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MillimeterNAB 2006
Mar 5, 2006 12:30 PM, By S. D. Katz, D. W. Leitner, and Dan Ochiva
More for Your Digital Dollar
Blackmagic DeckLink HD Pro
3D Animation
NAB is the logical moment for Autodesk to announce its plans for Alias and 3ds Max. If past history provides a clue, Discreet purchased Denim Software, eventually creating Combustion with the addition of technology borrowed from Flame.
What does that suggest? One of two similar products was eventually cannibalized. This is unthinkable with Maya or 3ds, but from a business perspective it's hard to imagine the advantage of owning two competing products. So far, the message from Autodesk is: Don't worry, both have their role and user base. Both of those user bases will be listening closely for confirmation at NAB.
Meanwhile, at NewTek, Jay Roth was hired to be the president of graphics division, which develops LightWave. (Roth was a co-founder of trend-setting Electric Image.) LightWave 9.0, with a long feature list, should be out just in time for its debut at the show. Roth has considerable motion picture visual effects experience and is likely to keep LightWave focused on the high end.
Though 3D is becoming a mature technology, upstarts like Luxology are still willing to gamble on a new way to do an old task, in this case modeling with Modo. The company, founded by ex-NewTek personnel, intends to lay out an entire 3D app one module at time. In March, for example, Modo 201 launches, adding rendering to Modo's sub-d modeler. While the idea of bringing out another 3D product as some of the larger players merge may seem counter-intuitive, hands-on 3D animation is still sufficiently awkward and frustrating that there is always room for improvement.
— S.D. Katz
Red Giant Instant HD
Graphics Corral
Adobe's Production Studio and Apple Final Cut Studio are squared off like gunfighters. While the OS has been the territorial arrangement to put the gloss of civility on the competition, both companies are still out to win the hearts and minds of artists. Adobe has created one of the most tightly integrated graphics packages around with a unified interface, but only after Apple had headed in that direction in two previous releases.
Earlier this year, Apple announced it would no longer sell Studio products separately. That might sound worse than the reality, since the entire bundle of four apps (Final Cut Pro 5, Soundtrack Pro, Motion 2, and DVD Studio Pro 4) is only $1,300.
Similarly, the low price of the Adobe suite means that artists looking to pick and choose apps (and operating systems) can still use After Effects and Final Cut Pro together on the Mac. The price for all these apps is so low that you can own both bundles and not feel like you have overspent.
While the next version of Apple Final Cut Studio will be good to see, it's the iPod effect and movie downloads that will be the overarching stories at the show. Sundance and IFC have not yet worked out a deal with any of the download sites, but now is the time to stake out a claim for Indie fare direct to consumers.
The success of iTunes is all the more impressive since this is done over feeble broadband connections, which are still too slow for IPTV. But until WiMax and Ultrawideband make it to the home, improved codec technology like Flash 8 and the On2 video encoder are a boost for video on the Web. Check out the X3 site (www.x3movie.com) with trailers in three formats of HD using Flash 8 to see what I mean.
— S.D.K.
ATI FireGL V7350
We haven't heard all that much from ATI over the past year, but at the show you'll see the striking results of that quiet period: the new FireGL V7350 graphics card. Besides taking the title as the first card to hold up to 1GB of RAM, the V7350 can uniquely drive two 30in. Apple or Dell LCD monitors at a greater 16-bit-per-RGB pixel depth. While humans can't separate out the resulting 1 trillion color possibilities, what you do see gains subtlety and detail.
What: Boris FX Boris Blue version 1.0
Why: Integrates advanced 2D and 3D compositing, 3D modeling and animation, DVE, titling, motion tracking, vector paint, Adobe Illustrator file animation, extrusion, and more without too steep a learning curve.
What: Boris FX Boris Red version 4.0
Why: NLE plug-in adds new filters, 16-bit color support, and a new paint engine to its already full package of 2D and 3D compositing, software DVE, 3D extrusion and animation, native vector titling, motion tracking, vector paint, and rotoscoping.
