Eric Bruneau, a compositing specialist, has joined With A Twist Studio. Bruneau will serve as Compositing Supervisor and will focus on feature film projects, but will also be available for commercial and other broadcast work. Bruneau’s background includes senior visual effects positions with powerhouses Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks. He is currently working on a broadcast package for ESPN College Football.... »
Abaltat ™, a developer of innovative audio workflow solutions for postproduction and broadcast markets, announced the release of Abaltat Muse 2.0. Abaltat Muse 2.0 enables anyone, regardless of musical ability; to compose royalty-free, multi-part soundtracks that are perfectly timed and aligned to the users’ edited video. The new release of Abaltat’s flagship audio solution delivers a brand new composition and analysis engine, streamlined user interface, expanded soundtrack creation capabilities and clever pre-set audio tracks.
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Mobile Studios, Inc. has responded to a growing need for ultra-portable HD/SD production gear that can be easily transported to remote locations with the release of its new PortaCast™ line of suitcase size mini flypacks equipped with roller-blade wheels and pull-out handles. Five unique PortaCast™ “Paks” for switching/communications, audio mixing/recording, camera shading/engineering and cables are available individually or as a completely integrated PortaCast™ live production system.... »
The collaboration between film directors and sound mixers is a balance between objective and subjective responses. Mostly, a sound mixer’s responsibilities are technical, like notching the music and SFX frequencies around the dialog to maintain intelligibility. But the mixer often has some latitude to make artistic decisions, like muting an instrument or putting a Foley track through a guitar fuzz box. F&V asked some top sound mixers to share some of the most creative contributions they’ve made to feature films, and about working with some of the best-known directors in the business.... »
Lots of directors are good at wrangling automobile action, but Tim Damon's dedication to the craft is impressive. Unhappy with merely renting the gear he needs for any given automotive shoot, Damon has amassed a purposeful collection of proprietary gear — much of it modified to exactly suit his preferences during a shoot — that's meant to make sure he never has to tell a client, "We can't do that."... »
o-producers Richard Shaw and Lee Cantalon have been working all their hip-hop connections to collect material for The Wordz from the Street, a collection of original music based on the core teachings of Christianity.... »
wondertouch, a leading software developer of high performance particle effects creation tools, today announced that new versions for its particleIllusion™ 3.0 and particleIllusion SE line of product offerings on the Mac® OS® X are now available.... »
Panasonic Broadcast announced today that new editing solutions from Avid Technology, Inc. offer import and native editing support for its AVC-Intra codec. The Avid products supporting AVC-Intra include Avid Media Composer software Version 3.0; Avid Media Composer Mojo DX 3.0; Avid Media Composer Nitris DX v 3.0; Symphony™ Nitris DX v 3.0; Avid NewsCutter software v 7.0; NewsCutter Mojo DX v 7.0; and NewsCutter Nitris DX v 7.0.... »
Shooting TLC’s hit documentary series Little People, Big World—mostly handheld, for more than 12 hours a day—is no small feat. Director of Photography Tom Curran heads up a crew of four, two teams working in 12-hour shifts, who follow the Roloff family of six everywhere.... »
Europeans will get their first look at the latest version of Maximum Throughput’s Sledgehammer server, with its built-in MAXmedia browser-based media management application at IBC in Amsterdam (Hall 7, Stand J18). It adds new features that address performance, collaborative workflows, media assembly, media search and retrieval, metadata compatibility and device integration, and format conversion and encoding... »
Gefen has introduced two new matrix switching systems that provide an easy way to connect multiple HD audio/video sources and displays. Source switching is controlled by a Gefen IR remote control unit or through the RS-232 port (available on all three rack mountable units). Source switching occurs instantly, so there is no downtime or noticeable lag between source selections.... »
Many of today’s professional HD camcorders record their video data onto solid-state memory cards. A trip to any video store will quickly show even more consumer camcorders are doing the same.... »
Distributing high-definition video over the Internet was once looked at as a futile proposition, because most people didn’t have large computer screens, and the bandwidth necessary to send these data-intensive files was virtually non-existent (at any price). Well those days are history. Now, content creators can offer online viewers a “lean back” experience over the Web, thanks to advancements in compression algorithms and software acceleration.... »
Avid Technology today launched Avid DS version 10: a solution designed to save customers time and money by offering professional editing, compositing, keying, image retouching, paint and graphics capabilities in one application. Avid DS 10 runs on a new high-performance platform and includes key features such as: full color-managed workflows, advanced color-correction capabilities, Interplay support, improved conform options, GPU real-time processing, additional dual-link feature support, integration with Avid shared storage solutions, and a new stereoscopic 3D container. As a result of these new features, Avid DS customers will be able to more effectively manage their project pipeline, take on a wider variety of projects, work with the highest quality images and continue to deliver the best end product to their customers.... »