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Week
of Aug 24 1998
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Aug
28
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HEURIS have anounced that their
MPEG Export Engine is now available
for purchase over the web. The HEURIS MPEG
Export Engine is a new QuickTime export
component that will create MPEG-1 streams.
The
HEURIS MPEG Export Engine retails for $99.
The HEURIS MPEG Export Engine will also be
bundled with version 3.1 of Terran
Interactive's Media Cleaner Pro, which is
due out at the end of September as a free
upgrade to existing Media Cleaner Pro
users. Developers requiring additional
functionality, including Avid OMF and
Media 100 QuickTime file format support,
batch encoding with interrupt and resume,
and MPEG-2 support, can upgrade to HEURIS'
MPEG Power Professional line of
products.
<www.heuris.com
info page "MPEG">
For those looking for a webcam that
doesn't require a computer located onsite,
Pentax Technologies Corporation
(PTC) could have a solution. They are
currently demonstrating the VersaCam
web camera. The VersaCam is designed
to automatically take pictures, compress
them, and transmit the images to web
sites, LANs, email addresses, CCTV
networks, or personal computers. The
transmitted images can then be viewed with
a standard Internet browser. No PC is
required to send the images. The VersaCam
needs only a communication link and power
supply to operate after it has been
configured.
The
VersaCam is light-weight (<1 lb) and
small (3"x3"x6") and has been designed to
fit inside security camera housings. Key
features include: 1/4" color CCD camera,
user selectable resolution (to 640x480),
input and output triggers, automatic white
balancing, interchangeable lenses and
PCMCIA interface cards, diagnostic LEDs,
JPEG compression, and NTSC input/output
ports.
Pricing
and availability of the product should be
announced in the next month or so.
<www.versacam.com>
Emedia Professional has published an
article on DVD authoring.
<www.emediapro.net
article "After
the Smoke Clears: What It Takes to Produce
a Quality DVD-ROM
Disc">
DISPLAY
IBM has announced the industry's first
sub-$1,000 15.0-inch active matrix Thin
Film Transistor flat panel monitor.
The new unit consumes approximately 25
percent less space, and about one third
the power, while generating significantly
less heat than a conventional monitor. It
provides display modes in VGA, SVGA or XGA
and delivers a maximum image resolution of
1024 x 768 with up to 16.7 million color
combinations.
The
estimated reseller price of the T55A/T55D
flat panel monitors range from $949 for
the T55D digital model to $1,099 for the
T55A analog model.
<www.ibm.com/pc/us/accessories>
CD Streamer is a utility that
converts CD audio tracks into
RealAudio files. It automatically
retrieves the album title and song names
from the Internet, and allows you to
create customized playlists for playback
via CD Streamer.
For
a limited time, RealNetworks is offering
CD Streamer for only $19.95 (reg. $34.95),
a savings of $15
<www.realstore.com/specials/cdstreamer.html>
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Aug
27
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The Virtual Reality Modeling
Language Consortium's (VRMLC)
Universal Media Element Library Working
Group (VRML-UMEL WG) has announced an open
call to content developers for textures to
be included in the forthcoming UMEL public
domain library. The VRML-UMEL WG was
established to increase the realism of
VRML worlds and decrease network downloads
by defining a small, cross-platform
library of locally resident media elements
(textures, sounds and VRML objects) and a
uniform mechanism by which VRML content
creators can incorporate these media
elements into their worlds.
The
group is now accepting texture submissions
from content vendors and individuals who
wish to contribute to the texture portion
of the library. Texture submissions from
the following six categories are
requested:
- Backgrounds
(sky, space, country, urban, suburban,
waters, etc.)
- Creatures
(carapaces, furs, shells, skins,
scales, hides, etc.)
- Finishes
(paint, stucco, wallpaper, tiles,
flooring, carpet, etc.)
- Materials
(bricks, metals, plastics, stones,
woods, liquids, etc. )
- Nature
(grounds, grass, plants, trees, water,
rocks, shrubs, etc.)
- Urban
(lights, pavements, roads, streets,
signs, etc.)
Texture
submissions may be made over the World
Wide Web at <www.vrml.org/WorkingGroups/vrml-umel/>
Play Incorporated has shipped an
update to it's video production system
Trinity 1.1. Trinity provides a
live D1 production switcher, on-line
editor, real-time 3D digital warping video
effects, character generator, paint,
compositing, and animation system, virtual
sets, chroma keyer, and dual-channel still
store in a single box. Complete Trinity
systems start at around $7,000. New
features include:
- ClipMem
1.1 allows users to grab short
non-compressed D1 video clips from live
or tape sources, and store these on the
PC hard drive. These clips can then be
composited, rotoscoped, and modified in
Panamation, and then played back in
real-time using the Switcher or
Preditor.
- Trinity
1.1's Preditor editing system contains
many new features such as fully
automatic A/X roll and A/V roll,
simplified audio cross-fades, and
looping timelines.
- Panamation
1.1 adds true 3D perspective corner
matching, allowing for easy, fast
compositing of one clip into another,
all at non-compressed D1 quality.
The
1.1 software upgrade is currently
available free of charge to all Trinity
owners from their local dealer.
<www.play.com>
MAXON Computer has announced that it
will release a BeOS version of the
3D modeling, raytracing and animation
software CINEMA 4D. CINEMA 4D
currently runs on Windows 95/NT, DEC Alpha
and Apple Macintosh. The first BeOS
version will be presented at the 'CeBIT
Home' fair in Hannover (Germany).
CINEMA
4D XL includes a dynamical particle system
which can emit any object (even animated
ones), NURBS, 2D/3D shader, UV and UVW
mapping, 3D freeform modeling in
real-time, a complex bones system,
volumetric lighting, image sizes up to
16000x16000 pixels and real-time texture
mapping in the editor.
<www.maxon.de>
and <www.cinema4d.de>
Only a day or two after mentioning a
consumer video editing system that
Adobe was developing, Mac the Knife
(the MacWeek rumor column) reports that
"Starlight" has fallen victim to
Adobe's financial problems and has been
cancelled.
Meanwhile,
there have also been some rumors (from
other sources) that Apple is taking
the Final Cut software they
purchased from Macromedia, and are
going to turn it into a consumer end-user
tool.
<macweek.zdnet.com
rumor column "Mac
the Knife: Buying the
farm">
ELECTRONIC
PUBLISHING
Being interested in portable computers and
electronic publishing, I was intrigued by
the SoftBook when I came across it.
Being developed by SoftBook Press
Inc, the SoftBook electronic book
resembles a small portable computer;
without a keyboard. With the SoftBook
Network it's described as the world's
first complete paperless reading
system.
It
holds up to 100,000 pages of text,
pictures and graphics that readers
download from the SoftBook Network. The
SoftBook has a leather cover and housing
designed to withstand the rigors of
travel, as well as a rechargeable lithium
ion battery pack that provides up to five
hours of viewing with a one-hour recharge.
The back-lit display requires no
additional light source.
SoftBook
Press will "publish" materials for
publishers, or provides the SoftBook
Publishing Toolkit, a way to convert
titles to the SoftBook standard while
maintaining complete copyright protection.
The
SoftBook features a built-in 33.6 kps
modem and will be available in Fall 1998
starting at $299 plus $9.95 per month. The
monthly fee includes access to a variety
of free books and periodicals, unlimited
online bookshelf space, free software
updates, and 24 hour-per-day access to the
SoftBook Network including the
SoftBookstore and corporate
InfoCenters.
<www.softbook.com>
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Aug
26
|
Sony Electronics Inc. has announced
new Digital Mavica cameras, (models
MVC-FD91 and MVC-FD81) that
incorporate XGA (1024x768) resolution, and
MPEG feature called MPEG Movie Mode, and a
new Voice Memo Mode for adding narration
to captured images.
According
to Sony the MVC-FD91 and MVC-FD81
complement the recently introduced
MVC-FD51 and FD71 cameras that were
announced this year. The MVC-FD81 provides
a 3X optical zoom lens, built-in
intelligent flash, a 2.5-inch color LCD
display with brightness control, Automatic
shutter speed from 1/60-1/4000 seconds,
auto exposure with six pre-programmed
exposure modes, and four pre-programmed
special picture effects.
The
higher-end MVC-FD91 has a 14x Optical Zoom
lens that provides the equivalent of a
37-518mm zoom and a manual focus ring. An
Auto Macro feature allows images to be
captured as close as one-inch. Sony has
also included Super SteadyShot®
picture stabilization.
The
MPEG Movie Mode captures either in
Presentation Mode (15 seconds at 320 x
240), or Voice Mail Mode which captures up
to 60 seconds at 160 x 112.
The
two new Digital Mavica cameras will be
available in late October for $1,099
(MSRP) for the MVC-FD91 and $899 (MSRP)
for the MVC-FD81.
<sel.sony.com>
Sony also announced a new
mega-pixel digital camera, the
DSC-D70, that uses a half-inch 1.5
million-pixel progressive scan CCD. It
includes a 5x optical zoom lens
(equivalent to a f=28-140mm on a 35mm
camera) with macro focus. The camera
features four exposure modes; programmed
auto exposure; aperture priority AE mode;
shutter priority AE mode; and manual. In
manual mode, shutter speeds can be
adjusted from four seconds to 1/2000th of
a second and the iris can be adjusted from
f2 to f13.2.
The
camera has an optical through the lens
viewfinder and a 2.5-inch color liquid
crystal display also can be used as a
viewfinder and for playback of stored
images for in-field editing. Other
features include a center-weighted spot
meter system; both mechanical and
electronic shutters; and user selectable
white balance settings and EV compensation
for user control over minor exposure
adjustments.
The
DSC-D700 digital still camera is scheduled
for November availability at a
manufacturer's suggested retail price of
$1,899.
<sel.sony.com>
Sony's floppy disk printer, the
FVP-1 Mavica Photo Printer prints
directly from an internal floppy disk
drive.
The
printer uses dye-sublimation and prints on
VP standard (5.5 x 3.9-inch) paper. The
printer can also be used to print video.
With video in, the printer allows
consumers to capture images from a
camcorder, or any video source with an
analog output, to a standard floppy disk
or print them out. The unit is also
equipped with video out for playback of
images stored on the floppy disk, directly
onto a TV or video monitor.
The
Mavica Photo Printer (FVP-1) will be
available in November at consumer
electronics, computer and specialty photo
retail outlets at an estimated selling
price of $499.
<sel.sony.com>
GRAPHICS
Ulead PhotoImpact 4.2 is the latest
version of this image editing suite geared
towards Web graphics design and business
imaging. PhotoImpact includes an enhanced
3D button designer, plus a bonus
interactive Java button creation utility.
Other new features include greater control
over grids and guidelines, partial editing
and support for the acquisition of 36-bit
True Color and 16-bit grayscale images.
PhotoImpact 4 users can purchase the
complete upgrade CD for US$19.95 or
download a FREE upgrade (does not include
bonus items) at.
<www.ulead.com>
Yesterday we mentioned Scour.net,
<www.scour.net>
a
search engine for multimedia on the web.
There have also been at least a couple of
research projects in this area:
WebSeek
is a Columbia University project that has
catalogued 665115 items (according to
their home page)
<disney.ctr.columbia.edu/webseek/>
Webseer
was an image search engine for the World
Wide Web developed at the University of
Chicago. It's no longer available, though
there are some resarch pages available at
the original URL:
<webseer.cs.uchicago.edu/>
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Aug
25
|
Media 100 Inc has commenced shipment
of Media 100 qx and qxc for
Windows NT, the company's first
products for Windows NT. Both include
Adobe Premiere 5.0 and support QuickTime
3. Media 100 qx is priced at $1,995. Media
100 qxc adds component video and balanced
audio for $3,995.
<www.media100.com>
GRAPHICS
Adobe Systems has announced that
Illustrator 8.0 will be shown in
the Adobe booth at the Seybold San
Francisco show September 1-3 and is
expected to be shipping in September
1998.
Illustrator
8.0 features user interface refinements
closely matching other Adobe products --
such as the Actions Palette, the Navigator
Palette, Free Transform, and the Links
Palette. The software can now preserve
layers when exporting to Photoshop. There
are four new types of live brushes -- Art,
Scatter, Calligraphic, and Pattern brushes
-- stretch and scatter art and
calligraphic strokes along easily editable
paths with precision and control. The
Gradient Mesh tool lets users blend
multiple colors in multiple directions and
achieve painterly shading effects not
previously possible using illustration
software.
The
estimated street price is $375 (U.S.).
Registered users of any version of Adobe
Illustrator can upgrade for $129 (U.S.).
Users of Photoshop, PageMaker and other
illustration software programs such as
CorelDRAW, Macromedia Freehand, can
purchase Illustrator 8.0 for $199
(U.S.)
<www.adobe.com>
GRAPHICS
Macromedia has announced FreeHand
8.0.1, a free update that will be
available September 1. The update includes
a new Flash 3 exporter enables
FreeHand effects such as editable vector
transparency and clipping paths to be
preserved when files are transferred to
Flash. The exporter also reduces the size
of Flash (SWF) images and animations
exported from FreeHand.
Other
new FreeHand 8.0.1 features include
updated compatibility with Photoshop 5.
FreeHand 8.0.1 offers seamless export and
import, along with drag-and-drop support
for Photoshop 5 (PSD) files. Drag-and-drop
support has also been added for Fireworks,
Macromedia's new Web graphics production
tool.
<www.macromedia.com>
StoryProject is a development tool for
writers of novels, plays, and screenplays.
Using events, threading, and spotlighting,
StoryProject offers non-linear tools
suited to development of story structure,
while also providing linear editing of
text. StoryProject is shareware ($30
single user license)
<members.xoom.com/storyproject/>
Headspace Inc., has announced an
agreement to license its Beatnik
interactive audio technology and music
libraries for use in Microsoft's
WebTV Network Plus service.
Via
a free service upgrade, the WebTV Network
Plus service will include Beatnik's
interactive sound as part of its standard
offering to subscribers.
"Beatnik
represents a new form of Internet audio
which, unlike streaming solutions, doesn't
need to be compressed in order to fit down
a phone line," says musician and Headspace
CEO Thomas Dolby Robertson
<www.headspace.com>
Scour.Net is a search engine
that specializes in finding
multimedia (audio, video and
images) on the Net. It works much like
other search engines; you can enter a
term, or choose from a category list. You
also choose the type of media you are
interested in. The results are then
displayed as a list with, in the case of
images, thumbnails representing the
results.
It
claims to be the first such search engine,
though Lycos already offers an index of
images and sounds. There have also been a
couple of experimental multimedia search
engines developed as research projects.
Still Scour could be the first commercial,
multimedia search engine.
<www.scour.net>
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Aug
24
|
Want to win an Aurora Fuse
video card? Aurora is having a very short
contest (drawing is September 4.) All you
have to do is enter your name and email
address...
<www.auroradsgn.com/Pages/WinAFuse.htm>
Trying to decipher the DVD drive
options? I spent the last couple of hours
trying to figure out what was what. From
what I can understand, this is the current
status of DVD.
DVD-ROM:
These are the DVD drives that you can get
for your computer (technically, the home
video players are DVD-Video I guess.)
These players can read the data on DVD
discs. You may or may not be able to play
a DVD-Video disc; to do that you'll need
an MPEG2 decompressor to decompress the
video stored on the disc.
DVD-R:
These units are the closest to the DVD
format, the Pioneer DVR-S101 costs $16,000
but writes discs that can be read by a
standard DVD-ROM drive; though you can't
write a dual layer disc, only a single
layer, so the amount of data is limited to
3.95 GB on a side. I don't know what
software supports this on the PC (probably
CD writing software) For the Macintosh,
Sonic Solutions ($$$$) supports this
drive, as does Toast DVD.
DVD-RAM:
is a rewriteable format that holds up to
5.2 GB on a double sided disk (in a
cartridge.) Why is this mechanism called
DVD when it isn't compatible with the
DVD-Video or DVD-ROM drives? Well, the
drive can read DVD media, and they muddy
the waters by saying it's to do with the
fact that DVD is related to drive
performance rather than the actual
physical recording...
There
are a number of vendors for both Macintosh
and PC. I recently tried to get one of
these mechanisms for a PC system, but we
weren't able to get a hold of one due to
shortages...
DVD-RW:
Just to confuse things even further, I
believe that there are two DVD-RW formats
that are being developed by two different
groups. As far as I know neither of these
are actually available yet.
MacWeek reports that there is a legal
dispute between Roundabout Logic
Inc. and VR Toolbox Inc over
the distribution of the QuickTime VR
authoring tools that are best known as
Nodester and Widgetizer. VR
Toolbox Inc, which it appears was set up
by the original developer of the tools is
selling them as VR PanoWorx and
VR ObjectWorx.
It
is always disturbing to me when time and
resources which could have been devoted to
improving and marketing a product are
instead going to be wasted in legal
proceedings. Nodester and Widgetizer are
good products.
Fortunately,
there are other authoring tools, including
Apple's excellent QTVR Authoring
Studio.
<www.macweek.com
news "QTVR
vendors in legal
battle">
AgentSheets, Inc has released a public
beta of its AgentSheets product.
AgentSheets is an authoring tool that does
not require prior Java programming
knowledge to create web-based interactive
simulations as Java applets.
The
AgentSheets project started in 1990 as
research in artificial intelligence and
end-user programming at the University of
Colorado (CU). Inspired by a joint
research effort between CU's Center of
LifeLong Learning & Design and Apple
Computer, AgentSheets, Inc. was founded in
1996. AgentSheets, Inc. is a privately
held company associated with the
University of Colorado and partially
funded by the National Science
Foundation.
<www.agentsheets.com>
Macromedia is shipping Web
Design 101, a new educational tool
suite for faculty of degree-issuing
institutions that offer Web design or Web
design-related courses. Macromedia Web
Design 101 includes six hours of hands-on
course curriculum for each of Macromedia's
Web design tools--Dreamweaver, Fireworks,
Flash, and FreeHand--including sample
files and project assignments. Macromedia
Web Design 101 also includes full 90-day
versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash,
and FreeHand for installation on up to 50
lab computers. To receive a free copy of
Macromedia Web Design 101, interested
parties should contact Macromedia at (800)
457-1774. A US $14.99 shipping and
handling fee will apply to all orders.
In conjunction with Macromedia Web
Design 101, Macromedia is also offering
special back-to-school student
pricing of US $99 each for
Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, and
FreeHand through October 31, 1998,
available at any Macromedia educational
reseller.
Macromedia is also sponsoring
half-day seminars about Web Design
101 in cities across the United States.
For more information, visit.
<www.macromedia.com/macromedia/events/webdesign101>
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