Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1400557
PRODUCTS www.postmagazine.com 40 POST JULY/AUG 2021 PLUG-IN GIVES PREMIERE TEXT-BASED VIDEO EDITING CAPABILITIES SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Digital Anarchy (www.digitalanarchy. com) has launched a new text-based video editing plug-in and web app for Adobe Premiere Pro that instantly creates video sequences by editing text from transcripts. Transcriptive Rough Cutter is built on Digital Anarchy's Transcriptive AI plug-in and automatically creates new video sequences by analyzing tran- scripts edited by video editors or their collaborators. Transcriptive Rough Cutter can use transcripts from any source: Transcriptive AI, Adobe Sensei (AI) Captions, human transcripts and more. The edits in the sequence match the edits in the transcript and create an instant rough cut, complete with timecode associated with each word. Transcriptive Rough Cutter also adds a number of new features to the transcription workflow to streamline and simplify the process of creating, sharing and collaborating on video projects in Premiere. The new Batch Project feature lets users select any clip or sequence in the project panel to be batch transcribed, making it easy to transcribe multiple files as soon as they're imported into Premiere. Multiple files are now submitted simultaneously, signifi- cantly reducing the time it takes to transcribe large numbers of files. Editors can also batch align clips or sequences that have im- ported transcripts and need to be aligned. This is critical to using Adobe Sensei or human transcripts, as they need to be synced up with the audio of the clip/sequence. Tight integration with the Transcriptive web app (Transcriptive. com), Digital Anarchy's web-based AI transcription and editing app, further simplifies cross-team collaboration. Pricing for the new plug-in is $199. RENDERMAN 24 INTRODUCES XPU, STYLIZED LOOKS & MORE EMERYVILLE, CA — Pixar has released RenderMan Version 24 (http://renderman.pixar. com), which introduces a next-generation rendering architecture for animation and visual effects called RenderMan XPU. The new release brings major advance- ments to look development and interactivity for feature film VFX and animation. With the launch of XPU, Pixar introduces a new renderer that's capable of using both CPU and GPU resources. RenderMan XPU adds next level live rendering capabilities to the pipeline, providing immediate feedback on assets of feature film complexity, allowing faster iterations for artists. The release also features a shading system for layered materi- als called Lama. Originally developed at Industrial Light & Magic, Lama has been proven in production for years. This shading system provides RenderMan's first step towards a deep MaterialX integration. Another highlight is a completely-new toolset for crafting non-photorealistic renders called RenderMan Stylized Looks. Other advancements in V.24 include bringing OSL support to the GPU through a close collaboration with Nvidia, along with streamlined support for the industry standard ACES color management system, live statistics, advancements in surface realism and a complete rewrite of RenderMan for Blender. Additionally, RenderMan artist tools for Autodesk's Maya, Foundry's Katana and SideFX Houdini, as well as Solaris, have been updated for Version 24, along with upgrades to RenderMan's Preset Browser and library of materials. RenderMan Version 24 is available for download at renderman.pixar.com for customers on maintenance. Individual licenses of RenderMan are available for $595, and $250 for yearly maintenance. ADOBE PREMIERE GETS 'SPEECH-TO-TEXT' CAPABILITIES SAN JOSE, CA — Adobe (adobe.com) Premiere Pro 15.4 introduces 'speech to text', an integrated and automated workflow for adding and customizing captions for video. The release also adds native support for Apple M1 devices, new tools for stylizing titles and captions, and other workflow improvements that will help users work faster. The speech to text feature automatically generates a transcript and adds captions to videos. Instead of manually moving between applications and platforms, users can now complete everything inside Premiere Pro. The fea- ture offers support for 13 languages. If changes are needed to a transcription, such as the correct spelling of names, text edits are easily completed in the text panel inside Premiere Pro. Once a transcription is ready, users can select "create captions" to bring the captions onto the timeline. They can also cus- tomize the appearance of the captions using the design tools in the Essential Graphics panel. Speech to text also allows editors to search transcripts for specific words or phrases. By clicking on a word in the text panel, the playhead will move to the corresponding position in the timeline. Users can also export their transcript to generate an SRT or text file right from the text panel. Premiere Pro now takes advantage of Apple M1-powered Macs, with quicker launch times to export and faster editing. And thanks to optimizations for the Apple Neural Engine — part of the M1 chip architecture — Adobe Sensei fea- tures, like Auto Reframe and Scene Edit Detection, are noticeably accelerated. Version 15.4 also now offers more tools for stylizing text and captions, in- cluding the ability to add multiple shadows to text layers, the ability to change attributes of text backgrounds, and expanded font substitution, with support for 28 different international alphabets.