The Tiffen Company introduced the Steadicam Flyer-LE. Providing image stabilization during shooting, the new tools free patented ISO-elastic stabilizer Arm supports 19 pounds of camera weight. The no tools Arm / Vest interface allows for quick customization to the individual operator.

On the fly weight adjustment frees the operator from dismounting the system to make changes. The open design of the arm has freedom of movement unknown in this weight class. The new adjustable arm post assembly is a feature usually found on more expensive systems. The arm will come apart with a pin removal for quick and neat storage.

BluFocus, a Blu-ray solutions and advisory services company, has introduced the Online Reporting System (ORS), a groundbreaking database-driven system that allows studios, authoring facilities, player manufacturers, quality assurance testers and others to enter, track and share production issues online in real time. Already in use by BluFocus and its clients, ORS will now be available to others in the Blu-ray Disc industry for the first time.

Sorenson Media today announced the immediate availability of Sorenson Squeeze 5, Sorenson Squeeze 5 Pro (formerly Sorenson Squeeze PowerPack), Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash and Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash Pro. This major release of Sorenson Media’s compression and encoding software offers benefits that include speed increases, superior audio and video quality, workflow enhancements and many pre-processing options. Sorenson Squeeze 5 now allows users to process multiple files simultaneously on computers with multiple cores, features new and improved codecs and filters for higher quality output and offers a new, workflow-friendly organization of presets.

Sorenson Squeeze 5 is $499; Sorenson Squeeze 5 Pro for Windows is $599, for Mac $779; Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash is $199; and Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash Pro is $299. Upgrades from previous versions of Sorenson Squeeze begin at $99.

Apple today released Aperture 2.1, which introduces an open plug-in architecture that makes it easy for photographers to use specialized third party imaging software right from within Aperture.

Available today as a free software update, Aperture 2.1 includes the Apple-developed plug-in, Dodge & Burn, which adds brush-based tools for dodge (lighten), burn (darken), contrast, saturation, sharpen and blur. Over the coming months, third party software developers will deliver image editing plug-ins for localized editing, filters and effects, noise analysis and reduction, fisheye lens correction and more.

Aperture 2.1 is available immediately as a free software update to current Aperture 2.0 users. Full system requirements and more information on Aperture can be found at www.apple.com/aperture.

CineForm, Inc. today announced that Prospect 4K and Neo 4K are now shipping. Both products quadruple the image resolution supported by the online compressed digital intermediate (DI) workflow pioneered by CineForm up to 4K (4096 x 4096) pixels. Neo 4K is compatible with virtually all Windows AVI or QuickTime applications that support image resolutions up to 4K including Adobe After Effects. In addition, Prospect 4K includes CineForm’s real-time video processing engine optimized for Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows, which enables the industry’s first real-time multi-stream 4K editing workflow. Both products include a license to CineForm’s Mac codec for cross-platform HD/2K/4K compatibility.

Both Prospect 4K and Neo 4K are available for purchase from CineForm’s website or through CineForm’s network of resellers. The MSRP for Prospect 4K is $1999 and Neo 4K is $999. Special upgrade pricing is available for existing customers. Both products are available as fully-functional 15-day Trial versions downloadable from CineForm’s website.

Handmade Digital, founded by film editor Alan Edward Bell, today released VFXTracker 2008. This new Final Cut Pro Plugin Filter/Application includes a Plugin that allows the user to easily tag visual effects clips in the sequence. The information stored in these VFXINFO tags is saved in the project, and is included in exported cut sequences. When these cut sequences are imported into VFXTracker 2008, the application extracts all data tagged as VFX. This new approach to managing visual effects data enables the user to easily generate reports that will seamlessly integrate into their workflow. The user can run VFXTracker to generate a Visual Effects Change List between two versions of a sequence so that they can quickly see if any shots have been added, removed, or modified.

The retail price is $299, with an introductory price of $199 until April 30, 2008. A demo version is available.

Here is a summary of news articles recently released by Apple:

• Logic Express 8: Error messages when using Music For Picture template
• Final Cut Studio: Encoders not seen in export options
• Final Cut Pro 6: Timecode (drop and non-drop) may switch unexpectedly
• Final Cut Studio 1: Some effects render black if Aperture 2 is installed
• Final Cut Studio: “All Markers” option does not include DVD Chapter Markers