Digital Video
Win Avid Technology debuted two new products, the Avid NewsCutter XP 5.0 and the Avid Mojo Digital Nonlinear Accelerator. Version 5.0 of the advanced news editing system is well suited to use in the field and in the newsroom. The upgrade provides enhanced integration with Avid iNews and AP ENPS newsroom systems, Marquee real-time 3D titling, and support for AAF, MXF, 50mb MPEG IMX, DV25, and DV50. The Avid Mojo accelerator attaches via a single FireWire cable to a computer running NewsCutter XP 5.0, offering access to DV composite and S-video I/O, output-to-tape functionality, and more. NewsCutter XP 5.0 is priced at $6995 for the software, and $11,995 coupled with an HP xw8000 CPU. The Avid Mojo accelerator, sold separately, costs $1695.
Avid Technology; www.avid.com
WinMac Media 100 unveiled an upgraded version of its Final Effects Complete for Mac OS X, a suite of more than 100 plug-in filters and transitions for adding effects to film, video, animation, and DVD and CD-ROM content. The upgraded software solution, now in Version 4.0.1, boasts support for Adobe Systems' After Effects 6.0 and Apple Final Cut Pro 4. Registered users of Final Effects Complete for Mac OS X can download the latest version free of charge from the company's Web site. Media 100 also announced that Final Effects Complete for Windows features support for Windows 2000 and XP, and full compatibility with After Effects 6.0. Now available, Windows and Mac versions of Final Effects Complete are priced at $795 each.
Media 100; www.media100.com
Effects
WinMac Maker of award-winning 3D natural scenery products, e-on software is shipping its latest product targeted at professional 3D designers and digital video production houses. Vue 4 Professional provides users a natural 3D studio in which to create and enhance content. In fact, users of the stand-alone software can populate scenes with realistic 3D vegetation, rocks, and terrains in an instant, thanks in part to the more than 100 predefined atmospheres and 30-plus plant species included. Ultra-fast and dual-level OpenGL feedback furnishes users a preview of their scenes, whereas the software's Material Editor enables the creation of custom shaders. Among the animation controls offered are keyframing, timespline, forward dynamics, spin, vibration, and motion blur. Able to export data to compositing tools such as Discreet combustion and Adobe Systems' After Effects, the new e-on software release integrates with Discreet's 3ds max, Alias Systems' Maya, NewTek's LightWave, Softimage|XSI, and other 3D applications. For Mac OS X and Windows systems, Vue 4 Professional carries a retail price of $599 for the full version and $399 for an upgrade from Vue d'Esprit 4.
e-on Software; www.e-onsoftware.com
Win Darkling Simulations announces the availability of TIWdtemental, a free plug-in from Dietmar Kopp and The Image Works/ 63Central. The new plug-in adds support for Darkling Simulations' DarkTree to mental images' popular mental ray renderer. In fact, TIWdtemental is suitable for use with virtually any 3D Windows applications that use the mental ray rendering engine and support custom mental ray shaders. The plug-in includes a series of mental ray shaders that interface with the procedural texture trees created with DarkTree 2.0, a stand-alone shader authoring tool for games. Users enter a DarkTree texture file as an input parameter to one of the shaders, and the plug-in renders it, without the need to generate bitmaps first.
Darkling Simulations; www.darksim.com
WinLinuxSun LightWork Design released several material libraries based on the Unified Numbering System (UNS) Metals standard. The UNS Metals archives include more than 1000 metal and alloy identifications categorized into 10 families, including aluminum alloys, cast irons, heat-resistant steels, tool steels, and more. The new material libraries, in LightWorks Archive (LWA) format, can be downloaded free of charge from www.lightworks-user.com.
LightWork Design; www.lightworkdesign.com
HARDWARE
Graphics Cards
The Parhelia HR256, Matrox Graphics' latest graphics accelerator, is designed to meet the high-resolution imagery and visualization needs of professionals in the video postproduction, digital photography, and desktop publishing fields. For use with high-resolution, multi-input digital flat-panel displays, the Parhelia HR256 is reportedly the only graphics card to feature a quad single-link DVI interface, providing support for resolutions up to 3840x2400 and maximum screen refresh rates. The new card sports 256mb of onboard DDR unified memory, a PCI interface supporting 33mhz and 66mhz buses, and full support for Windows 2000 and XP. Matrox Graphics anticipates shipping its Parhelia HR256 before the end of the year at a cost of $2495.
Matrox Graphics; www.matrox.com
Projector
Sharp Electronics' first LCD projector priced less than $1000, the Notevision B10S packs 1100 ANSI Lumens brightness and native SVGA resolution in a 6.4-pound, 3.6x8.7x11.6-inch frame. To shift the projected image, users can manipulate the lens using a built-in joystick thanks to Image Alignment Control, the device's variable horizontal/vertical/diagonal lens-shift feature. Low Power Mode not only reduces power consumption, but also extends lamp life and decreases fan noise. The Notevision B10S offers such theft-deterrant features as keypad start-up code, keypad lockout, and an optional Notevision Lockdown locking cable security system. Color-coded computer and video inputs, an icon-based menu screen, and short-throw zoom lens round out Sharp's new offering. The Sharp Notevision B10S, backed by a three-year limited warranty, is available at an estimated street price of $999.
Sharp Electronics; www.sharplcd.com
Workstation
WinLinuxSun RackSaver has introduced NemeSys, its high-end graphics workstation for design and digital content creation applications. Developed to speed the production process, the NemeSys 720 series of professional graphics workstations boasts Dual Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron processors and Microsoft Windows XP Professional. The NemeSys 720 series can be configured with up to 16gb of RAM and a maximum of eight hard drives, equating to a peak 2tb of storage capacity. The RackSaver system also supports such high-end graphics cards as the Nvidia Quadro FX series, as well as Microsoft Windows XP, RedHat, SuSE, and other operating systems.
RackSaver; www.racksaver.com