Digit 2005-04 - Clevernotions.com

Magic Bullet shoots shots
Red Giant has released version 2.0 of its Magic Bullet Suite collection of
film-look filters for After Effects, and added a new plug-in, called Film Fix,
for editors and compositors working with degraded film stock. Magic Bullet
Suite 2.0 ditches the SD and HD configurations of the original release in
favour of a single version that does both for £450 plus VAT. A render license
is available for £295 plus VAT. Upgrades from version 1.0 cost £85 plus VAT,
and owners of Magic Bullet Suite HD get the render license for free.
The update adds 13 Misfire filters that mimic film grain, splotches,
scratches, and projection artefacts; 23 additional Looks presets; improved
Mac performance; and the removal of the need to use a dongle. Film Fix
offers tools for the removal of tears, dust and scratches, as well as stabilizing
footage in 2D. Film Fix costs £1,095 plus VAT.
Red Giant, www.redgiantsoftware.com
Nikon aims at photojournalists
with the launch of the D2Hs
The D2Hs is Nikon’s latest professional digital SLR model and is shipping in
March for £2,128 plus VAT. With a 4.1-megapixel sensor, the D2Hs is designed for
photojournalists and sports photographers who need high speed but don’t need
high resolution. A large picture buffer for continuous shooting lets users snap up
eight frames per second for up to 50 consecutive shots using fine quality images
and JPEG compression (or 40 shots using RAW format).
The D2Hs features a new image-processing engine that produces higher
quality pictures with finer gradations and lower noise. Also new on this model
is a refined exposure metering system, improved auto white balance and better
auto focusing. The D2Hs uses USB 2.0 to connect to a Mac or PC, and can also
send pictures wirelessly to a Mac OS X or Windows XP-equipped system using
Nikon’s optional WT-2/2A 802.11g transmitter. The D2Hs is compatible with DX
Nikkor and Nikkor AF lenses.
Nikon, www.nikon.co.uk
Canon shrinks A520 camera
After replacing the A75 with the A510, Canon has replaced the A85 with the
4x-zoom, 4Mp PowerShot A520, claiming it’s 13 per cent smaller and 20 per
cent lighter. The lens is equivalent to a 35mm 35-140mm zoom and has a
maximum aperture of between f/2.6 and 5.5. Canon claims that the 9-point
rear focus system gives more efficient focusing to limit power consumption.
A redesigned flash unit, optical viewfinder, and a move from Compact Flash
to SD memory card contribute to a lighter, more compact body. The camera
includes a Print/Share button for direct printing to any PictBridge compatible
printer. A 16MB MMC card is included. Software includes ZoomBrowser EX
for Windows and ImageBrowser for Mac, PhotoStitch and PhotoRecord, plus
photo manipulation software ArcSoft PhotoStudio. It costs £204 plus VAT.
Canon, www.canon.co.uk
3DS Max 7.5 for subscribers
Discreet has announced a free update for its 3DS Max modelling, animations
and rendering suite, which will ship in mid-April. However, version 7.5 will only
be made available to users on the company’s subscription scheme, which costs
£295 plus VAT per seat per year.
3DS Max 7.5 adds a hair and fur system based on Joe Alter’s Shave And
A Haircut plug-in, which includes both styling and dynamics tools. A comb
allows brushing along complicated contours, with support for realistic effects
including clumping and frizz. The plug-in’s own dynamics system can interact
with 3DS Max’s own forces, including inheriting inertia directly from skin.
The hair system is integrated into Mental Ray, using the native Mental Ray hair
primitive for faster rendering. The update also provides the latest version of
Mental Ray, version 3.4, for use with the whole application. This adds faster
final gathering performance, and fast rasterization for first-generation rays,
according to Discreet.
Discreet, www.discreet.com
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