Video News

Reprinted from a Cool-Lux press release:

CAMARILLO, CA (June 27, 2002) Cool-Lux Lighting Industries, designers and manufacturers of professional lighting equipment for over 25 years is now shipping a gel and filter frame holder kit created exclusively for the popular SL3000 On-Camera Mini-Combo Soft Light/Broad Light.

The SL3501 kit consists of 4 flexible aluminum (approximately 3 ¾ ” L x 2 ¼” W) frames, coated on one side with high temperature self stick adhesive, which supports the application of the gel/diffusion material to the frame. The kit also contains one each (5” x 4”) sheet of half blue and salmon gel as well as diffusion. Each sheet will yield two 3 ¾” x 2 ¼” pieces of gels/diffusion material.

Anyone wielding a video camera knows it is essential to be properly equipped for any lighting situation when on location. Gels can correct for a wide variety of lighting challenges. From fluorescent/daylight balance or to enhance darker or blotchy skin tones to just needing a little softer more diffused effect. The SL3501 kit has a gel/filter/combination to properly illuminate the situation.

The frame/holder will slide either directly into the receiving slots on the hood of the SL3000 or if the SL3000 is being used as a broad light without the hood, the frame can be held in place by the same screws that would have held the hood in place. The concept is simple and easy to apply, now so are gels and diffusion to the SL3000. The basic design of this product adds emphasis to Cool-Lux’s focus on lightweight and portable professional lighting equipment and accessories designed to save time and money.

The SL3501 is a great value at $29.00 list price and a necessity for anyone who owns an SL3000 Mini-Combo Light.

Reprinted from a Pinnacle press release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pinnacle Systems, Inc. announced today Pinnacle Pro-ONE 2.0 and Pinnacle Pro-ONE RTDV — two advanced real-time DV editing and authoring solutions. Pro-ONE 2.0 significantly extends the capabilities of the current Pro-ONE product through enhanced software to enable automatic scene detection, motion tracking, advanced color correction, lens flares, faster MPEG encoding, and editing of MPEG video. Pro-ONE RTDV includes all the capabilities of Pro-ONE 2.0 and adds the ability to output timelines to a DV camcorder or a DV deck in real-time — without any rendering.

“I’ve been using Pinnacle editing solutions to produce documentaries and travelogues for three years,” said Gary Gillam, a 20-year veteran in the video industry and owner of Richmond, VA-based G2 Productions. “The ability to output 2-D and 3-D transitions, composites of multiple layers of digital video, 3-D effects and text in real time means no more waiting. As an independent film producer, time is money; and Pro-ONE RTDV makes me instantly more productive.”

With the improved workflow that Pro-ONE RTDV offers, businesses and professional videographers, corporate video producers, event videographers, and multimedia artists have the ability to substantially reduce project completion schedules or simply spend more time exploring their creativity.

“We’ve extended the real-time capabilities of the Pro-ONE so that the professional video editor can be so much more creative and productive,” said Bill Loesch, vice president of product management and engineering for Pinnacle Systems’ Business & Consumer Division said. For example, now you can have a lens flare, title, or graphic track a moving object within a video clip by using the motion tracker filter; see the result in real-time; and output the result in real-time to DV tape without having to render.”

WD Caviar 200GB Drive

Reprinted from a Western Digital press release

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Jun 25, 2002 – Continuing to lead the 7,200 RPM market with its WD Caviar® family, Western Digital Corp (NYSE: WDC) today introduced the industry’s largest capacity hard drive – its WD Caviar 200 GB 7,200 RPM product. This milestone marks the fourth consecutive first-to-market 7,200 RPM hard drive delivered by Western Digital – which was first to deliver 7,200 RPM hard drives in 80, 100 and 120 GB capacities.

WD Caviar 60 GB-per-platter 7,200 RPM hard drives will be offered in capacities ranging from 120 to 200 GB and will be available this July. To ensure quiet operation in noise-sensitive desktop/work station environments, Western Digital offers hard drives equipped with optional fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) motors.

“Hard drive manufacturers are providing incredible levels of performance and capacity to the PC market, as well as to today’s emerging markets demanding massive local storage such as personal video recorders,“ said Mark Geenen, president of TrendFocus, a research firm specializing in the data storage market “Western Digital successfully focuses on the highest capacity and highest performance EIDE hard drives, and delivers another first with 200 gigabytes.“

“Continued demand for the exceptional performance of 7,200 RPM hard drives at the highest capacities makes these hard drives an ideal choice for computing needs that range from top-of-the-line desktops and work stations to high-end IDE applications such as entry-level enterprise servers,“ said Richard E Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Western Digital.

Azden FMX-2 Field Mixer

Reprinted from an Azden press release:

Franklin Square, NY - Tuesday, July 30, 2002 • Azden Corporation is introducing the FMX-2 – a portable, 2-channel field mixer designed for the professional videographer. The small (3.75″ x 1.625″ x 5″), all metal, battery operated (single 9V) mixer can be at-tached directly to a camera with provided velcro or belt-worn using the included 3-position belt clip.

Wayne Alonso, VP Sales, says “Our customers told us that they needed a versatile, 2-channel mixer with XLR inputs and outputs for larger cameras in addition to a mini-plug output for high-quality mini DV cameras. A highlight is that Azden has designed the FMX-2 with configurable output. This means, for example, that 1 microphone can be mixed to both outputs as well as either single output while 2 microphones can be mixed to either single output or mixed together to both outputs.”

The FMX-2 features 2 balanced XLR mic/line switchable outputs, a stereo mini-jack (3.5mm) output, twin “PEAK” level input indicators, a “MONITOR” output (stereo or mono) with level control and a POWER On/Off/Low Battery LED indicator.

The FMX-2 field mixer will have an MSRP of $350.00 and will be available in early September, 2002.

Reprinted from a Divio press release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 30, 2002 — Divio Inc., a pioneer in integrated digital video chip designs, announced today that its NW701 single-chip DV CODEC powers the newest generation of the popular Pinnacle Systems’ Pro-ONE video editor. The new product, called the Pro-ONE RTDV, adds powerful, Divio-enabled real-time output capabilities to an already long list of professional editing features.

Priced at $1099, the Pro-ONE RTDV targets video professionals, prosumers and video enthusiasts who demand the highest productivity in video editing. The Pro-ONE RTDV delivers with a powerful 2D and 3D effects generator to enable maximum real-time results.

“Divio’s NW701 DV CODEC has enabled us to add real-time DV output to the Pro-ONE RTDV without requiring the user to have a high-end system,” said William Chien, Director of Product Marketing at Pinnacle Systems. “Our professional video editing system offers real-time 2D and 3D effects and simultaneous real-time analog and DV output for business and video professionals who want the performance and reliability of a hardware based solution.”

“We are pleased to be working with Pinnacle Systems to deliver unrivaled video quality, performance and functionality in the Pro-ONE RTDV,” said Steve Musallam, Director of Marketing at Divio Inc. “The Divio NW701 allows the Pro-ONE RTDV to deliver reliable, real-time DV output which is a huge advantage and makes the Pro-ONE RTDV a truly unique product.”

Reprinted from a FOCUS Enhancements press release:

CAMPBELL, CA, April 2, 2002 – FOCUS Enhancements, Inc., a worldwide leader in video production and conversion technology, today announced the CenterStage product line of video processors. The CenterStage family offers exceptional image quality, rich features, and the latest in de-interlacing, digital video processing and scaling by leveraging proprietary technology from FOCUS Enhancements. CenterStage CS-1 and CenterStage CS-2 video processors include both analog and DVI digital inputs and outputs. CenterStage is designed to bring the best video to the corporate presentation, training, rental, staging, and digital signage markets as well as high-end home theater customers using the most advanced plasma and projection displays.

“We developed the new CenterStage product line to bring advanced video quality, robust features, and a compelling price to the professional and home theater markets,” said Michael Conway, Vice President of Marketing for FOCUS Enhancements. “The CenterStage product line joins the FOCUS Enhancements’ family of professional quality convergence products to benefit all markets from consumer, prosumer to professional.”

CenterStage models accept composite, S-video, YPrPb, RGB, 480/576p, and DVI digital video, and scale these inputs to popular VESA, Projector, Plasma, HDTV and other native resolutions for monitors, projectors, and plasma panels. Outputs include: DVI and RGB or Component, 12-volt screen trigger, and a VGA pass-through. The CenterStage models have 4:3, 16:9, and anamorphic aspect ratios, and support 3:2/2:2 pull down detection and correction for viewing film-based sources. Picture adjustments includes contrast, brightness, saturation, sharpness, and hue. Control choices include infrared remote, RS-232, or front panel backlit switches. CenterStage Remote software (included) allows users to download, customize, and rename display resolutions, to upgrade the CenterStage operating software, or to control via a RS-232 serial connection. CenterStage CS-1 is offered as the standard base model and CenterStage CS-2 adds DVI HDCP compliance, rack mount chassis, and BNC analog video input connectors.

The CenterStage CS-1 is available at a U.S. suggested retail price of $1,995, and the CenterStage CS-2 is available at a retail price of $2,495. Each has a two-year limited warranty and is shipped with a remote control. CenterStage CS-1 is shipping in April, and CenterStage CS-2 is expected to be available mid-year through the FOCUS Enhancements worldwide distribution network. Additional information can be found on the FOCUS website at www.focusinfo.com.

Reprinted from a Boris press release:

Boston — Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated graphics and effects technology for the television, broadcast, post production, and multi-media markets, today announced that Boris RED 2.5 is shipping, with support for both Macintosh OS X and Windows XP.

Boris RED combines Boris FX and Boris GRAFFITI in a single application, and adds much more including vector paint, motion tracking, rotoscoping, and the most advanced 3D compositing and animation on the desktop. Combining exceptional image processing with sophisticated 2D and 3D titling, RED offers superior integrated effects for nonlinear editing applications, and adds the RED Engine for standalone effects creation and rendering.

In addition to new operating system support, Boris RED 2.5 is updated to run with the latest releases of Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid Xpress DV, Xpress, Media Composer, Symphony, and Media 100 i, among others. RED 2.5 also includes new title animation features and interface enhancements,

“With the release of Boris RED 2.5, our entire product line is now available for both Macintosh OS X and Windows XP,” says Boris FX founder and president Boris Yamnitsky. “RED combines key features such as motion tracking, 3D extrusion and animation, paint, vector text and line art. Without RED, editors would have to rely on multiple desktop applications to accomplish the same tasks. RED does it all, inside their nonlinear editing applications.”

New Features in Boris RED 2.5

· New Operating System Support. Macintosh OS X and Windows XP are now supported, as are Macintosh OS 9.2, and Windows NT and 2000.

· Direct Show Support. RED 2.5 now imports and exports files using Microsoft’s media format.

· New Title, Transition Settings and Style Palette Elements. Hundreds of new animated and static title presets have been added, as well as graphic elements for the Style Palette, including new gradients and spline combinations.

· Animated Style Parameters. RED 2.5 now offers new, keyframeable controls for the animation of parameters such as fill color and opacity, cast shadows, and strokes.

· Draft Typing. Automatically turns off styles while typing, then redraws when complete. Unlike other products with a similar feature, RED also automatically refloats text, with all formatting intact.

· New Gradient Styles. Three new Gradient styles offer elegant options for both text and graphic elements, such as text backdrops and spline media. Bevel, Edge and Contourare added to the existing Radial and Linear styles.

· Angle to Path parameter. Boris created the first titling plug-ins to add animated text on a path to nonlinear editing systems, and refines it even further with the Angle to Path parameter. This allows the angle of text to animate as it travels along a path.

· Interface Enhancements. These include Previous and Next Keyframe buttons in the Timeline window, toggling checkerboard/color backgrounds to show transparency in the Composite window, double-clicking to open the Text window, and Live Update to display changes to gradient patterns for text before applying changes.

Pricing and Availability
Boris RED 2.5 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased Boris RED 2.1 after January 1, 2002. Upgrades from RED 1.X are $295. Upgrades from RED 2.X are $50. Current Boris customers, including owners of Boris FX, GRAFFITI, and CALLIGRAPHY, may upgrade to Boris RED for $999. The suggested retail price for new purchases of Boris RED 2.5 is $1595.

Pinnacle Edition

Reprinted from a Pinnacle press release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pinnacle Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLE) announced today that it is shipping Pinnacle Edition DV, its powerful professional video editing and DVD authoring software and Pinnacle Edition DV500, an all-in-one solution that includes Pinnacle’s DV500 PCI card and breakout box for analog and digital input/output and real-time effects.

“The Pinnacle Edition software was designed from the ground up to handle digital content creation more efficiently and reliably than any other desktop video editing system on the market,” said Bill Loesch, vice president of product management and engineering of Pinnacle System’s Business and Consumer Division. “We provide our customers with a choice of software and hardware designed for their video production needs.”

Pinnacle Edition incorporates time-saving features such as InstantSave(TM), background processing, and integrated DVD export to enhance productivity. With InstantSave, work in progress is always in a saved state — users never have to worry about losing their project again. Background processing allows users to continue to work on projects, scrub the timeline and playback rendered sections while the application renders even the most complex effects. Integrated DVD exports enables editors to send completed projects directly to a DVD burner, making exporting a DVD or SVCD as simple and easy as exporting to tape.

The Pinnacle Edition software is currently available in two products:

Pinnacle Edition DV is a complete software solution for digital video content creation and includes Edition 4.5, Impression DVD Pro, Commotion 4.1, Hollywood FX RT, TitleDeko RT, an OHCI compatible 1394 card and Firewire cable. Pinnacle Edition DV500 combines the Edition 4.5 software with Pinnacle’s DV500 hardware and professional break-out box for analog and digital I/O and real-time capabilities, Edition DV500 includes Edition 4.5, Impression DVD SE, TitleDeko RT, and HollywoodFX RT.

Pricing and Availability

Fully compatible with Windows(R) 2000 and Windows XP Home and Professional, Pinnacle Edition DV is available at select resellers in North America for US $699. Pinnacle Edition DV500 is available for US $799. A special upgrade price will be offered to current Edition and DV500 customers.

Reprinted from a Medea press release:

Medea Corporation, a leading storage solutions provider to the digital content creation (DCC) and Internet streaming media markets, today announced shipment of its new VideoRaid RTS disk arrays.

The Medea VideoRaid RTS is the industry’s lowest cost fail-safe disk array, designed specifically for DCC applications including non-linear video editing (NLE), 2D/3D animation, compositing and game development.

“Medea’s new VideoRaid RTS disk arrays are now shipping to content creation professionals worldwide,” said Roger Mabon, vice president of channel marketing at Medea. “VideoRaid RTS provides full RAID data protection and industry leading performance at prices as low as $7/GB — Affordable fail-safe storage is now a reality with VideoRaid RTS.”

Medea RTS disk arrays are available in a compact 5-drive desktop tower with capacities up to 480 GB. The arrays feature a high-performance Ultra160 SCSI interface that enables the VideoRaid RTS to sustain a data transfer rate of up to 100 MB/second. VideoRaid RTS is the ideal fail-safe storage solution for long form DV and real-time uncompressed productions.

In addition to offering digital content creators a high bandwidth storage solution, VideoRaid RTS disk arrays also provide data protection. In the unlikely event of a disk drive failure, the system will continue to operate with no loss of data and no degradation in data transfer rate. The ability to operate at full performance with a “downed drive” enables the user to complete work in real-time environments without requiring immediate service.

VideoRaid RTS is optimized with Medea’s proprietary Multi-Stream Technology (MST). MST is a sophisticated caching algorithm that enables VideoRaid RTS disk arrays to support the playback of complicated NLE time-lines with up to two real-time uncompressed video streams.

Pricing and Availability
The 5-drive VideoRaid RTS is available in 160 GB, 320 GB and 480 GB capacities with list prices starting at $2,799. VideoRaid RTS is available now from Medea’s authorized dealers and distributors. Call Medea toll-free at (888) BY-MEDEA for a list of these resellers.

by Alan Sheckter, Videomaker news editor:

Adobe Premiere, the digital video editing software of choice for many prosumers, has undergone a major upgrade, resulting in its new incarnation, Premiere 6.5.

At the top of the new-tool list is the introduction of real-time capabilities, designed to give users instant previews of effects, titles and transitions. Premiere 6.5 also touts a new MPEG-2 encoder, designed for DVD authoring, in addition to its MPEG-1 export options.

Version 6.5 also includes the unveiling of the Adobe Designer Titler, which leverages Adobe’s expertise in typography and replaces Pinnacle’s TitleDeko, which used to be bundled with Premiere.

Premiere now offers more than 30 Adobe After Effects plug-ins, and for audio production, the bundled SmartSound Quicktracks and Maestro to help users create royalty-free soundtracks. Version 6.5l includes Sonic DVDIt! LE authoring software for Windows users. While the program supports Apple’s iDVD and DVD StudioPro, they aren’t included in the Premiere bundle.

Adobe Premiere 6.5 has a $549 price tag. Users of previous Premiere versions can upgrade to version 6.5 for $149.