Digital Anarchy Needs Beta Testers For ToonIt! Aperture
From the Digital Anarchy newsletter:
Do you think ToonIt! is the coolest thing since iPods in a blender? Do you use Aperture?We’re looking for a few good Aperture users to help us test ToonIt for Aperture! If you’re interested in helping us out please drop an email to jim@digitalanarchy.com and put APERTURE BETA in the subject field. Please let me know what products of Digital Anarchy you own, how long you’ve been using Aperture, if you’ve beta tested before, and what machine(s) you’re using.
MotionGrabber Preview
Enjoy this exclusive sneak-peak at a cool plug-in that is coming out in the next few weeks. Grab this tasty tool while it’s still free to download.
MotionGrabber is a plug-in developed by Avidion Media in cooperation with Maltaannon’s company – Polygon Studio. It is meant to help you with uncommon motion tracking tasks that are hard or even impossible to handle with After Effects build in pixel tracker. They welcome you to download this plugin and give it a try.
MotionGrabber 0.0.1 is a early prerelease that was tested only with After Effects CS3 and for the time being works only on Windows. They decided to share this little piece of software with you because they already find it very useful. Please remember that the official release will work on Macs as well and be loaded with extra features, therefore it will probably no longer be free.
Generally speaking, MotionGrabber expands the spectrum of trackable data. This prerelease is only able to track the alpha channel of a given layer, but the final release is going to have a lot of extra features and hopefully it will be your second most commonly used tracking tool. A tutorial on how to use MotionGrabber.
Please note!
This prerelease is provided as-is with no official support. You may download and use it for free at your own risk. Polygon Studio, Avidion Media, nor anyone else but you alone can be held responsible for any damage that might caused by this software.
To install the plugin simply copy it into your After Effects Plug-ins directory. Please let them know what you think and let Maltaannon know of any bugs you might find. Thanks in advance. Enjoy!
Download: MotionGrabberPrerelease.zip (Windows)
The footage used in this tutorial is a property of uberstock.com. Check out the site for some amazing stock footage. Make sure to check out Uberstock’s iStockPhoto profile as well.
Submit any bugs to Maltaannon.
New Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth Betas
Adobe Labs has new beta releases of Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth.
Anyone can download and try the software for at least two days after installation while existing customers of Dreamweaver CS3 and Fireworks CS3 can request a serial number to activate the respective beta for the duration of the prerelease period. For those interested in the Soundbooth beta, we are allowing any customer with any CS3 product serial number (including but limited to Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, etc.) request and receive a beta serial number and activate the Soundbooth beta.
Adobe Launches Photoshop Express Public Beta
They’ve been talking about it for a while and today, Photoshop Express has hit the tubes. How is this free online Photoshop going to affect business? This version is stripped down compared to the full version. I think this is a great sales move. New users will try this out and realize they need something more powerful and get the full version. Sounds like a plan to me.
Press Release: Adobe Launches Photoshop Express Public Beta
Free Online Software Brings Photoshop Technology to Anyone Taking Digital Photos
SAN JOSE, Calif. – March 27, 2008 – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe’s best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.
"Photoshop is trusted technology that has changed the visual landscape of our world. Now, Photoshop Express allows anyone who snaps a digital photo to easily achieve the high-impact results for which Adobe is known," said Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. "Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit and share photos whether you’re at home, school or on the road."
Simple, Fun and Accessible
With Photoshop Express, digital photos can be uploaded and sorted anytime, edited non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and shared from anywhere, on any Web browser. In a few easy clicks, Photoshop Express empowers anyone to make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and much more.
No experience is required to add special effects that will impress friends and family. In keeping with its one-click approach, Photoshop Express offers tricks like Pop Color which selects an object in an image, mutes the background color of the photo and allows the user to swap the object’s color so it jumps off the page. Sketch effects help photos look like drawings and the Distort feature allows you to distort facial features or objects within the images for a comical or artistic effect. Even users with limited photo editing knowledge can simply select what looks best from a line-up of sample photos with visual hints showing different variations of the added effect.
Photoshop Express offers a variety of creative sharing options, including uploading and showing off photos and
slideshows in your own online "Gallery" hosted by Adobe, or conveniently embedding or linking photos to social
networking sites and personal blogs without having to leave the application. Slideshows never looked better with
animation that makes photos float and fly across the screen, allowing for viewer interactivity and unique presentation styles.
Adobe Photoshop Family
Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images. Photoshop Lightroom addresses the workflow needs of professional and serious amateur photographers. Photoshop Elements provides exciting tools and sharing options for photo hobbyists.
Photoshop Express is the latest step Adobe is taking to leverage the advanced technology that underpins its awardwinning creative products and deliver it to new online communities. In early 2007, Adobe also announced the availability of Adobe® Premiere® Express, an online video editing and mash-up tool on partner sites such as MTV and Photobucket. Adobe Premiere Express leverages the functionality found in Premiere Elements, a fully-featured desktop video editing program.
Free and Available Now
Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now for free via any Web browser at http://www.photoshop.com/express. Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe’s free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash® Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express. In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to US residents-only in English.
Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the US. Future plans include availability in other languages and countries.
Adobe Delivers Previews of Pro Video Tools
Early Releases of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, After Effects CS3 and Soundbooth CS3 Available
By BusinessWire – SAN JOSE, Calif., BUSINESS WIRE – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced free public previews of Adobe Premiere(R) Pro CS3, Adobe After Effects(R) CS3 Professional and Adobe Soundbooth(TM) CS3 software, components of the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite(R) 3 Production Premium. Video and creative professionals now have the opportunity to test these new public previews on Adobe Labs at http://labs.adobe.com/. The final shipping releases will be available worldwide in the third quarter of 2007.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 is a major upgrade to the company’s award-winning nonlinear video editing software tool. Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional software is for visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing for film, video, DVD, the web, and mobile devices. Adobe Soundbooth CS3 is a new innovative and intuitive audio software tool for creating and editing audio and fixing common audio flaws using visually-oriented tools. All products support Intel-based Macintosh systems, Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP, and Windows Vista(TM), with the software optimized to deliver outstanding performance on the latest hardware. Adobe After Effects CS3 is also available for Macintosh as a Universal Binary application.
"We’ve seen tremendous growth and adoption of our professional video, audio and motion graphics tools over the past year and want to offer our customers a taste of what is right around the corner with Production Premium CS3," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. "These public previews are packed with new features and workflows that will enable new levels of expressiveness and productivity over multiple mediums, and we hope our open approach will help customers kick-start some really innovative new projects."
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium will be demonstrated during the NAB 2007 Conference and Exhibition at The Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, April 16 – 19 (Booth SL 3220).
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 makes every phase of video production more efficient. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 now includes Adobe OnLocation(TM) CS3 with Adobe Encore(R) CS3 enabling direct-to-disk recording and monitoring, creating a more efficient workflow from the point of capture to final output. Enabling video professionals to edit creatively and efficiently, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 offers new features that streamline the editorial process. Time remapping allows dramatic slow and fast-motion effects creation. With precise keyframe control, real-time feedback, and excellent quality from advanced frame blending, users can slow things down without compromising quality. Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 with Adobe Encore CS3 includes the ability to author once and deliver to multiple media formats, including high-definition Blu-ray Discs, standard definition DVDs, and web based experiences in the SWF format for playback in the Adobe Flash(R) Player. OnLocation CS3 and Encore CS3 are not included in the public previews, but will be available when the final products ship in summer 2007.
After Effects CS3 Professional now includes a range of innovative new features for animation and visual effects, along with powerful integration with Adobe Photoshop(R) CS3 Extended. The new Shape Layers tool allows flexible drawing and animation of vector shapes with the ability to add and animate strokes, fills, gradients and vector effects. The Puppet Tool provides a new approach to character animation by giving the user the ability to squash and stretch images or text as an animated character.
Adobe Soundbooth CS3 enables creative professionals to quickly record, edit and create pristine audio without requiring training in sound production. Tight integration with Adobe Flash(R) and Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 enables Adobe Soundbooth CS3 users to easily remove noise from recordings, polish voiceovers, and customize music to fit a production.
“Adobe continues to deliver great tools for filmmakers with Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium,” said Stu Maschwitz, co-founder and chief technology officer at The Orphanage. “After Effects CS3, Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended together pack an integrated punch that’s hard to beat.”
Pricing and Availability
The public previews of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe After Effects Professional CS3 and Soundbooth CS3 are now available as a free download at http://labs.adobe.com
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
(C) 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Suite, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation, Encore, Flash and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Adobe Systems Incorporated Sandra Nakama,
415-832-4053 snakama@adobe.com or A&R Edelman Cara E. Porchia,
650-762-2802 cara.porchia@ar-edelman.com
Copyright Business Wire 2007. All Rights Reserved
OpenEXR in After Effects CS3: Open Source Plugin Imports/Exports All Channels in Float
This came via The General Specialist:
A free plugin that will let you import, rearrange and use all the available channels in OpenEXR files into After Effects CS3 float project. Brendan Bolles has kindly provided the world with a beta version of a set of four 32 bpc-aware plugins, complete with a sample project and a 49-channel OpenEXR image.
The plug-in is from Fnordware and requires AE CS3
Cineform Intermediate 2K and HD Codec for Mac and Final Cut Pro Now Available as a Public Beta
Intel-based Macs Running Final Cut Pro Gain the Benefits of High Visual Fidelity and High Bit Depth Precision Offered by CineForm Intermediate Software
Solana Beach, Calif., March 6, 2007 – CineForm®, Inc. announced today that it has released an unrestricted public beta of its CineForm Intermediate software codec for Intel-based Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" systems running Apple’s Final Cut Pro. CineForm Intermediate is now offered as an extremely high-quality QuickTime movie running under Mac OS X. These QuickTime movie files offer 10 bits of arithmetic precision with spatial resolution up to 2K (2048 x 2048). Intended for Professional and Prosumer applications that demand high visual fidelity without the need for specialized hardware, CineForm Intermediate QuickTime files are visually identical to the .AVI files CineForm has supported on the Windows platform for many years. Further, CineForm QuickTime movie files are completely cross-platform (Windows or Mac) compatible, and may be created and played on either platform.
"CineForm’s compressed Digital Intermediate workflow has become synonymous with high visual fidelity and efficient software performance on the Windows platform", said David Taylor, CEO of CineForm. "With Apple’s recent move to Intel CPUs, the Macintosh, where perhaps 70% of independent film productions originate, has now become an extremely high-performance platform for our software. Combined with the broad market reach of Final Cut Pro, we’re enthused to offer our online workflow to the largest content-creation community while also enabling cross-platform file and workflow compatibility".
In additional news, Wafian Corporation (www.wafian.com) is now shipping its HR1 direct-to-disk HD-SDI recorders with the option to record directly into Cineform Intermediate QuickTime movie files. This allows Wafian customers to choose either Mac OS X (Final Cut Pro) or Windows (Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas) as the primary editing platform.
Product Overview
The CineForm Intermediate codec for Mac OS X offers the same visual fidelity as its Windows counterpart, with 10-bit precision, 4:2:2 chroma, and up to 2K spatial resolution. Numerous workflow features plus codec performance will be updated regularly throughout the beta period, including adding support for CineForm RAW, spatial and temporal image resampling, plus HD-SDI and HDMI acquisition interfaces. The software requires an Intel-based Mac and is compatible with Final Cut Pro. CineForm QuickTime files created on either Windows or Mac OS X machines may be moved between platforms with full compatibility. CineForm intends full support for the next version of Adobe® Production Studio for Mac OS X when it is released later in 2007.
Pricing and Availability
CineForm Intermediate software for Mac OS X is available now from CineForm’s website (www.cineform.com) as an unrestricted no-charge public beta for all users with Intel-based Macs. The beta period will last into May of 2007, after which CineForm will announce pricing and feature details for its production release.
About CineForm and CineForm Intermediate
CineForm, Inc., located in Solana Beach, California, develops software products for use by media professionals in high-resolution acquisition and post-production applications. Powered by CineForm Intermediate, CineForm’s acclaimed products provide unmatched visual fidelity and real-time performance within an editing environment while enabling an online compressed digital intermediate workflow that runs on affordable Windows or Macintosh PCs. For more information, contact CineForm at 858-345-2645, or visit CineForm’s website at www.cineform.com.
Beta Test Tinderbox for Combustion on Windows
A beta release of Tinderbox for Combustion on Windows (Boxes 1,2,3,4) is available. Requirements: Combustion 4.0 on Windows.
Interested? Contact beta-tb4c@thefoundry.co.uk.
Beta Test for Digital Anarchy
Posted to the AE-List by Jim Tierny, Digital Anarchy:
We’re working on some plug-ins using the Core Image stuff on the Mac and need some quick testing help.We need folks who have:
- Mac OS 10.4 or better
- FCP 5.1 or better
- AE 6.x or better
- preferabably a Mac-Intel machine and FCP 5.1.2 (but PPC is ok)
- 2-3 hours to install and briefly look at each filterDrop me a line at jim@digitalanarchy.com if you’re interested and let me know what version of the OS, FCP, and AE you have and what machine you’re running.
If you report back to us after you’ve tested it, you’ll get a free license of the software.
Adobe Releases Beta Version of Photoshop CS3
Company Also Previews Adobe Bridge and All-New Adobe Device Central
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Dec. 14, 2006 – Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) will introduce a beta version of Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 software, the next release of the world standard in digital imaging, on Friday, December 15th. Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple’s new Intel-based systems. The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform, as well as for Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista computers. The final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 is planned for Spring 2007. The software can be downloaded at Adobe Labs, in the early hours Pacific Standard Time on December 15.
Packed with new features, Photoshop CS3 beta also includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Photoshop customers can use Adobe Device Central to design, preview, and test compelling mobile content, created specifically for smaller screens. This new tool, integrated in the Photoshop CS3 beta, simplifies and accelerates the creation of mobile content through a preview environment and built-in device profiles.
“This is an exciting time for the Mac, and Adobe wanted to ease the move to new Intel-based systems with a preview release of Photoshop CS3,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. “We didn’t want to leave Windows customers out of the party, so the beta is available to everyone in the creative industry’s most passionate user community — no matter what their platform choice. We still have some surprises in store, but this beta gives customers an early chance to see the power of another great Photoshop release, optimized and tuned to run natively on the latest hardware and operating systems.”
To utilize Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, customers require a serial number from either Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Creative Suite® 2, Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio, Adobe Design Bundle, Adobe Web Bundle or Adobe Video Bundle. Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta is available in English only. Customers who have a valid serial number for all other language versions of qualifying Adobe products can download the software. Without a serial number, users can still download Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, with the product expiring after two days. Customers must register online with Adobe or have an existing Adobe.com membership account to access the software.
In related previews of future technologies, Adobe has also released two new web tools as beta releases. Adobe CSS Advisor is a new web-based community site to easily identify and resolve browser compatibility issues. Web designers and developers can contribute their own issues, comment on existing issues, or become an editor to participate in driving the site’s future. The site is accessible at: www.adobe.com/go/cssadvisor. Also introduced is a beta release of Adobe Spry framework for Ajax, a designer-focused solution for adding the interactive power of Ajax when developing rich, dynamic web-sites. Adobe Spry framework for Ajax is available at: www.adobe.com/go/spry.
System Requirements
For Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, recommended system requirements are as follows. For Macintosh: Mac OSX 10.4.8 or 10.5, 1 GHz PowerPC® G4 or G5 processor, Intel based Macintosh. For Windows: Intel® Xeon® , Xeon Dual, Centrino® or Pentium® 4 processor, Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, Microsoft Windows Vista. Both platforms require 512 MB RAM and a 1024×769 resolution screen. Photoshop CS3 beta will expire soon after the launch of Photoshop CS3 in Spring 2007. Details on final pricing, system requirements and availability have yet to be determined.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
