So, yes, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 days, (or so sated from the Thanksgiving Gorge that you’ve hardly been able to get out of the easy chair), the Thanksgiving 4-day weekend is also the weekend of Big Holiday Sales for retailers nationwide.

Even Videomaker got into the Black Friday – Cyber Monday act, offering bundles of some of our more popular videos, eDocs and DVDs. In addition to the savings on the bundles, you can get 50% off all of our digital downloads, and 30% off all of our DVDs and DVD-ROMs. http://www.videomaker.com/l/blackfriday, check them out, the sale is still going on today. Read the rest of this entry »

The days of science fiction are over. It seems the ideas once thought to be impossible are now only several lab tests away from becoming reality (i.e., designer babies and steaks grown in petri dishes). On the video side of technology, we already have a complete convergence of digital technology on our hand-held devices, not to mention the ability to make paper-thin, “go-anywhere” digital displays. However, there are those who desire something just a little more portable than the fore mentioned. Lucky for them, they need not wait too long, for scientists are developing the most portable of all displays: the LED tattoo.

The brains at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Illinois, and Tufts University in Medford, MA, have combined their research to develop implantable silk-silicon electronics. These implantable electronics include silk-silicon LEDs that can be placed into the skin, as well as biocompatible electrodes that could work in conjunction with the nervous system. The intention is to apply this technology to medical devices, such as blood-sugar readings that would automatically appear on the skin. Philips’ Design Probe took a different approach to the obvious medical implementation. Their vision is a world of touch sensitive body art, or “interactive skin technology.” Read the rest of this entry »

You don’t have to stand in line at 4:00 in the morning on Black Friday, fighting crowds of zealots at your local mega-mart or mall, to get a good deal. You can go online right here at Videomaker’s store, anytime this Friday through Monday (traditionally called Black Friday and Cyber Monday), for some online specials.

We’ve bundled some of our more popular videos, eDocs and DVDs for this super special, so if you’ve been thinking of buying some tutorials, now’s your chance. In addition to the savings you’ll find on our bundles, you can get 50% off all of our digital downloads, and 30% off all of our DVDs and DVD-ROMs.

Treat yourself to an early Christmas gift, or maybe lay a copy of your “Hint List” around for things you’d like to receive (or give) as Christmas gifts. You know if you don’t, Aunt Penny is probably going to give you a new necktie, even though you haven’t worn one since the ’90s. Besides, everyone wants to help support your hobby, so here’s your chance to get all your loved ones in the know about what you want.

If you have a Palm Pre, you’re in luck. First off, because you don’t have my [expletive deleted] cell phone (which drops its connection excessively, usually whenever my wife needs to relay something crucial–and my phone company isn’t as helpful as I had hoped they would be in helping me find a solution), and second, because a new app called Precorder is now out, which will let you record video with your Pre’s camera–something that it was capable of all along hardware-wise, but was never previously exploited, until now.

The app is in an alpha (very preliminary) state right now, and it looks like you will have to perform some dark magic to actually install the application on your Pre (which must be running webOS 1.3.1), but once you do, you will be able to record 480×320 video at 30fps, with sound. You also get a choice of several MPEG-4 variants to record video with (MPEG-4, H.263, H.264/AVC), audio formats (AAC, AMRNB, MP3), container formats (MP4/3GP), media source (audio only, video only, both), and whether to turn on the LED for illumination.

Wanna see a sample clip? Head over to Pre Central, where you can see a sample (from YouTube, not a file directly from the Pre) and read more about the background about why webOS 1.3.1 was the enabler for this project.

Avid announced today that Media Composer and Symphony software now supports the new Snow Leopard OS X.
This added support enables customers to upgrade to the latest operating system without worrying about Media Composer and Symphony compatibility. Furthermore, those purchasing a new Mac system for faster processing, reliability and ease-of-use (shipping with Snow Leopard) will now have support for Media Composer and Symphony software as well.

Here’s a rundown on pricing/availability:
• Current Avid customers (version 4.0 and higher) can access the version update online at no additional cost. Additionally, any customer with a valid support contract also gets the free upgrade.
• For new software licenses or to purchase upgrades, visit the Avid store or local reseller.
Avid is also continuing to offer a 30-day trial version of Media Composer software for those interested in checking out the latest features in version 4.0.

Unprecedented Performance and Quality Gains to Reshape Compositing Workflows

GenArts Inc., the premier provider of specialized visual effects software for the film, television and video industries, announced today GenArts Sapphire 5. The latest software upgrade is fully GPU-enabled to provide artists a completely interactive user experience at HD resolutions, while accelerating render speeds up to 700 percent. In addition, support for full floating point workflows will deliver true photorealistic image quality with the highest possible dynamic range. Sapphire 5 is scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2010 for Autodesk users. Read the rest of this entry »