Archive for April 11th, 2012

Menlo Park, CA – April 2012… Countryman Associates, Inc., the leading innovator of high-quality, miniature microphones, is pleased to introduce the H6 Headset Microphone. Delivering exceptional audio quality, superior moisture resistance, and a secure, comfortable fit, this ultra-low profile microphone makes an outstanding choice for a variety of applications, including theater, broadcast, live music performance, and more. more

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – There are often times when a console operator would like to be able to stand in any place in a venue and change console settings. For HARMAN Studer Vista users, that dream is about to become reality.

At NAB, Studer is unveiling its new Studer(r) Compact Remote Bay, a portable controller hardly larger than a laptop, but containing 12 motorised Penny & Giles faders and 40 rotary controls which link to a 19″ touch-screen running Studer’s Virtual Vista software. This emulates the console’s acclaimed Vistonics(tm) user interface.

As well as remote operation the Compact Remote Bay may also be used to extend the main control surface for a second operator on large shows. It can even be used as a standalone controller for the Vista’s DSP core should the control surface not be available, with the provision of connections for local 5.1 monitoring and a headphone output.
For portability and transit protection, the screen folds down over the control surface.

Other new products from Studer at NAB include the new Studer Vista 1 Compact mixing console, VISTA FX Lexicon engine, RTW TM7 Metering Option for Vista consoles integral EMBER control protocol and an Axia Livewire(tm) AoIP card for the D21m system.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.2 billion for twelve months ending December 31, 2011.

The award-winning Stereo3D CAT™ 3D calibration and analysis software now natively supports 3D input from Blackmagic Design’s UltraStudio 3D or Decklink Extreme 3D.
 
Toronto, Canada – April 11, 2012 – Dashwood Cinema Solutions, developer of award-winning stereoscopic software, is pleased to announce 3D input support for Blackmagic Design‘s UltraStudio 3D and Decklink Extreme 3D devices in the Stereo3D CAT v1.1 software update. When Stereo3D CAT is paired with either device on a Mac, users can monitor, calibrate and analyze real-time stereoscopic 3D feeds from dual-SDI or HDMI1.4a 3D cameras.
 
“Blackmagic Design has set a new standard for affordable, portable, and user-friendly 3D products,” says Tim Dashwood, founder of Dashwood Cinema Solutions. “I really love the idea that anyone with a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac can simply plug in the UltraStudio 3D, patch in a 3D rig or any compatible HDMI1.4a 3D camera, and then monitor or analyze a full-raster live image directly on the screen with Stereo3D CAT. Product integration like this really expands the accessibility of our tools.”
 
“With the advent of 3D we’re doubling up on everything,” says Director of Photography Bert Dunk ASC, CSC. “Cameras, lighting, cables, it just goes up exponentially once you get into working with mirror rigs, so we are always looking for anything that can reduce the size of these on-set items… smaller pieces of gear, smaller tools to work with that can still do the job. I think that Stereo3D CAT running on a small Macbook and an UltraStudio 3D box is the perfect portable solution for that sort of thing.”
 
About Stereo3D CAT™
Designed by stereographers for stereographers, the award-winning Stereo3D CAT system is an indispensable calibration, monitoring, and analysis tool for Mac OS X. Its features include the patent pending Alignment Tracker, Stereo3D Visualizer™, Parallax Inspector™, Parallax Line Guides, Depth Analysis, 3D Monitoring Modes, Stereoscopic Waveform/Vectorscope, Geometry Correction and Logging Meta Data Support. Version 1.1 now also supports large format sensors and IMAX screen sizes. Stereo3D CAT also supports input from QuickTime compatible capture devices in addition to Blackmagic Design’s Decklink Extreme 3D and UltraStudio 3D.
 
Stereo3D CAT™ availability
Stereo3D CAT™ is available now at http://www.dashwood3d.com/stereo3dcat.php. The free version is available for immediate download. For a limited time, licenses purchased online at Dashwood3D.com with the coupon code “NAB2012″ will start at US$999. This offer expires 04/22/12. This offer only applies to Stereo3D CAT licenses and excludes the Dashwood3D Chart.
 
Dashwood will be showcasing Stereo3D CAT in booth C9510 during the NAB 2012 show held in Las Vegas from April 14-19. Dashwood will also be showcasing its entire new product line, including brand new features in its Stereo3D Toolbox plugin for After Effects, Motion and Final Cut Pro.
 
To schedule a press briefing with Tim Dashwood during NAB, please contact Erin Shields – erin(at)dashwood3d(dot)com.
 
Press Kit
A Press Kit with logos, screenshots and photos is available at http://www.dashwood3d.com/Dashwood_Stereo3D_CAT_press_kit.zip
 
About Dashwood Cinema Solutions
A part of the Noise Industries Development Partner Program since 2009, Dashwood Cinema Solutions is the R&D wing of Tim Dashwood’s Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based production company that specializes in stereoscopic pre-visualization, music videos and film production. Dashwood Cinema Solutions’ mandate is to find solutions to common problems in film production and post-production. Its award-winning flagship product, Stereo3D Toolbox™ is utilized by post-production houses around the world for easy stereoscopic 3D mastering on the Mac platform. For more information about Dashwood Cinema Solutions, please go to http://www.Dashwood3D.com.
 
Stereo3D Toolbox, Stereo3D CAT, the Dashwood 3D Chart, and Stereo3D Visualizer are trademarks of Dashwood Cinema Solutions, a division of 11 Motion Pictures Limited. All other trademarks, registered trademarks and products mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
 
Press Contact:
 
Zazil Media Group
Janice Dolan
(p) +1 617 817 6595
(email) janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com
 
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High-bandwidth solution extends two DVI video, keyboard, mouse, and USB for high-performance applications

Montreal, Canada, April 11, 2012 — Matrox Graphics Inc. today unveiled Matrox® Avio™ F120, the first in a new line of fiber-optic KVM extenders designed for graphics-intensive and visualization applications. The Avio F120 transmitter and receiver pair extends two single-link DVI video, keyboard, mouse, audio, and USB HID devices from the host system by up to 2000 m (6562 ft) using a single duplex LC-LC fiber-optic cable. The uncompressed fiber-optic transmission maintains graphics performance and full frame-rate HD video playback with no latency at the remote station, while the computer remains safely secured in a climate-controlled machine room for enhanced security and easier IT maintenance. Furthermore, the Avio F120’s system-agnostic design and wide-ranging OS compatibility facilitate true plug-and-play deployment in industrial process control, oil and gas, 3D design and visualization, government, and military environments.

Matrox will be showcasing the Avio F120 KVM extender at NAB 2012 in booth# SL5115, from April 16-19, 2012.

“Matrox Avio F120 can separate the system’s I/O functionality from the system to reliably meet distance, security, safety, multi-display, and performance requirements,” said Caroline Injoyan, Business Development Manager at Matrox Graphics, Inc. “The Avio F120 uses just one fiber-optic cable to transmit all I/O signals from the host computer to the remote dual-monitor station, drastically simplifying installation while enabling an uncompromised user experience, which are essential in high-performance applications.“

Additional Matrox Avio F120 features:

- Extends two single-link DVI video with maximum resolutions of 1920×1200 per display or one dual-link DVI video at 2560×1600

- Supports maximum distances of 300 m (984 ft) in Multi-mode and 2000 m (6,562 ft) in Single-mode via an optional upgrade

- Includes USB or PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors, and multiple USB HID ports

- Enables a secondary user on the transmitter unit to access the host computer for maintenance or to share the remote desktop on a collaborative video wall

- DDC compliance and advanced EDID management for reliable communication between the remote displays and host system

- Compatible with Microsoft® Windows®, Linux®, Unix, and Mac OS® X operating systems

Availability
The new Matrox Avio F120 KVM extender is available as of May 2012. For more information, visit www.matrox.com/graphics or contact graphics@matrox.com.

- Avio F120 Transmitter
Part number: AV-F120TXF

- Avio F120 Receiver
Part number: AV-F120RXF

About Matrox Graphics Inc.
Matrox Graphics is a leading manufacturer of graphics solutions for professional markets. In-house design expertise, top-to-bottom manufacturing, and dedicated customer support make our solutions the premier choice in industries that require stable, high-reliability products. Founded in 1976, Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with representation and offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Automatic sync solution assembles recordings made by fans
 
Vancouver, British Columbia — April 11, 2012 — Outlisten, an innovative new platform for crowd-sourced concert videos that Wired Magazine called ‘a new music format’, has chosen CloudEyes™ —a media synchronization technology that lets producers and contributors share and mine footage remotely—as the foundation for their offering.
 
“At concerts, everyone has a camera in-hand. We asked ourselves—what’s the best way to share all that footage?” said Jeff Ponchick, CEO. “Uploading disconnected pieces of video to the web isn’t good enough. We wanted multi-camera live concert videos that were fan-made, fan-sourced, and fan-edited, and with an interactive viewing experience. We were thrilled to discover CloudEyes, a fantastic technology that makes it not only possible, but easy.”
 
The automatic synchronization technology of CloudEyes is used by video editors thousands of times every day to create everything from wedding videos to commercials to indie films. Like Singular Software’s family of post-production tools, it syncs without the need for timecode, clappers or any special preparation, and automates the most time-consuming of media preparation tasks—except now, all those production benefits have moved from desktop to cloud.
 
“Outlisten is aspiring to a new wave of crowd-sourced video production, and it’s exactly the kind of collaboration that we wanted to enable,” said Bruce Sharpe, Singular CEO. “CloudEyes will allow them to not only participate, but lead that charge.”
 
CloudEyes is based on the same multi-award winning technology that powers the popular PluralEyes® and DualEyes™ products that sync audio and video clips for multi-camera and dual-system audio applications.
 
About Outlisten
Outlisten is dedicated to a deeper connection between musical artists and fans through live concerts. Outlisten organizes fan-recorded videos, and stitches together any overlapping moments, turning an artist’s fans into their very own cameramen. Fan-recorded content already makes up a vast amount of an artist’s visual presence. Outlisten’s goal is to take that content, organize it through their product, and allow artists and labels to leverage and capitalize off it while engaging their audiences in an entirely new way.
 
About Singular Software
Since 2008, Singular Software has pioneered workflow automation for audio and video professionals. The breakthrough innovations of PluralEyes and DualEyes automate and simplify multi-camera, multi-take and dual-system audio productions, and integrate with the industry’s most widely used video editing software. For more information about Singular Software, please visit: http://www.singularsoftware.com.
 
PluralEyes, DualEyes and CloudEyes are trademarks or registered trademarks of Singular Software Inc. All other trademarks, registered trademarks and products mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
 
CloudEyes Availability
Developers interested in learning more about CloudEyes can find out more at
http://www.singularsoftware.com/cloudeyes.
 
Press Contact
To schedule a press briefing or request a product review, please contact Janice Dolan at:
Zazil Media Group
Janice Dolan
(p) +1 617 817 6595
(email) janice(at)zazilmediagroup(dot)com
 
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On the heels of hiring Misha Louy as EP and Partner, Decon continues its steady ramp-up in the advertising space with the addition of Creative Director and Director Wyatt Neumann, who joins the studio from R/GA. Neumann brings a solid resume on both the production and agency sides of the business, with experience leading accounts for Verizon and shooting campaigns for clients like Nokia and Frontier Airlines (including Super Bowl spots). He has also contributed to countless campaigns for major brands, including work for HP, Nike, Ameriprise Financial, Microsoft, Adobe, Yahoo!, Virgin, Target and Starbucks.

“Wyatt has been a longtime friend and collaborator, and we couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to bring him on board,” noted Decon CEO and co-founder Peter Bittenbender. “Over the years he has done some amazing work and the fit couldn’t be more perfect as Decon continues its expansion.”

“Decon is taking huge steps to propel themselves in the ad space,” stated Neumann. “Their commitment to dynamic creative work, and maintaining cultural relevancy for their clients is definitely refreshing. And I love the team over there…happy to be officially part of the family.”

Neumann has earned recognition in countless publications and awards including AICP, ADDY, ADC, Clios and Cannes.

Visit Decon

About Decon
Idea shop, production company, and record label; we are a new creative force generating culturally relevant solutions in content, music and experience.

Formed out of necessity and fueled by passion, we have developed an ethos that ensures all work is aesthetically and intellectually progressive. We have grown three distinct businesses under one brand, which operate autonomously, but when combined, create unparalleled brand solutions for our clients and partners. Our work not only starts chatter, it brings about change. We are a group of creatives from all walks of life; ideas and their execution are our medium.

More info: TRUST 646 452 3388 (NY) 310 451 5153 (LA) trustcollective.com

AES Convention A Catalyst For Innovative Plug-In’s Scientific Role

ITHACA, NY: At the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library things can get a little wild. As the world’s largest scientific archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings, this collection encompasses over 195,000 sound and 60,000 video clips. Curator of Audio, Greg Budney and Supervising Audio Engineer Bill McQuay routinely investigate new tools to aid their research. Most recently they have been experimenting with the Pro-Codec, an audio plug-in created by UK-based Sonnox and Germany’s Fraunhofer (developer of MP3 technology).

Introduced last year, the Pro-Codec is a groundbreaking plug-in designed to revolutionize the process of mastering audio for online distribution. By enabling audio engineers to precisely audition codecs in real time, the Pro-Codec eliminates the prolonged cycle of encoding a music mix to MP3/AAC, previewing and tweaking it and then returning to their starting point to re-render. The abridged process frees the engineer to focus on producing a compensated, optimized mix.

Budney and McQuay first learned of the Pro-Codec while attending last year’s Audio Engineering Society Convention in NYC. “I spoke to the Fraunhover folks about our need to demonstrate appropriate and inappropriate uses of MP3 sound files to the scientific research community, and they directed us to the Sonnox booth,” McQuay says.

“We’re a resource for scientists studying evolutionary relationships between animals,” Budney explains. “Many species have genetically based sounds. By examining the vocalizations of a group of animals, their sounds can provide a window into their evolutionary relationships. Motion picture producers also use our collection,” he adds. “Skywalker Sound routinely contacts the Library for creative fodder, sometimes for sounds to build upon, sometimes for accurate natural world sounds.”

“We are trying to demonstrate to the scientific community that there may be appropriate and inappropriate uses for a lossy codec like MP3, which is based on human perception, but is not necessarily the perception of other species. In many cases we don’t know the perceptual limitations of these species – what frequencies they do and do not find important or encoded with meaningful information. We want to demonstrate that MP3 may be valuable for applications such as auditioning sounds, but may not be for serious sound analysis. The Pro-Codec provides a simple interface that allows us to consider what information in the frequency and time domains are being eliminated by the lossy MP3 codec,” McQuay adds.

McQuay and Budney want to assure scientists that they are listening to and analyzing sound with the greatest amount of content – audio content which might be critical to the species they are studying. “Scientists are really hip to spectrograms, they love those things,” McQuay says. “The Pro-codec’s real time FFT display graphically illustrates exactly what is happening to sound being processed by the MP3 or another lossy codec. And, the Pro-codec’s ability to make the sounds being eliminated audible helps to reinforce its lossy nature. Our hypothesis is that for serious sound analysis, the use of MP3 or other lossy formats may not be the appropriate choice.”

Research currently underway at the Macaulay Library will eventually be published in a scientific journal, pending the outcome of McQuay’s analysis. Budney points to the Library’s webpages, which provide technical support to researchers across a broad range of disciplines. “They might be marine mammalogists, ornithologists, or individuals studying animal behavior or bioacoustic phenomenon,” he says. “The library is recognized as a source of solid technical information by researchers around the globe. We’ll also be posting this information on our own webpages soon.”

Photo cap: Cornell Lab Curator of Audio, Greg Budney (left) and
Supervising Audio Engineer Bill McQuay

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For information on Sonnox Oxford Plugins please visit: www.sonnox.com

Sonnet’s xMac(TM) mini Server Rackmount for Mac(R) mini, Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink Quad Video Card, and Softron’s OnTheAir Suite Offer Multichannel Capabilities Previously Only Available Using Mac Pro(R)

IRVINE, Calif. — April 10, 2012 — At the 2012 NAB Show in booth SL9007, Softron Media Services will demonstrate four-channel HD-SDI output on a Mac(R) mini desktop computer using Sonnet’s xMac(TM) mini Server and Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink Quad video card, and running Softron’s OnTheAir Node playout software. more

– Customers Now Embracing Unique Benefits of LTFS When Combined with Complete Convenience of Award-Winning Archive Appliance Platform –

Morgan Hill, Calif., April 11, 2012 – Continuing to extend its leadership position in developing products that support the LTFS (Linear Tape File System) format, Cache-A Corporation has built a significant track record with this emerging technology. HBO, Safeway and Offhollywood are among the first companies to deploy Cache-A’s enhanced LTFS technology with their archive appliances.

“LTFS is a great idea, but many early implementations need work,” said Pliny, CIO of Offhollywood in New York. “Cache-A’s solution is the rare exception; our Pro-Cache appliance handles LTFS beautifully. We recently started partnering with HBO to archive certain digital media assets to LTFS LTO-5, and we couldn’t be happier with the workflow.”

All of Cache-A’s LTO-5 based products include LTFS capability, including the company’s flagship product — the award-winning Pro-Cache5, the high-performance Power-Cache and the quiet, desktop Prime-Cache5. Cache-A is featuring all of these products at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB 2012) in Las Vegas, NV (Booth SL10508).

LTFS is particularly relevant for media and entertainment companies that need storage solutions that effectively safeguard their content, increase data mobility and share content organization-wide.

“At the two previous NAB shows, we were one of the first companies to demonstrate and begin shipping complete LTFS-enabled products that are easy to use and provide complete functionality,” said Phil Ritti, Chief Executive Officer of Cache-A. “Now, at this year’s NAB, we are proud to extend our leadership by being among the first companies to have customers using our LTFS-enabled products – helping them find, share and manage files on a daily basis.”

Based on open software, LTFS enables users to interchange content across different operating systems, software applications and physical locations. It leverages the economy, robustness, high density and low power of tape with much of the functionality and usability of a hard drive by allowing tape to be accessed through standard file systems.

Cache-A enhances LTFS to overcome the following limitations:
• LTFS has inherent characteristics that can cause long waits when used with file management tools like Windows Explorer or Finder
• With LTFS, restoring more than a few files at a time with Explorer or Finder can be very slow
• LTFS cannot be used by itself in a network or multi-user environments because the open code or “base level” deployment requires that the LTO drive be dedicated to a single computer
• LTFS looks like, but does not behave like random access disk. Due to the inherent linear nature of tape, accesses must occur over all files in the order they were written, potentially causing long delays

Benefits of the Cache-A interface that specifically enhance LTFS include:
• File Manager Utility — File moving that avoids issues with Finder/Explorer
• URL Encoding — Allows archiving of file names with illegal characters
• Networked — Makes LTFS volumes available across a LAN
• Indexed — Every tape is searchable and can have additional metadata for every file, folder and tape
• Easy Formatting of Media — No shell command line is required
• Easy Mount and Unmount — No shell command line and no locked eject due to folders in use
• No Client-side Software — Every computer can instantly work with it

With Cache-A’s implementation of LTFS, the tape both looks and behaves like a disk, and all tape operations are handled transparently in the background by the archive appliance and delivers a solution that is:
• Self-contained: Platform neutral to stand the test of time
• Interchangeable: Easy to distribute and interchange assets
• Extensible: Scalable to meet future needs

As a complete archive solution for digital media professionals, Cache-A appliances simplify operations, improve manageability and meet their long-term data retention requirements. Self-contained, easy to deploy with no assembly or installation required, Cache-A appliances know where every file lives on each tape and organizes restores for efficient linear access. They also allow users to employ hard disk caching for file transfers, which protects them from the latencies and access issues associated with linear tape. In addition, they include full remote support and software updates ensure that users always have the latest LTFS version as well as the latest Cache-A features. To download a white paper that explains further how Cache-A archive appliances utilize LTFS to deliver long-term archival stability and ease of use, please go to http://cache-a.com/paperform.php.

“Cache-A’s LTO-5 based products with LTFS make an ideal archiving and interchange solution, enhancing both production and post-production workflows as well as improving asset management and interchange,” said Mark Ostlund, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Cache-A. “Because LTFS makes the contents of the tape compatible and accessible to any facility with an LTO-5 tape drive, it provides a self-contained content delivery system as well as a highly reliable archive format.”

About Cache-A Corporation
The expert in LTFS applications and the winner of Creative Cow’s Blue Ribbon Award for NAB 2011 for “Best Archiving System,” Cache-A is a leading supplier of network-attached archive appliances for the media and entertainment industry. Cache-A’s archive appliances can easily archive source masters for production or entire projects for post-production using the secure, portable, interchangeable, industry standard LTFS or tar format on LTO-5 media. www.Cache-A.com

Contact:
Randy Savicky
Strategy+Communications
(203) 226-6156
randy@strategypluscommunications.com

PETALUMA, Calif. — April 10, 2012 — Furman today announced that it is shipping its first two Contractor Series products: the CN-1800S (15 amp capacity) and CN-2400S (20 amp capacity) SmartSequencers(TM). Designed for commercial A/V installers, the units combine AC power distribution, protection, filtration, sequential system power on/off, and optional compatibility with Panamax/Furman’s BlueBOLT(R) hosted remote power and energy management platform. more