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Newsletter Update |
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09-24-04 |
1) QuadCam
Released -
NEW
2) Solitaire Status and
Chad's Review
3)
Discontinued Products
4) Disk
Transfer - NEW
5)
Three New
Music CD's from Music-2-Hues -
NEW
1)
QuadCam Released -
NEW
QuadCam is an awesome
little program that allows you to take
up to four camera angles and "mix" them
live within the Casablanca. If you
make a mistake... no problem, the
software allows you to adjust the in/out
points 3-seconds in either direction.
You can also still add transitions and
image processing and music as desired.
To check out the full description, click
on link below:
Special Note:
Please be aware: the
QuadCam software works very well with
footage that uses a start-clap or
other synchronization method. The
patented SmartSync feature will not be
compatible with all cameras at the
time of release. As the developers
solve the specific issues with each
incompatible camera, we will release
subsequent versions.
Given the choice of releasing now
without this feature or waiting until
the SmartSync issues are all solved,
we decided to go ahead with the
release since the actual editing
portion of the software works very
well and is itself in high demand from
our end-users. This will be
communicated to the end-users in all
release materials, but please be sure
your customers are fully aware of this
issue. We recommend end users
continue to use their synchronization
method in either case, to insure that
their footage is always usable.
2)
Solitaire Status &
Review
Our second
manufacturing run should arrive any day.
Further Dealer Demo units and customer
orders will ship out as soon as we receive
more stock. - MacroSystems-US
Ok guys and gals... i'm very excited about
the Solitaire. I received my dealer
demo unit about a week ago and have had
ample time to try it out. I ordered
the Solitaire-2 which comes standard with
512mb RAM and (2) 160gb hard drives. I
called MacroSystem to ask them what would be
the main difference in 512mb RAM and the 1GB
and they said it would definitely help in
render intensive programs like PIP-Studio,
Title-FX, Motion-3D, etc. So, I went
ahead and installed an additional 512mb RAM
to my system. This process it not as
easy as the Avio/Kron/Prestige, so i would
recommend getting it before you get your
unit OR calling me for advise if you do
decide to add the extra RAM. I also
wanted to upgrade both my internal "backup"
drive and removable drives to the 250gb
drives, so i started to do this and then
realized that the hard-drive-sleds that came
standard with my Solitaire would not "fit"
with Maxtor drives. So, again i called
MSUS and they said that the Maxtor drives
required a different sled which was not
available yet... but coming.
So then i decided to go ahead and see what
this bad boy would do. I loaded some
footage and then went to the options and
turned on the background rendering. I
then added a clip to the storyboard and then
added a 3-second title. The title was
ready for play back almost instantaneously.
You know when you RENDER/CREATE ad title (on
the Avio), the title seems to move SOOO
slowly across the screen and you want to
just cry? Well, when i hit the create
on a title with the Solitaire, the title
seemed to be going MUCH FASTER than the
actual real-time effect..
OK, then i wanted to really push the
envelope and see how much this BACKGROUND
rendering could actually take, so i added 10
clips to the storyboard and added 2-second
Motion-3d effects between the 10 scenes.
I noticed with each one that i added, a
little dot would appear in the upper right
hand corner of the screen indicating how
many effects were in the "bin" to be
created. I was knocking them out
pretty rapidly, so i decided to see if i
could then start creating an image
processing effect. Well, the system
puked and then restarted, but IT DID NOT
LOSE any of the clips i had previously added
or any of the effects. I must say,
that i did this test BEFORE adding the extra
RAM and i haven't tried it since, but I'm ok
with this because i don't think many of us
will have 10 BIG effects being created AND
trying to process an image processing effect
at the same time.
All in all, i'm very excited about the new
Solitaire. The 1-step backup feature
is super cool. You can always revert
to the last good backup if your system ever
decides to fight you or if you have a hard
drive failure which doesn't happen all that
often anyway.
The system over all is excellent and I'm
very excited about doing my first real
project on the system. If any of you
would like to stop by and check out the
system, feel free to do so.
- Chad Bostwick, Ody Video
3)
Discontinued Products
6-in-1 Card Reader
(temporarily)
The 6-in-1 card
reader has been a very, very popular
product. Unfortunately, the
manufacturer of the reader we
currently offer has discontinued
production. We are currently actively
searching for a replacement model and
will update you as soon as we have
further candidates.
Avio DVD Upgrade
We also are
announcing the discontinuation of the
Avio DVD upgrade. All 4 current Avio
DVD models remain in full production
and availability.
4)
Disk Transfer - NEW
This disk transfer is
really awesome and will open a lot of
doors for Cassie users in the future.
For now, it will allow us to export/import
up to 20 minutes of clips from your scene
bin to/from the DVD drive on your
Casablanca in uncompressed AVI format.
When i imported some
footage that i had previously exported to
the DVD, i noticed that the footage came
in at about 2.5 times real time !!!!
This will be great for all the users out
there who have stock footage, intros, etc
that you want to have on multiple hard
drives or share/import to your PC.
Oh yes, if you have or get
the new Pioneer 108 drive, you should be
able to store 40 minutes of video
on the new DUAL LAYER (DL) DVD disks
For a complete description,
just click on the link below:
5)
Three New Music CD's
from Music-2-Hues -
NEW
There are 3 new additions to the Music
2 Hues production library (Now a total of
55 cds!). They are of course also
available individually for $49 each from
your local Casablanca dealer. It's a great
way to get royalty-free music for your
projects without any worries about
copyright infringement.
CD #53 "Comedy & Magic" (details)
This collection has been one of our
most requested CDs by our client base
worldwide. Jovial and attention getting
themes form the focus of these tracks
which range from kids comedy to
adventurous. Orchestral style arrangements
shine in bringing out the comedy and magic
to these tracks. Applications for these
cuts are endless, but if you're looking
for a little comedy, magic, or adventure,
here's the place to start!
CD #54 "Progressive New Age"
(details)
These mature yet inspiring themes were
recorded with progressive and jazz moods
in mind. Great sounding solo keyboards
with ever-flowing yet melodic riffs take
you on a journey that will keep your
productions moving forward, but not get in
the way of the visual. Full band tracks
featuring guitar, bass, keyboards, and
drums fill these themes with the modern
new-age sound. Great for almost any
application.
CD#55 - Nu World Beats
(details)
For the editor that likes to
edit-to-the-beat, these upbeat and
world-spanning tracks will help fill the
void. Featuring world percussion sounds
recorded with guitar, bass, flute, and
piano, these themes help lend a modern-day
global feel.
As always, I greatly
appreciate your continued support of my
family. If we can help your editing
experience in any way... just let us know!
Chad Bostwick
Ody Video
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