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These devices have been available for years for CAD users, but only recently has 3Dconnexion released drivers and plug-ins that allow them to work with entertainment-focused applications such as 3DS Max, Maya, Softimage|XSI, and Photoshop.
EIAS is the new name for the 3D animation and modelling package ElectricImage Universe. Due to licensing issues, EIAS no longer comes with the ACIS-based EI Modeller, which is a shame, but that doesn’t mean a total return to the modeller-less old days.
XL1 owners have been asking for the XL2 for some years. 2001’s XL1s was a comparatively minor upgrade. In the lifetime of the XL1 and XL1s we’ve seen the arrival of camcorders styled after broadcast rigs, and a multiplicity of features aimed at low-budget filmmakers.
DVDit 5 is the latest mid-range DVD authoring tool from the only remaining member of the old guard of DVD developers – Apple, Pinnacle, or Sonic itself has bought everyone else. While competitors have meshed technologies together to create single applications, Sonic has a mess of different product lines aimed at tasks from home movies (MyDVD) to Hollywood blockbusters (Scenarist and DVD Producer).
The previous version of Encore DVD was great in terms of its integration with Adobe’s other video applications, but it suffered from narrow file support and a fiddly approach. However, on firing up version 1.5, the interface improvements are immediately evident, and QuickTime is now supported as an asset. This brings Encore up to speed with DVD Studio Pro.
Version 1.5 of Premiere Pro 1.5 isn’t as fully featured an upgrade as After Effects 6.5, but there are some great new creative effects and some efficient workflow enhancements. The feature that received the most attention when Premiere Pro 1.5 was announced at the NAB show in Las Vegas was the addition of support for the wunderkind format 24P. This sounds great, but here in old Blighty ...
Of the three updates to Adobe’s Video Collection, After Effects has got the most out of the point-five upgrade. Plus, it costs £70 plus VAT whether you’re upgrading the Standard Edition or the Professional Edition, which is very reasonable. AE 6.5 claims more than 60 new effects, most of which have been bought from Cycore – the creators of the popular Final Effects plug-in set. Most of these are solid, one-shot effects, though effects such as ...
Designed to resemble a scaled-down SLR camera, the Canon PowerShot S1 IS brings together a lot of advanced features considering its reasonable price tag. You could argue that 3.2 megapixels is not enough for a camera with full manual settings, a fold-out LCD, and the ability to accept accessory telephoto and wide-angle lenses. However, the modest resolution is a necessary compromise required by ...
If you’re looking to invest in a top-flight 3D animation system, there are a few big players to look at – and Softimage|XSI would be included in the list. The reasons for choosing one 3D package over another are many and varied, and the top contenders all have their strengths and weaknesses. Feature lists don’t tell the whole story, and high-end 3D applications all have similar features ...
Bravo II's a combination disc-duplication and inkjet printing system – ideal for churning out professional-looking CDs or DVDs for passing round your studio or sending out to clients. You create your master and the disc art, and then the Bravo II Disc Publisher does the rest.
Flash is used mainly for creating vector animations, but recent upgrades have put increasing emphasis on its ability to use video content within SWF files. With the arrival of Flash MX, Macromedia introduced a new ‘flash video’ format (FLV) specifically for that purpose. Flash video hasn’t taken off in a big way as yet, but Flix Pro could be the program that helps to popularize the format.
3D Layer 1.0 is a plug-in for adding 3D layers to After Effects and other compatible applications. A big bonus for video editors is that it can work from within Final Cut Pro or Combustion 3.0, negating the need to purchase After Effects before taking a stab at 3D work.
You wouldn’t normally call a workstation small and stylish – but that’s the perfect description for the Crossbow XB-A700. Armari has taken a chassis that would normally house a combo PC/hi-fi unit, and somehow fitted most of the usual workstation components inside it. The end result looks great - but once you stop drooling and start thinking, though, the XB-A700 isn’t so appealing.
The Pixel Farm is a relatively new company aiming their products at high-end effects facilities as well as those on a more restricted budget. Their products are not cheap, but compared to similar programs in the market they offer decent value. Their current product roster consists of three programs - PFMatch, PFTrack, and PFBarn ...
As with many of Canopus’ products, ProCoder has gradually emerged from obscurity to challenge the established names. ProCoder hasn’t disappointed in the past, but with version 2.0, Canopus hopes to make the software fit more seamlessly into a professional production environment.
HumanEyes 3D is an interesting new technology that creates stereoscopic images for print or on-screen viewing. It was originally invented to allow a single digital camera to capture 360-degree panoramas for stereoscopic viewing – this hasn’t previously been possible with one camera. Technically it’s not true 3D, but ‘2.5D’ as the subjects only rotate slightly, but your eyes see a realistic continuous-depth impression.
Apple’s premier DVD-formation package is now in its third incarnation, bringing new interface elements, workflow enhancements and wider format support to Mac-based DVD authors. The basic method of constructing a DVD remains the same, but the power of the application is in the compact nature of the process.
There was a time when every self-respecting designer had an Iomega Jazz drive sitting on the desk. The Jazz drive’s removable hard disk cartridges were a handy and cost-effective way of backing up files or sharing them with colleagues, but they were limited to just 2GB, and were soon eclipsed by technologies that offered both higher capacity and lower prices, such as the DVD.
Magic Bullet Editors is a NLE plug-in version of the film stock-mimicking tool Magic Bullet. Whilst previously Magic Bullet lived alongside After Effects, the ‘Editor’ version runs within an NLE – Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, or Sony Vegas 5
The market for match-moving software is becoming increasingly crowded – and now there’s another product to add to the list. The Pixel Farm’s PFMatch joins the likes of 2d3’s Boujou, RealViz’s MatchMover, and a handful of plug-in-based solutions in the match-moving market. PFMatch aims to offer a sophisticated toolset and autotracking for the extraction of 3D camera data from film or video footage.
