Week of Jan 18   Jan 22 Ulead has released the MediaStudio Pro 5.2 upgrade. This version boosts performance, delivers faster rendering and offers key enhancements, such as significantly decreased video overlay and moving path rendering times. It also allows users to read and write 32-bit MOV/QT video files and AU/AIFF audio files. Support for Microsoft DirectShow Playback allows for better audio/video synchronization over a variety of boards as well as hardware independent playback from the timeline. Apart from the free upgrade, Ulead is also offering a new MediaStudio Pro 5.2 Bonus Pak for only $49.95. This Bonus Pak bundles the upgrade with special video file format support, filters and applications. It features streaming video support for both Real Networks RM format and Microsoft's ASF format. <www.ulead.com>   FilmFX is a video effects plug-in that provides film like effects including 3:2 pull-down and agrain/film artifacting effects. Formerly available only to SpeedRazor users, it is now available for Windows users of Premiere 5.1. Cost is only $499. The Premiere and SpeedRazor demo is available at the website. <www.mvp-soft.com>   Spritz is an authoring tool for creating QuickTime Movies with Interactive content. It is a Mac 8.5 app. Spritz allows you to create button bars, slide shows, simple animations and much more. It allows the author to make sprites that hide/show, rotate/scale, move, send the user to URL's, and many more actions. Spritz Public Beta 2 is available, but it comes with no documentation. Spritz is freeware. <"home.earthlink.net/~dmcgavran/spritz/">   Agfa is providing ePhoto 1680 digital camera customers with a free Iomega Clik! drive, valued at $249. The mail-in coupon-based promotion is open to any U.S. customer who purchases an ePhoto 1680, from any sales location, between January 1 and February 28, 1999 while supplies last.   Agfa has also announced the ePhoto CL30 digital camera which features a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, 2X digital zoom, resolution of 1.5 million pixels, both an optical viewfinder and 1.8" color LCD screen, and ships with a 4 MB CompactFlash card - enough storage capacity for 6 to 36 images depending on the resolution setting. In the U.S., the ePhoto CL30 will be available in February. An international (multilingual) version of the CL30 is expected to ship in March of this year.   Finally, Agfa has introduced the SnapScan 1212U in Blue - a translucent version of the company's USB compatible flatbed scanner. The perfect companion to an iMac or a new G3 I imagine. <www.agfa.com>   Jan 21 MetaCreations has announced that Kodak has licensed MetaFlash 3-D image capture technology for use with future products. In a separate agreement, Intel will co-develop and acquire a license for MetaFlash technology. Intel will assist MetaCreations in efforts to support marketing efforts. MetaFlash technology employs a specially developed flash and software that converts digital pictures into texture-mapped 3-D wire frame models. The companies believe that MetaFlash, in conjunction with MetaStream streaming 3-D technology, will significantly reduce the time and cost involved in producing photorealistic 3-D Web images. <www.metastream.com>   It has been reported that Digital Origin (formerly Radius) has confirmed the DVMC-DA1 DV-analog converter box does not work with MotoDV on a PC. Radius has not said when - or if - they will fix this problem. The Canopus DVRaptor does work with the DVMC-DA1 and Canopus has made available a patch on their website (check the support section of their website.) Radius does have drivers for the Mac that work with the DVMC-DA1 <www.digitalorigin.com> <www.canopuscorp.com>   Scott Highton, a QuickTime VR (QTVR) and IPIX (PhotoBubble) photographer, is the first featured expert in a series of published interviews with professional IPIX photographers done by Interactive Pictures and presented online on their web site. The interview can be found on theirwebsite by following the links to "Photographers" and "Professionals". <www.ipix.com>   Jan 20 Macromedia has released Shockwave 7 player, an update to their web payer. Shockwave 7 includes an auto-update feature, and improved performance. Macromedia and Intel are teaming to deliver low-bandwidth Shockwave animations and effects via the Web. As part of the effort, Macromedia is including Intel Web Design Effects software in its Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio. Web Design Effects software, included with Director 7 for Windows 95/98 and NT, lets Web page developers apply realistic moving effects that users can view without the need to download large GIF files. Processing takes place on the consumer's machine, taking advantage of today's fast processors and speeding download times. Developers can create distortion effects, such as ripples in a pond, a rolling ocean, or a waving flag; or naturalistic effects such as rain, snow, fire, smoke, and clouds. For more information on Intel Web Design Effects visit their website. <www.developer.intel.com\ial\wde> <www.macromedia.com/shockwave>   Virtus Corporation has entered into an agreement with Viewpoint DataLabs International to deliver interactive 3D content components for Virtus' recently announced OpenSpace3D product line. Virtus and Viewpoint are building a number of content libraries that will serve as ``starter'' content components for customers of Virtus' recently announced product, OpenSpace3D for Director, the first product based on OpenSpace3D. This initial content will include basic animations and behaviors that can be easily integrated into any Director application. The companies also plan to provide a series of add-on content products for OpenSpace3D customers, the first of which will be available in early 1999. OpenSpace 3D for Director is an interactive 3D authoring environment for integrating 3D media within Macromedia Director. It's priced at $995 and is supposed to be shipping this month. It will support Director 6.5 and 7 and Shockwave for Windows. <www.viewpoint.com> <www.virtus.com>   Instantiations Inc has acquired SuperCede Inc's Java technology. Instantiations will use the acquired technology in concert with its new JOVE Super Optimizing Deployment Environment. Although SuperCede plans to leave the Java development tool business, the company will provide phone and email product technical support for the next 90 days to current customers. The SuperCede 2.03 maintenance release will still be available for free download to registered users during this time. <www.supercede.com> <www.instantiations.com>   ICE is shipping ICE'd Final Effects Complete (FEC) Version 1.0, an accelerated version of the special effects software package which ICE acquired in October 1998. Designed for use with ICE's BlueICE hardware card, ICE'd FEC speeds the creation of special effects from 2 to 45 times over the former FEC product, depending on the effect and the number of effects "stacked" together. ICE'd FEC is available now for the MacOS system with NT support available scheduled to be available later this month, and is priced at $1,995 for new purchasers and upgrade pricing of $995 for existing Final Effects Complete licensees. <www.iced.com>   RAYflect is shipping the Macintosh version of RAYflect PhotoTracer, a 3D filter for Adobe Photoshop and compatible applications which adds 3D graphics to creations made within Photoshop. RAYflect PhotoTracer V1.0 is immediately available on the RAYflect web site. RAYflect PhotoTracer' suggested retail price is $129. RAYflect PhotoTracer V1.0 is immediately available for Macintosh at a special introductory price of $99. A Windows version is already shipping. You can also download a demo version from their website. <www.rayflect.com>   There's a very long and in-depth article about the upcoming release of QuickTime 4.0 at AppleInsider. This is a rumor site, so the accuracy of the information may be in question, but let's hope at least that QuickTime 4 is in beta and will be available soon! <www.appleinsider.com article "QuickTime 4">   Jan 19 Electrifier Inc is already demonstrating Electrifier Pro 2.0 at Showcase '99. Electrifier Pro is a multimedia Web authoring application that can create animated and interactive media that is delivered using QuickTime. Version 1.0 was released late last year. [I have a copy and have been meaning to write up a review; obviously I'll have to move quickly before the upgrade is released!-Ed] Electrifier Pro 2.0 will be available in Q2 1999 with a suggested retail price of $595. All Electrifier Pro 1.0 users will receive a free upgrade to Electrifier Pro 2.0. A thirty-day trial version of the Mac OS version is available. The Mac OS version requires PowerPC-based Mac OS, System 7.5 or later. <www.electrifier.com>   At Showcase '99 Adobe Systems is showing Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a proposed open standard to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for graphics. Adobe will show SVG running within Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer and a ``micro-viewer'' technology on a range of clients-from hand-held devices to desktop computers. The micro-viewer, jointly developed by Adobe and IBM, showcases the flexibility and scalability of SVG and brings all of its benefits to lightweight hand-held devices. SVG provides: high-resolution printing, zooming and panning inside of graphics without reloading, and the ability to search text within the graphic with any search engine. Plus, SVG ensures color accuracy with over 16 million colors, instead of the traditional 256. <www.adobe.com>   Kona Systems has released Version 1 of Show The World a tool designed for quickly and easily placing photographic images on the web. Show The World organizes digital photographs into albums. Each image can be given a caption, date, and commentary text. Show The World automatically builds the necessary Web pages. The entire collection is then published as a Web photo album. No Web authoring skills are required. Images can be used to crop, resize and adjust brightness and contrast and Show The World automatically creates thumbnails of all selected images. These thumbnails can then be included in the Web photo album. Show The World runs under Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0, and requires the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine. It is available now at an introductory price of $49.95. <www.konasys.com>   Aurora Design has posted new drivers for the Aurora Fuse card to properly operate on the new Yosemite machines. They also correct an issue that could cause long movies to stutter, and provide improved accuracy of color space conversion calculations during rendering. <www.auroradsgn.com web page "Software.htm">   Online Inc, is organizing the DVD PRO Conference & Exhibition to be held in San Francisco, August 16-17, 1999. Laura Buddine, Founder and General Manager of IACTA Design and Development, will keynote the conference. IACTA <www.iacta.com> is a consulting and development company specializing in consumer interaction via the television and publishes Net4TV and Net4TV Voice <Net4TV.com/voice>, a portal and online newsmagazine for the WebTV community. <www.dvdpro.net>   Nullsoft, creators of Winamp the MP3 music player and Audio Explosion, creators of the Mjuice secure music delivery system, have announced a technology partnership that will allow songs to be purchased easily and securely using the MP3 format. Additionally, Audio Explosion intends to be part of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) standards setting effort and will support the SDMI standard when established. Audio Explosion's solution employs a proprietary file format that is designed for compatibility with any compression scheme, including the ubiquitous MP3 standard. The new version of Winamp, which supports security and the Mjuice payment system, will be released by the end of Q1 1999. <www.winamp.com> <www.audioexplosion.com>   GRAPHICS NetStudio Corp.'s NetStudio.com is a free Web graphics service available today in beta. NetStudio.com is advertising-backed and works on any platform with any standard Web browser, not just browsers that support Java. Wizards and One-Click Web Graphics let users create Web banners, buttons, fancy headings, and photo effects. Users can also apply One-Click Web Effects such as shadow, colorize, emboss, and engrave. <www.netstudio.com>   Review of HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon on DVD Buz Box review Fuse review Canon XL1 review DV codec tests | Multimedia Workshop | Industry News | Online Reference | Contact Us | Find | Copyright 1998 by Multimedia Workshop. 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