Reprinted from a Canopus press release:
San Jose, Calif. (August 27, 2002) – Canopus Corporation today announced Imaginate, the newest member in its growing line of software tools for video production. Imaginate(tm) still-image animation software lets video professionals use high-resolution stills to create animated and keyframed pan, zoom, rotate, and tilt movements in 3D. Imaginate gives documentary filmmakers and broadcasters, as well as corporate and event videographers, the freedom and flexibility to bring new dimensions to their productions by transforming their still images and photographs into movies.
Producers can use Imaginate as a standalone tool to create AVI movie files that can be imported directly into all popular nonlinear editing systems or they can use Imaginate’s Premiere plug-in for even greater flexibility, including alpha channel support. Imaginate’s Premiere plug-in alpha channel support lets producers create composite effects for greater creativity. In Premiere, users can modify Imaginate project files directly from the timeline, allowing them to integrate Imaginate into their video editing workflow.
Imaginate’s intuitive interface and timeline features, along with realtime preview, make the design process fast. Combined with comprehensive camera control, Imaginate can create precise motion paths and sweeping, cinematic effects. Imaginate even allows users to change camera “locations” to create stills with different perspectives from the original photos. In addition, high-quality image scaling is performed using Imaginate’s rendering engine to retain details in the sharpest, most precise photos, even during extreme close ups.
“With Imaginate, producers can breathe new life into still images and photographs, transforming them into movies that can be used to bring history to life, create montages, motion menus, or anything else the video professional can imagine,” said Ryan Schlieper, product marketing manager at Canopus Corporation.
Pricing and Availability
Imaginate will be available in September 2002 from Canopus and its authorized dealers and system integrators for a suggested retail price of $199. Imaginate supports Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.