Autodesk unveils Smoke 2015
LAS VEGAS–Autodesk, Inc. unveiled the latest version of its powerful professional video editing software Autodesk Smoke 2015 at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB). In addition to significant new creative tools and performance enhancements, Smoke 2015 will soon be available as a Desktop Subscription, so customers can access the software on a pay-as-you-go basis for the first time.

“When Autodesk launched the ‘radically redesigned’ Smoke two years ago at NAB, we made a commitment to bring high-quality effects to editors in post, video production and corporate branding. And Smoke 2015 delivers on that promise,” said Chris Bradshaw, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “Smoke 2015 not only features highly-requested new creative tools and improved workflows with industry-standard tools such as Final Cut Pro, but also an even easier and more affordable way for small studios to get started with the software.”

Smoke 2015, a professional video effects and editing tool for Mac-based studios, now features 3D Tracker, a new Timeline FX workflow, added hardware support and optimization for the new Mac Pro running OS X Mavericks and better interoperability with Final Cut Pro X.

“For us, Smoke is a fantastic tool. I love the one place solution that Smoke offers; it saves hours of production time. We use Smoke as our main tool on music videos, tour visuals and motion graphics – from Madonna to The Prodigy to MTV. I want Smoke on every desk in my studio,” said Eugene Riecansky, creative director, Rockstar (UK).

Key Features
— New re-architected Timeline FX offers new effects capabilities for editors – such as direct access to the Action 3D compositing environment as a segment-based effect
— New timeline-integrated 3D tracker allows editors to match original camera movements in a clip in order to realistically add new elements: video layers, text or 3D objects
— Improved support for Blackmagic DesignLink card and UltraStudio for Thunderbolt devices and extended video IO support for AJA Video Systems to offer dual stream stereoscopic output
— Improved integration with Final Cut Pro X that supports more timeline and effects metadata for a fast, high fidelity project transfer between the apps. In addition, Smoke sequences can be exported as XML with accompanying QuickTime media files.

Pricing and Availability
In these competitive times, software accessibility and flexibility become ever more important especially to start-ups, freelancers and very small businesses, which make up the majority of new Smoke customers. Autodesk polled a sample across the professional video market and 68 percent responded that term-based software licensing is a great option. Smoke 2015 will soon be available via monthly, quarterly and annual Autodesk Desktop Subscription plans; customers who commit for a year save more than $500^. Smoke 2015 Desktop Subscription will be available starting May 8, 2014, on the Autodesk eStore for $195 SRP/month, $545 SRP/quarter and $1,750 SRP/year.

Miller Camera Support partners with Abelcine to open West Coast center
LOS ANGELES–Miller Camera Support Equipment, a specialist in the production of innovating camera support solutions, has announced that the Burbank facility of AbelCine, a professional products and services provider meeting the needs of content creators working in digital cinema, high-speed, 3D, broadcast, new media and communications, will be its new, exclusive authorized product and service center on the West Coast. This relationship is part of Miller’s plan to further support its customers and continue expanding its presence in the region.

Every Miller Camera Support, LLC product includes a three-year warranty on all materials and workmanship. AbelCine will provide warranty and non-warranty repairs on all Miller Camera Support, LLC fluid heads, tripods and accessories.

Colorfront licenes ProRes encoding for on-set dailies
LAS VEGAS–Colorfront, the Academy and Emmy Award-winning developer of high-performance dailies and transcoding systems for motion pictures, and high-end episodic television and commercials, has announced that Colorfront On-Set Dailies now supports encoding to Apple ProRes on OS X and Windows.

Customers who have purchased Colorfront On-Set Dailies on Windows should update to the latest version for free, which includes Apple ProRes encoding.

Colorfront showed the latest version of its market leading On-Set Dailies, and Express Dailies systems, at NAB 2014, Las Vegas.

Colorfront has achieved considerable success in motion picture and high-end episodic TV, with its Primetime Emmy Award-winning On-Set Dailies and Express Dailies systems. The 2014 Oscar-nominated movies Nebraska, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Prisoners, Rush and The Wolf of Wall Street, along with hit TV series Homeland, Sleepy Hollow, Under the Dome, Suits, True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Mad Men, Gray’s Anatomy, The Originals, The Michael J FOX show, The Following, Revolution, The Reign, Modern Family, Criminal Minds, Bones, Vampire Diaries and Walking Dead have all utilized Colorfront systems.

Panasonic, Codex enter into stragegic alliance
LONDON–Panasonic and Codex, the leading developer of RAW recording and media management systems for motion picture and television production, today announced a strategic product development alliance.

Codex, a leader in RAW recording and workflow, is working exclusively with Panasonic to deliver the only compact, high-speed 4K uncompressed RAW recorder for Panasonic’s VariCam 35 camera. The dedicated recorder will capture uncompressed 4K VariCam RAW at up to 120fps. The Codex Vault workflow system will support the rapid transfer of digital camera originals for postproduction and archiving.

Recognizing that convenience and portability are paramount in media and entertainment production, the Codex V-RAW recorder will directly connect with Panasonic’s VariCam 35 camera eliminating cabling completely, to facilitate greater efficiency and higher mobility whilst shooting. It is both compact and lightweight and provides the reliability that customers have come to expect from Codex solutions.

Mr Kunihiko Miyagi, director of Panasonic’s professional AV business unit, commented, “Codex has an impressive track record in design and manufacturing robust digital media recorders which also streamline the workflow on feature and broadcast productions. The new technology partnership between Panasonic and Codex to develop a small, high-speed, 4K V-RAW recorder will bring new and exceptional tools to producers of high-quality features, episodic production, commercials and live 4K events.”

“We are delighted to work with Panasonic on new recording and workflow technology that leverages the capabilities of the VariCam 35 camera and the 4K V-RAW format,” said Marc Dando, managing director of Codex. “The new technology partnership with Panasonic underscores Codex’s reputation as the clear leader for no-nonsense, fast, convenient RAW recording technologies and streamlined workflows. The Codex 4K V-RAW recorder will deliver a rugged design and deliver leading-edge digital processing that users expect from the Codex brand.”

Panasonic and Codex plan to release the first product during autumn 2014.

Fraunhofer HHI enhances hybrid 3D production with trifocal camera system
LAS VEGAS–The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI, a leader in the development of mobile and fixed broadband communication networks, multimedia systems, image processing and 3D, has announced the first software environment leveraging Adobe After Effects plug-ins for trifocal camera systems. This improves the workflow for flexible 3D production and makes it even more cost effective, making it possible to produce 3D cinematography with only slightly more effort than is needed for 2D. At NAB 2014, Fraunhofer HHI is showcasing the plug-ins together with its trifocal camera developed in association with Walt Disney Production Technology, Burbank, and ARRI, Munich.

With its After Effects plug-ins, Fraunhofer HHI has further shortened the on-set and postproduction 3D processing chain and made it more cost effective. Fraunhofer HHI’s trifocal camera system enables stereo material to be produced just as in a classic 2D production, which eliminates the need for special 3D camera expertise and saves both time and costs on set.

Additionally, with After Effects plug-ins streamlining the postproduction process, use of the trifocal camera system presents a real opportunity for cost-efficient production of future 3D cinema.  

Another advantage of the system is that the question of the content’s target system and screen size, which could be a 3D cinema or stereoscopic display, now only needs to be settled during actual post production.

In association with Disney and ARRI, Fraunhofer HHI has developed a trifocal camera system that can shoot 3D material without the need for on-set stenographers and continual readjustment of camera settings. The system comprises a rig of one main ARRI Alexa camera and two satellite cameras. Integration of the satellite cameras and estimation of depth maps eliminates the need for continual adjustment of camera positions, which is often time-consuming in 3D productions.  The recorded material is used in post production to estimate dense depth maps, which enable generation of stereo content. The joint large baseline of all three cameras also provides future-proof footage for tomorrow‘s glasses-free 3D displays.

Fraunhofer HHI is part of the Fraunhofer Digital Cinema Alliance. The Alliance provides a network of deep expertise and intelligence for the development of scalable technologies and international standards that allow customers to stay ahead the market.

SGO unveils color grading tools
LAS VEGAS–To provide enhanced creative capability within on-ine grading and finishing, SGO announced the development of “Spatial Isolation Toolset” to its world renowned Mistika DI, Grading and Finishing system for Mistika version 8.2

In both 2D and Stereo 3D finishing it is common for multiple objects to brought together from separate creative systems, using masks, object IDs, positional information, travelling mattes, and so forth, and in the case of live-action Stereo 3D, associated z-depth maps. Unfortunately, it is standard practice for such information to be dropped before entering the online grading and finishing, especially when the number of objects being combined is large in number, resulting in a single-plane image with no ability to re-adjust objects independently within the grading and finishing stage of the project workflow.

SGO’s new Spatial Isolation Toolset works with all the associated additional object information, enabling the simple selection of any object or group of objects, providing total interactivity with respect to blending objects together through the use of Mistika’s advanced grading tools.

A colorist can use any object selection options by single clicking any elements or part of an element, correcting only object surfaces pointing in certain directions, or separate objects by a z-depth range selection, all of which can be combined with traditional object isolation modes, such as windows and colour or luminance range selection, but now with total object isolation accuracy.

What Spatial Isolation offers to the colorist is not compositing – it is object separation inside the color grading workflow, using the information provided by the previous effects and compositing systems. This means it is no longer necessary to spend time attempting to fine-tune objects integration with their surroundings with the slow and non-interactive capabilities provided within effects systems, instead allowing the real-time and fully interactive capabilities of Mistika to creatively light and grade 3D animation objects sympathetically within their final surroundings.

When working with Stereo 3D footage the associated z-depth map can just as easily be used to perform object and image plane isolation, allowing the colourist to perform far greater creative manipulations, from grading and colour correction, to defocus, and re-lighting, further enhancing the reality that Stereo 3D can bring to the big screen.

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