Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Splice Vine - August Links


> From the Final Cut User blog, a future iPhone app by Cinemek: the Hitchcock Mobile Storyboard Composer. It looks very robust and I doubt it will be a .99-cent app either.

> While we're still talking about pre-production, check out Celtx which is open source media pre-production software. You can't beat free.

> "All ready ?!" Yep, the world's first iPhone 3GS Film Competition is already here.

> Animata brings us open source real-time animation software.

> Tired of the cookie-cutter sound effects in Soundtrack Pro? Well, make your own with SFX Machine RT. Definitely check out the interactive SFX Machine simulator - it's hilarious. This plug-in works in Soundtrack Pro, Garage Band, Pro Tools and hopefully Final Cut Pro soon. And if you buy the plug-in before the end of August it's half off ($50).

> A slick looking text-animation plug-in called Motype for FCP, Motion and After Effects.

> The Art of the Title Sequence is a great site that shows the most cutting-edge title sequences in films from around the world. Their archive also has a lot of great ones from the past like the classic one from "Se7en".

> On2 has been in the news a lot lately because of the Google acquisition but they have also quietly released an update to their game changing On2VP6 codec. The new codec, On2VP8, promises to have even better compression than H.264. Well, if anyone can do it, they can.

> And check out InqScribe for simple transcription and subtitling. I wish this were available as a plug-in for FCP.

> Last but not least: the funniest demo reel I've ever seen. btw, this is for mature (or not so mature) audiences only.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Final Cut Studio 3: Road Rules

Ok, so Apple is just calling it Final Cut Studio. But so as not to confuse it with earlier versions we'll call it version 3. Either way, the upgrade has been a long time in coming. At this point there have been countless reviews with a very detailed one in particular by Scott Simmons. diLynda.com already has a 3-hour class on what's new in Final Cut Studio 3 - and the best part is that it's FREE! i Also, Diana Weynand the Final Cut Guru and author of all of Apple's books on the subject is offering a free webinar of FCP 7 on August 13. And finally, Final Cut Studio Documentation and Workflows are now online. Adobe and others have had online manuals for a while and now Apple is getting with the program. Make sure you don't overlook the workflows link - it's more comprehensive and clear than you might expect.

My take on the new Final Cut Studio? The growing sentiment is that it does not seem too revolutionary. Larry Jordan may have summed up this sentiment best at his recent seminar in Sacramento when a friend of mine stated that Larry said FCP 7 feels more like FCP 6.5. Phill Hodgets though seems generally impressed by the release. I definitely want to upgrade but will have to wait until I get an Intel Mac since the new version of FC Studio won't run on my G5 quad. The biggest selling points for me are iChat Theatre so I can collaborate remotely with others and being able to round trip to Color. But like others I am surprised that FC Studio is not 64-bit or OpenCL compliant to take advantage of the processing improvements that come with Snow Leopard. That said I am sure the new release will slowly take off once clients and producers find out about the new features. Once I get a chance to test it out I will report back.

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