Adobe released upgrades today, the first software updates to PPro and AE for many many many moons.
Creative Cow has new feature overviews of the flagship applications Premiere Pro 2 and After Effects 7.

VideoGuys says of Pricing and Availability:
Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio for Microsoft® Windows® XP is available as both a standalone product and as part of the Adobe Video Bundle now through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store. A Standard edition of Adobe Production Studio is also available, combining industry leading software applications – Adobe After Effects Standard, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe Photoshop with Adobe Dynamic Link. Estimated street prices are US$1699 for the Premium edition and US$1199 for the Standard edition. The Adobe Video Bundle couples Adobe Production Studio and Flash Professional 8 for an estimated street price of US$1999. For more detailed information about new features, upgrade policies and pricing, check out Videoguys Adobe Page.

Robert Hogan has a great blog post that is chock-full of editing tips. Things like:

“If you are unsure on which frame to cut, cut longer rather than shorter.”
“If something isn’t working, try doing the exact opposite.”
“Know the rules and theories of editing so you know how to break them effectively.”

Great guidelines, go check out the entire list.

(Via zeros and ones)

Found a bunch of hi-res pics and a few details on the new monitor over at the VideoUniversity Community Forums. The poster is a PC guy, and it seems he’s having issues using the monitor with a non-DVI Dual-Link video card.

To sum up:
*fit and finish is much better than the old 24″
*Requires a DVI Dual-Link supported video card to run the native 2560×1600, otherwise it is only allowing 800×600 at 4-bit color on the PC. Yuck.
EDIT: Mike Curtis has informed me that on a Mac, you get half res if on single-link DVI.
*No additional inputs, which means no PIP options.
*No GUI, which means no color or contrast controls. The only controls on the monitor are brightness and power buttons.
*Included software allows you to change the function of the power button on the display, and modify brightness. Nothing more (so that’s just about worthless).
*Sees no dead pixels (and trust me, if there were any, Glen would catch them).

Here’s my opinion (since I know you are dying to hear it). This display is crippled without software to control the color. Consider that Apple Cinema displays have no real external or GUI controls…but Mac OS X includes a powerful calibration wizard that allows you to create and easily switch between color profiles. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that there is such a tool freely available for Windows XP. The word on the street is that Vista will include better calibration tools, but that’s still on the horizon. What commercial options are there for monitor calibration on Win32 platforms?

By Matt Jeppsen | e-mail the author

Premiere Pro’s last update was on 2/28/2005, with the minor 1.5.1 HDV plugin. So the news that PPro v2 is on the way should be of interest to the Adobe faithful.

DVGuru links to a post that claims v2 will be available on the 17th of this month. Quick summary follows…

The suite of software is to be called Adobe Production Studio, and will include Adobe Premiere Pro 2, After Effects 7, Audition 2, Encore DVD 2, and Adobe Dynamic Link. Adobe Dynamic Link allows you to use unrendered Adobe After Effects comps in PPro2 and Encore DVD 2.

Premiere Pro 2 and After Effects 7 will support directly exporting projects in Macromedia Flash Video (FLV) or Vector based SWF formats (of course).
After Effects 7 sports a new interface and includes “hundreds” of Animation and Behavior Presets (just like Motion, eh?). There is now OpenGL support, for more realtime previews and playback. Another addition is “non-destructive vector painting”, which enables you to paint on layers to clean up your footage, masking, etc. Motion tracking and stabilization is available in the Professional package only, as in previous releases. The interface updates supposedly make everything more “unified” and includes panels that dock and group. Adobe also dangles a few more templates and presets that should help get the creative juices flowing. After Effects is still available in both Windows and Apple Mac flavors.

Premiere Pro 2 will now offer DVD authoring with menus from the timeline and FINALLY native Multicam editing. Adobe says that Multicam clips can be synched “based on source timecode”, but includes no other details. Another new feature is called “Clip Notes” that allows you to attach audio and video notes to a specific section of the timeline, for collaboration or approval. Also included is support for 10 and 16-bit PSD files. Version 2 now offloads more of the processing to the GPU enabling faster previews and playback of certain effects. The Color Correction tools have been updated, Adobe says “Fast color correction allows for quick and easy adjustments, while secondary color-correction tools allow you to make more selective modifications for a professional finish.”

Encore DVD 2 features a new Slideshow Editor and Flowchart for defining and managing DVD navigation. There is mention of background transcoding of DVD content, but details are slim. Sounds good though. Another feature is “automated chapter menus”, that could be a really nice improvement. Chapter menus in Encore 1.5 was always a thorn in my side, as I remember. Another minor (but helful) addition is the ability to drop more than one clip/asset on a timeline. Handy. Encore 2 also has interface improvements.

Audition 2 offers a new mixing engine enabling real-time effects, recording, and monitoring. There are new NR and restoration tools also, and a nice addition is the Spectral Frequency Display.

This is a solid package, especially for those that already have an investment in the video Creative Suite. I think the bulk of current Adobe customers will probably get the update. Unfortunately for Adobe, I don’t think this is going create a influx of new users, as this update adds few new features that can’t already be found in other NLE’s and competitor software. And consider that there is expectation that we will see Sony Vegas 7 and Final Cut Pro 6 at NAB, in just a few months. A shame.

After Effects is the defacto standard for effects work, so it obviously stands alone. I think we are several versions away from Apple’s Motion making any major inroads into that arena. The additions to After Effects, while incremental and small in scale, seem to be well thought out and will probably be welcomed by AE users. Behaviors and more presets are going to be quite nice, because not all of us are FX gurus. And a common complaint about AE has been the interface, it’s archaic and confusing. Here’s hoping the new “unified” interface cleans things up a bit.

In my humble opinion, this bundled release is (with the exception of AE) Adobe frantically trying to keep up with the innovators and get a few sales in before the other companies drop their software. There is a post over at the AdobeForums by Patrick Masters that sums up the situation as I see it PERFECTLY. It’s a good commentary on Adobe’s professional video software.

UPDATE: I’ve posted links to reviews of PPro2 and AE7, as well as a quick feature rundown here.

eMediaLive has a good synopsis of the state of lenses, filters, matte boxes and other such accessories for the current crop of HDV and other sub-$10K camcorders.

Over at DVXUser, Barry Green announced last week that they would conduct a four-camera shootout between the current heavy hitters.

As seen at HD4NDS, the initial results are now in:
“…the XLH1 and HVX tied for noise performance, the HVX is more sensitive than all of them, the XLH1 has the best horizontal resolution, 24F mode ain’t progressive scan, the Sony is the cleanest noise performance but the loser in all other test-chart categories, and the JVC surprised us all by being a very strong performer.”

“…the HVX is 2/3 of a stop faster. ISO 500 Vs. 320. (I don’t know if that is the accurate ISO though, just a guess)”

Further down in the thread, a user makes a great observation on bang-for-buck:
“One thing must be taken into consideration is the price of these cameras. the canon costs 4 times as much as the Sony, but doesn’t sound 4 times as good. barry said all cameras gave a very good HD image.
So value for money wise the Sony wins. The JVC, which many poo-pooed, seems to have suprised with its excellent performance. Well done to JVC and kudos to them. The Canon and HVX both cost about the same, if you include the P2 cards. Both did very well, though of course the HVX has a better codec and more bells and whistles.”

Great stuff, and it’s gonna be hard for the naysayers to refute this shootout…it was conducted by some of the most respected names in the industry. Read.

Note that HD4NDS will be conducting a similiar test in the near future, Adam Wilt will be participating in that one as well. Should be a good thing.

Here’s a few charts that compare the MacBookPro vs. other laptops on a feature by feature basis. It seems that the MacBookPro may not be All That And A Bag Of Chips…

(Via TUAW)

On a introspective note, is this video-related news? I believe so, for the mobile editor. I edit on occasion on my wife’s iBook when we are travelling…and it makes me long for more mobile horsepower. I happen to know several event shooters that will edit a event highlight on the day of a shoot for presentation to the attendees later in the day. Some use notebooks, some use systems like a SFF Shuttle or the iMac.

DVGuru has a good review of Celtx v0.95, the latest version of the open-source screenwriting application. Celtx is freely available for Mac, Linux, and Windows platforms at www.celtx.com.

The excellent SelfReliant Filmmaking site has a post that really hit home for me. They talk about (and link to) the plethora of DIY projects out there for film equipment and tools. Steadicams, dollies, etc.

2) Sometimes building DIY projects is not more cost effective than spending the money on a professional tool. Example: A new C-stand costs less than $200. The amount of time and money it would take for me to build some inferior imitation out of pipe I bought at Home Depot simply isn’t worth it in the final cost-benefit analysis.

3) An inexpensive homemade tool that doesn’t get the job done is less of a bargain than an overpriced mass-produced tool that does get the job done.

This is so true. I think that in pursuit of saving the almighty dollar, sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s not always more cost effective (hey, time is money too) to build your own equipment vs. purchase or rental. This really began to make sense to me as I’ve grown older and realized that time might just be my most valuable commodity.

Some years ago I hand built a camera stabilizer, using the same basic design concepts as a Glidecam or Steadicam JR. After much research, I managed to locate a gimbal that we could attach a handle too. The major portions of the stabilizer were fashioned from light copper pipe, a good friend helped me sweat all the copper together. When balanced with washers (like the Glidecam), the stabilizer worked pretty well, not quite as easy to control as a Glidecam 2000, but pretty close. Like any stabilizer, practice makes the difference.

One main concern was that it is heavier than a Glidecam. Additionally, it’s not as easy to break down, balance, and it doesn’t look that hot either.
Was it worth it? Now that I have flown a Glidecam, I don’t think so. If I remember correctly, we spent $80-$100 in parts when all was said and done. A used Glidecam 2000 will only set you back around $200-$250, and might save you a ton of time and aggravation. You decide if your time is worth it.

Anyone want to buy a homeade camera stabilizer?

Today Apple Computer, Inc introduced a MacBookPro and a new iMac, both sporting the new Intel Duo CPU. The MacBookPro Duo offers up to a dual-core 1.83GHz processor with 2MB of shared L2 cache. The iMac offers up to a 2.0GHz Duo processor. Both models offer PCI-E, both include a built-in iSight camera.

Engadget has more details. Engadget states that the Powerboo…err, MacBookPro will run Windows, but there is some discussion to the contrary in the comments of that post.

Did you Apple users out there realize that you cannot export an MP3 file from Soundtrack Pro? Coming from a PC background, I guess I just always assumed that it would be possible. It’s not. Compressor doesn’t support MP3 exports either.

I am well aware that I could use iTunes to convert sources to MP3. But that also requires changing the iTunes Preferences if MP3 is not already set as the default importer, which is tedious for a simple conversion. And for some reason, it doesn’t want to convert my AIFF files that have been exported from STPro. Odd. Rather than fight it, I decided to do a little digging.

After a little research, I found that The Point Podcast #41 talks about an automator workflow for exporting an MP3 from Soundtrack Pro (direct link to #41 here). This is a little faster than monkeying with iTunes directly, but still isn’t exactly what I was looking for.

The Point #41 also mentioned a really sweet audio utility called SoundConverter (guess what this program does?) that can be purchased for $10. This program is pretty amazing, and it’s insanely intuitive and easy to use. Well worth the small license fee. It will also just about convert any audio format out there.

Another alternative for MP3 conversions is LameBrain. It’s a nice OS X gui to the excellent open source LAME encoder. The app does nice job of making the advanced capabilities of the LAME encoder available to you if you so desire, but without getting too confusing if you don’t want to mess with it. LameBrain supports batch encoding, and has a CD ripper built in.

But for fast format conversions, SoundConverter is the way to go. It’s so simple and painless to use, and does a nice job encoding. BTW, it uses the LAME encoder also.
For those that wish to explore other inexpensive applications for MP3 conversion, have a look at the LAME open source software page. Other alternatives like the excellent cross-platform Audacity exist, and might just tickle your fancy.

On a slightly unrelated note, the author of SoundConverter utilizes a very unique licensing method. The software is actually licensed to your ethernet hardware MAC address. More info on this in the FAQ. It’s totally a non-issue for me, but I just found it to be a very unique trick, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that type of software licensing method in use before. Of course, this means that if your ethernet hardware changes, you have to buy another license. In the FAQ, the developer states that this was the simplest method of validating licenses, and curbing piracy. Creative.

EventDV recently listed the top 25 event videographers of 2005, in the January 2006 edition of the magazine (the article does not appear to be available online at this time).

iDiography provides a transcript of that Top 25 list, as well as a few harsh comments and criticism from contributors and visitors. A little bit of backlash, it seems.

LFIHD offers tips for using Panasonic’s DVCPRO framerate converter (used to convert overcranked 60i footage into smooth slow motion shots).

Cinematech has a nice summary of intriguing video news from CES. Google Video commerce capability, legally download feature films within weeks of theatrical release, etc. Good stuff.

BD-J is the java interactivity layer of the Blu-ray disc specification. And it looks like some first-gen players may not support BD-J, according to unnamed reps of player manufacturers at CES. In contrast, “full-profile” BD players are supposedly the ones that fully support the spec, and they will probably cost more initially.

What’s not clear is if the BD-J portion of the Blu-ray spec has been delayed (licensing issues, perhaps?), or if mfrs are simply crippling the first players to market. And if there is no “interactivity layer”, does that mean no DVD menus? Wikipedia says of BD-J “Java will be used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray discs, as opposed to the method used on DVD video discs, which uses pre-rendered MPEG segments and selectable subtitle pictures and is considerably more primitive.”

(Via HDBeat)