Sony Vegas 10 offers 3D editing without a plug-in

Sony Vegas 10 is one of the only editing packages that lets you edit and adjust 3D without plugins Sony Creative Software's PC-based editing package Vegas was shown in its 10th iteration at IBC2010 with the headline feature of the ability to edit 3D.

Vegas Pro 10 will help create 3D projects by enabling users to import, adjust, edit, preview and export stereoscopic 3D projects with no additional tools or plug-ins.

While fully compatible with the latest 3D TV technology, anaglyph viewing is also provided making it possible to preview in 3D on any monitor.

Other features include:

Improved support for DSLR video: Performance improvements make editing video from popular DSLR cameras faster and easier.

Video Plug-in SDK: Video Effects Plug-in Architecture: Vegas Pro 10 now offers a completely new video effects plug-in architecture based on the Open Effects Association standard. This open, industry leading standard was created from the combined experience of the leading companies in the visual effects realm. The new architecture is accessed by a software development kit (SDK) which is more powerful and reduces the developer’s workload by automating UI – both of which will benefit editors by expanding greatly the available visual effects for Vegas Pro 10

GPU Accelerated AVC Encoding: Users with CUDA-enabled nVidia video cards are now able to encode to the Sony AVC format with improved rendering performance and speed.

Improved Closed Captioning: Improved support for closed captions enables broadcasters to preview captions in the Preview and Trimmer windows for increased accuracy and ease of editing. Other improvements include increased support for line 21 closed captions, HD-SDI closed captions, multiple closed captioning file types as well as the ability to export captions for Sony DVD Architect, YouTube, RealPlayer, QuickTime, and Windows Media Player.

Enter The Ninja Recorder

Produced in partnership with Apple, hence the ProRes codec - the NinjaAs a possible competitor to the Convergent Design NanoFlash comes the Ninja from ATOMOS, a company that includes an ex Black Magic Design-er and a product that has been created in partnership with Apple.

The Ninja records straight out of the HDMI output of your camera and is recorded to Apple's ProRes codec on to 2.5inch hard drives not any kind of flash memory which they say ''is just not there yet for serious HD video production". You can use all the flavours of ProRes from HQ to LT - 300GB of ProResHQ gives you three hours roughly of recording time.

Price is good at EURO795 which is about half the price of the new AJA Ki Pro Mini we mentioned yesterday.

www.atomos.com

IBC 2010 Shorts - Day Two

PANANSONIC AF101 - We talked with Jan Crittenden from Panasonic and she confirmed that the new 101 camera was available for order now, does not carry the GH1 sensor, its a new sensor (no confirmation of using the GH2 sensor), will be EURO 4990 and is marketed to the independent film and production industry, "From the very inception we were looking at independent film and production. You can use virtually any lens that can mount to a four thirds adapter."

Much less rolling shutter from the new sensor processing, you have to try to get some wobble. "It's an AVCHD codec recorded on to SD cards with data rates going up to 24mb/s in it's professional implementation. I would put it up against 50mb/s MPEG2." 

Alex Plus pricing announced at IBC 2010ARRI ALEXA PLUS - The price differences between Alexa and the Alexa Plus have been announced. The Alexa is EURO 50,000, Alexa Plus is 57,900 - the upgrade price is 9,700 but there is a promotional period until the end of October where the Plus upgrade is only 7,900. It will start shipping from January 2011 onwards. Version 2 of the software has also just been released. Initally orders for the Alexa are well over 600 units, they have delivered so far over 200 units.

Optical viewfinder version of the Alexa with a 4:3 sensor will probably be launched towards the end of next year.

VINTEN BLUE - Designed cameras  at 2-5kg and you got the Vinten tech 'perfect balance' with it, the cheapest support that has it. It will effectively replace the Pro6 - the package head and legs is EURO1175. So they're offering the drag technology at an entry level price. Vinten hope that people using this techology at a low  price will keep with them when they upgrade to heavier and bigger cameras.

SONY VEGAS 10 Now has a 3D editing workflow.

SONY 3D BOX - This box was first seen late last year and was primarily for rig correction. Now it does a whole lot more and is cheaper than first thought. It will now do a 2D to 3D conversion that is amazingly good, but of course you have to be careful what you use it on. It's also real time. The algorithm analyses a number of factors, angles, colours and creates an artificial 3D image. So great for programming that is mostly 3D but haven't'got 3D maybe on on-board cameras or in-car use. You could also also run a highlights package through the conversion to save time with other games that weren't'shot in 3D.

The box is also used for creating a stitched together shot using three different cameras. These cameras are next to each other but angled to give you three slightly different views of a football stadium for example. You take the shots in to the 3D box and what it starts doing is to start to bend the images to create a perfectly aligned picture (they demoed the full length of a football pitch). You can then have a virtual camera within that domain and another artificial 3D image. With that virtual camera you can then create programming like a highlights package.

AVID announce NewsVision

Avid have announced NewsVision, a new, fully-integrated set of Avid newsroom production tools that gives local and regional broadcasters a combination of SD/HD news production capability and value on the market.
NewsVision includes:
•       Four-channel Avid Airspeed Multi Stream ingest and playout server
•       Five editing clients, in any combination of Media Composer and NewsCutter
•       32 TB of Avid ISIS 5000 shared storage with 20 client connections
•       Third-party interoperability and scalability with Final Cut Pro and AP ENPS
•       One year Avid Uptime Support 

Secondly, Avid have also announced Avid DS 10.5, the first software-only version of Avid’s all-in-one visual effects, finishing and conforming solution - for small boutiques to large post-production houses.

AJA Launch Ki Pro Mini

 AJA Video Systems has introduced the Ki Pro Mini, a smaller, lighter version of its portable tapeless recorder that captures to the Apple ProRes 422 codec directly from camera. The highly portable Ki Pro Mini flash disk recorder mounts to digital cameras and accessories, enabling it to fit in small spaces for on-set capture of 10-bit 4:2:2 files that are immediately ready for editing.
Ki Pro Mini offers a small form factor, support for SDI & HDMI cameras and key features including:
· 10-bit full-raster recording to Apple ProRes 422 SD and HD formats (including HQ, LT and Proxy)
· Recording of SD/HD files from digital video cameras to Compact Flash (CF) cards
· Mac OS X friendly media and native QuickTime files--no log-and-capture required
· Professional video connectivity through SD/HD SDI and HDMI I/O
· 2 channels of balanced XLR audio with switch selectable line/mic levels
· 8 channels of embedded digital audio over SDI and HDMI
· Flexible control options including familiar front panel and web browser interfaces
· Optional Ki Pro Mini Mounting Plates that attach to hot shoes, battery plates and virtually any other accessory bracket· Aircraft-grade aluminum construction that delivers light weight and maximum ruggedness

The new AJA Ki Pro MiniKi Pro Mini supports a streamlined Apple file-based production-to-post workflow, recording native Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime files onto CF cards, which are formatted as HFS+ volumes that are instantly connected to a Mac computer via off-the-shelf CF card readers.

Healthy IBC except for the 'fakers'

Hall 11 at IBC is traditional where you go to see the camera grip and support with a bunch of lighting thrown in. There are the usually suspects there like Arri, Kino Flo, Sachtler and so on. But turn a different corner this year and you might find companies like Dynacore, Ruige Optic-Electronic and Secced.

Looking around these stands you will be struck by some familiar profiles, that looks like an Arri 2k, that looks like a Zacuto DSLR rig and that looks like a Marshall monitor.

The fakers are here in numbers this year and in the same hall as the originals.

www.secced.com

www.ruige.com

www.dynacore-china.com

www.litech.hk

New cameras and prices from show floor

Panasonic has launched the HPX-3100 at a suggested list price of £27,000.00 + VAT.

Sony has showed the PMW-500 50mb/s SxS Camcorder at a suggested list price of 25,000.00 Euro + VAT.

Camera prices are without viewfinders or options.

The Panasonic AG-AF101 4/3" camcorder is on show with a list price of £4,059.00 + VAT and available for Christmas!

Thanks to Mike Thomas at Top Teks for details

Cinnafilm is revealed from behind Arri's Relativity software

When Arri's scanning and telecine software Relativity was announced last year, the industry was hugely impressed with the de-graining and noise reduction abilities of the new product. Now the company behind Relativity called Cinnafilm have come out of an exclusive contract with Arri and have provided a noise reduction plug-in for Quantel products using their Dark Energy technology.

Lance Maurer from Cinnafilm commented on his company's new partner, "We met Arri at NAB a couple of years ago when we first started marketing our texture management software and signed up for an exclusive deal with Arri which has now expired. Also Arri has their hands full with their Alexa camera so we have decided to seek partners for our technology, the first being Quantel.

Dark Energy on Quantel facilities are:

Noise reduction – Spectacular image quality improvements can be achieved very quickly using Dark Energy’s advanced temporal and spatial processing techniques. It offers fully automated image analysis and correction, with additional manual controls for fine tuning the look required.

Regrain – adding grain to give a completely natural film look to video-originated material or to provide continuity between media shot on different film stocks. Controls include adjustable grain size and film width.

Sharpen – produces excellent results without producing the edge defects associated with other techniques. Full range of controls for fine-tuning.

www.cinnafilm.com

Quantel seek to revolutionise remote access to live assets

IBC 2010 - This morning post production specialist company Quantel announced what they and their clients are calling a revolution in the way they do business. The product is called Project QTube and will allow remote editing and logging and ingest throught instant access in full resolution anywhere in the world.

"QTube enables content on an sQ server, anywhere, to be viewed and edited anywhere else in the world, at any time, using the internet as the connection. In short, this preview of QTube offers a glimpse of the first truly global broadcast workflow." Commented Roger Thornton from Quantel.

"Project QTube handles all the necessary media transfers automatically, moving just the required frames between servers using the Delta Editing and Identity technologies already built into Enterprise sQ. There is also a RIA-based viewing client, which runs in any web browser, which can search Enterprise sQ databases and view any clip or part of a clip instantly. It also allows the operator to work with the logging metadata attached to a clip."

Quantel expects Project QTube developments to go on sale in the first half of 2011.

Sony Show New 3D Camera and 35mm Digital Model

IBC2010 - This morning Sony showed a couple of prototypes or concepts in their press conference at IBC2010. The first was a 3D camera with it's twin optics seemingly grafted on to the front of an XDCAM body. The optics look similar to the new Panasonic 3D camcorder but aren't derived from the same source. Not much more information was forthcoming from Sony as to when this will be a product or indeed what recording systems it will have but for Sony it is a foothold in this documentary 3D market that Panasonic has seeded with their 3D camcorder which is now shipping.

Also shown as a prototype/concept was a digital camera with a 35mm sized sensor (not the sensor from the f35), first seen at this year's NAB. The camera is a short format size but with a PL mount for cine lenses. Again no more information was forthcoming like the recording system, price or compression details but, again, the product gives Sony a camera to compete with products like RED's Scarlet and Panasonic's AF101 which is due to be shipped in the last quarter of the year.