Video News

We’ve taken the Sanyo HD1 Xacti out quite a bit. Our impression overall has been good. HD video isn’t its forte, but we know you’re interested. Here’s a simple 720p grab, at half resolution.

I was just doing a rough cut of Vidcast episode 9… but by the time I realized that the CRT monitor I was using was set to a 60Hz refresh rate (instead of the 85Hz that I usually use when I have to use a CRT), I already had a splitting headache. But my pain is your gain: both episodes 8 and 9 should go up tomorrow night, if we’re fortunate.

Now to find a sponsor for a pallet of LCD monitors…

from an Apple press release

CUPERTINO, California—March 30, 2006— Apple is now shipping the first Universal version of its Final Cut Studio video production suite that delivers up to 2.5X the performance when running on a MacBook Pro notebook computer. Final Cut Studio features state-of-the-art tools that complement Final Cut Pro 5 including Soundtrack Pro, a revolutionary audio editing and sound design application that makes video projects sound as good as they look; Motion 2, the world’s first real-time motion graphics application with GPU accelerated 32-bit float rendering; and DVD Studio Pro 4 for professional DVD authoring.

"Final Cut Studio continues to set the standard in the new era of HD production," said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Marketing. "Now with the incredible performance of Final Cut Studio on a MacBook Pro, customers can work more efficiently wherever they are."

DV and HDV rendering from the Timeline is up to twice as fast on a MacBook Pro with 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo than a 15-inch PowerBook G4 with 1.67GHz PowerPC. MPEG-2 encoding from DV and HDV for DVD authoring is up to 2.5X as fast on a MacBook Pro with 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo than a 15-inch PowerBook G4 with 1.67GHz PowerPC.

Pricing & Availability

The Universal version of Final Cut Studio is available now through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US). Registered Final Cut Studio customers can crossgrade to the Universal version for $49 (US). Existing customers of the standalone versions of Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, or DVD Studio Pro can upgrade to the Universal version of Final Cut Studio starting at just $99. Full details and further information is available at http://www.apple.com/universal/crossgrade/

from a Total Training press release

Carlsbad, CA, March 30, 2006 – Total Training Inc., a pioneer in engaging and innovative video-based training, today

announced a new series of instructional DVD-ROM series for learning Studio 8 web design software programs. The bundle

includes a 10-hour video series on Dreamweaver, a 24-hour video series on Flash, as well as brand new tutorials on how to

give a web site an extreme makeover.

Highlights

About the Presenters

Janine Warner, best-selling author of Dreamweaver For Dummies, teams up with John Ulliman, an authorized instructor for

Studio 8 products and principal of his own project development company. Together they teach you how to create the ultimate

web experience using state-of-the art tools.

Pricing and Availability

Total Training for Studio 8 Bundle is available now for $499.99 USD. The target audience is beginner to advanced Studio 8

software users. The bundle includes seven DVD-ROMs with over 43 hours of lessons. Project files are also included to practice

along with the instructor.

For more information, visit www.totaltraining.com or call 1-888-368-6825.

We’re not going to tell you what this is, it’s under a tight NDA (that’s Non Disclosure Agreement to us journalism types). Once you see how it works, you’ll want to buy one right away. Videomaker will have the exclusive story and national release of this incredible device on our upcoming vidcast, Episode #009, coming to an RSS feed near you!

from a Black Magic press release

San Francisco, California, USA - March 28, 2006 - Today, Blackmagic Design
announced true 2K resolution support with Version 5.5 software for the
highly popular Multibridge Extreme all-in-one bi-directional converter
with PCI-Express.

The Multibridge Extreme is the world’s first uncompressed video product
to feature 2K, real time 10 bit RGB playout for the world’s two most popular
editing applications - Apple Final Cut Pro on Mac OS X and Adobe Premiere
Pro 2.0 on Windows XP. This new software driver 5.5 for Multibridge Extreme
also features 2K real time preview for popular compositing and paint applications
such as Adobe After Effects 7.0, Combustion, Shake and Photoshop.

True 2K, at 23.98 and 24fps enables editors, broadcast paint and special
effects professionals the ability to monitor 2K video and graphics on Dual-Link
DVI-D LCD displays, such as the Apple 30” Cinema Display and the DELL 30”
flat-panel display. Each individual pixel is digitally mapped pixel-for-pixel
for the most color sensitive and accurate image quality available - perfect
for detailed video and film work.

"We originally designed Multibridge Extreme with massive bandwidth and
processing power for high end tasks, such as true 2K film resolution support.
Multibridge Extreme enables digital effects artists to work in full 2048
x 1556 resolution, exceeding the high resolution of the HDTV format, which
is perfect for Digital Intermediate feature film work" said Grant Petty,
CEO, Blackmagic Design.

"Blackmagic Design is the first company to offer a product that features
the low cost of SD, combined with the ability to work in HD and native

2K."

Software release Multibridge Extreme 5.5 includes:

About Multibridge Extreme
Multibridge Extreme is the world’s first all-in-one bi-directional converter
featuring a new high-speed 10GBps PCI-Express connection. 25 times faster
than FireWire, Multibridge Extreme’s PCI-Express allows capture and playback
of uncompressed video up to 2K feature film resolutions when plugged into
a computer.

Multibridge Extreme can be used as the highest quality audio and video
converter, or as a high-end editing and compositing system for broadcast,
post-production and film projects. It instantly switches between HD and
SD with 4:2:2 and Dual Link 4:4:4 video quality. Multibridge Extreme features
SDI digital video, Analog Component video, 8 channels of AES/EBU digital
audio, two channels of balanced professional XLR analog audio and two unbalanced
audio outputs for low cost in-suite monitoring.

Multibridge Extreme is available now for US$2,595 from authorized Blackmagic
Design resellers worldwide.

Editorial Assistant Andrew Burke and I were down in San Francisco shooting a documentary on comic book artist Andy Ristaino of Slave Labor Comics this last weekend. We shot 24p on the Panasonic DVX100a using a Bogen 503 head tripod and a LitePanel LED light. The shoot went well. We will tell you where you can see the finished project when we have completed editing it.

They ain’t cheap but I deem this light a “must have.” Made our already heavy H1 (well, its not ours but you know what I mean) even more heavy but this light does the trick and it can be used in so many different ways. I am truly impressed. These LitePanels use camera batteries and are cool to the touch as they are LED. I’m saving the $635 or so for one of these. Keep an eye out for a review in the mag.

from a Focus Enhancements press release

Campbell, Calif. - Focus Enhancements, Inc., a worldwide leader in video production and conversion technology, today announced the availability of its FireStore DR-HD100 Direct To Edit recorder. Focus Enhancements and JVC Professional designed the DR-HD100 to interface specifically with the popular JVC GY-HD100 series of ProHD camcorders.

The ultra-portable DR-HD100 can be directly mounted to the JVC GY-HD100 with a number of bracket options, or clipped to a belt. Focus Enhancements powerful DTE technology enables video professionals to record HDV or DV streams directly to the unit with or without a tape inserted. Footage is recorded as DTE files that can be imported and used immediately by most popular NLE systems, saving time, improving workflow and providing a digital backup.

"JVC has been a long-time supporter of Focus Enhancements’ DTE technology and the new DR-HD100 perfectly complements the capability of JVC’s award winning ProHD camcorders," said David O’Kelly, vice president of business development for Focus Enhancements. "We have worked closely with JVC to maximize the integration between the DR-HD100 and the GY-HD100 series camcorders to bring a very complete, flexible, and time saving solution to market."

"The DR-HD100 allows JVC ProHD camcorder owners to seamlessly add a tapeless component to their workflow to extend record times, ensure error free recordings and streamline the entire video production workflow," said Craig Yanagi, National Marketing Manager, Creation Products for JVC Professional. "As a leader in the tapeless acquisition market, Focus Enhancements adds tremendous value to our popular, new ProHD model line empowering our customers to get their content, from recording to distribution, faster and easier than ever before."

The DR-HD100 features unique integration with the JVC GY-HD100 series of ProHD camcorders. It includes multiple control options as well as the ability to monitor DTE recorder status in the camcorder’s viewfinder. When the camcorder is set to DV record mode, users can select between DR-HD100’s ten different DTE Technology file formats including Avid OMF, QuickTime, Canopus AVI, AVI Type 2 and many more. When the camcorder is in HD mode, it can record 720p M2T files directly to disk, which can be directly imported into applications such as Canopus Edius Pro and Avid Xpress Pro HD. QuickTime HDV support for direct import to Apple Final Cut Pro will be available as an upgrade option soon.

The robust and lightweight DR-HD100 weighs only 1 pound and is available in either 40GB (about 3 hours of DV or nearly 4.5 hours of HD 720p) or 80GB (about 6 hours of DV or nearly 9 hours of HD 720p) capacities. The DR-HD100 also features up to ten seconds of cache recording in its retro-record mode to help users from missing a shot, a removable Li-Ion battery pack which provides up to 90 minutes record run-time, a status LCD display, and 16-button front panel.

The Focus Enhancements DR-HD100 is available now through the worldwide JVC Professional dealer and distributor network for a US MSRP of $1,495 for the 40GB model and $1,895 for the 80GB model. Additional 90-minute record battery packs are available for $129 as well as a 3-hour battery pack for $199. For more information, please visit pro.jvc.com or www.focusinfo.com.

from a Disc Makers press release

PENNSAUKEN, NJ – March 21st, 2006 – Disc Makers, the nation’s leading independent media manufacturer, is proud to announce the company’s 60th anniversary and kick-off of its year-long celebration featuring a revamped Independent Music World Series that will award cash and prizes worth over $250,000, nationwide instructional seminars for independent artists, exclusive manufacturing plant tours, and special offers to new and loyal customers.

Plus, as a special commemoration of Disc Makers’ 60 years in business, the company is giving away 60 extra discs absolutely free to every customer who places a new CD or DVD replication order during 2006.

"My father Ivin Ballen started the company in 1946," explains Morris Ballen, Disc Makers’ President. "The secret to our success then, as now, is to treat every independent customer as a major customer, by offering them the highest quality, super fast delivery, and an unmatched customer experience. After all, without these independent artists, we’d long be out of business."

Today Disc Makers stands alone as the undisputed leader in optical disc manufacturing for independent artists, filmmakers, and businesses, producing 20,000 titles every year and building thousands of disc duplication systems. The company pioneered many of the features and services currently taken for granted in the music and film industry – and some that to this date have not been copied – including:

Disc Makers’ success over the last six decades can be credited in part to its strategy of positioning itself as the industry’s most vertically integrated manufacturing company. Everything is done under one roof in its Pennsauken, NJ plant — graphic design, prepress, printing, bindery, post-production mastering, glass mastering, replication, packaging, and fulfillment, as well as building its own duplicators. The company has been able to bring down the cost of production and deliver the savings directly to the customer, plus condense turn times to the quickest timeframes quoted in the industry.

Another of Disc Makers’ key competitive advantages is its principle of remaining format neutral through 60 years of technology changes (78 rpm shellac, to 45s, to 12 inch LPs, to 8-tracks, to cassettes, to CDs, and now to DVDs), while dozens of other manufacturers have dropped out. In an age of booming digital music sales, big business record labels and shrinking mass market CD sales, the company maintains a market leadership position in most of the markets it targets, and is well positioned to continue that with emerging technologies such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

"When I started at Disc Makers in 1987, the independent Do-It-Yourself spirit was just beginning to emerge," says Tony van Veen, Disc Makers’ executive vice president. "Today it’s widely accepted that as an artist you need to make your own CDs as a first step to kickstarting your music career. As a musician, I understood what the market wanted: ease of purchasing, a no-hassle experience, fair pricing, and a company that stood behind the product they made. And that, to this day, is what Disc Makers stands for. This company has truly revolutionized music manufacturing for independent artists. Many well-known artists, like Will Smith and Eminem, started their careers here, and we’re damn proud of that."