AV Video Multimedia Producer articles from March 2003

AV Video Multimedia Producer archives from March 2003

Need advice? Buy. (Real Time).
March 1, 2003... DESPITE THE VERY REAL CONCERNS OF READERS WHO cannot afford to shop for new equipment, let alone attend any trade shows this year, we're brazenly bullish about the products expected at NAB 2003. This issue celebrates all that we love--and yes,...

Input.
March 1, 2003... Gender Divide Redux Wow! I have just finished reading the Input section of (February's] AVVMMP, and my heart is pounding! I commend your strength of character and will for not pounding that reader to a pulp in your editorial [Real Time, by...

Macworld Expo: the world of OS X broadens, as do PowerBook size options. (Show Report).
March 1, 2003... ONCE AGAIN, HORDES OF THOSE united by their devotion to the Mac and mistrust of all things PC gathered recently at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco for Macworld Expo. When compared to events such as NAB and SIGGRAPH, Macworld...

Hold still: not all tripods are created equal, so how should you choose? (Production).
March 1, 2003... FOR A LONG TIME, I THOUGHT tripods were like tires on a car: I knew I needed them, but I still couldn't tell you the differences among brands. However, as I'm increasingly called to do lastminute interviews, tape live events and record...

Building the perfect branding vehicle: compositing drives a trade-show exhibit for Chrysler. (Post-Production).
March 1, 2003... THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERnational Auto Show, where new automobiles are paraded in front of an eager press corps, is usually about pizzazz and style, but at this year's show, Chrysler wanted to go with something a little more elegant in its...

Data storm: FEMA project demonstrates the case for CD-ROM. (Delivery).
March 1, 2003... WHEN THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY Management Agency (FEMA) began work on a project to centralize hurricane disaster information for the public and for other government agencies, it chose CD-ROM as the distribution medium for all the usual reasons:...

Turning the tables: what should you know before you start shopping for presentation and production furniture? (Presentations).
March 1, 2003... COVERING BUSINESS-MEDIA PROduction like we do means visiting countless facilities to see where content-creation wizardry happens. Some of the edit and graphics suites we see aren't just functional; they're stylish and, in some cases, they rival...

Costs and standards: producers address cost-recovery and streaming formats. (Winners' Circle).
March 1, 2003... Healthy Cost Recovery By Jeff Szmulewicz An academic medical center can be a thrilling and invigorating place to work. It can also become a nightmare and headache if you don't make the administration and faculty happy with your...

What producers really want. (NAB 2003 Preview).
March 1, 2003... The perfect tool: Does it exist? And if you find it, can you afford it? "Some of us in production have given up on the thought that such a product would ever truly materialize," says Richard Hoggatt, president of Stage Directions, a 16-year-old...

MAC aficionado turned PC enthusiast: profile of The Orphanage. (Special Advertising Section).
March 1, 2003... As a loyal Macintosh[R] aficionado, the last thing visual effects creator Stu Maschwitz thought he'd ever do was to replace his sexy Mac dual-800 G4 computer with a Microsoft[R] Windows[R]-based workstation. After all, he'd been on a Mac since...

Canon. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... Canon (www.canondv.com) will show its recently released GL2 camcorder that features three shooting modes, a sharp L-Series Flourite lens, and Fire Wire and USB support. The miniDV camera lets you adjust audio control, color gain, color phase,...

Hitachi Denshi America. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... Back in November, Hitachi Denshi America's Broadcast and Professional division (www.hdal.com) began shipping the industry's first profession three-chip DVD-RAM-equipped camcorder (see Production, December 2002) .At present, the camera supports...

Ikegami. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... Ikegami (www.ilcegami.com) will showcase its new HL-60W full digital camera, HDK-79EX compact RD camera and additions to its DVGAM camcorder line. The HL-60W combines newly developed digital signal processing features with a compact size...

Panasonic. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... Panasonic (www.panasonic.com/broadcast) will unveil the AG-DVC80, a new three-CCD DV ProLine camcorder featuring a wide-angle Leica Dicomar lens. It joins Panasonic's existing IEEE-1394 equipped DV Pro Line products such as the AGDVC200...

Sony. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... A prominent section of Sony's (http://bssc.sel.sony.com) football-field-sized booth-right about at the 10-yard line-will be devoted to the company's new "Optical Disc System," technology that brings digital disc capture to its venerable line of...

JVC. (Production: Cameras).
March 1, 2003... One of the bigger pre-NAB announcements geared toward the business-media professional came from JVC (http://pro.jvc.com). Producers who previously shyed away from high definition because of its price may be interested in checking out the new...

AJA Video Systems. (Production: Downconverters).
March 1, 2003... Known for its Kona SD and HD capture cards, AJA Video Systems (www.aja.com) will exhibit its new RH10MD HD-SDI downconverter. SD outputs can be analog or SDI and can be formatted for 4:3 or 16:9 monitors. The HD10MD2 is a miniature...

Miranda. (Production: Downconverters).
March 1, 2003... Miranda (www.miranda.com) will show its new camera-mounted DVC-800 HD downconverter and DV encoder, which you can use to directly access DV disk drives or laptop-based editing systems. The compact interface, featuring IEEE-1394 and HD-SDI, SDI...

Canon. (Production: Lenses).
March 1, 2003... Canon will bring what it is calling the most advanced lineup of HD lenses to NAB this year. Of particular note is the the 100X, a triple-digit zoom lens. The lOOX is already part of several all-Canon equipped RD trucks belonging to mobile...

Fujinon. (Production: Lenses).
March 1, 2003... Fujinon (www.fujinon.com) will also have a fleet of HD lenses at the show. Recently released lenses include the HAI13x4.5BERM/BERD and HA22x7.88ERM/BERD high-definition ENG lenses, HA26x6.7 high-definition studio lens, and HDTV Cine-Style...

Neutrik. (Production: Microphones).
March 1, 2003... Neutrik (www.neutrikusa.com) will also be showing the Speakon STX series mic, a new four-pole unit with a metal housing designed for harsh environments. Designed for superior electrical performance, the new unit offers a sealing gasket to help...

Sennheiser. (Production: Microphones).
March 1, 2003... Sennheiser (www. sennheiserusa.com) will introduce its new MKH 418S compact M-S stereo shotgun microphone. Based on the MKH 416 short shotgun microphone, the MKH 418S pairs Sennheiser's RF condenser microphone technology with a dual-capsule M-S...

Sigma Electronics. (Production: Audio Signal Management).
March 1, 2003... Sigma Electronics (www.sigmaelectronics.com) will unveil its OctaStream family of AES digital audio signal management products Designed to address eight-channel audio and the integration of AES and multi-channel digital audio into a DTV stream,...

Neutrik. (Production: Communication Interface).
March 1, 2003... Neutrik will display NTI's MiniLINK USB interface for the Minstruments series at NAB in booth C2560. This field-retro-fittable link enables PC-based communications between NTI's Minilyzer (ML1) and Digilyzer (DL1) and allows for easier...

Chyron. (Production: Production Automation Systems).
March 1, 2003... Phantasia is Chyron's (www.chyron.com) new low-end automation system. Based on industry-standard components rather than specialized hardware, Phantasia provides an infrastructure for a fully flexible multi-channel automation system that is both...

ParkerVision. (Production: Production Automation Systems).
March 1, 2003... ParkerVision(www.parkervision.com) will unveil two new systems specifically designed for the corporate, educational and distance-learning markets within its expanding range of PVTV NEWS live-production automation systems. As part of its new...

Chyron. (Production: Switchers and Routers).
March 1, 2003... Chyron's Sirius family is extended with the launch of the 256 x 256 multi-format router. Sirius incorporates built-in analog and digital signal conversion for both video and audio signals and allows different formats to be mixed and matched...

PESA Switching Systems. (Production: Switchers and Routers).
March 1, 2003... PESA Switching Systems (www.pesa.com) is announcing a number of products, including a new version of the company's popular Ocelot router. The new HD-SDI multi-rate version can handle bit rates from 3 mbps to 1.5 gbps. Because this router is...

Thomson. (Production: Switchers and Routers).
March 1, 2003... Thomson announced in January the new Grass Valley (www.thomsongrassvalley.com) Kayak digital-production switcher. Designed for live production and smaller corporate studios, the switcher gives users a number of high-end features not found in...

Snell & Wilcox. (Production: Switchers and Routers).
March 1, 2003... Snell & Wilcox (www.snellwilcox.com) will preview the latest addition to its HD switcher range, the HD3060, a 3M/E high-definition switcher designed for high-performance live production. The HD3060 has 64 inputs (expandable to 128) and 12...

FOR-A Corporation of America. (Production: Video Stabilizers).
March 1, 2003... FOR-A Corporation of America (www.for-a.com) will introduce the IVS-500 video stabilizer with digital input and output, and the IVS-300 stabilizer with analog composite input and output. According to Hiro Tanoue, FOR-A's sales manager for the...

Accom. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... Accom (www.accom.com) has broadened its WSD/HD line of high-definition digital disk recorders with a lower-priced model. The newest entry, the WSD/HDi, starts at $32,000 and has a disk array built into its chassis. An import/export utility lets...

Adtec Digital. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... Adtec Digital (www adtecinc.com) will be showing its edje-200 MPEG encoder and its edje-L MPEG-2 digital video player with a built-in satellite data receiver. The company recently enetered a deal with Medialon, a show-control-software developer...

Baytech Video. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... Baytech Video (www.baytechvideo.com) is unveiling CineRAM Pack, a battery-operated recorder that lets users capture uncompressed HD from cameras, the transfer it to a computer for postproduction. The CineRAM Pack attaches to the back of an HD...

Fast Forward Video. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... The Recon digital video recorder board from Fast Forward Video (www.ffv.com) is gaining new functionality. FFV will demonstrate how Recon-generated video clips can be viewed and stored and archived on servers.

Panasonic. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... Panasonic's new AJ-HD1700 is a DVCPRO HD extended-record (EX) format VTR designed for mobile production studios and editing suites. The AJ-HD1700VTR records for up to 126 minutes in 60 fields per second 1,080 line interlace, or...

JVC. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... JVC announced a new VTR aimed specifically at nonlinear editing applications. Equipped with RS-422, RS-232 and FireWire interfaces, the BR-DV6000 plays DV and MiniDV cassettes. An optional network card, the BR-DV6000U, lets users stream MPEG-4...

Sony. (Production: VTRs/DDRs).
March 1, 2003... Sony will preview the SRW-5000 Studio VTR, which can record and play 10801 and 720P, as well as all legacy HDCAM tapes. Sony expects to ship the SRW-5000 in August. The company will also show the SRW-1 HDCAM portable VTR aimed at 3D stereo...

Boris FX. (Post-Production: Graphics and Effects Systems).
March 1, 2003... Boris FX (www.borisfx.com) will be selling its new Boris CONTINUUM COMPLETE 2.0, a comprehensive package of 110 filters for Adobe After Effects 5.5, Apple Final Cut Pro 3, Discreet combustion 2.1, and Boris RED. Highlights include 16-bit...

Chyron Graphics. (Post-Production: Graphics and Effects Systems).
March 1, 2003... Chyron Graphics (www.chyron.com) will debut several automated data-driven graphics applications at the show, including Solo, a laptop CG and animation system. Packaged for portability, Solo supports real-time animation and optional dual-channel...

Eyeon Software. (Post-Production: Graphics and Effects Systems).
March 1, 2003... The new Digital Fusion 4 release from eyeon Software(www.eyeonline.com) began shipping this past October. The company is at work on developing for the Windows platform, as well as providing a Linux version, which it plans to ship in time for...

Pinnacle Systems. (Post-Production: Graphics and Effects Systems).
March 1, 2003... Pinnacle Systems (www.pinnaclesys.com) will be showing Liquid purple version 5, a DV-editing and -effects system. Liquid purple 5 delivers real-time 2D and 3D effects, time-saving background processing, analog video output, integrated DVD...

Panasonic. (Post-Production: Graphics Processors).
March 1, 2003... Panasonic will unveil the multi-application, multi-format AV-CGP500 realtime graphics processor. The unit will offer realtime rendering of graphics, including widely implemented HD formats (1,080I, 720P/60 and 1080/24P) as well as...

Discreet. (Post Production: Animation Software).
March 1, 2003... Discreet (www.discreet.com) began shipping in January version 4 of its character-animation software, character studio 4. Used as a software extension to Discreet's 3ds max version 4 and version 5, character studio lists for $995.

Avid. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Avid (www.avid.com) will make several announcements about new developments for Avid, Digidesign and Softimage products prior to the start of the exhibition on April 6.

Canopus. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Canopus (www.canopus.com) will have a lot of post-production news at NAB. The company is unveiling new NLE software and a new editing workstation. The software, Edius, is aimed at users of (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems) DVRex...

Editware. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Editware (www.editware.com) will show its flagship product, Fastrack, which debuted at last year's show. Originally designed as a front-end controller and editor for the GVG Profile series of video servers, its GUI lets you edit with as few as...

Leitch. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Leitch (www.leitch.com)is updating its dpsVelocity and dpsVelocityQ NLE systems. With the multi-stream dps VelocityQ 8.2, Leitch has created a new interface, added OMF/AAF compliance and improved the system's integration with Leitch VR servers....

Media 100. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Media 100 (www.media100.com) will be showing its new HDX technology a first-step HD expansion of its GenesisEngine media processor in the 844/X effects and editing system. HDX is actually new software and a high-density HDX PCI card that adds...

Pinnacle. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Pinnacle will introduce Liquid chrome, a new nonlinear editing system for post-production applications. Pairing Pinnacle's TARGA 3000 hardware with Pinnacle Liquid software, Liquid chrome alms to provide a complete editing and compositing...

Matrox. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Matrox (www.matrox.com) will show its RT.X100 hardware for real-time video editing, as well as its Parhelia/Adobe After Effects bundle for video compositing, which allows for dual displays and includes a WYSIWYG plug-in for viewing projects on...

Sony. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Sony will preview a new studio editing deck that records and plays both DVCAM and MPEG codecs and performs cuts-only editing.

Laird Telemedia. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... Laird Telemedia (www.lairdtelemedia.com) will be showing its new FireWire DV vertical interval switcher, the FireCut 4x1. Suited to mobile, remote, educational and business applications, the FireCut 4x1 is a cuts-only switcher that allows the...

Ultimatte. (Post-Production: Nonlinear-Editing Systems).
March 1, 2003... In addition to introducing new hardware, Ultimatte (www.ultimatte.com) is rolling out updates of its AdvantEdge matte-extraction tools. AdvantEdge is adding support for Media 100 and Incite NLEs. (The product currently supports NLEs and effects...

SGI. (Post-Production: Visualization Systems).
March 1, 2003... SGI (www.sgi.com) will show its InfiniteReality4 graphics subsystem for the Onyx family of visualization systems, which it introduced last year. Each InfiniteREality4 graphics pipe can display more than 8 million pixels of visual content. The...

Sun Microsystems. (Post-Production: Visualization Systems).
March 1, 2003... Sun Microsystems (www.sun.com) announced the SunFire V880z visualization system, Sun's first workgroup system powered by the high-end Sun XVR-4000 graphics accelerator. The new visualization system, featuring the Sun Fire V880 server and...

Biznews24. (Post-Production: Web-Authoring Software).
March 1, 2003... Biznews24 (www.mediamixer.com) is debuting its Biznews Media Mixer. Despite the word mixer in its name, the product is not what most producers would call a mixer; rather, it is a Web-authoring application that accommodates assets created in...

Discreet. (Delivery: Compression Software).
March 1, 2003... Discreet will show the successor to cleaner 5 for Windows, cleaner XL for Windows. Built by a separate development team at Discreet than the cleaner 6 for the Mac group, cleaner XL was rebuilt from the ground up for PC-centric producers. New...

JVC. (Delivery: Media Players).
March 1, 2003... JVC is using its D-VHS format to target the HD user who needs to distribute high-quality content. The new Pro-HD system, based on D-VHS, includes the SR-VD400US D-VHS player and the SR-VDA300US recorder. Although NC emphasizes the use of these...

Panasonic. (Delivery: Media Players).
March 1, 2003... Panasonic will introduce the AJ-DX225, a 2X player/recorder suited for high-speed IEEE-1394based computer editing, dubbing and archiving applications. The new recorder can support 50 mbps bandwidth IEEE-1394 playing and recording of DV Pro...

MediaSonic. (Delivery: Media Players).
March 1, 2003... The Electrosonic division MediaSonic (www.mediasonic.com) is rolling out an HD player for the desktop. Users can point and click to send what MediaSonic claims to be digital-cinema-quality images to high-resolution displays. The MS9100D has a...

Primera Technology. (Delivery: CD Duplicating/Printing).
March 1, 2003... Primera Technology (www.primera.com) will be exhibiting its new Bravo Disc Publisher, an automated CD-duplicating and -printing system. Priced at under $2,000, it can produce up to 25 CDs or DVDs per job.

Chyron. (Delivery: Content-Delivery Appliances).
March 1, 2003... Aprisa RePlay is Chyron's next-generation multichannel clip and still store. Aprisa RePlay lets stills and clips to be played out independently or digitally layered together. Aprisa RePlay supports DV25, DV50 and MPEG-2 formats, and has...

Telestream. (Delivery: Content Delivery Appliances).
March 1, 2003... Aimed at organizations where content needs to be reviewed quickly and subsequently approved, Clip View will be shown at the Telestream (www.telestream.net) booth. Clip View is the newest addition to the ClipMail line of MPEG delivery...

Chyron. (Delivery: Asset-Management Systems).
March 1, 2003... Chyron's MAPP Asset Management is a software suite that automatically manages content in the transmission environment. Metadata can be transferred between multiple MAPP systems and third-party management products. MAPP also includes new...

More flash friendly: Macromedia's director Mx. (Test Patterns).
March 1, 2003... ***** Summary: This latest version of Director lets you import Flash files, stream MPEG-4 video and add text-to-speech capabilities, It also features a redesigned MX interface. Target Users: Multimedia developers Platforms:...

Uncomplicated: Sony's DRU-500A DVD burner. (Test Patterns).
March 1, 2003... **** Summary: With Sony's new burner, choosing between recordable formats is one less thing for users to worry about Target Users: DVD authors Platforms: Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP IF THERE WERE AN INSTRUCTION manual for making...

Building character: Inscriber Technology's TitleMotion Pro. (Test Patterns).
March 1, 2003... *** Summary: 2D and 3D title-creation tool that offers high-quality output, ease of use and solid integration with host applications Target Users: Professional editors Platforms: Windows NT/2000/XP MANY EDITORS WOULD LIKE TO...

One bright idea: ARRI's softbank D2 lighting kit. (Test Patterns).
March 1, 2003... **** Summary: Advanced, easy-to-use lighting kit specialized for digital shoots Target Users: Professional videographers WE IN THE VIDEO TRADE HAVE been known to tech-talk and, heaven forbid, trash-talk about our camcorders,...

Improving the process: Pinnacle Systems' Liquid silver 4.0. (Test Patterns).
March 1, 2003... **** Summary: The latest version of this venerable video-editing system offers an impressive feature well. Target Users: Video producers and editors Platforms: Windows 2000 PINNACLE SYSTEMS' LIQUID silver is a Windows...

Masstech Group. (Delivery: Asset-Management Systems).
March 1, 2003... Masstech Group (www masstechgroup.com) will exhibit several products for producers seeking asset-management systems and storage expansion. The MassMedia Box is billed as an end-to-end content management system. It ingests and transcodes video...

Sundance Digital. (Delivery: Asset-Management Systems).
March 1, 2003... Other asset-management systems being shown at NAB include Sundance Digital's (www.sundancedigital.com) set of database tools that help producers manage their video data. The software is available for the company's currently FastBreak...

ASACA. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... For large storage applications, ASACA (www.asaca.com) is expected to announce that it is shipping the new FireFly DM electonic digital virtual library. Unlike many libraries of mass storage, the FireFly DM is not robotic. Instead, an interface...

Medea. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... Medea (www.medea.com) will demonstrate the RT3, its newest addition to the VideoRaid family. This RAID array contains five drives and is suited to use with multi-stream SD and HD NLE systems. The company is also showing its new VideoRaid...

Leitch. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... Leitch (see Post-Production) will demonstrate its new MediaFile, a still- and clip-storage device.

Pinnacle. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... Pinnacle's Palladium Store 100 is a video storage system that provides over 80 hours of DV25 video storage on a RAID-protected single-chassis unit. Palladium Store 100 supports workgroup editing. Up to 20 editing stations can be connected to...

SGI. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... SGI will announce a new generation of its Guaranteed Rate I/O (GRIO) digital infrastructure for production storage. The new GRIO, the company says, will guarantee that real-time content can be shared across a SAN without any loss of...

Virage. (Delivery: Storage).
March 1, 2003... Virage (wwwvirage.com) will introduce Webcasting 3.0, which is expected to incorporate application sharing and new tools that let Webcast managers edit archived Webcasts or create Webcast presentations using a simple Web interface but...

Panasonic. (Presentations: LCD Monitors).
March 1, 2003... Panasonic will expand its lineup of LCD TFT monitors with two additional panels: a new 8.4-inch RD-resolution field portable, and an economical 14-inch SD model for studio applications. The monitors will be available in August at suggested list...

Fujitsu General America. (Presentations: Plasma Displays).
March 1, 2003... As plasma technology improves, so do the warranties that come with freshly minted models. Fujitsu General America (www.fujitsu.com) announced in February that its 42-inch P42VHA20 Plasmavision SlimScreen monitor, which is available now for...

MediaSonic. (Presentations: Control Systems).
March 1, 2003... MediaSonic (also see Delivery) is introducing a device to encode and distribute MPEG-2 HD files. The MS9200CP captures files on its hard drive, then sends them over a LAN or a WAN. Alternately they can be written to DVDs or external hard drives...

Belden Electronics Division. (Presentations: Control Systems).
March 1, 2003... Connecting such displays to controllers requires cabling, of course, and Belden Electronics Division (www.belden.com) will make some announcements in that area. The new composite 1502R and 1502P cables work with analog and digital controllers...

AJA Video Systems. (Presentations: Upconverters).
March 1, 2003... AJA Video Systems will show new conversion products. The HD10C2 RD converter, which works with both SD and RD inputs, converts digital signals to analog and can drive analog high-resolution monitors and projectors. The S-VGA mode allows HI)...

Feedback.
March 1, 2003... In December, we asked readers: "Have you spent more, less or the same amount on equipment this year than you did for the same period last year?" Robert Loper, IS manager at Marlow Industries in Dallas, wrote in an e-mail,...