Graphics & Effects

While the Iraq war accounted for reduced attendance at NAB, thosewho showed up in Las Vegas saw the best show in years-and that doesn'tmean Celine Dion at Caesar's. Even with the tech sector's tough timesover the past three years, the pace of development hasn't slowed, witha record number of announcements and new products at the show. Theseincluded NLE systems, HD cinema, and HD cameras, Internet deliverysystems, and a wide assortment of hardware accessories that continuethe cheaper and faster destiny of silicon-based technology.

January's MacWorld, surprisingly free of news for Apple'sgraphics customers, said a lot about the company's focus: all ofApple's big product updates were saved for NAB. A rumored move toIntel-based hardware might still be just gossip, but Apple made plentyof noise with a triad of major product updates for Final Cut Pro, DVDStudio Pro, and Shake.

FCP and Studio Pro share a vision that clearly stakes outease-of-use as the active philosophy in 2003. FCP 3.0, largely viewedas the coming-of-age version for this hit product, gave way to version4.0, which adds 300 features and refinements.

Apple emphasizes interface and workflow enhancements in two new FCPmodules: Soundtrack and LiveType. Both modules offer gigabytes ofpre-made elements, which is a good way to make a high-end toolaccessible to a wider, if less sophisticated, audience. Audio loops,for example, can be edited and manipulated in realtime in Soundtrack.Meanwhile, dozens of animated fonts allow for the same kind of instantfeedback in LiveType.

At its press conference, Apple also promoted AJA's Io, a newproduct that brings a professional breakout box and I/O hardwaresolution to Final Cut Pro 4.0. The handsome, brushed metal rackmountdevice provides 10-bit uncompressed SDI or analog video, 24-bitdigital/optical/analog multi-channel audio, and connects to a Mac G4via a single FireWire cable.

What's the current bit-thing these days? Three years ago 3D on theWeb held everyone's attention; next came streaming applications. At NAB2003, DVD authoring held sway.

But DVD authoring looks like it's not going to implode like thevaunted delivery of Web entertainment. Adobe Encore became thelatest notable entry into the authoring market, and it's positionedagainst Apple's DVD Studio Pro 2.0. Both products will ship later thisyear.

The competition between Encore and DVD Pro pretty much states theenmity between these two formerly close companies. Encore is Windowsonly, the first time Adobe has not released a major product onthe Mac. Reconciliation seems unlikely as these companies vie for thesame market, but users definitely benefit from two excellentproducts.

Both authoring packages have the same philosophy: offer ease of useand lots of templates to help novice designers make slick-lookingcontent quickly. Apple's DVD Studio Pro 2.0 has been completelyrewritten and boasts an interface and workflow that anticipate thedesign process, an improvement over version 1.5, which was distinctlyawkward to use. With 2.0, for example, begin to make a button and acontext-sensitive menu drops down with all the available options forthat task. Line guides are intelligently invoked when needed to line uptext or pictures. Users can choose among dozens of professionallydesigned templates. A new encoder, Compressor, looks promising.

While the Adobe Encore presentation felt more vague then Apple'sdemos, it's clear that Adobe is promoting a product that is highlycompatible with and borrows interface elements from its Big 3: AfterEffects, Premiere, and Photoshop.

Match moving and keying software got a boost at NAB 2003 with newproducts and upgrades from 2D3 (Boujou), Realviz(MatchMover), Imagineer (Mokey), and Ultimatte. 2D3'sBoujou 2.1 features a re-design of the tracking engine that makes itfaster and more accurate. There's also enhanced workflow and supportfor additional image formats. Boujou now works on Mac, Windows, andLinux OSs.

France-based Realviz, a close competitor, offers a line of productsbased on computer vision technology. Realviz demonstrated Corsica, thecode name for version 3.0 of its popular scene tracking softwareMatchMover. A major advance over previous versions, version 3 will beavailable for Windows and Linux in summer 2003. Not to be out done by2D3, Realviz will launch a Mac OS X version in fall 2003.

UK-based Imagineer also touted an OS X version of its novelbackground extraction software, Mokey, shipping since January of thisyear. Version 2.1 introduces EdgeTrack, which adds a great deal ofcontrol to allow you to determine what parts of the image the softwareshould track. Mokey, unique in its approach, employs a new method toseparate out background and foreground elements.

While it's usually at Siggraph that 3D animation software developersmake their big announcements, both Alias|Wavefront andSoftimage didn't wait, as they both introduced new versions atNAB. Alias Maya 5.0 features new character animation tools, includingimproved constraints and IK. New rendering features includevector-based files with scalable vector graphics and EPS as an option.Version 5 also supports IGES and OBJ on Windows and Mac as well asLinux. The enhanced API now allows developers and advanced usersgreater access to core levels of the program.

One of Maya's most enjoyable and innovative features, Maya PaintEffects, now allows users to edit their unique brush-created geometrywith regular polygon tools. Paint effects can now also be output toother renderers. The improved hair rendering includes a new controlover width and length. Other enhancements can be found in Maya Fur,which has added many new style types and tool enhancements. Maya 5.0runs on both the Mac OS X and Windows OSs.

Montreal-based Softimage introduced Softimage|XSI version 3.5, itsnonlinear animation production environment. Among the new features isgreater interoperability between Avid and XSI, including the ability totransfer linked, multiple render passes from XSI's integratedcompositor. The compositor, by the way, is actually Parallax, thehighly regarded (and very fast) compositing program purchased by Avidyears ago.

Also new is support in the interface for Microsoft's DirectX andNvidia's Cg vertex and pixel shaders. Softimage now works closely withNvidia to take advantage of the greatly expanded shader capabilities ofthe Quadro FX 1000 and 2000 cards as well as their CG shadinglanguage.

Automatic symmetrizing of polygons ranks as another usefulimprovement. This helps speed modeling, since character models aretypically built on one side then copied and joined together to create awhole model. This is standard modeling procedure, and 3.5 improves theway it works.

On the rendering side, Softimage continues its support and completeintegration with Mental Ray, including version 3.2. Newrendering features include Open GL-accelerated scan line rendering, anew Rapid Motion blur feature, and Open GL-accelerated shadow maps.

There are, of course, many other new features, but the mostimportant news is that version 3.5 follows the release of version 3.0by only six months. Any questions about XSI's comeback should be put torest.

JVC has struck pay dirt with a consumer product adapted tothe professional market. JVC's D-VHS system, intended to bring HD tothe Japanese home video market, recently won Hollywood's embrace as alow-cost, highly flexible digital dailies system. The system consistsof three components: the DM-JV600 HD MPEG-2 encoder, SR-VDA300USmastering recorder, and the SR-VD400US distribution player. With itsXVGA output (1280x720), the player/recorder also directly connects tothe new JVC JY-HD10U HD camcorder. Pro versions of the D-VHS can playpassword-protected D-VHS tapes, record HD programming from DTV set-topboxes, or play pre-recorded D-Theater software.

Los Angeles-based Laser Pacific Media can transfer motion picturefilm directly to D-VHS. However, as long as you have an HD VTR, any HDmaterial can be transferred to the DM-JV600 encoder through an SDIconnection. Once in JVC's format, the material can be passwordprotected to prevent unauthorized use of the film before release.Sharing duplicate Pro D-VHS cassettes-which cost about $10 each-iseasy. The viewer just needs an SR-VDA300US player/recorder and asuitable high-definition monitor or projector. Pro decks price under$1,600, while a consumer deck goes for approximately $800. That'saffordable enough to give cassettes to any member of a movie's cast orcrew to screen dailies at home.

To make HD more ubiquitous, the next step requires sending the HDsignal to the home or office over broadband connections. To solve thisperceived need, Microsoft unveiled Windows Media 9 with a flurryof partnership announcements. The codec technology was "previewed" formore than a year, but it's finally here.

One of the first commercial WM9 applications for HD comes fromDigital Cinema Solutions, a Los Angeles-based content distributioncompany. Microsoft and DCS (plus AMD) became partners to provide aturnkey HD digital delivery system for small and mid-range movietheaters. Right before NAB, DCS announced a deal with Landmark Theatresto outfit 177 screens of this nationwide indie exhibitor with the DCSsystem. With this one investment, suddenly Microsoft is behind thelargest installation of digital cinemas in the United States todate.

Never a shy competitor, Microsoft invested heavily in WM9 to knockoff Apple's Quicktime and RealNetwork's RealOne Player. There'seven an OSX version of the WM9 player, complete with an Apple Aqua UI.The question then becomes, why hasn't Apple released its ownHD-optimized solution for Quicktime?

Of course Microsoft's actual target remains MPEG-4. The mainadvantage of WMP9 is a friendlier (read "free") licensing scheme, notthe technology, good as it is. Regardless of who wins out in the end,Microsoft has made the first real commitment to digitizing the moviedistribution system. Touted as a boon to indie filmmakers, the truthremains that even with the cost of prints removed from the distributionsystem, the cost of marketing will prevent any possibility of a levelplaying field in distribution.

Trolling the show floor for startups, I found a small booth at theperimeter of the show floor with what has to be my favorite new productat NAB, a unique character animation program from NaturalMotion.The UK-based software developer specializes in bio motion simulationbased on physics and artificial intelligence.

This is the science of falling flat on your face. NaturalMotion'sEndorphin provides what amounts to digital crash dummies and stunt men.Beginning with a simple mannequin, forces like a punch in the face or aprojectile can send the mannequin stumbling backwards and falling withvery convincing motion. This rapidly creates a sequence that wouldordinarily take an animator several hours or days to keyframe. The AIin Endorphin provides the mannequins with common sense reactions touser-defined forces. For example, if struck in the face, a mannequinraises its arms to deflect the blow. The software provides dozens ofbehaviors of this type that adjust to the force and direction of anyattack. Animation is exported in common mocap file formats such as BVH,FBX, CSM, and others. Endorphin (Windows 2000/XP) comes in a bitpricey, but this is a new company that has not quite yet been tamed bythe entertainment industry.