Edit Tools
Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Trevor Boyer
A to D on the cheap
Industry buzz notwithstanding, a lot of professional footage is still captured on analog tapes. To edit that material in the digital realm, format conversion is an obvious solution. Canopus recently released its ADVC-50, which converts analog source material to DV — but not DV to analog. You'll need the company's ADVC-100 to accomplish that. But like the ADVC-100, says Robert Sharp, vice president of marketing at Canopus, the new ADVC-50 focuses on video quality (via the Canopus DV codec) and convenient connections. Perfect for video enthusiasts and the independent producer, the converter can sit in a computer's 5in. bay or open PCI slot. Or, as there are no drivers or software to install, it can operate as a standalone. Locked audio support assures audio and video sync. The unit features a four-pin IEEE 1394 connector and S-Video and composite inputs on the back panel, plus an internal six-pin IEEE 1394 connector.
Price: $199.
San Jose, Calif.; 408-954-4504; www.justedit.com
Prime Meridien
June was a busy month for Avid. An across-the-board update to its Meridien hardware-based line meant new versions of Media Composer (11.0), Xpress (5.0), Symphony (4.0), and Film Composer (11.0). Of the more than 100 new editing, effects, and compositing enhancements to the programs, the addition of patented MetaSync technology is probably the most exciting. It's also the most obvious: In addition to the familiar video and audio tracks, now there are MetaTracks on the timeline. These new events sync any type of metadata to the timeline to trigger anything from interactive TV content to subtitles to chair moves for ride simulators. The MetaSync manager looks a lot like MediaLog. MetaSync is built on the XML schema to represent metadata within AAF. Avid claims to be at least a year ahead of its nearest competitors on this technology front. To spread the gospel of MetaSync via these latest versions, Avid is offering its lowest software upgrade prices ever for this line ($500 to $2,500).
Price: $5,999 to $90,000.
Tewksbury, Mass.; 978-640-3202; www.avid.com
PLUG IT IN
Can't keep up with the scores of plug-ins released each month? Profound Effects isn't making that task any easier. Only a month after the release of Useful Things, there were already 28 scripts in the Script Exchange, open to all license holders. The After Effects plug-in uses the Python scripting language to create unique effects like stockCharts (at right), which downloads real stock data from the Internet, formats it, and draws a chart within After Effects. Profound Effects CEO Perry Kivolowitz says that his team members often challenge themselves to create a Useful Things plug-in that accomplishes an effect requested on the AE mailing list with little or no user labor. “Several times we've created effects in less than 20 minutes that didn't need nested compositions, expressions, or even lots of keyframing,” he says. “And, because our effects are script-based, we were able to build in flexibility that wasn't at all possible doing effects ‘by hand.’” Examples of successful quickies? Arrival/departure boards, tornado effects, and effects simulating weather maps. Price: $395. (Verona, Wis.; 608-829-0085; www.profoundeffects.com)
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