lower thirds

BrightCove: BrightSpot for Internet Video?

Brightcove is capturing a lot of attention today with their unveiling of an "online video marketplace."  With the marketplace still figuring out what to make of the YouTube/Google deal and the revenue models that don't really exist yet, there seem to be more questions than answers on today's announcement.

TechCrunch provides an excellent perspective on the news; they also raise some interesting questions and possibilities for what this could mean for online video and where it's heading.  Personally, I imagine an entirely new crop of start-ups and spin-offs (from major broadcasters and advertising agencies) aimed at developing what looks like user generated content and amateur videos and targeted at this enormous (and growing) audience.  If anything, I predict a sharp increase in the caliber and quality of UGC now that there's money to be made -- and that can't be bad for viewers....but we'll see.

Making Some Noise

Noise Industries released its greatly anticipated FxFactory today; a very cool package of visual effect design plug-ins for Final Cut Pro users.  I met these guys over a year ago, and saw them at NAB '06 last April -- although it was hard to get near them with the crowds swarming their booth!  They've been working fast and furious to round out their family of effects plug-ins for Avid, and now Final Cut Pro.

FxFactory gives FCP users over 100 GPU-accelerated visual effects plug-ins for Final Cut Pro and Motion.  This is very cool stuff and is sure to get digital media artists pretty fired up.

My friends at Noise Industries have been flying under the radar for about a year now, but expect to see and hear alot more from them as we head into NAB 2007.

Automatic Duck Heads to Indianapolis with Universal Plug Ins

Wes Plate of Automatic Duck heads to the Indy Final Cut Pro Users Group meeting tomorrow to talk about his newest timeline translation tools for Final Cut Pro users.  We announced last week that Wes had completed porting Pro Import FCP and Pro Export FCP to the Intel platform, so this will be one of the first times users will get to see these in action.

A regular presenter at the LA, Boston and NYC FCPUG meetings, Wes is using this opportunity to reach out to even more users in the midwest.

Automatic Duck Ports to Intel

Automatic Duck announced today it has completed porting its timeline translation tools for Final Cut Pro users to the Intel platform.  Friend and client, Wes Plate, has been gunning to get these new versions complete for his customers.  True to Automatic Duck style, they're really making things even easier for editors.  As Wes put it, "migrating to a new platform can be stressful enough -- you don't want to have to guess if your apps are going to work too."

Editors will also be happy to know that the Duck has teamed up with StageTools for this release and has added support for MotionPicture.  Now Pro Import FCP users have the ability to import image moves in Avid sequences using StageTools’ MovingPicture into Final Cut Pro.  What has become the preferred plug-in of thousands of documentary editors, MovingPicture lets users incorporate pans and zooms to images with really nice image quality - not easy to do.