Digieffects has released Aged Film, a new video effects plug-in for post-production suites that recreates the style of damaged filmstock. Customizable effects include dust, grain, scratches, frame jitter and color. Presets cover a variety of scenarios, including 8mm film, old home videos and shaky projectors. All effects are rendered at 16bpc.
Reg Giant has released a new video effects plug-in, Magic Bullet Mojo. The software recreates the look used in many Hollywood blockbusters, warming the color temperature of skin, while simultaneously cooling it for shadows and backgrounds. A central slider adjusts both elements in unison.
Adobe is previewing a new scriptwriting application at NAB this week and has announced an update to Premiere Pro CS4. The new application, called Story, is being designed for collaborative scriptwriting for film and broadcast.
Adobe has chosen to extend initial pricing schemes for Creative Suite 4, according to an announcement. Owners of some older software packages -- including Creative Suite 1 and 2, as well as Macromedia Studio and Adobe Production Studio -- have so far been able to able to upgrade to CS4 for the same price as an upgrade from CS3. The scheme should now continue until April 30th, reducing the cost of an upgrade by as much as $200.
Following the distribution of early release candidate versions, Adobe has posted final editions of its Lightroom 2.3 and Camera Raw 5.3 updates. Both of the patches enable RAW file support for two recent DSLRs, the Olympus E-30 and the Nikon D3X. The Camera Raw update provides support within Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements 7 and Premiere Elements 7.
Boris FX has published Boris Continuum Complete 6 AE, an updated version of its filter collection for After Effects and Premiere Pro. The upgrade provides just under 200 extra filters for video editors, including 13 new ones, such as Extruded Text, Extruded Spline, Layer Deformer and DV Fixer. Users can now also import After Effects Mask Paths into filters, which help to control geometry.
Conventional wisdom would have had Pure Digital's Flip camcorders wash out because of their limited features, but it's precisely this which has led them to seemingly overthrow the budget camcorder market. Their dead-simple controls and narrow focus have made them ideal for a generation growing up on YouTube and video blogging. The Flip Mino HD promises to do the same for high-definition video and with even simpler editing. But does it live up to this promise? We find out in our full review.
Adobe has posted a v4.0.1 update for the CS4 version of Premiere Pro, its high-end video-editing suite. The patch introduces the ability to import projects from Apple's editing suite, Final Cut Pro, without any necessary conversions or re-rendering; most effects and transitions should be preserved. Users can also import and export in the Advandced Authoring Format (AAF), and export to an OMF file.
Red Giant Software has released Red Giant Warp, a new sets of effects generation plug-ins for video editing suites. Contained in Warp are three different tools, beginning with Corner Pin, which takes material from outside clips and pins it with a different perspective inside a working video. The plug-in additionally sports extra offset controls and integration with Mocha for After Effects.
Adobe is calling the latest release of its ubiquitous Creative Suite a milestone -- but users expecting a radical change will probably disagree. CS4 is less about fancy new features, and more about workflow -- that is, making the products work better together. The Suite, officially unveiled Monday night, contains hundreds of refinements designed to "bring down the walls" in the creative process, by making it easier to move content between applications and by adopting a consistent user interface across the entire suite. Adobe has also added more web-accessible content and Connect Pro meeting software for instant communication between artists and developers. There are new features as well, but the real meat in this release is the improved integration, efficiency and collaboration tools.
Adobe on Tuesday unveiled Photoshop Elements 7, and Premiere Elements 7, two major version upgrades to its consumer photo and video editing applications, including Photoshop.com memberships with either app. Photoshop Elements 7 introduces several new tools and utilities, including several one-step Quick Fix tools. Quick Fix allows users to remedy common problems with sky color, or teeth whitening, while the Smart Brush can quickly improve lighting, add textures, or apply over fifty effects to a specific area.
Ambric today unveiled plans to show its pre-release version of Am2045 GT on the Mac platform at this year's NAB conference. The Am2045 GT is a video reference platform that allows video professionals users to accelerate HD MPEG-2 and HD H.264 encoding for distribution on platforms such as Blu-ray, Flash, and DVD. The hardware also accelerates Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and After Effects CS3 via a plug-in.
Video plug-in maker Digieffects has announced two new plug-in series, Natural Forces and Simulate. The former will launch with "Vapor," which replicates fog, haze, clouds and smoke, and "Aqua," which imitates other forms of weather as well as various water effects. The Simulate plug-ins are more direct, adding lighting in the case of "Illuma," and namesake filters in the case of "Camera."
