| Xacti HD1a HD camcorder adds wide display, more
Sanyo on Thursday introduced the Xacti HD1a, a compact digital media camera that records both still pictures and digital video. It does it all onto an SD flash memory card. The Xacti HD1a is coming in September for $699.99. The Xacti HD1a records video in 720p and grabs 5.1 megapixel still images. Because it uses SD cards instead of bulky tapes or optical media, it's much more compact than other camcorders. It uses a 10x optical zoom lens and 2.2-inch LCD display. New features in the HD1a include a 16:9 widescreen still picture mode, in-camera video editing, a 30 frames-per-second 320 x 240 MPEG-4 pixel video recording mode called “Web-SHQ," optimized for the video iPod. The 16:9 still image mode grabs 3.8 megapixel images in the same wide-screen format as the Xacti HD1's digital videos.
Adobe ships InDesign, After Effects, InCopy updates
Adobe today released several updates to its software applications for professionals, including After Effects, InDesign, and InCopy. The Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional software 8.0.2 update provides Panasonic P2 format support, Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard compatibility fixes, Mac OpenGL support for supported video cards under Mac OS X v10.4.10 and v10.5, and other important fixes. The update for its professional video editing solution is 106.3MB and is available online. Adobe also noted that the Adobe InCopy CS3 5.02 update, for its provides key fixes in the areas of character alignment, undo and redo, text and fonts, dictionaries, import/export graphics, and others; the installer includes fixes from all previously released InCopy CS3 5.0.x updates (and previous InCopy CS3 5.0.x updates are no longer available separately.
TechSmith Camtasia Studio 5.0
The final word: In terms of features, Camtasia Studio 5.0 is the best choice for professionals, although the sheer wealth of options means it takes time to learn properly. The only down side is the fact that it is possible to buy (low-quality) recording software for a lot cheaper, while AllCapture 2.0 has many features for half the cost. Camtasia beats them all - but at a steep price. CAMTASIA Studio 5.0 is a specialist program for those who need to record applications on their PC for training or promotion purposes. These screencasts can be saved in a range of formats, including Flash, WMV, AVI and QuickTime. There are several competitors, including AllCapture and (for basic requirements) Easy Screen Capture Video, but none are as comprehensive as Camtasia Studio 5.0.
Phil Lewis: Interior’s rules tread close to trampling free press
Those of us in the news media are more than a bit concerned over proposed rules that could restrict photography — both still and video — on public lands. The Society of Professional Journalists and 18 other journalism organizations signed a letter this month opposing the new rules being drafted by the U.S. Department of Interior. The federal agency says it is simply codifying agency rules that are already in place. These rules include a fee schedule for commercial crews that want to film in our national parks and guidelines for what can be filmed by others and where. So what's wrong with charging a Hollywood crew a fee to shoot a wildlife movie or some other film on public land? Shouldn't there be a charge when a television commercial is shot on the rim of the Grand Canyon? Aren't rules and oversight needed to keep film crews from damaging the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades and other national parks? That's not where the beef is.
The Other Boleyn Girl Interview
While the story of Henry VIII and the down fall of Anne Boleyn may have been told many times first time movie director Justin Chadwick is once again bringing the Tudor period to the big screen. However a new character has been added to the story Anne's little known sister Mary, one of the King's lovers and the woman who bore him a healthy male heir. We are in the Dorchester hotel in London were actresses Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman and Australia actor Eric Bana, who has the role of Henry VIII, are here to promote The Other Boleyn Girl which, based on the novel by Philippa Gregory, tells of the Boleyn sisters' rivalry for the affection of the monarch and provides two strong female roles for actresses Scarlett and Natalie. .
iMovie versus Final Cut Express
When I learned that I'd be part of the Macworld Video production team, I was both excited and more than a bit apprehensive. I was excited because I enjoy working in video, though it never seems I have enough time to do so, and nervous because Apple had recently (with the introduction of iLife '08) basically killed off my video production tool of choice: iMovie HD. iLife '08 includes a program named iMovie '08, but it's related to its predecessor in name only—iMovie '08 is a completely new program. While iMovie '08 added a number of interesting features beyond those offered in iMovie HD, it also removed quite a few, and more importantly to me, created a completely new paradigm for video editing. In a typical video-editing app, such as iMovie HD, you have a spot to store your video clips, and a timeline on which to place them.
Olympics: Five divers seeking to join Bryan in Beijing
KUALA LUMPUR: The number of Malaysian qualifiers for the Olympics is expected to increase drastically when our divers compete in the 16th FINA World Cup in Beijing from Feb 19-25. Of the divers, five Yeoh Ken Nee, Rossharisham Roslan, Leong Mun Yee, Elizabeth Jimie and Pandalela Rinong have been identified as having the potential to do well at the World Cup, which is the last platform to qualify for the Olympics. So far, seven athletes have qualified for the Olympic Games on merit. They are diver Bryan Nickson Lomas; archers Cheng Chu Sian, Wan Mohd Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz and Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman; taekwondo exponents Elaine Teo and Che Chew Chan; and pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu. Yesterday, the National Sports Councils (NSC) aquatics manager for elite athletes, Jennifer Yong, said that it was possible for Malaysia to have the biggest number of divers at the Olympics as the top 18 semi-finalists in the individual competition of the World Cup will make the cut. Jennifer said that 14-year-old Pandalela, the countrys top junior diver, was their best bet for an Olympic berth in the 10m platform. She is our best bet to make the grade in the World Cup.
|
