Motion Studies
Got $299? That's what it'll cost to dabble in Apple's Motion real-time motion graphics software package that is now shipping. The software's price point made noise at the NAB convention, catching the interest of both attendees and exhibitors. The company hopes it will enjoy the same success as Apple's nonlinear editing system, Final Cut Pro.
Features include self-propelled behavior animation, character-by-character title animation and a new interface that makes it easier to work with tools while keeping an eye on the project.
The ClipStore Option
If you're looking for new digital-disk-recording options, Accom just rolled one out: the APR ClipStore. Discovery Latin America and NGC Japan are the first to take delivery of the unit, which is priced around $10,000 and provides more than one hour of uncompressed video- and audio-recording with keying capability. The unit can import and export images in various formats, including SGI, TGA, TIF and PSD.
Focus on P2
Panasonic's new P2 solid-state-based electronic-newsgathering format hit some software snags that delayed delivery by a couple of months. But the units will shortly be in the hands of NY1 News in Manhattan. NY1 will be the first user of the format and is expected to employ the cameras at the Republican Convention at the end of this month.
Lazy Goes Tapeless
LazyTown, a new kids show to appear on Nickelodeon and CBS Saturday mornings, is the latest program to move to tapeless production. The program is being recorded at 24 progressive frames per second on Baytech Cinema's CineRAM portable solid-state uncompressed HD-SDI digital recorder.
When the unit is connected to a computer, shots can be sent directly to attached drives. Mark Read, founder of production company Hypercube, says he was able to record content onto an Apple iPod when he ran out of room on a laptop.
