Week of July 20 1998   Jul 24 Our spies report that CosmoSoftware has been sold to Platinum Technology, Inc. Details aren't clear. We had previously heard that the deal with Sony fell through because SGI didn't want to part with CosmoPlayer. Whether the deal with Platinum includes the player remains to be seen. Platinum already owns the VRML authoring tool VRCreator. Intervista, which also makes a VRML viewer, was recently acquired by Platinum. <www.platinum.com>   Yesterday, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks, claimed that Micosoft had purposely made their new Windows Media Player break RealNetworks' players. Microsoft was quick to respond, arguing that Microsoft has found that the problem demonstrated by Mr. Glaser is actually caused by a bug in the beta version of RealNetworks' new G2 software. The software bug appears only if the computer user is running Netscape Navigator. A paper is available at Microsoft's site which explains the bug. Whatever the merits of this example, it seems clear that Microsoft is in the unenviable position of having everyone always assume the worst. <www.microsoft.com technical paper "Technical Description of the RealPlayer G2 Bug">   ConVRter Pro a shareware utility that allows you to manipulate certain properties of finished QTVR movies, converts between v1 and v2 QTVR movies, and embeds custom qtvr cursors in your v2 movies now allows the setting of fov, pan and tilt in degrees of angle, as well as other enhancements. <www.vrtools.com/support/>   Jul 23 At SIGGRAPH '98, Live Picture debuted two new lightweight Java viewers that let online user view Reality Studio objects and 360-degree panoramas. The new viewers work with any Java-enabled browser, and average 35K in size. They add to the capabilities of Live Picture's existing Java viewer, which allows users to view zoomable 2D images without plug-ins. Live Picture has also updated its ActiveX viewers and plug-ins, which provide added functionality such as saving and printing Zoom images. Live Picture Viewers are available free of charge at the Live Picture web site. Redistribution rights are available under a licensing agreement. <www.livepicture.com/download/>   NewTek has announced Resolution Studio, a suite of DTV (Digital TV) compliant software for digital content creation, animation, modeling, video paint and real-time High Definition Television (HDTV) playback. Resolution Studio combines DTV versions of LightWave 3D, Aura, NewTek's paint and compositing software, and RamPage, a player allowing for real-time DTV preview and playback including HDTV resolutions. NewTek's Resolution Studio will be available in Q4, 1998. <www.newtek.com>   The following is a handy background on Digital TV that came from a Newtek press release. The FCC has mandated that all television signals in the U.S. must be broadcast in DTV format according to a roll-out schedule that begins in November 1998, at 26 television stations in the nation's top 10 markets. By November 1999, network affiliates in the top 30 markets, representing approximately 80 percent of all viewers, must offer DTV. By 2002 every station will be broadcasting a DTV signal, by 2006, all commercial and non-commercial television stations must relinquish their analog spectrum and broadcast entirely in DTV. The 18 different DTV formats vary in their resolution, their scan format and their frame rate. 24, 30, & 60 frame rates are included in the standards. Three resolutions, which determine the sharpness of an image, are included in the DTV formats: 704 x 480, 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080 pixels. For comparison, HDTV is defined as 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080 pixels, so DTV formats encompasses HDTV resolutions as well as some lower resolutions. At the moment, of the 18 proposed combinations of various resolutions, scan formats and frame rates, three formats are emerging as viable: 480P (704 x 480 progressive), the simplest of the DTV formats and the easiest for television manufacturers to support; 720P (1280 x 720 progressive), the "computer friendly" standard and 1080I (1920 x 1080 interlaced), which offers the highest resolution but a lower frame rate.   Jul 22 Thanks to SIGGRAPH today is a big news day! Radius is offering EditDV Unplugged, an entry-level version of its EditDV product for $99. In addition, EditDV Unplugged is available free as a download from the Radius website as an introductory offer. EditDV Unplugged, is a single-track, non-linear editing tool that uses FireWire (IEEE 1394) hardware for the transfer of digital video to and from DV camcorders. The product is designed for QuickTime compatible FireWire boards, especially the Radius FireWire board and the Apple FireWire card. Users wishing to take advantage of additional features, such as special effects, compositing, animation and unlimited video and multiple audio tracks, can upgrade to EditDV for $599. This charge includes a free, optional upgrade to the Radius FireWire card with the trade-in of any non-Radius FireWire board. EditDV Unplugged users who also own Radius MotoDV can upgrade to EditDV for $399. Note: EditDV Unplugged is currently only available for the Macintosh. Radius has also announced EditDV Pro, a new offering which includes the Radius FireWire card, MotoDV, PhotoDV and EditDV 1.5, two 4.5 meter FireWire cables (one 6-6pin and one 4-6pin) to support all types of pro decks and a specially designed software support package with one year of unlimited technical support and software upgrades. The package will support pro DV cameras and decks, such as Sony DVCam, Panasonic DVCPro and the Canon XL-1. Shipment of EditDV Pro is slated for the fourth quarter of 1998 at a price of $1,999. <www.radius.com download page "EditDV unplugged">   Every now and again a new technology appears and we read the press release and realize that, after reading the press release, we have no clear idea what the technology is, how it works, or what we're supposed to do with it. Such is the case with the Chromeffects press release we received from Microsoft today. We can tell you that Microsoft has announced that the Chromeffects software development kit (SDK) will be available for download on Aug. 17, 1998. From what we understand, Chromeffects is an add-on feature to the Windows operating system that brings new 2D, 3D, sound and video support to HTML pages. More specifically, it provides a set of XML tags, based on the Vector Markup Language (VML) proposed standard, for accessing these technologies. But it's also a 3D rendering technology (we think.) As well as other technologies (see below,) Microsoft will include Live Picture Inc's Zoom imaging technology in Chromeffects. This technology enables Web users to zoom in on high-resolution images without downloading the entire file. You can find out more at the Chromeffects Web site. The SDK will be available, August 17 at The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), or from the Microsoft Site Builder Network (SBN) Web <www.microsoft.com web page "Chromeffects"> <www.microsoft.com web page "Microsoft Developer Network">   MetaCreations announced that Microsoft has included MetaStream in its Chromeffects interactive media technology. MetaStream is a rendering engine and file format for delivering streaming 3D content over the net (notice a trend here?). MetaCreations had previously announced an arrangement with Microsoft. This just confirms the use of MetaCreations. <www.metastream.com>   Zapa Digital Arts 3D animated Characterz technology has been selected for inclusion in the standard installation of Microsoft Chromeffects interactive media technology. Zapa's Characterz offer a 3D interface for on-line interaction using animations. <www.characterz.zapadigital.com>   Pinnacle Systems Inc demonstrated at SIGGRAPH it's GenieRT, a 3D DVE option for their ReelTime desktop video editing system that adds picture-in-picture motion, and over one hundred real-time 3D effects including page turns, ripples, spheres, hourglass, and bumps. <www.miro.com>   Media 100 Inc has announced ship dates for its new Media 100 qx digital video product line: Media 100 qx and Media 100 qxc for Macintosh, which ship later this month; and Media 100 qx and Media 100 qxc for Windows NT, which ship in August 1998. Media 100 qx and qxc are priced at $1995 and $3995, respectively, on both Macintosh and Windows NT. Media 100 qxc adds component video and balanced XLR audio support to the composite, s-video and unbalanced audio features available with Media 100 qx. Also announced were plans to add support for high-quality digital equipment standards such as DV and SDI to its Macintosh-based Media 100 product line. The Company is also announcing plans to increase the broadcast compliance and software functionality of its Media 100 systems. Product shipments will begin this winter. The Company's SDI solution, which will ship in Q1 1999, will enable customers to integrate Media from a variety of both analog and digital sources without external transcoders. It will also comply with a wide range of international broadcast standards that maintain the complete integrity of data acquired from formats like D1, D5, and Digital Betacam. The standards include non-square, 720x486 pixel resolution and those established by the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (such as SMPTE 259M) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R BT.601). New software developments to ship with the Media 100 product line this winter include more than 30 enhancements to the CG (character generator) for greater flexibility and power while titling and support for the 16:9 aspect ratio for broadcast-standard DVD and DTV mastering Media 100 has formally approved Compaq's Professional Workstations 6000 for the Media 100 qx for Windows NT. Media 100 qx for Windows NT will support up to 300KB/frame data rates when configured with a Compaq Professional Workstation 6000, NT Version 4.0 and Service Pack 3, 128MB RAM, Ultra Wide SCSI disk drives, Ultra Wide SCSI disk controllers, and a 32 bit Direct Draw compatible PCI graphics card. A single Ultra Wide disk drive and disk controller will support up to 150KB/frame; higher data rates require additional Ultra Wide SCSI drives and controllers. Finally, Media100 has demonstrated the Finish product line which comprises four new products with high-performance DV processing and increased broadcast compliance. The new Finish models, V20, V40, V60 and V80, will be shipping in October 1998. The product line will be priced between $5,000 and $30,000. Specific systems and upgrade pricing will be available in September 1998. <www.media100.com>   Jul 21 The future of CosmoSoftware remains in doubt, but at least we now have an update to the Mac version of CosmoPlayer (the previous beta expired a couple of weeks ago.) You can't find it at the CosmoSoftware site, but you will find it at the following locations: <reality.sgi.com/chamber/cosmo/player/mac.html> <www.digitalbeing.org/cosmo/player/mac.html>   MacWeek covers many of the products to be found at this weeks SIGGRAPH. <www.macweek.com article "Siggraph 98 show to heat up Orlando">   The DVD Forum has decided to develop DVD-RW (DVD-ReWritable) as one of the DVD-family format for Authoring use: DVD-RW is the sequential rewritable disc system using similar plastic injection substrate as DVD-R. This system adopts a phase-change alloy material in the recording layer of the disc to realize a Rewritable characteristic. This physical format has similar parameters as DVD-R specifications, therefore DVD-R and DVD-RW discs can be written or read by the same drive in the future. Also, DVD-RW disc can be played-back on the DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives with small modification. The main application of this format is: Authoring tool for content development (Content Development of the DVD-Video/ROM). Others applications, such as the archival. The specifications of DVD-RW physical format will be examined by WG-6 of DVD-Forum. DVD-RW should not be confused with DVD-RAM which writes to a cartridge based disc which is not compatable with DVD-Video and -ROM drives. <www.dvdforum.org>   As part of a joint marketing agreement, Compaq is configuring its entire line of Presario home series desktop and notebook PCs with the Macromedia Shockwave player, and will prominently feature a special ShockRave entertainment zone on its new "My Presario" Web page. <www.macromedia.com press release "Home PC Users Gain Instant Access to Macromedia ShockRave with Compaq Presario Line">   Jul 20 PHOTO Imagek is developing the EFS-1 electronic film system which is an insert that fits inside a regular 35mm camera and turns it into a "digital" camera. The device looks like a film cartridge with a thick plastic strip protruding from the side. You can see images of the EFS-1, as well as photographs allegedly taken with the device at the Imagek web site. The quality of the sample pictures seems no better than those taken with "average" quality digital cameras. The EFS-1 has prompted a lot of discussion amongst those interested in digital photography. While it seems possible to create a system that will work with some 35mm cameras (after all Kodak creates cameras based on Nikon and Canon SLR bodies) we find it hard to believe they can create a generalized device that will work in all, or even the majority of SLRs. We can't help but wonder how the device is triggered, and how the shutter and aperture impact operation of the CCD (do you have to set the shutter to open for long time period so that the EFS-1 has time to take a picture?) Will the device damage the internal mechanics of the camera such as the pressure plate that keeps regular film in place? No one knows the answer to these questions just yet, but we remain interested in this device, and look forward to seeing one in operation. <www.imagek.com>   MacWeek has posted a minor update to their review of Macromedia's Fireworks. They still like the program for web graphics preparation, though they wish that the program supported Boolean operations and included greater color control. <www.macweek.com review update "Fireworks 1.0 Reviews Update" www.macromedia.com>   LAW Everyone should be aware that Congress is moving toward a new copyright law which is called the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (anything with such a pretentious name just has to be trouble.) The new Act will outlaw technologies that can crack copyright-protection devices and may criminalize some common practices (including the caching of web pages.) CNET has been following this story over the last few weeks and everyone is encouraged to keep their eye on this one. <www.news.com news article "Copyright bill charging ahead" and second piece "Movie exec pushes copyright bill"   The Consultant and Event databases are running and we encourage everyone to add themselves (if they are a consultant or developer) or add an event if you are aware of one that's not included. We're also working to fix some problems that we are aware of. This will happen over the next two weeks.     Get QuickTime 3.0 ImageReady beta Cosmo VRML plug-in | Multimedia Workshop | Industry News | Online Reference | Contact Us | Find | Copyright 1998 by Multimedia Workshop. All rights reserved Send news or comments to : news@m2w.net All trademarks, service marks, and graphical logos appearing on this website are the property of their respective owners, and are used for identification purposes only. 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