Video News

Reprinted from a NewTek press release:

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today previewed the new technologies of LightWave 3D [8] at SIGGRAPH 2003, Booth 2848. NewTek’s LightWave, winner of a 2003 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award, includes enhancements in dynamics, character animation, modeling workflow, animation workflow, texturing tools, and more. LightWave combines a state-of-the-art photo-real renderer with intuitive and powerful modeling and animation tools, and is used worldwide as a complete 3D production solution for broadcast graphics, games, print, web, and visual effects for film and television.

“We’re very excited about the incredible variety of new and improved tools we are bringing to our users in the newest edition of LightWave,” said Andrew Cross, Senior Vice President of Engineering for NewTek, Inc. “Equally important, we are making amazing improvements in what is already an acknowledged leader in fast and flexible workflow. We’re also enhancing LightWave’s integration with other popular production tools. We are demonstrating our commitment to keeping our award-winning application at the leading edge of graphic arts technology that meets real-world production needs.”

LightWave [8] adds hard body dynamics to its suite of physical simulations tools, as well as improvements to cloth and other soft body dynamics. The character animation system is improved with faster inverse and forward kinematics, a more powerful and flexible control system, and the addition of dynamics for character skeletons - for example if the animator sends a heavy ball on a collision path with a character, the character will automatically react to the strike with real-world motions, based on where the ball impacts the character.

“LightWave has delivered what is best about computer animation for us,” said Dan Curry, Emmy-winning Visual Effects Producer for Enterprise, Paramount Pictures. “It has taken away all the boundaries. Anything that we can imagine, we can create, and create it perfectly in the tone and style we need. The people at NewTek have been responsive to our needs in developing new features and additions regularly, so that the software gives us the expanding range of tools that we are looking for.”

LightWave 3D Overview:

Reprinted from a NewSoft press release:

NewSoft, a leading provider of innovative business and consumer software solutions, today announced the release of Presto! VideoWorks Platinum, a complete video editing and DVD authoring suite that now includes an IEEE 1394 Firewire (i.Link) card. Featuring Direct MPEGII, Presto! VideoWorks Platinum gives the user the ability to encode directly from a DV camcorder into MPEG II in real time. Using Direct MPEGII, users will no longer need to deal with large AVI files or have long waits while rendering or re-rendering. Presto! VideoWorks Platinum is now available with an MSRP of $84.95.

Using Presto! VideoWorks Platinum users can turn their computers into multimedia production stations for creating movies or slide shows with a menu, animated titles, zoom, text, and chroma effects. Users can delete unwanted scenes, combine separate video clips and even add transitions to make the change from one clip to the next appear more natural. Also included is Presto! DVD Composer, which allows users to transform memories into DVDs and VCDs to play on in a home theater.

“Digital Mini DV camcorders feature IEEE 1394 ports and have already surpassed VHS camcorders in total consumer camcorder sales. And with the included FireWire card, users now have the ability to capture footage directly from a digital still camera or a Mini DV camera directly into MPEG2,” said Johnson Yang, general manager of NewSoft. “We created Presto! VideoWorks Platinum with the end user in mind making it easy to use with the drag & drop function and by giving users the ability to add special effects and burn professional looking Video CDs and DVDs.”

Presto! DVD Composer can also be used as an independent software package that allows users to capture from footage from a DVD camcorder or digital camera. Once captured the content can then be styled to include background, menu, text and coloring. Once complete it can then be burned onto a DVD or VCD.

System Requirements
Presto! VideoWorks Platinum runs on Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP and requires Pentium lll 500 MHz (recommended 800 MHz) or higher, 64 MB of RAM and 150 MB available hard disk space.

Reprinted from a Newtek press release:

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced the official shipment of VT[3], an integrated production suite that provides a comprehensive toolset for all professional video production needs from network broadcast to web streaming. VT[3] provides real-time layering and effects for video and graphics in virtually any input standard or file format and operates internally in uncompressed D1 component video. NewTek’s VT[3] includes integrated timeline and storyboard editing, paint, 3D modeling and animation, titling, keying, live-switching and much, much more.

“The production industry has never seen an uncompressed, real-time broadcast production system at this price point.” said Jim Plant, Chief Executive Officer and President of NewTek. “If you value real-time, multi-layer compositing and non-linear editing, coupled with compatibility with all the major 3D and 2D motion graphic packages such as LightWave 3D, Digital Fusion, 3ds max, combustion and After Effects, then you’ll immediately recognize the advantages of VT[3].”

Live production capabilities include live switching of DV cameras and decks connected via the host system’s Firewire ports, as well as switching of 8 component, 8 Y/C or 24 composite sources (or a dizzying array of combinations of the three types) with the SX-8 option. Any of the hundreds of DVEs supplied with the software may be applied to live sources, as well as titling and graphics from the integrated character generator as a downstream key. On the post production side, in VT-Edit the number of layers and effects that can be applied to clips is limited only by the power of the host system. VT[3] includes full 3D control of the position, rotation and scaling of layers, with soft and colored borders, cropping, shadows and many other parameters available. VT-Edit also allows full spline-based control of all animateable parameters. For both live and post production, VT[3] offers component, Y/C, composite or optional SDI output, as well as web-streaming.

VT[3] offers built-in integration for a wide range of popular tools for film and television visual effects, including Digital Fusion, After Effects, combustion, 3ds max, and more. VT[3]’s built-in frame buffer output support for these applications provides artists with instant feedback on what their shots, graphics elements, and composites will look like at broadcast time. In addition, VT[3] includes a new VT Project Codec that lets any application that supports AVI files use VT project files with no conversion or rendering, allowing VT[3] to integrate into virtually any production pipeline.

“The station has been extremely pleased with VT[3]’s results,” said Tim Johnson, Emmy award winning broadcast graphic designer, at CBS-owned KUTV Channel 2, in Salt Lake City, UT. “VT[3] has probably paid for itself 10-15 times already. The real-time uncompressed performance and fast, flexible workflow are just the ticket for a fast-paced production environment where the highest possible quality and complete control of the results are required.”

VT[3] Integrated Production Suite overview:

Reprinted from a Plextor press release:

Bridging the gap between the two leading DVD recordable format standards, Plextor Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of DVD and CD recording equipment, today announced its first ever drive to burn DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and CD-R/RW discs. The new Plextor drive helps remove the risk of purchasing a DVD/CD burner that does not comply with future DVD recording standards, and gives customers greater flexibility in choosing which DVD recordable media they use today.

Plextor’s PX-708A drive supports 8X DVD+R and 4X DVD-R Writing; 4X DVD+RW and 2X DVD-RW Rewriting; and 12X max DVD-Reading. The new DVD/CD burner also boasts high-speed 40X CD-R Writing, 24X CD-RW Rewriting, and 40X max CD-Reading. The internal ATA/ATAPI-5 interface drive includes a bundle of premium digital media software from Roxio, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROXI), including Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.1 Basic DVD Edition and PhotoSuite 5 SE.

“DVD burners today are similar to VCRs in the early Eighties, when people had to choose between VHS and Betamax,” said Howard Wing, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. “With so many different recordable formats for DVDs, how do users even know which DVD format is compatible with their existing systems? The PX-708A supports nearly every standard in the DVD universe, including DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-ROM. This highly flexible standard support makes the PX-708A the DVD/CD recorder of choice for the vast majority of business and consumer applications.”

Plextor PX-708A DVD±R/RW Drive
The Plextor PX-708A is a highly versatile DVD/CD burner specifically designed to deliver high-quality recording performance. The drive gives users the ability to create, edit, and share customized DVDs and CDs using video, photos, audio, and data. Lossless-linking technology enables users to perform basic editing tasks directly on the DVD disc, so there is no need to reload DVD content back to a PC to make minor changes, and no need to re-burn an entire DVD after making small edits.

The unit features a 2MB data buffer and burst data transfer rates of 33 MB/sec., allowing users to burn a 4.7GB DVD+R disc in approximately eight minutes. All Plextor DVD/CD drives are designed for easy installation with Microsoft Windows-based personal computer systems. The PX-708A features an ATA/ATAPI-5 (EIDE) interface, support for horizontal or vertical drive bay orientation, and Plug & Play compatibility with Microsoft Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP operating systems.

A unique combination of Plextor features and technologies deliver unparalleled CD-R/RW recording reliability. Buffer Underrun Proof technology prevents buffer underrun errors, so users can multi-task during a recording session. PoweRec (Plextor Optimized Writing Error Reduction Control) technology is a sophisticated write strategy for stable recording at maximum speeds. VariRec allows adjustment of the laser power to produce the highest quality audio recording possible.

Premium Software Bundle - Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.1 and PhotoSuite 5 SE
Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.1 Basic DVD Edition includes feature-rich digital media applications desired by today’s “digital consumer” to capture, edit, manage and burn photos, videos, music, and data to CD or DVD. Among the most compelling new applications in Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.1 is DVD Builder. Roxio’s new DVD Builder allows users to easily capture, edit and combine video and photo to create Hollywood-style DVDs of users’ home movies and photo slideshows on CD, VideoCD, SVCD or DVD. Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.1 also boasts a sleek new user interface to empower users of all skill levels to enjoy creating, copying, and customizing CDs and DVDs.

Roxio PhotoSuite 5 SE allows consumers to capture, organize, edit and share digital photos. It includes simple electronic albums and a combination of automated and advanced photo editing tools, including the ability to easily remove red-eye and wrinkles, lighten or darken, crop and rotate. Consumers can also print and share online or quickly E-mail them without leaving the program. With PhotoSuite 5 SE’s integrated Easy CD Creator burning technology, Plextor consumers will be able to burn photos to CD, Video CD or DVD.

The PX-708A drive also includes a 30-day trial version of Dantz Retrospect. Built on patented technologies, the Dantz Retrospect family of backup products has earned numerous awards for protecting vital information on file servers, business-critical application servers, desktops, and notebooks.

Pricing and Availability
The Plextor PX-708A DVD±R/RW drive is scheduled for shipment to distributors and resellers in North and South America in August 2003. The PX-708A drive has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $299.00 USD. All retail packages include unlimited toll-free technical support and one-year full warranty. Reservations for the PX-708A drive are now being accepted at http://www.plextorshop.com.

Reprinted from a Lowepro press release:

Lowepro, the worldwide leader of protective cases and backpacks for imaging products, is introducing a new backpack designed specifically for digital photographers on the go. The new CompuTrekker AW is the perfect travel companion for photojournalists and location photographers who need a compact way to safely store and transport digital cameras, accessories and a notebook computer. The backpack’s reinforced construction, shock-absorbing closed-cell foam padding and tough, water-resistant outer fabric protects its contents from moisture and sudden impacts while offering photographers balanced comfort and hands-free access to their equipment.

“The features and design of the new CompuTrekker AW were based on input and feedback we received from photographers who wanted an all-in-one protective case for their camera gear and notebook computer,” said Nicole Mummenhoff, Senior VP of Lowepro. “As photographers continue to make the transition from 35mm to digital SLRs, the notebook computer will play an integral role in the photographic process. The CompuTrekker AW provides the protection and mobility photographers need in this new age of imaging.”

Every inch of the new CompuTrekker AW backpack was carefully constructed with two primary elements in mind — the safety and security of its contents and the comfort of the photographer. The backpack’s main compartment is dedicated to storing cameras, lenses and other accessories such as memory cards, battery packs and chargers. While the perimeter of the compartment is heavily padded and insulated, adjustable, padded dividers allow photographers to customize the compartment based on their selection of equipment. And for added safety and security, a built-in, quick-release buckle fits snugly around the zippered compartment to further protect the computer from accidental damage.

Comfort was also a key element in the overall design of the CompuTrekker AW backpack. It incorporates an adjustable backpack harness with padded, contoured shoulder straps, a quick-release sternum strap and waistbelt for ultimate comfort, especially in rugged terrain.

In addition to its padding, the backpack makes accessing equipment simple and fast. A quick-access hide-away tripod mount, SlipLockTM attachment loops and a number of laminated and zippered organizer pockets all work to provide photographers with the fastest access to equipment while providing the very best in protection, durability and security.

The new Lowepro CompuTrekker AW backpack will be available at photo retailers and specialty stores nationwide in July and have a suggested retail price of $179.00.

Reprinted from a ShowVox press release:

ShowVox Corp., a provider of online video community technology, announces the launch of ShowVox.com. ShowVox technology enables video enthusiasts and professionals at ShowVox.com to share their digital video, get noticed, and be rewarded.

Video enthusiasts can share their videos in customized portfolios with friends and family, get noticed by TV shows looking to purchase clips, and compete in online video contests. Home videos have already been licensed to major reality shows for over $1,000 each. ShowVox.com also supports the blogging community, enabling bloggers to post videos that are linked from their blogs and receive real-time comments from viewers.

Video professionals can upload to customized portfolios in their field of specialty and showcase their demo reels and video samples to advertisers, agencies, and video production companies as a new outlet for getting work. Agencies and advertisers, for free, can easily search and find the best video producer for their project.

ShowVox.com is being introduced for a limited-time offer of $19.95/year for unlimited sharing of videos. Viewing is free to everyone. Membership features include:

Reprinted from a Wildform press release:

Wildform, creators of video and animation software, today announced the release of Wild FX Pro, a highly versatile and very easy to use video titling and text animation software.

Wild FX Pro comes with 417 effects that work with a user’s installed fonts, including double-byte characters such as Japanese and Chinese. With Wild FX Pro creating a video title or text animation is as easy as entering text and selecting an effect. Everything from complex effects to complete title crawls can be generated in a matter of minutes.

Wild FX Pro’s video output formats include .mov, .avi, .dv, and .mp4, all of which can be easily integrated into any video project. The software also supports alpha channel for creating transparent backgrounds for use with non-linear editing programs. In addition, Wild FX Pro outputs .swf Flash files which are ideal for websites, CDs and presentations.

Wild FX Pro also includes 45 customizable effects, including scrolling effects. These custom effects can also be used as templates to create new effects, which can be saved and added to the Wild FX Pro effects library. This gives Wild FX Pro customers the ability to generate new effects templates without requiring any programming knowledge. All the effects can be moved, deleted and organized in an easy to use drag and drop folder tree.

Other features include the ability to add background images, text fills, gradients and strokes, text justification, as well as a host of automated Flash functions such as links, custom variables, looping, on-click actions and an advanced HTML export option with pop-up javascript code.

Wildform CEO, Jonathan Blank, noted, “Wild FX Pro is an important new entry into the video titling software arena. It is a very versatile and cost effective way to generate both stunning video titles as well as advanced text animations for websites and presentations.”

Wild FX Pro is $99 and is available for Windows and Mac.

Reprinted from a CyberLink press release:

CyberLink Corp., a leading developer of digital video software and e-learning solutions, introduced today a unique utility, disc defragmentation, which moves all of the content on a DVD to one location so that the total free space on the disc is available for burning video. This utility is currently available only in PowerProducer 2.

“Unlike data files that only require limited storage space, video files have much larger storage requirements. As a result, when users try to re-edit DVD titles, it’s hard to store the new DVD segment due to limited free space and playback becomes intermittent because the files are in different locations,” said Eric Lin, Assistant Product Manager of CyberLink. “That’s why we have included the disc defragmentation functionality in PowerProducer 2.” The unique disc defragmentation feature supports editable disc format on DVD +/- RW and has data reading efficiency, maximizes free space usage and smoothens playback quality.

“Defragmentation functionality is already a must in hard disk and we believe disc defragmentation will be the next following by the DVD creation trend since video segment requires more space and people tend to have a smoother playback quality,” stated Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “This is another example of how PowerProducer 2 is designed with users in mind and CyberLink is glad to be the first to introduce this to market.”

About PowerProducer 2
PowerProducer 2, an easy-to-use software for producing Movies and Photos on DVDs and CDs. Targeted at the consumer level, PowerProducer is a wizard-style software and features an intuitive user interface includes SVRT, Smart Video Rendering Technology, to speed up the rendering process and keep the original quality, Disc Defragmentation to optimize disk space, Editable DVDs function to allow users to work on new projects from existing work, Right-to-Disc Recording and Direct DSC support to convert files directly from digital camcorders/digital cameras to DVDs without buffering to hard disk. Other new features can be found at www.gocyberlink.com

Reprinted from a Iomega press release:

Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in data storage, today announced a new 1.5 GB digital capture technology (DCT) platform designed for a new generation of digital entertainment products, including camcorders and portable video players, as well as portable PCs and smart handheld devices.

Working samples of Iomega’s new breakthrough DCT drive and fully rewritable cartridge are now being evaluated by a select group of premier OEMs. The DCT cartridge, which is about the size of a half-dollar coin, weighs only 9 grams and employs a rugged stainless steel cartridge designed to protect important digital content from data loss, enabling truly mobile digital devices. Iomega’s DCT platform partners include Fuji Photo Film Co. (Fujifilm), Ltd., Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. (Citizen), and Texas Instruments (TI). Iomega is working with other innovative companies with the goal to integrate DCT technology into their future products, and is progressing on a DCT development timeline that would enable potential OEMs to bring DCT-integrated products to market in the second quarter of 2004.

“Existing portable storage solutions in today’s consumer electronics products are too expensive, too slow, too fragile, or too power hungry for the coming generation of mobile devices,” said Werner Heid, president and CEO, Iomega Corporation. “Iomega’s exciting new DCT platform is different. It is being designed to offer the industry a low-cost drive with high capacity in a convenient form factor. It is a product designer’s dream because it can provide high capacity, rugged, shock resistant storage at low power consumption for small portable devices such as next generation camcorders, personal video recorders and tablet PCs.”

DCT Technology Alliances
Iomega’s DCT platform incorporates key enabling technologies from leading companies including Fujifilm, Citizen and TI. Such enabling technologies include a new magneto-resistive (MR) drive head design developed by Iomega and NANOCUBIC magnetic media coating technology developed by Fujifilm.

Toshio Kawamata, general manager, Technical Division, Recording Media Products Division, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., said, “The media will provide potential recording capacity of up to 6Gb/square inch by applying Fujifilm’s new NANOCUBIC technology, which will be about 10 times higher in recording density than magnetic disks that are currently available. Fujifilm is looking forward to the presentation of this high density recording media through the introduction of Iomega’s DCT platform.”

Toshihiko Nakai, senior general manager, Information and Communication, Products Division, Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., manufacturer of the credit-card sized drive, commented: “Consumers want lower power consumption for long battery life; they want higher data transfer rates for exciting new digital video applications; and they want higher data capacity for a new cross-platform media standard. DCT delivers on all counts.”

Doug Rasor, vice president of strategic marketing, TI, said, “TI is excited to be working with Iomega to drive its new DCT technology. We are looking forward to augmenting DCT with TI’s real-time digital signal processing solutions to bring richer content, higher resolution and longer battery life to consumers.”

Reprinted from a Canopus press release:

Canopus Corporation today announced EDIUS 1.5, an upgrade to the company’s new nonlinear editing application. New features include improved bin folder structure and search capabilities for enhanced clip organization and management; realtime support of 32-bit uncompressed video with alpha channel support allowing editors to insert clips made using applications such as Cool3D directly onto the video track and play back in realtime; enhanced timeline management features, including batch delete, which lets users select multiple clips on the timeline and delete them at once; and the ability to relink missing clips to the project for easier updating.

This upgrade will be available early September 2003. Video professionals have until August 31, 2003 to save $300 by purchasing EDIUS for the special introductory price of $299. Registered users can then upgrade to version 1.5 in September through a free download from the Canopus Web site. The suggested retail price of EDIUS is $599.

For exceptional dual-monitor performance, Canopus is offering EDIUS bundled with the company’s Spectra WF17 dual-monitor graphics card for $399 (offer ends August 31, 2003). Featuring the Nvidia GeForce4 MX 460 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM running at 550MHz, Spectra WF17 provides fast, steady performance. The Spectra WF17 is an ideal solution for the ultimate EDIUS editing suite.

About EDIUS
EDIUS supports the company’s acclaimed DVRex RT and DVStorm lines of editing solutions and delivers unprecedented productivity and flexibility by offering unlimited video and audio tracks, unlimited graphics and title layers, the ability to transition between multiple video tracks, voiceover recording, 3- and 4-point editing for even greater flexibility, multi-format conversion capabilities and realtime output - all in a fresh graphical user interface that makes it easy to create powerful, professional video and audio content.

EDIUS integrates Canopus’s proprietary effects technology to provide editors with an advanced level of artistic creativity. EDIUS offers 27 realtime video filters, including White/Black Balance, Color Balance, High Quality Blur and Region. In addition, there are realtime Chroma Key and Luma Key capabilities for use in compositing. EDIUS also features a fully customizable 2D/3D Picture-in-Picture effect. All effects in EDIUS are easily adjustable and may be combined to produce hundreds of customizable effects.

EDIUS includes Xplode for EDIUS and EDIUS FX, Canopus’s advanced realtime 2D and 3D video effects engines. These effects packages harness the power of Canopus Effects Technology to create stunning, professional-quality video transitions. With more than 40 transition groups to choose from, each with customizable options and numerous presets, Xplode for EDIUS and EDIUS FX provide enough power for even the most demanding video editor.

EDIUS is capable of unlimited simultaneous realtime titles and graphics layers. The motion and opacity controls in EDIUS allow users to stack multiple title layers for greater creativity. EDIUS’s Title Motion Filter effects include Blur, Dissolve, Slide, Wipe and Laser. EDIUS also includes Inscriber TitleExpress to quickly and easily create polished, high-quality video titles. Editors can choose from more than 170 pre-designed titling templates, then simply type in their own text. In addition to templates, editors have the freedom to generate their own titles.

The output quality of a completed video project is just as important as the editing process. EDIUS addresses this by providing fast, high-quality, multiple format export capabilities with technology featured in Canopus’s highly acclaimed conversion software package ProCoder. ProCoder LE - EDIUS Edition lets users rapidly export to MPEG-1, MPEG-2, QuickTime RealVideo and Windows Media formats, in addition to Canopus’s own DV AVI format.