Check out the CS5 Launch Event!

Photoshop CS5 Sneak Peek - Content Aware Fill

This is a sneak peek at the new possibilities with Photoshop CS5.

Matrox Announces World's First Four-Channel 3G SDI Cards for Mac

Matrox® Video Products Group today announced the Matrox Multi™ input/output cards which bring a new level of channel density to Mac Pro and Apple Xserve systems. In a single PCIe slot, a Matrox Multi card provides up to four independent inputs or outputs with up to 16 embedded audio channels per SDI stream. User-selectable combinations of 3G, HD, SD, and Dual Link are supported. The Matrox Multi cards are designed to let users get the most from the valuable expansion slots in Apple systems and eliminate the expense of multiple systems in many applications. The innovative features of the Matrox Multi cards make them the ideal choice for capture/playout servers, clip and still stores, character generators, graphics/production servers, and automation/master control units. The Matrox Multi cards are supported by the Matrox Software Development Kit (SDK) for Mac.

Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 Bundles CityScape Promo

3ds Max 2011 will be coming with a CitysScape Promo version of the software!

We have been getting questions regarding the  differences between the 'promo' version and the full 19k version.  Read more and see a table of what's not included with the promo.  Scenes are limited to 1 square mile and 25 objects.  In addition there are some limitations on imports:

Matrox MXO2 New Release 2.01

Matrox Mtx.utils 2.0.1 provides the following improvement for working with Matrox sequences in Adobe Premiere Pro:

Updating of the render bar has been improved to better indicate the realtime playback capabilities of clips in your Matrox sequences.

Download it from Matrox's site.

See more of the MXO2 line.

Eyestorm Productions Customer Spotlight:

Motion Media and AJA win big with Eyestorm!

Eyestorm Productions consists of an innovative group of filmmakers located in Santa Monica dedicated to making pretty pictures for a gamut of short form productions that range from music videos and commercials, to documentaries and game trailers.  Founders Kyle Ruddick and Michael Klima have been hard at work ever since they first came together for Star Wars: Episode 3.  Check out some of their great work at http://eyestormproductions.com/blog/

Recently Eyestorm looked to Motion Media and for a reliable HD solution. Eyestorm Productions’s team is consistently  pushing the creative envelope, which  necessitates a system that’s stable and can perform under such demands.  Enter AJA. We outfitted them with a  AJA Kona Lhi and voila!  Problem solved.  The card worked to perfection.  The Kona soaked up the heavy workload required in a high-level production environment. The Kona card’s hardware acceleration and  conversion capabilities,  along with AJA’s  famously solid drivers, led the way to a successful installation yet again.

“You guys really stand out to us as a company far beyond a normal retailer. The amount of time you invested with us and accuracy in your advice really was such a stress reliever to come across. People remember personal relationships, trust, and a strong knowledge in the products you sell...Motion Media has all that and more. We really were in a bind and you definitely helped us find a simple solution to a very complex problem we had.

Thanks Brian! “

~Michael Klima, Creative Director, Eyestorm Productions

3ds max 2011- UI Customization - More

More UI Customization:

Minimize the Command Panel, In Context UI, Viewport selection logic , snaps improvements, and save to previous version feature

3ds max 2011- UI customization - More from brian gorne on Vimeo.

Maya 2011 New Feature Video - Accelerated Skinning Workflow

Accelerated Skinning Workflow Video:

Create better skinned characters with more realistic deformations in less time, with new skinning tools and workflows: a dual quaternion option for smooth skinning, interactive volume binding, multiple enhancements to the Paint Skin Weights tool, deformer weight mirroring, and a surface falloff mode for the Wrap deformer.

3ds Max 2011 New Feature Video – Slate Material Editor

Check out this short demonstration of the new Slate material editor

More easily visualize and edit material component relationships with Slate, a new node-based material editor that helps significantly improve workflow and productivity for artists creating and editing complex material networks.

3ds Max 2011 New Feature Video - Object Paint

A revised toolset for 3D painting and editing textures within the viewport, the ability to paint with object brushes to create geometry within a scene, and a new brush interface for editing UVW coordinates; and an interactive tool for extending edge loops.

 

 

AJA Kona goes cross-platform

As of March 15, 2010, the XENA product line will be merged with the award winning KONA line, to supply both PC and Mac users with a single set of cross-platform solutions. XENA and KONA have long used the same industry-leading hardware with tailored software unique to each platform. To add value for customers, we will be packaging each KONA card with both Mac and PC software, so they can be used on either platform or both. The hardware and software are the same--only the name and package have been changed to give customers twice the software and ease-of-use on all platforms. This new naming will allow you to more easily carry inventory for any need while at the same time simplifying your marketing and sales efforts. The successful introduction of Io Express as a cross-platform solution, under one product name, reflects the ease and simplicity we hope to achieve with a unified cross-platform KONA.

Timeframe: AJA will stop selling XENA-branded products on March 15, 2010. At that time KONA products will be shipped and marketed by AJA as cross-platform PC & Mac solutions.

Autodesk® Maya® 2011 Announced!

Newly available for the Mac OS® X 64-bit operating system, Autodesk® Maya® 2011 software offers artists an invigorated user interface, new 3D editorial capabilities, and improved character animation. Contact Motion Media to attach or renew subscription today!

Maya 2011 (English) is expected to ship simultaneously on all supported platforms on or after April 7, 2010. Upgrade downloads for Autodesk® Subscription customers are expected to be available on or after April 7, 2010. C

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Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2011 Announced!

Yep, it's official, the new version will be available shortly, and here's what's inside!

3ds Max 2011 is scheduled to ship on or after April 7, 2010!  Users on current subscription will be able to download directly from their subscription center.  Not current?  Contact Motion Media to add or renew your subscription to 3ds Max!

Autodesk® FBX® 2011

Autodesk® FBX® 2011 asset exchange technology helps facilitate higher fidelity data exchange between several Autodesk content creation packages, and provides new support for certain third-party and proprietary applications. Whether using FBX within an entertainment pipeline, or as part of a design production, files are more easily transferred, more data is retained, and workflows are more efficient. Moreover, games developers using the Unreal® Editor (UnrealEd) can directly import FBX files, while developers can now use Python™ programming language to integrate FBX technology into pipelines not based on C++. And, with a new file format, FBX 2011 helps deliver both faster read and write performance and a reduced memory footprint.

Autodesk® Softimage® 2011 is announced!

Woohoo!  Softimage® 2011 introduces innovative new rendering and animation tools that help artists create more complex, high quality characters and effects in less time. Enhancements include an advanced new shading architecture and editing environment, support for kinematics in ICE (Interactive Creative Environment), and automated lip-syncing* in the Face Robot® facial animation toolset.
Softimage 2011 is scheduled to ship on or after April 7, 2010.
Read more for details on the new features.

Autodesk® Mudbox® 2011 Announced!

Yet another screenshot - it's all I got for the moment, but I think you'll agree that Autodesk® Mudbox® 2011 has got some great improvements:  64bit OSX support, blend modes (this one got an applause at a private showing), a posing toolset etc... I'll update as I get more details etc.  Autodesk should have some videos up on their site shortly.  Enjoy!

Autodesk® Motionbuilder® 2011 Announced!

Motionbuilder 2011 is here! This slide shows the major new features and if you click "read more" you can see a full list.  I believe the ship date is in April like the other Autodesk products.  Stay tuned for more details as I get them!

Chaos Group Releases New Version of PDPlayer 1.0.4

Improved Audio Support

Audio is now being read from AVI and Quicktime movies (subject to the limitation that the movie must be no longer than 30 minutes, or the audio will not be loaded). Exporting an AVI or a Quicktime movie will now save an audio track, if an audible one is present.

Important note: Quicktime and most AVI codecs are 32 bit, and Pdplayer 64 cannot access them. To play back (or export) compressed AVI movies and Quicktime movies, please use the 32 bit version of Pdplayer; you can install both side by side.

Matrox MXO2 for Mac Now Available

Release 1.9 version software for Mac OS is now available to download.

This release includes Matrox Vetura Playback, a new application on the Mac for convenient playback of H.264 and .mov files using any of the Matrox MXO2 I/O devices.

Field journalists equipped with a Matrox MXO2 device that includes the Matrox MAX H.264 encoding accelerator can shoot and edit their stories, then