Studio Monthly articles from August 2007

Studio Monthly archives from August 2007

What's old is new again.(editor's note)
August 1, 2007... If it works, don't fix it. That advice certainly saves time and, usually, money. But when your content's out of date, or worse, the resolution of your original media is languishing in a murky VHS-quality haze, it's never a bad idea for a...

Coming to a gas pump near you.(quick cuts)
August 1, 2007... Thought you were just wasting money at the pump every time you filled the tank? "Consumers spend, on average, four and a half minutes at the gas pump with nothing to do," says David Leider, CEO of Gas Station TV (GSTV). Leider's one-year-old...

SIGGRAPH pulls into town.(quick cuts)
August 1, 2007... SIGGRAPH arrives in the San Diego Convention Center this month (August 5 to 9) with its usual healthy fare of education-heavy technology sessions, papers, demos, the always well-attended Computer Animation Festival and new products and demos...

Krall resigns as Avid CEO.(quick cuts)
August 1, 2007... David Krall stepped down as CEO of Avid Technology at the end of July. Said Krall in a statement released on July 16, "The time is right for new leadership at the helm." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In his seven-year tenure as CEO, Krall...

Wide Awake in Fusion 5.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... The software division of visual effects studio Frantic Films announced the release of Awake, a plug-in pack for eyeon Software's Fusion 5. Awake includes six plug-ins: Lens Distort, Stereo Image Stacking, Stereo Image Unstacking, Frequency...

New FX for Autodesk.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... GenArts has announced Sapphire plug-ins version 4 for Autodesk compositing and editing systems. The new version features over 45 new effects, plus many enhancements and new parameters to existing effects in the package. New effects and...

Layering it on thick.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... Zaxwerks announced its new Layer Tools set of plug-ins for Adobe After Effects. Layer Tools helps users convert Photoshop image layers into 3D graphics without the design falling apart due to perspective and lets motion graphic artists create...

Dealing with data.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... NVIDIA has announced the immediate availability of NVIDIA CUDA 1.0, the production release of the C-compiler and Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing computing applications on NVIDIA GPUs. The SDK provides a flexible, massively...

Sharp at every angle.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... Sharp has recently added to its LCD display line with several monitors designed for both landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) operation. The PN-G655U/RU 65-inch monitors feature a full 1920 x 1080 2K high-definition (HD) resolution,...

DVI I/O board for Slate switchers.(DETAILING YOUR STUDIO)
August 1, 2007... Broadcast Pix announced this spring that it is adding optional DVI input and outputs to its line of Slate Switchers. The DVI board, which will be available later this year as an option for the Slate HD I/O board and also includes adapters for...

Apple Final Cut Studio 2: ProRes 422, an open-format timeline and Color push this package to a new level.(ROI reviews)(Chronology)
August 1, 2007... No doubt about it: Apple certainly stole the limelight at this year's NAB with its greatly anticipated announcement of Final Cut Studio 2. The latest pro video application suite includes substantial upgrades of its central programs: Final Cut...

Maxon Cinema 4D R10: greatly improved workflow and revamped character animation.(ROI reviews)
August 1, 2007... Cinema 4D R10 is not your typical upgrade release. Instead of just fixing a few bugs and adding the expected novel tools, Maxon has completely overhauled the Cinema 4D core, putting Cinema 4D on the same level as applications such as...

Create a photo-real project using camera projection in Maya 8.5.(how)
August 1, 2007... STEP 1 SAVE RENDER TIME While Maya does have what we need to create just about anything, we're always looking to see where we can cheat to get the same result faster and how we can optimize in order to save render time without...

Rescue badly recorded audio with Sony Sound Forge 9 and iZotope.(how)
August 1, 2007... STEP 1 OPEN THE FILE IN SOUND FORGE From time to time, we all find ourselves with audio that's over-maximized or suffers from clipping from field recording hiccups, inexperienced clients or other unaccountable reasons. For example, I...

Pan and Zoom like ken burns with Boris Continuum Complete 5.0.(PRODUCT MANAGER TUTORIAL)
August 1, 2007... STEP 1 PREPARE YOUR VIDEO CLIP Start by creating a video clip that's the same size/resolution as the final clip you want to render out in the Premiere Pro timeline. The image data in the clip doesn't matter--it's going to be overwritten by...

HDV and old school 3D: mixing high-def footage and a 19th-Century illusionist's trick at the American Museum of Natural History.(Technique)
August 1, 2007... The newly re-opened Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City tells the story of human evolution from our earliest ancestors through the development of modern language, art, tools and technology. Outfitted...

Rhinofx: chameleons of post production.(STUDIOS ON THE RISE)
August 1, 2007... WHAT'S THEIR GIG? A self-described diversified digital studio, New York's Rhinofx has certainly put its stamp on a broad range of projects, from VFX for film and character animation to photo-realistic TV spots. The same company that...