Issue: Volume: 24 Issue: 4 (April 2001)

NAB Show



For a direct link to more product information and vendor Web sites, click on: www.onlinecenter.to/cgw

SOFTWARE

Graphics suite
Win The Collage 2 platform is a graphics production suite that includes character generation, paint, 2D and 3D animations, and real-time 3D graphics. Collette is a software-only character generator that outputs to a variety of formats for NLE systems. Clarity can produce simultaneous HD and SD graphics. Graphite 2 is a CG, paint, and animation tool with an integrated uncompressed disk recorder. Prices not supplied. (Pixel Power; www.pixelpower.com; Booth #L741)

Digital asset management
Win/Mac Teams 4.1 software captures all types of rich media through filters that automatically add descriptive properties. It tracks the flow of digital assets and creates links between them, creating a simplified set of Java APIs that map directly to fundamental entities. A clip identifier allows users to select a segment of streaming media to create a new clip, while another application combines many clips into a single clip. The price is $100,000. (Artesia Technologies; www.artesia.com; Booth #E5021)

Character generators
Win/Mac Motto-HD is a dedicated character generator for HD slates, end film credits, and open captioning. It supports the majority of 1080 standards. The price is $25,000. An entry-level SD character generator, Motto, is also available. The price is $16,000. Ethos is a dual-channel character generator with an integrated video clip store, offering captions, animations, DVE effects, stills, and videos for live news and sports producers. The price is $52,000. Concept is a multiple-output, open-platform stills and clips store that allows the user to change style and content for different channels. The price is $38,000. (Aston Electronic Designs; www.aston.tv; Booth #L171)

Animation production
Win/Mac/Linux/Irix Filmbox version 3.0 is a real-time production system with a suite of animation and interactive rendering tools. The new version supports multiple 2D and 3D Web formats and has additional support for character animation. The system, which includes motion-capture and animation tools, integrates with major 3D modeling and animation packages.The price is $4995. (Kaydara; www.kaydara.com; Booth #S3263)




Updated IK
Win 3ds max 4 is an updated animation package with a fast, stable and predictable history-independent inverse kinematics solver. It includes new skinning tools and rendering elements for integration with the company's Combustion software. The price is $3495. (Discreet; www.discreet.com; Booth #S4100)

3D map models
Win/Mac World Maps 2.5 allows the user to produce animated or still maps for broadcast, Web, and print. It includes licensed vector databases of the whole world and relief data, which can be combined with imported local data or satellite images. Output can be enhanced with shape layers, integrated bathymetry data, and real-world coloring. The price is $7500. (Curious Software; www.curious-software.com; Booth #E2635)

Automatic matchmoving
Win/Unix Boujou is a fully automated camera calibration and tracking system, able to derive complex camera tracks and calibration data from film or video for matching 2D and 3D movement in feature films, industrial design applications, and architectural visualization. The software tracks hundreds of features in each frame and uses statistical analysis to retain only the most accurate tracks. The price is $10,000. (2d3; www.2d3.com; Booth #M8368)

Interactive broadcasting
Win/Mac/Linux MPEG-4 is a software suite that allows users to produce, manage, stream, and play back interactive rich media presentations. It includes a multi-user authoring tool, scalable media servers, and multi-platform client software, and allows the creation of streaming audio and video, text, images, and animations and vector graphics. Price not supplied. (Envivio; www.envivio.com; Booth # E2950)

Compositing package
Win/Mac RED2 is a compositing, 3D vector graphics, and titling package designed for use as a plug-in to all major NLE systems. The new version has a standalone rendering engine, more host support, and a revamped interface with export options and file compression for Flash, AVI, and Quicktime. Functions available include editable and animatable vector paint; rotoscoping and masking; customized creation, animation, and extrusion of vector shapes; text creation and animation; and enhanced 3D compositing. The price is $1995. (BorisFX; www.borisfx.com; Booth #I7251)




Image processing
Primal 4.0 is a real-time image processing engine for telecine colorists. The new Optics feature adds the ability to produce real-time glints and camera blurs, which can be rendered interactively. It includes a geometry warp engine module for XYZoom FX, an adaptive anti-aliasing module, a film grain suppression module, as area isolation keyer module with matte defocus, a dynamic mask window module, and an automatic color calibration module. The price is free to owners of earlier versions. (First Art; www.firstart.co.uk; Booth #L6454)

2D/3D image processing
Win/Irix. MatchMover is camera tracking software that allows the creation of mixed live-action footage and computer-generated 3D animation. The price is $5000. ReTimer allows users to change the motion speed or length of image sequences in post-production by creating new frames. The price is $3500. Stitcher creates mosaic composites by combining horizontally and vertically overlapping photos. The price is $800. ImageModeler produces photorealistic 3D images from photo, video, or cinematic images by mapping textures from the originals onto the model. The price is $5000. (Realviz; www.realviz.com; Booth #M8945)




Hybrid modeler
Win/Mac Version 3.8 of formZ, a hybrid solid and surface 3D modeler, includes smoothly parametric objects such as primitives, revolved objects, helixes, and sweeps. Subdivision capabilities allow low-resolution cages or approximate models to be transformed to smoothly detailed models. An import/export translator for LightWave has been added. The RenderZone version for photorealistic rendering and the RadioZity version for light effect simulation are also available. The price is $1495. (Autodessys; www.formz.com; Booth #L5649)




Animation plug-ins
Win Phoenix 1.5 is a fire simulation plug-in for 3ds max. It can wrap an object in a complete volumetric flame, and allows full control of colors, lights, transparency, and flame shape. The price is $395. TerraScape is a tillable terrain generation plug-in for 3ds max that allows users to create landscapes for pre-rendered animations of for import into game engines. Three landscape modifiers can create craters, volcanoes, and distinct regions of terrain. The price is $295. (Digimation; www.digimation.com; Booth #S3304)

Post production
Win DFX+ with Paint is a modular post-production special effects system with a fully structured vector paint module. The paint system provides quick retouching, rig or wire removal, and leading paint effects. It includes advanced rub-through, matte/masks support, step rendering, instant scrubbing/playback, and editable strokes. The price is $4995. (Eyeon Software; www.eyeonline.com; Booth #S3157)




Motion retargeting
Director Sequencer and Solver motion retargeting software provides a nonlinear editing environment for skeletal motion cleanup, motion modification, and motion editing. It can resolve motion and axis irregularities, orientations, and floor penetrations, and uses biomechanical principles to find the solution for motion over an entire skeleton. A global channel editing system allows the user to move back and forth through the changes. Price not supplied. (Motion Analysis Corp.; www.motionanalysis.com; Booth #8343)

Stock footage
Win/Mac Artbeats offers collections of stock footage that are royalty free for all uses, and are delivered in QuickTime in 720 by 486 NTSC resolution encoded with PhotoJPEG. Some are also available in 720 by 576 PAL resolution. The new collections are Light Effects, Light Illusions, Timelapse Flowers, Timelapse Plants, Aerial Cloud Backgrounds, Transitions, and Senior Lifestyles. The price is $499. (Artbeats; www.artbeats.com; Booth #M9057)




Content management
Win/SGI Video Engine is a graphics and content management system with an internal digital disk recording encased in a PC architecture. It allows rendered post graphics to be mixed with real-time graphics live. SDK 1.0 is a software development kit that allows developers to create new applications on top of the company's core system architecture. Simon Seez is a real-time 3D effects generator. Price not supplied. (vi[z]rt; www.vizrt.com; Booth #S4147)

Better UVs
Mac LightWave 6.5 includes a UV texture atlas for automated UV map creation, continuous and discontinuous UV mapping, light and texture baking, bone deformations up to 40 times faster than in previous versions, an integrated soft-body dynamics engine, and an integrated particle system that includes emitters, custom nozzles, winds, particle properties, launch behaviors, and collision options. The price is $2495. Aura 2 is a paint program with a fast painting engine, interactive keyframer, fully animatable 32-bit paintbrushes for painting with video, and the ability to export motion paths to LightWave. The price is $895. (NewTek; www.newtek.com; Booth #S4837)

Compositing
Win/Linux Tremor 1.0 is a compositing system that includes real-time I/O in 601 and HDTV, vector-based procedural paint, tracking/stabilizing, keying, color correction, asset management, distributed rendering, and EDL support. The price is $145,000. Shake 2.4 includes vector-based procedural paint, new color correction tools, and advanced rotoscoping. The price is $9900. (Nothing Real; www.nothingreal.com; Booth #S4854)

HARDWARE

Rendering appliance
Win/Linux/Irix Advanced Rendering Technology's RenderDrive RD5000 is a dedicated 3D rendering device designed for animation production. The RD5000 is compatible with Maya, 3ds max, and any RenderMan-compatible application. Price not supplied (ART; www.art-render.com; Booth #S4169)




Streaming video
Win The NAC-3000-DVB is a live streaming video server that provides portable MPEG streaming video for real-time distribution over DVB-ASI or Ethernet networks. It includes an embedded operating systems. The price is $19,995. LivePlayer 1.2 is a software-only live streaming playback system for desktop access to broadcast-quality video. It allows users to receive, play, and record live, multi-cast, and stored content that meets both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards. The price is $200. (Optivision; www.optivision.com; Booth #M9749)

Logging system
Win/Mac ImageLog for Quantel is an offline, high-resolution, uncompressed logging and digitizing workstation for Quantel ClipNet-enabled edit systems. The price is $14,999. DV Log Pro software logs clips via FireWire. The price is $249. The Executive Producer 8.0 adds compatibility for the Sony ClipLink and JVC Super Scene Finder camera logging systems. The price is $899. Image Log VK is a fully remote video indexing application with Auto Capture Technology. It is available in single of multi-stream versions with up to five concurrent inputs. The price is $4999 to $14,999. (Imagine Products; www.imagineproducts.com; Booth #I6755)

Sparc Station
Unix The Sun Blade 1000 workstation is based on the UltraSparc III architecture and runs at 750 and 900MHz. It supports the Expert 3D graphics accelerator board, and has a scalable Solaris 8 64-bit operating environment to run Solaris applications unchanged. It has mixed-speed CPU module support, an 8 GB memory footprint, and an FC/AL disk subsystem to handle large data sets. An IEEE 1394 port is compatible with devices that run at 100, 200, or 400 Mb/s supports the company's new camera. A 12 Mb/s USB port supports off-the-shelf devices. The price is $9995 for the 750MHz version and $19,995 for the 900MHz version. (Sun Microsystems; sun.com; Booth #I7215

Video handling
Win/Mac Distance DV is a FireWire cable for carrying DV signals over distances of 10 to 15 m, using a built-in filter and equalizer to reduce noise and signal attenuation. QuadScan Elite is a video scaler and line quadrupler for use with high-resolution, progressive scan video projectors and displays, with selectable output up to 1365 by 1024 pixels. ASIC chips for OEMs are designed for scan conversion, interactive TV, and integration of TV video with digital computer generated graphics. Price not supplied. (Focus Enhancements; www.focusinfo.com; Booth #S5309)

Editing and production
Win dpsReality is a real-time, dual-stream digital disk recorder for animation, compositing, and general video recording applications. The price is $2749. dpsVelocity 8.0 is a real-time, nonlinear video editing system with Web streaming directly from the timeline. It is available as a fully integrated turnkey system or as a hardware/software bundle for installation. dpsReality HD allows users to create productions for both HDTV and SDTV, as well and DVD and Internet distribution. Price not supplied. (DPS; www.dps.com; Booth #M9732)

Video scan converter
Win The RGB/Videolink 1690 video scan converter accepts inputs up to 1600 by 1200 resolution and outputs the imagery as NTSC/PAL composite video, S-Video, or component analog video. The price is $4995. The 4View display processor displays four video inputs in quadrants on a monitor, flat panel, or projection screen, at a price of $5750. The QuadView display processor takes two computer and two video inputs and displays them on a single screen. The price is $7995. The DualView processor shows two computer signals or a computer and a video signal side by side on a single display. The price is $7995. (RGB Spectrum; www.rgb.com; Booth #M8350)

Visual workstation
Unix The Octane2 V12 Visual Workstation now supports uncompressed high definition 8-bit RGB input and output, as well as standard definition video input and output. The price is $50,000. The Onyx 3000 visualization system with dual definition video input and output supports HD and SD 10-bit RGB or 10-bit YUV. The upgrade price is $21,000. (Silicon Graphics; www.sgi.com; Booth #S4132)




Streaming media production
Win/Mac iFinish is a streaming media production system that has unlimited layering and effects options and supports all streaming media formats. Media 100 I allows users to create broadcast-quality video, build in interactivity, and compress it for streaming. Cleaner 5 allows web developers to capture, author, encode, and publish streaming media in popular formats at all connection speeds. CineStream is a software-based authoring tool that allows users to insert interactive commands. Price not supplied. (Media 100; www.media100.com; Booth #I6511)

Motion capture
Win Vicon 8 is an optical motion capture system that provides real-time motion capture data without wires or large body markers restricting actors. It can capture multiple actors simultaneously. The accompanying MCam is a 120Hz progressive scan camera that achieves 1000 by 1000 pixel resolution. With a digital strobe, it can see much deeper through a capture volume, and the high resolution allows more accurate capture of facial and body markers. The system is equipped with 100 Mbit Ethernet and can support up to 24 cameras. Price not supplied. (Vicon Motion Systems; www.vicon.com; Booth #M8368)




Editing cards
Mac The D1 Desktop series of PCI QuickTime cards offers features for uncompressed editing with Apple Final Cut Pro, design with Adobe After Effects, and broadcast paint with PhotoShop. New features include 10-bit real-time effects and uncompressed support of HDTV. Price not supplied. (Digital Voodoo; www.digitalvoodoo.net; Booth #M9074)

Storage area networking
Win/Unix/Linux The SAN direction SAN Appliance provides servers and workstations with secure access to shared resources. The devices come in single and dual models, with two Fibre Channel host ports and additional ports optional. The base models have a 680 MB cache and nine disk drives. The device can grow to eight host ports with as much as 800 MB/s data transfer performance, 20 GB cache, and up to 960 data drives. The price is $50,000. (DataDirect Networks; www.datadirectnet.com; Booth #S5319)

Barco projector
Barco Projection Systems' BarcoReality 6500 projector combines ultra-high brightness and sharp imaging with operational simplicity and silent running.
The unit is suitable for auditoriums, bright training rooms, and other challenging projection environments. Price not available. (Barco Projection Systems; www.barco.com/projection-systems; Booth M9018)




3D digital projector
Christie's stereoscopic 3D digital projector is based on three-chip DLP technology. The system offers 10,000 lumens of brightness and 1024 by 768 pixel XGA resolution at 100Hz refresh capability. Price not supplied. (Christie Digital Systems; www.christiedigital.com; Booth #M9624)

Media management
Win Editor 2.8 is a professional NLE designed to run on Matrox DigiSuite, LE, DTV, and LX hardware. It has more than 15 simultaneous real-time effects with unlimited key framing for up to two layers of video, plus one layer of live input video, one graphic layer, and includes tools for multi-layer compiling and advanced compositing, real-time titling, and graphics. The price is $2495 (Incite Multimedia Corp., www.inciteonline.com; Booth #S3572)

Film editing
Win/Linux The 3DBoxx 6000 workstation features the dual Athlon processor and is designed for digital applications such as film, HDTV, video, and game development, with up to 10 hot-swap drive bays, five expansion slots, and 4 Gb memory. FusionBoxx HD is a turnkey, uncompressed HD editing and compositing system that supports standards including 1080i, 1080p, and 720p. CineBoxx provides uncompressed 2K digital film playback and includes 4.1 GB/s four-way interleaved memory architecture and up to 8 GB memory. RenderBoxx for high-speed rendering supports all material libraries and popular 3D animation software. Price not supplied. (BoxxTechnologies; www.boxxtech.com; Booth #S3872)

Video systems
Win Access TV is a video-on-demand, set-top based system that includes the ability to web-surf and access email, view DVD-quality digital video, listen to MP3 music files, and receive standard TV broadcasts. Price not supplied. Video Pipeline/RF is a wearable, wireless video system for electronic news gathering and security monitoring. It streams MPEG-2 video via an 802.11b Ethernet radio, which delivers an 11MB bandwidth to a host receiver 350 to 450 feet away. The price is $25,000. (Lel Computer Systems; www.lelcs.com; Booth #M7446)

Video switching
The ScreenPro high-resolution seamless switcher switches all video formats of 15 to 130 kHz and up to 1600 by 1280 pixel resolution. It scales each of eight inputs into one programmable output format matching the native resolution of the chosen technology. Various transition effects are available. The price is $17,995. ScreenPro Plus allows the user to select from up to 16 universal inputs accepting composite video, S-video, component video, and computer video sources. The price is from $30,533 to $53,200. (Folsom Research; www.folsom.com; Booth #M9168)

Digital TV equipment
Switchable (4:3/16:9) digital processing cameras are available in NTSC, SDTV/HDTV, and HDTV. Cameras are portable for use in the field and the studio. Multi-scan DTV/HDTV monitors are available in a variety of configurations. Up-converters and down-converters assist broadcasters in the transition to HDTV. A portable compact digital switcher is available. Price not supplied. (Ikegami Electronics; Booth #L10420)

Video transmission
The Pure Digital Fiberlink Video/PTZ system processes and transmits one-way video and two-way data over a single fiber. The video channel is compatible with NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. The 10-Channel Video Multiplexer with PTZ transmits up to 10 channels of baseband analog video and optional two-way data. The Deuce MC intelligent video scaler for home theater and professional A/V applications. Price not supplied. (Communications Specialties; www.commspecial.com; Booth #M8767)