Archive for July, 2007

Watch SXSWclick! Finalist Videos

by jayres | July 9th, 2007

sxswclick finalists

While many four-year olds are just learning to form objects out of playdoh, this four-year old festival is already handing out short-form stories via mobile phones and the web.

Talk about advanced parenting!

Finalist videos were recently unveiled for 2007 and you can watch them all HERE

They range from categories like Animate-It, Sound Checks, and Old-School Shorts, and they’re all keeping it under 10 minutes. Be sure to check out the questionable “Mac’s First Time” and also the dreamy “Mediums, Not Until Now” pieces.

Wait there’s more! You can vote for your favorites over the next few weeks. So make sure to tell them who you like, and who you think should go back to sending text messages instead of video.

SXSWclick! was spawned of the ever-popular South By Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conference series in Austin, Texas.

Sony Creative Software announces new consumer applications

by | July 9th, 2007

reprinted from a Sony Creative Software press release:

MADISON, WI — Sony Creative Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing applications, today announced powerful yet easy-to-use new versions of its consumer products line-up, providing users with software tools to develop creative videos, music, podcasts, photos and more. The new line-up includes the latest versions of the now Windows Vista-compatible Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition video editing and DVD creation software, Sound Forge Audio Studio audio editing and production software and ACID Music Studio music creation and mixing software. With the addition of a Windows Vista-compatible version of Sony’s Photo Go digital photo editing and management software, consumers are now able to create virtually any type of multimedia project with their personal computer.

“Over the past few years, entertaining personal movies, podcasts and music productions created by hobbyists have demonstrated that more and more people are enjoying the process of making their ideas come to life through the production of user-generated content,” said Dave Chaimson, vice president of marketing for Sony Creative Software. “Designed with ease of use in mind, these new versions of Sony Creative Software’s consumer software products provide users with powerful content creation applications that have been expertly developed from Sony’s line of professional audio and video software.”

These new software applications are content creation tools of choice for PC users seeking a simple way to learn, create and share their digital creations across a multitude of media formats and include numerous practical features, unique Show Me How interactive tutorials and unified user interfaces across all of the products.

“Running on Windows Vista, this new content creation lineup of tools from Sony presents an extraordinary value proposition, allowing customers to produce high-quality audio and video on their PCs,” said Liron Shaked, director of business development at Microsoft Corp. “Thanks to the software enhancements of the Windows Vista operating system, users of Vegas Movie Studio, Sound Forge Audio Studio and ACID Music Studio will be able to create projects quickly as well as get more professional production power out of the applications.”

The new version of Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition software provides the power, features and advanced tools needed to edit nearly any format of video, including HDV and Sony AVCHD. When used in conjunction with the Sony HDR-SR5, HDR-CX7 and HDR-SR7 AVCHD camcorders, the software offers users a unified end-to-end high definition workflow. The Platinum Edition software’s advanced tools for video compositing, color correction and 5.1 surround sound mixing help users achieve professional-like results from the home studio. Integrated DVD authoring and multiple export options allow content to be easily shared through many formats, including online and via portable devices.

Vegas Movie Studio software is an easy-to-use media editing application that allows users to turn digital video and pictures into stunning movies and slideshows, as well as create professional-looking DVDs on a home computer. Like the Platinum Edition, Vegas Movie Studio offers the entire audio and video workflow in a box, allowing users to capture, create, edit and share.

Built on award-winning technology used by recording studios and musicians worldwide, Sound Forge Audio Studio software brings professional editing power to home computers. The software is an easy way to record instruments, vocals and podcasts and then edit and master audio with pro-level control over EQ, volume and effects processing. The new Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool breathes new life into a record collection, enabling users to convert records, cassettes, and other analog sources into CDs or MP3 files. The Vocal Eraser plug-in by iZotope included with Sound Forge Audio Studio enables users to remove vocals from most recordings to create karaoke tracks to sing along with or isolate vocals to bring into a user-created remix.

Bringing music to life with ease, the ACID Music Studio software enables original song creation, live recording, studio-quality mixing and effects processing. Using a simple pick-paint-play workflow, users can combine loops with automatic tempo and key matching to quickly create great sounding mixes. The software is now a full-featured multitrack production application, allowing users to record or combine an unlimited number of audio tracks, MIDI tracks, and loops in a project. These new multitrack recording capabilities enable users to record multiple instruments at a time with complete control over volume, panning and effects on each instrument or vocal for the perfect mix. Additionally, the software features inline MIDI editing, including both real-time record and step record, as well as complete control over MIDI events and parameters. ACID Music Studio software includes over 3,000 ACIDized music loops and 1,000 MIDI files for song creation.

Price and Availability

Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition (MSRP U.S. $129.95), Vegas Movie Studio (MSRP U.S. $89.95), ACID Music Studio (MSRP U.S. $69.95) and Sound Forge Audio Studio software (MSRP U.S. $69.95) are now available in North America. Photo Go software (MSRP U.S. $24.95) for Vista will be available this fall in North America. Localized versions of all products for Germany, France, Spain, and the UK will be available this fall (with the exception of Photo Go). For more information about these software applications or any of Sony Creative Software’s leading audio or video editing solutions, please visit www.sonycreativesoftware.com. For more information and pricing on Sony’s new camcorders, visit Sony Style® retail stores or visit www.sonystyle.com.

Videomaker Vidcast, episode 73

by cfulton | July 6th, 2007

Ahoy, one and all! It’s time once again for a new Vidcast episode to hit your RSS aggregator of choice. We hope you enjoy it.

Video Bits and Bytes with Mark and Derek:

Tips and Tricks:  John introduces a clip on mic types from our Sound Success DVD. (Yes, we know that microphone is abbreviated incorrectly in this segment, since we produced it before our style guide was updated…)

Take 20: Jennifer and I discuss two PSAs: Laundry Line by Tricia Hoffman of Boise, ID; and Georgia Gas by Ben Rawnsley of Plant City, FL.

Hands On: Mark takes us through JVC’s SR-DVM700, a Mini DV VCR that includes a DVD recorder and hard drive.

VHS Tape Clutch Purse

by jayres | July 6th, 2007

vhs clutch

This project from CraftBits.com looks like the perfect meld of geek and sheik. Some knowledge of crocheting is needed, and the basics aren’t explained in the article. But if you or someone you know has the crochet bug, you’re set to go. Just remember to choose those old tapes wisely, because we’d hate to see that last minute field goal end up in this weave.

Link

NewTek ships new SpeedEDIT version 1.2

by | July 5th, 2007

reprinted from a NewTek press release:

NewTek Ships New SpeedEDIT Version 1.2
The latest update to the award-winning SpeedEDIT includes VST, DVC PRO HD, MXF and VC1 Support

San Antonio, Texas — July 5, 2007 — NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, today announced the availability of the latest release of SpeedEDIT version 1.2, the next generation of the award winning video editor. This resolution-independent editor is designed to work quickly and efficiently on any video project, from web streams to High-Definition. Amongst the new features included in this version are additional format support, improved plug-in capability and more.
“SpeedEDIT version 1.2 makes the worlds fastest video editor even more powerful – we have significantly upgraded our file format support and added VST support at no additional cost to our current customers.,” said Philip Nelson, Vice president, NewTek sales and video marketing.

New SpeedEDIT 1.2 features include:

WMVHD, VC1 and Windows Media Format 11 file writing support
VST audio filter plug-in support
DVCPro HD (MXF) file reading
Real-time Output support for NewTek video hardware cards
Time Code burn-in for both local and project timecode
Advanced Crossfade types
Improved performance, quality, and stability
Floating point HDR image reading
Expanded DVD-format writing capability
“Working with multiple formats, frame rates and resolutions is a must in today’s production industry. At the same time, speed is paramount to staying competitive.” said Ted R. Ruiz Sr., Owner, Ad-Venture Video Productions “With NewTek’s SpeedEDIT handling DVCPro files of all types on one timeline in real time, I can’t think of any reason to use another product. My workflow just got more effieicent with SpeedEDIT 1.2”.

Awards
Since its launch in 2006, SpeedEDITâ„¢ has won the following industry awards: 4Ever Group Product Innovation Award 2006; NAB Innovation Award 2006 and Australian PC Magazine Best Buy Award.
Pricing and Availability
SpeedEDIT is now shipping for $495 USD. SpeedEDIT 1.3 is now available as a free download for current SpeedEDIT clients. For more information or to purchase, call NewTek Sales at 800-368-5441or visit http://www.newtek.com/

Pricing and Availability
SpeedEDIT is now shipping for $495 USD. SpeedEDIT 1.3 is now available as a free download for current SpeedEDIT clients. For more information or to purchase, call NewTek Sales at 800-368-5441or visit http://www.newtek.com/

Adobe CS3 Production Premium out the door

by jburkhart | July 2nd, 2007

Adobe has just announced the shipping of Adobe CS3 Production Premium (see the press release here)

The amount of software included is pretty staggering, comprised of:
Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional
Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3
Photoshop® CS3 Extended
Flash® CS3 Professional
Illustrator® CS3
Soundboothâ„¢ CS3,
Encore® CS3
Adobe Dynamic Link
Bridge CS3
Device Central CS3
Adobe OnLocationâ„¢ CS3 (Windows only)
Adobe Ultra® CS3 (Windows only)

All for about $1,700 which is about half the price I remember paying for just After Effects Pro 10 years ago.

Premiere has always had an image problem. Never really basking in the glory and industry praise that Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects enjoyed. It’s the red-headed step child, the poor cousin, the also ran… Well you can make up you own analogy at this point.

We’ve been playing around with a Beta Version here at VM HQ for a while now and on both PC and Mac, and so far we like it. A lot. If you’ve given up on Premiere Pro in the past because it just wasn’t “professional” enough, I suggest you download the trial version and give it a go yourself. The inter-operation between the apps of CS3 is slick, and easy.

We should be getting our copy of the release version tomorrow. Then we’ll test it out completely and write our final review (Other magazines may have jumped the gun and reviewed the beta versions, but not us, we respect our readers…).

Is Premiere Pro finally ready to cast off the old image and take a seat with the big boys at the editing table?

Tell us what you think in our Premiere Forum.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Shipping

by | July 2nd, 2007

From an Adobe Press Release

SAN JOSE, Calif. — July 2, 2007 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 Production Premium and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection software. Adobe Production Premium CS3 is the industry’s most comprehensive collection of integrated cross-platform post-production software tools, helping video professionals deliver stunning results for film, broadcast, DVD, Web, and mobile devices. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines 12 of Adobe’s new design and development products in a single box – the most comprehensive creative environment ever delivered.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection ship today in North America, with other language versions – including French, German and Japanese – available by mid July. With Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Editions and Creative Suite 3 Web Editions already in market and receiving rave customer reviews, this completes the roll-out of the company’s revolutionary Creative Suite 3 family, the largest software release in Adobe’s 25-year history.

“One word: integration. People around the world will be amazed by how easy it is to move among applications in Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection and Production Premium,” said Jason Zada, executive creative director and founder of EVB, a digital content marketing agency in San Francisco, CA. “Because our workflow is so heavily based on moving very quickly through applications, this new Adobe software will save us hundreds of hours that we can put back into our projects.”

Capture-to-Delivery Workflow with Production Premium

Now available for both PC and Mac platforms, Adobe Production Premium integrates time-saving workflow technologies with milestone releases of Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3, Adobe Encore® CS3, Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional, and Adobe® Soundbooth™ CS3, which can also be purchased as stand-alone applications. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 software offers enhanced features such as new format support and a unique Time Remapping tool that improves slow motion and variable speed effects. After Effects CS3 software offers Shape Layers for drawing and animating vector shapes; the Puppet tool for stretching and manipulating 2D images as lifelike animations; and the Brainstorm tool for interactively generating and previewing animation variations. For audio, Soundbooth CS3 software enables post-production professionals to clean up recordings, polish voiceovers, customize music and sound effects—even if audio production isn’t their specialty.

Special additions to Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium include Adobe OnLocation™ CS3 for direct-to-disk recording and monitoring and Adobe Ultra® CS3 software for easy chroma keying. For Macintosh users, Adobe OnLocation requires Boot Camp and Windows (purchased separately) or a separate Windows® based computer. Adobe Ultra CS3 is only included in the Windows edition.
The Best Creative Tools Come Together

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection combines all of Adobe’s flagship creative products, for the design and delivery of high-impact content across media — from print and the Web, to interactive applications, mobile devices, video and film. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection includes all-new versions of Adobe InDesign® CS3, Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Illustrator® CS3, Flash® CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS3, Fireworks® CS3, Contribute® CS3, After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro® CS3, Soundbooth® CS3, and Encore® CS3, as well as Acrobat® 8 Professional software.
Pricing and Availability

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Master Collection software will support Intel based Macintosh systems, Microsoft® Windows® XP, and Windows Vista™.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium are immediately available in the US and Canada through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store . The estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection is US$2,499. The estimated street price for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium is US$1,699. There are numerous upgrade paths available for Adobe customers. For more detailed information about features, upgrade policies, pricing, and international versions, please visit: .
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 .

You are currently browsing the Video News blog archives for July, 2007.