Post Magazine

APRIL 2010

Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/9707

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 53 of 59

PRODUCTS Boxx offers new renderer A USTIN, TX— Boxx (www.boxx tech.com) has added to its line of rendering systems with RenderBoxx, which features a multiprocessor and networked ar- chitecture, and is designed for 3D graphics and ani- mation workflows. Users can choose a system with four quad- core Intel Xeon 5600 Series procs (16 cores) or four six-core Intel Xeon 5600 Series procs (24 cores in all). The Intel Xeon 5600 Se- ries procs run at up to 3.33GHz. The 24-core op- tion features up to 50 percent more processing power than a quad-core model, but without a 50 percent increase in price. Even with the additional cores, the 24-core Render- Boxx’s density and energy requirements remain the same. Poser Pro packed with characters A LISO VIEJO, CA— Smith Micro (www. smithmicro.com) has launched Poser Pro 2010 ($499.99), a new version of its 3D char- acter app. The release features over 2.5GB of ready-to-use content, including pre-rigged, fully textured 3D characters. The app’s Talk Designer, Walk Designer, Morph Brush, Face Room, Dynamic Hair and Cloth Tools allow users to develop their own animations too. Collada interchange support allows animators to integrate characters within other popular apps, such as 3DS Max, Maya and Cinema 4D. A new content man- agement system allows for easier access to con- tent collections with the ability to search both a li- brary’s content and Smith Micro’s online market Content Paradise by category and keyword. New indirect lighting features include the ability to combine indirect diffuse illumination with improved irradiance caching and path tracing. And the improved rigging system in- cludes multiple Falloff Zones and Joint Strength preview, which allows users to rig problem areas such as hips and shoulders with more precision. Eight new ready-to-pose human figures have been added, as has more than 1GB of new content. This joins the 1.5GBs of previously-released 3D scene assets that are also included. A new “render PSD layers” feature allows users to render Photoshop lay- ers for a scene’s normal, position, Z-depth, UV and ToonID. This is helpful for those using Pho- toshop or After Effects for compositing. DVS’s flexible storage solution H ANNOVER, GERMANY — DVS (www.dvs.de) was at NAB with its SpycerBox Ultra, a fast and reliable storage solution that can be tailored to meet specific workflows. SpycerBox Ultra can be configured as a NAS or SAN and is also offered with a choice of high-performance SAS or high-capacity SATA drives, with 14.4TB of storage and up to 48TB of storage, respectively. The core of DVS’s Venice video server is also available as a sep- arate module, which can be configured into SpycerBox for a cap- ture and playout storage solution. In related news, DVS is unveiling Atomix at NAB, a new line of video boards that offer support for 4K resolution in realtime, along with realtime 4K processing. 52 Post • April 2010 www.postmagazine.com StarTech solves display compatibility issues G ROVEPORT , OH — StarTech.com (www.startech.com) has released a new line of Mini DisplayPort adapters that allow users to overcome compatibility issues be- tween new laptop and desktop computers equipped with a Mini DisplayPort output port and older monitors and displays that only sup- port connections such as DVI, HDMI and VGA. DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort interfaces are quickly becoming a standard for connect- ing monitors or displays to PCs and Mac com- puters, so these adapters allow users to easily connect their new computers to VGA, HDMI or DVI monitors without sacrificing the high reso- lution capability that the video source pro- vides. The Mini DisplayPort is a miniaturized version of the DisplayPort interface, which is designed to deliver high definition video and audio content through a single cable. Mini Dis- playPort is currently used by Apple in several versions of its MacBook notebooks and desk- top computers. StarTech.com is offering a Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter for $29.99; a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter for $28.99; and a Mini Dis- playPort to DVI adapter for $28.99. The adapters support computer display resolu- tions up to 1920x1200 and HDTV resolutions up to 1080p. They are completely hardware based, are Mac and PC compatible, and fea- ture plug-and-play installation. Shotgun partners with Tweak L OS ANGELES— Shotgun Soft- ware (www.shotgun- software.com) and Tweak Software (www.tweaksoft- ware.com) have re- leased an integra- tion package for seamless interoper- ation of their VFX and animation pro- duction tools. Shotgun is a Web-based collabo- ration tool for digital production studios. Tweak’s RV is a cross-platform, real- time, film res, HDRI and sequence viewer. With this so- lution studios can track, organize, play and review work. Shotgun+RV al- lows users to quickly move from navigating tracking data in Shotgun to viewing or compar- ing one or more clips in RV. Users can launch Shot- gun-aware playback from anywhere in the pipeline, includ- ing from within Shot- gun, via links in email, IM/Chat, to- do lists and Web pages. They can also link into Shot- gun from RV to view metadata or create notes. Playlists in RV can be updated with the latest cut data from editorial, and neighboring shots can be loaded in to see them in the con- text of the cut.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - APRIL 2010