout the content creation process. These new features benefit customers in a broad array of disciplines such as architectural visualization, product design, game development and advertising image production. "modo 401 continues our emphasis on making the 3D creative process as fluid as possible for designers and artists," said Brad Peebler, president of Luxology. "This new version is packed with improvements and is clearly our biggest upgrade of modo to date." Rendering Rendering enhancements include caustics, dispersion, blurry refraction, volumetric lighting and Pixar-patented deep shadows. The new Instance Replicators allow dense amounts of surface detail like welds, rivets, trees and barnacles to be rendered with trillion polygon detail. Light linking and support for multiple environments provides precise control over how each part of a scene is individually lit. modo 401 also supports stereoscopic rendering and will render on up to 32 cores across a network of 50 workstations. Animation Animation improvements in modo 401 include inverse kinematics, dynamic parenting, channel constraints and modifiers. modo’s new animation capabilities facilitate the creation of sophisticated rigs in modo 401 that can be driven with a few simple inputs. For example, a tank model can be rigged to track and turn accurately across undulating terrain while maintaining realistic tread and wheel movement. Pre-built animation assemblies provided with modo 401 allow users to apply animation to their models automatically.
Workflows Optimized artist workflows are another essential element of modo 401. Artist feedback during modeling and other operations is enriched with a deeply threaded Preview renderer that boasts extremely rapid updates and progressive rendering capability. modo 401 boosts artist productivity by facilitating the re-use of assets throughout the content creation process. modo 401 ships with over 1,500 pre-built assets including profile curves, realistic surface finishes, fur presets, 3D props, vegetation, animated rigs and professionally designed lighting environments that light a scene in two mouse clicks.
"These pre-built assets in modo offer us a way to get to final quality more quickly," said Gary Fitzgerald of DesignworksUSA. "modo also allows us to capture and re-use our own design assets for greater efficiency."
modo 401 boasts a wide array of other productivity enhancing improvements, including:
Expanded modeling toolset: Most modeling tools in modo now support per vertex collision with geometry. When paired with modo’s new ability to load static meshes that have a lower memory footprint, users can now leverage modo to retopologize even the densest meshes into production ready assets. In addition, new Profile Presets simplify the modeling of edge-based details like crown molding or complex bevels.
More realistic materials: The new Fur material enables a multitude of material appearances from hair, bristles and fur to water droplets, string, grass and tinsel. Carbon fiber and highly glossy clear coat surfaces lend realism to consumer product visualizations
Data import and export: modo 401 is now even better equipped to read and write data that can be exchanged with other 2D and 3D applications. File exchange improvements include COLLADA, FBX, 3DM and a new SolidWorks 2009 file importer for Windows.
Pricing and Availability Luxology modo 401 is available immediately for the new suggested retail price of USD $995. Upgrades from any existing version of modo remain at $395. modo 401 runs on Mac and PC platforms, and is newly available for 64 bit Windows. modo 401 is sold and supported by a network of authorized Luxology resellers around the globe.
About Luxology Based in San Mateo, Calif., Luxology LLC is an independent technology company developing next-generation 3D content creation software that enhances productivity via artist-friendly tools powered by a modern underlying architecture called Nexus. Founded in 2002 by Allen Hastings, Stuart Ferguson and Brad Peebler, Luxology is home to some of the top 3D engineering expertise in the industry. More information on the company, its licensable Nexus technology, its flagship product modo, and a gallery of artists’ images from the active modo community is available online at www.luxology.com.
Toolfarm.com now the world's largest online sales and support community for motion graphics and visual effects plug-ins
Toolfarm.com now the world's largest online sales and support community for motion graphics and visual effects plug-ins
San Francisco, CA- February 19, 2009- Toolfarm.com, Inc., the leading source of content, community and commerce for professional visual effects and motion graphics plug-ins, today announced the acquisition of assets of Pluginz.com. Pluginz.com was a full sales and service shop for digital media professionals. A complimentary offering to the Toolfarm.com product sales, service and information network, the acquisition of assets from Knowedge Market, Inc includes the Pluginz.com network of URLs, and is a natural step in growing the popular Toolfarm.com one-stop shop service.
"Our unique value-add among resellers within the content creation market is our exceptional customer service. We offer more than just a list of plug-ins to buy, we provide outstanding sales support. Online help forums, detailed technology briefs and reviews, and a constant stream of industry news help our customers make informed decisions on investing in technology, and the tools to do their job," says President of Toolfarm.com, Jason Sharp. "The acquisition of the Pluginz.com gives us an opportunity to expand the overall offering for the Toolfarm community and better service our customers with a more diverse range of plug-ins to choose from along with the technical team to help them during their decision making process and beyond."
About Pluginz.com
Pluginz.com was a source for plug-ins and other tools for digital artists and an online resource for information about digital content creation. Pluginz.com was a part of the larger network which includes bedagi.com, editingutopia.com, post601.com, 3dplugins.com, and vfxplugins.com. The site served as an online community uniting software users and developers, and was an indispensable resource for digital artists seeking the information, service and feedback they needed to evaluate and select digital tools and to build their presence in the marketplace.
About Toolfarm.com Inc.
Founded in 1999, Toolfarm.com is the world's leading source of commerce for motion graphics plug-ins that also provides content, community and commerce for professional visual effects. In the past ten years, Toolfarm.com has served hundreds of thousands of professionals from all around the world who make a living working with digital video. Toolfarm.com continues to provide objective, timely information for users of Adobe, Apple, Avid, Autodesk and Sony applications including the related third-party plug-ins. In addition to competitive pricing, Toolfarm.com's free resources include the Plug-in Finder, free tutorials, blogs, newsletters, podcasts, industry news articles and press releases, user forms, compatibility charts and a recent new launch of "MyToolfarm", a professional video networking resource.
Corrections made Feb 22nd, 2009: The acquisition of Pluginz.com does not include Pluginz.com as a company, but rather the assets of it's URLs from Knowledge Market, Inc.
Six New Motion Graphics Packages Expand Product Line
San Francisco, CA, August 4, 2008 - Red Giant Software, with popular products Magic Bullet, Knoll Light Factory, and Trapcode, today announced that it has agreed to acquire the video plug-in portfolio of Digital Anarchy, a San Francisco-based plug-in developer. Digital Anarchy is known for its high-quality creative software for broadcast designers and 2D animators. The acquisition will add six new products to Red Giant Software's roster, which will be repackaged under Red Giant Software's own product names.
These new products make Red Giant Software a one-stop shop for plug-ins, with over 30 plug-in packages for Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Avid. Users can now turn to Red Giant to create a wide variety of effects, including particles, keying, color correction, lighting, cartoon effects, look creation, animated titles, and ultra-realistic water. Several of Digital Anarchy's former products will distributed free of charge, including PlasmaFX, Color Theory, and Microcosm Codec. These free products will be introduced later in 2008.
The six new tools include PlaneSpace (formerly 3D Assistant Lite/Pro), a 3D layer animation tool; Datamator (formerly Data Animator), which creates and animates charts and graphs in 3D space; Psunami (formerly Psunami Water), a photorealistic water and wave generator; ToonIt (formerly Toon It!), which creates cartoon-style art from video footage; and Knoll Light Factory Spark, a version of the popular lens flare generation tool especially for advanced Autodesk platforms.
Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy, said, "As I looked to exit the video plug-in business to fully concentrate on our photography/Photoshop products, I approached Red Giant Software to help ease the transition for our users. Red Giant Software is recognized in the industry for taking care of its customers with a solid record for support and marketing. It was important to find Digital Anarchy's film/video users a good new home - Red Giant Software fits that bill."
Sean Safreed, owner of Red Giant Software, said, "This is an exciting milestone for our company. We entered the plug-in market nearly six years ago, and we are now are one of the largest providers of tools to production professionals. We are dedicated to providing innovative tools for broadcasters, film designers, and independent filmmakers, and Digital Anarchy's video toolset expands our palette. We look forward to providing Digital Anarchy film/video users and future customers with the best support and on-going updates to these new tools, and we're already working on updates and compatibility enhancements."
Digital Anarchy will continue to publish plug-ins and filters for Adobe Photoshop. For more information, visit www.digitalanarchy.com. Frequently Asked Questions
About Red Giant Software Red Giant Software LLC (http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/) 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.
About Digital Anarchy Digital Anarchy is a privately owned company in San Francisco that creates high-quality creative software for professional photographers, Photoshop artists and graphic designers. Since 2001, our tools have solved a wide range of design issues, from masking out bluescreens for commercial still photography to generating custom lighting effects. Digital Anarchy products work in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop, PS Elements, and related design applications. For more information, please see the company's website at www.digitalanarchy.com or call 415-586-8434.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Workflow Management Tool Receives Best of Show Acknowledgment
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada April 29 - GridIron Software today announced that its newest product -- GridIron Flow was awarded 'Best of Show' by Videography editors at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, which took place April 14-17. Flow is a revolutionary new approach to workflow management for creative pros that dramatically simplifies the design process for print, web, film, and video projects. Flow is currently in beta with a select group of creative pros. Registration for a free public beta planned for late spring is available on the Gridiron website at http://www.gridironsoftware.com.
"Gridiron Flow represents a tremendous step forward for industry professionals with its ability to work seamlessly in the background as it automatically tracks and displays the relationships of all files used within a project," explains Videography Contributing Editor Ned Soltz. "Even more impressive is its ability to create project packages for archival or shared purposes. And it's priced at a point where the power of Flow is accessible to large and small users alike."
The NAB Vidy Awards are given by Media's Broadcast & Video Group of products, which also includes DV magazine, DV Expo and the Creative Planet Community of web sites. A select panel of engineers, production and post professionals and editors joined the magazine staffs to judge the Best of Show awards for each publication.
"The Vidy Best of Show award is a great honor and wrapped-up an excellent week at NAB. It was very exciting to share Flow with our Nucleo Pro customers and the video and broadcast industry professionals who stopped by to see demonstrations at the show," said Steve Forde, CEO of GridIron Software. "We got a lot of great feedback from customers and look forward to working closer with the creative professional community when we launch the public beta of Flow."
Flow automatically tracks your work allowing you to instantly see the relationships between all your assets in your most complex projects -- all without changing the way you work. It uses sophisticated Real-Time Asset Tracking technology to record all Import/Export, Save/Save As, and Copy/Paste actions in a project. Flow understands all the assets used in a project regardless of application; and maintains the relationships between stills, movies, sound clips, fonts, plug-ins, and color swatches on all local, network, and removable storage devices.
This award-winning software will be available later this summer for US$349 and will support Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard, as well as Windows XP and Vista. Creative professionals interested in learning more about Flow and participating in the public beta program are encouraged to register at: http://www.gridironsoftware.com.
About GridIron Software
GridIron Software is a leading provider of workflow solutions for creative professionals. We build powerful tools that enhance the creative process by eliminating the drudgery that creative professionals associate with design, video and web workflows. For more information visit: http://www.gridironsoftware.com. GridIron Software
San Francisco, CA, April 10, 2008 - Red Giant Software, publisher of a line of professional desktop tools including the award-winning Magic Bullet™ technology will show five new products at the upcoming NAB Convention in Las Vegas, NV (April 14-17, 2008). Visit the Red Giant Software booth- SL2128A to see demos of Trapcode Horizon, Instant HD Pro, Radium Glow, Magic Bullet Steady, and Primatte Keyer Pro 4.
Trapcode Horizon is a plug-in designed specifically for After Effects users doing 3D work. Are you tired of figuring out how to get your camera to match your virtual background? Well, we have a simple solution for you. With the help of Trapcode Horizon, you can generate motion in 3D in a true 3D space. Now that's beautiful! Priced at $99 this product will ship in Q2 2008.
Instant HD Pro is designed to deliver the highest possible quality conversion for SD to HD. Its advanced tool set offers sharp, motion-compensated de-interlacing and de-noising; advanced pan and scan; and a super-resolution algorithm for providing actual resolution enhancement in an editing application. All these features are combined into one plug-in with an easy-to-use preset menu for choosing the right HD and 2K output formats. Priced at $399 this product will ship in Q2 2008.
Radium Glow will be a new package of plug-ins to create glowing areas in an image, based on the brightest parts of the frame. The four plug-ins are Glow EZ, a simple plug-in with limited controls, Glow with advanced controls and masking, Glow Edge for creating glows only on the edges of an image or around text, and Glow Depth which will create the Glow based on a secondary z-depth or depth buffer layer. Priced at $99 this product will ship in Q2 2008.
Magic Bullet Steady will include two new plug-ins for Final Cut Pro 6 and After Effects CS3 (Mac and Windows). The stabilizer function removes unwanted camera movement and drift with a software-based 2D translation that is near real-time. Also, included in this set is a tool to reduce visible noise and grain in DV sequences produced by digital video cameras, camcorders, TV-tuners, digitizers of film or analog video. Priced at $199 this product will ship in Summer 2008.
Primatte Keyer Pro 4 is a professional green screen tool that extracts keys from any color background quickly and easily. Version 4 brings new levels of power and speed to After Effects and Avid, and for the first time, Final Cut Pro. New features include easy-to-use Auto setup, which creates an almost-perfect key with one click. Powerful features allow Primatte Keyer Pro to overcome keying challenges such as uneven lighting, compression artifacts, subtle shadows, and edge light contamination. Best of all, Primatte Keyer Pro works right on the timeline. Available now for $499 new or $199 as an upgrade.
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.
They've been talking about it for a while and today, Photoshop Express has hit the tubes. How is this free online Photoshop going to affect business? This version is stripped down compared to the full version. I think this is a great sales move. New users will try this out and realize they need something more powerful and get the full version. Sounds like a plan to me.
Press Release: Adobe Launches Photoshop Express Public Beta
Free Online Software Brings Photoshop Technology to Anyone Taking Digital Photos
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 27, 2008 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe's best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.
"Photoshop is trusted technology that has changed the visual landscape of our world. Now, Photoshop Express allows anyone who snaps a digital photo to easily achieve the high-impact results for which Adobe is known," said Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. "Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit and share photos whether you're at home, school or on the road."
Simple, Fun and Accessible With Photoshop Express, digital photos can be uploaded and sorted anytime, edited non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and shared from anywhere, on any Web browser. In a few easy clicks, Photoshop Express empowers anyone to make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and much more.
No experience is required to add special effects that will impress friends and family. In keeping with its one-click approach, Photoshop Express offers tricks like Pop Color which selects an object in an image, mutes the background color of the photo and allows the user to swap the object's color so it jumps off the page. Sketch effects help photos look like drawings and the Distort feature allows you to distort facial features or objects within the images for a comical or artistic effect. Even users with limited photo editing knowledge can simply select what looks best from a line-up of sample photos with visual hints showing different variations of the added effect.
Photoshop Express offers a variety of creative sharing options, including uploading and showing off photos and slideshows in your own online "Gallery" hosted by Adobe, or conveniently embedding or linking photos to social networking sites and personal blogs without having to leave the application. Slideshows never looked better with animation that makes photos float and fly across the screen, allowing for viewer interactivity and unique presentation styles.
Adobe Photoshop Family Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images. Photoshop Lightroom addresses the workflow needs of professional and serious amateur photographers. Photoshop Elements provides exciting tools and sharing options for photo hobbyists.
Photoshop Express is the latest step Adobe is taking to leverage the advanced technology that underpins its awardwinning creative products and deliver it to new online communities. In early 2007, Adobe also announced the availability of Adobe® Premiere® Express, an online video editing and mash-up tool on partner sites such as MTV and Photobucket. Adobe Premiere Express leverages the functionality found in Premiere Elements, a fully-featured desktop video editing program.
Free and Available Now Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now for free via any Web browser at http://www.photoshop.com/express. Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe's free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash® Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express. In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to US residents-only in English.
Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the US. Future plans include availability in other languages and countries.
Wilmington, NC - January 3, 2008 - Digieffects, a developer of popular software plugins for Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Autodesk Combustion today announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the Walker Effects plugins from WalkerFX.
The WalkerFX plugins have long been a prized toolset for professional visual effects and motion graphics artists. Included in the collection are 18 effects for Adobe After Effects offering unparalleled channel operations, time-saving workflow techniques, effective render optimizations, and the greatest compositing flexibility.
"The acquisition of the Walker Effects intellectual property represents another chapter in our growth. We're excited to have this opportunity to update and continue offering the plugins to the video community," said Robert Sharp, President at Digieffects.
WalkerFX has a MSRP of $149 and is immediately available from Digieffects and its resellers.
About Digieffects Digieffects is a developer of popular software plugins for Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro and Autodesk Combustion. The company has been in the business since the beginning of the "plug-in revolution" which dates back to 1996. Over the years, Digieffects has had great success with software products like Cinelook and Delirium and is proud to call thousands of film and video producers all around the world its customers and friends.
Autodesk, Inc. today announced Autodesk Combustion 2008 software, the latest version of its desktop compositing and visual effects solution. Combustion offers digital media artists an easy-to-use interface, non-destructive workflow and extensive toolset at the affordable price of US$995*. It has been used on the Juicy Fruit Ant commercial by Asylum Visual Effects, the Target Anthem ad by Brand New School, and by Zoic Studio on the Journeyman television show. The popular Colour Warper tool, found in the Autodesk Flame visual effects system, has been added to Combustion 2008. The new release also includes improvements to the schematic view.
The Colour Warper in Combustion 2008 performs primary and selective color correction. It also allows for precise fine-tuning with multiple levels of adjustment in a single pass. Colour Warper features include:
Interactive adjustment of gamma, gain, offset, hue, saturation, and contrast
Intuitive hue shift and a tint color wheel for fast, accurate color balancing and a visual color sampling palette for precise color matching
Interactive Histogram and curves editing modes for subtle, precision tweaking of color components
Independent controls for color correcting the image's shadow, midtone, and highlight regions
"Match" feature for fast scene-to-scene color correction
"Selective" feature for sampling up to three different color regions for isolated correction
User interface features: high-quality RGB vector scope, and a 3D histogram for precise color monitoring
Pricing and Availability Autodesk anticipates that Combustion 2008 will be available in December 2007. The 2008 release will be supported on Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Autodesk suggested retail pricing is US$995*. The suggested upgrade price from Combustion 4 to Combustion 2008 is US$199*.
*International pricing may vary.
For more information on Combustion 2008, please visit www.autodesk.com/combustion.
San Francisco, CA, October 18, 2007 - Red Giant Software, developer of a line of professional digital video tools, including Magic Bullet and Knoll Light Factory, today announced that the company reached an agreement with Digieffects to acquire Cinelook. This agreement secures Red Giant Software's position as the leading provider of color correction tools to set the mood of a movie. Following the recent launch of Magic Bullet Looks, Cinelook will no longer be sold or developed by either company. Digieffects will continue to offer free technical support to existing customers. Key pieces of the Cinelook technology and workflow may be added to future versions of the Magic Bullet line of tools.
Cinelook users can cross grade to Magic Bullet Looks for USD $199 (regularly $399) and Magic Bullet Suite 2007 USD $399 (regularly $799). A document will be available to help Cinelook users learn more about migrating their projects and workflow to Magic Bullet.
"This cross sell opportunity is the best way for Cinelook customers to get the latest technology," said Robert Sharp, President of Digieffects. "We will now turn our focus to our core products such as Delirium and the line of Buena Software products, recently acquired from Toolfarm."
"Cinelook was one of the first products to process video to emulate film," said Andrew Little, Co-Founder of Red Giant Software. "We are happy to forge this partnership with Digieffects and offer Cinelook customers a brand new playground to have fun and be creative with color correction and movie looks."
About Digieffects
Digieffects is a developer of popular software plug-ins for Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Autodesk Combustion. The company has been in the business since the beginning of the 'plug-in revolution' which dates back to 1996. Over the years, Digieffects has had great success with software products like Cinelook and Delirium and is proud to call thousands of video producers all around the world its customers and friends.
About Red Giant Software
Red Giant Software LLC (www.redgiantsoftware.com) 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.
Digital Film Tools announces the release of Power Matte 1.0, an easy to use image matting tool capable of extracting almost any object in an image--even if you are dealing with fine hair detail, smoke, or reflections. This extraction process creates what is known as a matte--essentially a black and white cutout. White matte areas are extracted, black areas not, and gray areas in between represent a level of transparency. Once a matte is extracted, the foreground object can be seamlessly composed onto a new background as well as apply filter and image corrections only within the area defined by the matte. All this is made possible without the aid of blue or green screen photography.
To work this magic, Power Matte iteratively estimates the transparency value for every pixel in the image, based on a small sample of foreground (what you want to cut out) and background (what you want to get rid of) pixels marked by defining simple open or closed masks. Results show that compared with previous approaches, our method is more efficient and requires minimal effort to extract high quality mattes for foregrounds with significant semi-transparent regions. In addition, the foreground edge colors can be estimated in the semi-transparent areas to create a seamless composite.
Power Matte is based on unpublished research and technology by Jue Wang from the University of Washington and is exclusively licensed by Digital Film Tools. Digital Film Tools is an offshoot of a Los Angeles based full-service visual effects facility specializing in feature film and television special effects. Power Matte 1.0 is available for download or purchase for $195.
New version delivers DWG Import, XRefs, new MOCCA tools and accelerated HAIR Rendering
MAXON, October 1, 2007 - MAXON today released a dramatically enhanced version of its CINEMA 4D software. Sporting a wealth of new features added to the core CINEMA 4D program, the update also takes in a number of enhancements that have been made to CINEMA 4D's optional modules. Chief among these are new tools for MOCCA and MoGraph, plus major enhancements to HAIR.
One highlight is the new DWG import filter. CINEMA 4D users now have access to one of the most widely used CAD exchange formats on the market. AutoCAD versions 13 to 2008 are supported, including layers, blocks and references. A further boost to file exchange for customers in the architectural field is the new connection to Allplan 2008, which guarantees loss-free transfer from CINEMA 4D R10.5.
Users working as a team are set to see a huge benefit with the eagerly anticipated arrival of XRefs. These external references allow a large scene to be broken down into parts, each of which can be worked on separately to the master project file, thus allowing multiple users to work on the same project file at the same time for super fast project turnaround. Further additions bolstering the update are new modeling tools (Connect, Dissolve and Spin Edge), a completely new way to light scenes (with the new Lighting Tool you control the lighting rather than the lights), plus a powerful new method to unwrap UVs of organic objects without undercuts.
Naturally, workflow is another area MAXON is always improving. Lots of tweaks here and there will help users to work more efficiently and include extended functionality in the Head Up Display (HUD), which now allows data to be dragged and dropped directly into the viewport. HUD elements can also be colored and grouped easily. Additionally, the timeline has been refined to enable users to work faster than before. A new summary track allows the entire animation to be edited as a whole, while the new reduced modification mode greatly simplifies the process of editing complex f-curves. For the user who likes to reach for the online help, a welcome addition is the provision of full text search capabilities, making it quicker to look up any subject from the huge comprehensive online help system.
In terms of the modules, key changes were made to MOCCA, MoGraph and HAIR. Animating characters in MOCCA has never been easier thanks to over 25 improvements, such as Squash & Stretch features and new Deformers. MoGraph boasts new effectors and cloning options, allowing this must-have module for state of the art motion graphics to flex its muscles even further. And hair rendering is dramatically faster with full support for multicore and multi-CPU machines - a dual-core machine now renders hair at up to double the previous speed.
With a total of over 90 substantial improvements packed into the update, Release 10.5 makes its mark as arguably the most comprehensive .5 update in CINEMA 4D history.
More information.
The CINEMA 4D R10.5 upgrade is available for purchase immediately from MAXON or your MAXON products distributor.
Early Releases of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 and Soundbooth CS3 Available
By BusinessWire - SAN JOSE, Calif., BUSINESS WIRE - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced free public previews of Adobe Premiere(R) Pro CS3, Adobe After Effects(R) CS3 Professional and Adobe Soundbooth(TM) CS3 software, components of the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite(R) 3 Production Premium. Video and creative professionals now have the opportunity to test these new public previews on Adobe Labs at http://labs.adobe.com/. The final shipping releases will be available worldwide in the third quarter of 2007.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 is a major upgrade to the company's award-winning nonlinear video editing software tool. Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional software is for visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing for film, video, DVD, the web, and mobile devices. Adobe Soundbooth CS3 is a new innovative and intuitive audio software tool for creating and editing audio and fixing common audio flaws using visually-oriented tools. All products support Intel-based Macintosh systems, Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP, and Windows Vista(TM), with the software optimized to deliver outstanding performance on the latest hardware. Adobe After Effects CS3 is also available for Macintosh as a Universal Binary application.
"We've seen tremendous growth and adoption of our professional video, audio and motion graphics tools over the past year and want to offer our customers a taste of what is right around the corner with Production Premium CS3," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. "These public previews are packed with new features and workflows that will enable new levels of expressiveness and productivity over multiple mediums, and we hope our open approach will help customers kick-start some really innovative new projects."
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium will be demonstrated during the NAB 2007 Conference and Exhibition at The Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, April 16 - 19 (Booth SL 3220).
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 makes every phase of video production more efficient. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 now includes Adobe OnLocation(TM) CS3 with Adobe Encore(R) CS3 enabling direct-to-disk recording and monitoring, creating a more efficient workflow from the point of capture to final output. Enabling video professionals to edit creatively and efficiently, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 offers new features that streamline the editorial process. Time remapping allows dramatic slow and fast-motion effects creation. With precise keyframe control, real-time feedback, and excellent quality from advanced frame blending, users can slow things down without compromising quality. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 with Adobe Encore CS3 includes the ability to author once and deliver to multiple media formats, including high-definition Blu-ray Discs, standard definition DVDs, and web based experiences in the SWF format for playback in the Adobe Flash(R) Player. OnLocation CS3 and Encore CS3 are not included in the public previews, but will be available when the final products ship in summer 2007.
After Effects CS3 Professional now includes a range of innovative new features for animation and visual effects, along with powerful integration with Adobe Photoshop(R) CS3 Extended. The new Shape Layers tool allows flexible drawing and animation of vector shapes with the ability to add and animate strokes, fills, gradients and vector effects. The Puppet Tool provides a new approach to character animation by giving the user the ability to squash and stretch images or text as an animated character.
Adobe Soundbooth CS3 enables creative professionals to quickly record, edit and create pristine audio without requiring training in sound production. Tight integration with Adobe Flash(R) and Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 enables Adobe Soundbooth CS3 users to easily remove noise from recordings, polish voiceovers, and customize music to fit a production.
"Adobe continues to deliver great tools for filmmakers with Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium," said Stu Maschwitz, co-founder and chief technology officer at The Orphanage. "After Effects CS3, Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended together pack an integrated punch that's hard to beat."
Pricing and Availability
The public previews of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe After Effects Professional CS3 and Soundbooth CS3 are now available as a free download at http://labs.adobe.com
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
(C) 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Suite, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation, Encore, Flash and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts: Adobe Systems Incorporated Sandra Nakama, 415-832-4053 snakama@adobe.com or A&R Edelman Cara E. Porchia, 650-762-2802 cara.porchia@ar-edelman.com
Other new releases include Primatte Keyer Pro 4 and Instant HD Pro
Matt Armstrong, Via Red Giant Software, developer of professional digital video tools, today announced new products that the company will unveil at NAB in Las Vegas from April 16-19, 2007. The product line up includes a new line of Magic BulletTM products, a new Trapcode product codenamed Flux, Instant HD Pro, Primatte Keyer Pro 4, and updates to the popular Trapcode motion graphic plug-ins.
Stu Maschwitz, creator of Magic Bullet and Sin City Visual Effects Supervisor, will unveil the all new Magic Bullet 3 during two demos at NAB in Las Vegas, NV. To watch Maschwitz's presentation of Magic Bullet 3, visit Red Giant Software in the South Hall SL3827G and SL3827H on Tuesday, April 17 at 10 am or Wednesday, April 18 at 2 pm. Following Tuesday's presentation, Peder Norrby of Trapcode will preview Trapcode Flux.
Magic Bullet 3 The Magic Bullet line now includes three individual products: Magic Bullet LooksTM, Magic Bullet FramesTM, and Magic Bullet Colorista.TM Magic Bullet Suite is a collection of these tools and also includes Instant HD.
- Magic Bullet Looks lets users define the style of their video or film with powerful imaging tools in After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, and Avid. The new user interface makes it much easier to create Looks and has 32 tools for doing everything from simple exposure adjustment to radical color changes.
Magic Bullet Looks is also a stand-alone design application - giving users the finishing power and on-set creation in one package. Users can take Magic Bullet Looks on set to create looks or presets during production. The presets are portable and load into any of the hosts so the same Looks can be finished in an editorial suite. It's no longer necessary to have a pricey finishing system. Magic Bullet Looks provides hundreds of options with one click.
Magic Bullet Frames offers fast and high-quality conversion of 60i materials to 24p or just de-interlacing of video in After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Avid, Premiere Pro, and Avid.
Magic Bullet Colorista is the same exciting color correction tool that Red Giant launched in 2006. New support will be available for After Effects CS3 Professional, Premiere Pro CS3, and the new Final Cut Studio. Also there will be updates for Mac Intel across the board.
Trapcode Trapcode Flux is the groundbreaking new concept for a particle system. With Flux, users can produce beautiful fluid, flowing organic shapes, and other mesmerizing geometric moving 3D patterns. Flux will include numerous customizable presets and plenty of parameters for advanced users who want to create their own unique looks to stun their clients. Flux is scheduled for release this summer and pricing will be announced at that time.
Red Giant is also offering the popular Trapcode plug-ins for visual effects and motion graphics in the major editing applications. In May 2007, Trapcode Shine, Starglow, and 3D Stroke will be available for Final Cut Pro, Motion, Avid, and Premiere Pro. Trapcode Shine, Starglow, and 3D Stroke will also be updated to include 32-bit float support for all hosts.
Instant HD Pro Instant HD Pro delivers the highest possible quality conversion and includes an advanced tool set that offers de-interlacing, de-noising, sharpening, re-graining, advanced pan and scan, and the industry's first super-resolution algorithm for editors. In addition, the original Instant HD now features handling of interlaced and progressive sources for greater flexibility.
Primatte Keyer Pro 4 Primatte Keyer Pro 4 brings new levels of power and speed across After Effects, Avid, and for the first time Premiere Pro. New features include easy-to-use Auto setup which makes creating an almost perfect key with one click. De-artificating, the entire Primatte library, and the Key Correct Light Warp feature in Primatte Keyer 4 will all be accelerated for the GPU for up to 10 times faster results. This combination makes bluescreen keying easy and fast and best of all it works right on the timeline.
Pricing and Availability
Magic Bullet Looks will be available this summer for $399 USD. Upgrades from Magic Bullet Editors will be available for $99 USD.
Magic Bullet Frames will be available this summer for $199 USD.
Magic Bullet Colorista is currently available for $199 USD. A Mac Intel update for new application hosts will be available this summer. This will be a free upgrade for existing customers.
Magic Bullet Suite will be available this summer for $799 USD. Upgrades from any prior version of Magic Bullet Suite will be $199 USD.
New versions of Trapcode Shine, Starglow, and 3D Stroke will be sold separately in May 2007 for $99 USD each. Users will be able to upgrade to the new versions of Shine, Starglow, and 3D Stroke that works in any host plus After Effects.
Instant HD Pro will be available this summer for $399 USD.
Primatte Keyer Pro 4 will be available this summer for $499 USD. Upgrades will be available from any previous version for $199.
And you'll be able to get them all at Toolfarm! We will keep you posted.
