FxFactory Pro 2.5 is a significant update to Noise Industries’ award-winning visual effects package. All plug-ins are available in trial mode. The update is free for current FxFactory Pro 2 users.

FxFactory Pro 2.5 adds eight new plug-ins and significant improvements to old favorites, such as the Slideshow generator. The new Slide show generator (found under FxFactory Pro Generators category) introduces a new user interface that makes it easy to reorder and rename images. The plug-in includes four new transition effects applied automatically between slides.

FxFactory Pro 2.5 adds the following new filters and transitions for a total of more than 160 plug-ins:

FxFactory Pro Color Correction: Local Contrast and Vibrance offer new color enhancements previously available in photo retouching software such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.

FxFactory Pro Transitions: Accordian, Genie, Origami (Square), Origami (Triangle) and Page Flip.

FxFactory Pro Distort: the Genie effect is also available as a filter which offers automatic animation and exciting presets.

This version of FxFactory requires Mac OS X10.5.8 Leopard or Mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard. FxFactory plug-ins run inside Final Cut Pro versions 6 and 7, Motion Versions 3 and 4, Final Cut Express 4, Adobe After Effects versions 8, 9 and 10 (CS3, CS4 and CS5).

FxFactory is a free download that gives users unlimited access to free plug-ins and trial versions of FxFactory Pro and other commercial plug-ins.

MusicRevolution.com, an innovative online marketplace for production music, announced the launch of its Free Music Program for qualified schools, educational institutions and non-profit organizations as a way to give something back to the community.

For more information click here.

The Pixel Farm Ltd, developer of innovative image-processing systems for VFX, DI and restoration, announced the PFMatchit, a groundbreaking 2D/3D camera-tracking/matchmoving software package, aggressively priced for every desktop. The new product is announced as part of wider realignment of the company’s core VFX product range, including the renowned PFTrack.

PFMatchit, released in response to customer demand for a lower entry point to The Pixel Farm’s technology, is the first product to harness the company’s new 64-bit, node-based flowgraph architecture. This approach dramatically improves the core processes involved in camera tracking, one of the most critical aspects of successful VFX creation.

The new architecture gives users a logical, visual overview of tracking workflows, and a procedural, non-linear environment in which to work. Digital artists have full control over every aspect of each individual operation within a workflow, and can experiment non-destructively with different approaches to a shot to achieve the best possible result. Moreover, the new architecture facilitates shared data manipulation, greater flexibility and ultimately richer creative options for the digital artist.

Optimised as a GPU-accelerated, 64-bit application, and running natively on OSX, Windows and Linux, the new architecture is underpinned with metadata management, fully-integrated Python scripting, workflow customisation and a host of other features, such as in-built rolling shutter correction and image-distortion tools.

Built on this powerful foundation, PFMatchit delivers a cutting-edge 2D and 3D tracking toolset. PFMatchit can solve an unlimited number of camera and object motions per shot, with each contributing to another, and then export the data as a single file. It can also solve for lens distortion, when no grid or alignment data exist, and save this lens profile as a preset for automatic use within the workflow.

The Edit Camera node provides manual controls enabling the user to animate the position of a camera in 3D space over time. It allows previous camera solves to be edited, and can generate hints to influence how a 3D camera moves, with the result that shots can be solved that were previously considered untrackable.

New lens distortion tools, in combination with in-built rolling shutter correction, support for RED RAW without conversion, plus stereo review tools, keep matchmoving artists within a single environment, eliminating the need to use any other third-party applications.

For more information click here.

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has released The VES Handbook of Visual Effects which details the art and science of visual effects.

Written by 89 top leading visual effects practitioners and edited by VES Chair and leading VFX Supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun as well as VFX Producer Susan Zwerman, The VES Handbook of Visual Effects: Industry Standard VFX Practices and Procedures covers everything about visual effects from pre-production, production, and post-production, making it the most complete depository for visual effects techniques and best practices available today. The book outlines procedures and solutions all VFX artists, producers, and supervisors need to know and it is filled with hard facts and methods learned from research, trial and error, and practical experience. Contained in its pages are the lessons, tricks, short cuts, and wisdom garnered throughout the history of visual effects and is a must-have book for anyone working in or wanting to work in the visual effects industry.

The Handbook contains in-depth sections on stereoscopic moviemaking, color management, and digital intermediates, as well as interactive games and full animation authored by working artists and experts.

Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of The VES Handbook of Visual Effects can do so at Amazon.com and other leading online bookstores.

For more information click here.

The Boris Continuum 3D Objects Unit features five powerful effects filters that make it easy to create 3D objects using text and shapes in After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Final Cut Express. The Extruded Text filter allows users to create stunning 3D text elements and use AE’s native camera and lighting system to generate fly-throughs or animate the viewer around the generated 3D text models. Extruded EPS provides an easy way to import and extrude Adobe Illustrator layered vector logos and graphics in Adobe After Effects. With Type-on Text, users will be able to create animated text type-ons that fly in from behind or toward the camera or slide into view from the top, left, bottom, or right of the screen either letter-by-letter, word-by-word, or line-by-line. Extruded Spline generates and extrudes shapes from any AE-generated mask shape as well as imported vector art from Adobe Illustrator. Layer Deformer generates useful 3D shapes such as planes, cubes, spheres, and cylinders and deforms these 3D objects using built-in vertex and pixel shaders.

For more information click here.

Avid unveiled the Avid ISIS 5000, a new, easy-to-use, real-time, open shared storage solution that brings the power of best-in-class shared storage to local and regional broadcasters and post production facilities at a lower cost. The ISIS 5000 is built upon proven ISIS technology used in more than 700 major media enterprises to store, share and manage large quantities of digital media assets. Customers can improve allocation of creative resources and support changing project needs with an open shared storage platform that offers access to high-performance ISIS File System technology on lower cost hardware, support for 3rd party applications and streamlined administration to create more content more affordably.

Designed to address the specific needs of workgroups requiring 40 or fewer client connections and looking for greater flexibility to accommodate ongoing changes and new business opportunities, the ISIS 5000 shared storage solution is fully tested and qualified with Apple Final Cut Pro, as well as support for an end-to-end Avid workflow. Major features include:

The ISIS file system: Enhances collaborative workflows by delivering centralized media access with guaranteed real-time performance—optimized for digital media file sharing. As a result of Avid’s industry-leading ISIS File System running on lower cost hardware, an enterprise-class, workflow-enabling shared storage technology is now available to organizations for which this level of capability was previously out of reach.

The ISIS 5000 engine: Offers the ability to cost-effectively create compelling content by increasing the capacity to handle more projects and content in both SD and HD.

Support for Avid and Apple Final Cut Pro editing systems: Enables customers to work with a variety of project workflows and leverage existing investments–as a result of an open architecture.

Ethernet connectivity: Delivers high-performance networking that is more cost-effective to acquire, scale and support.

FlexDrive: Enables customers to respond to changing project requirements and new business opportunities by allowing storage to be resized in real time without interrupting operations.

Streamlined administration: Reduces overhead with easy set-up, user and storage management, monitoring and diagnostics powered by the intuitive ISIS Management console. Customers can also support a growing business by easily incorporating additional switches and clients without sacrificing performance.

For more information click here.

The University of Southern California Law News Service has reported that a team of USC Law students from the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Clinic have helped secure an exemption that will allow documentary filmmakers to use material contained on DVDs and other sources that were previously off limits.

The exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was announced by the United States Copyright Office. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes it a crime to break the digital locks on DVDs and other media. The restriction prevented filmmakers from making fair use of material, or using public domain material.

Together with Beverly Hills entertainment attorney Michael C. Donaldson, the students represented Kartemquin Films of Chicago, IL, the International Documentary Association, and a national coalition of documentary filmmakers and filmmaker organizations.

Under the supervision of Prof. Jack Lerner, director of the Clinic,and in collaboration with Donaldson, two USC Law students in the IP Clinic drafted comments and reply comments to the United States Copyright Office and took the lead in coordinating the coalition of filmmakers and organizations. The students also helped filmmakers from Kartemquin Films prepare their testimony before attending hearings before the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.

Many filmmakers, particularly those who incorporated current or historical events into their work, have been restricted from using a wealth of material.

Today’s announcement is a victory for documentary filmmakers because they now may use previously restricted materials to tell their stories.

USC Law students Jimmy Chen ’12 and Daniel Fullerton ’12 are now working to inform the filmmaking community about the exemption.

For more information click here.

At SIGGRAPH 2010, eyeon Software Inc. announced the official shipping release of Rotation version 6.1. Following in the footsteps of Fusion’s recent architectural advancements, Rotation 6.1 is a focused toolset for rotoscoping, keying, paint and retouching, and clean plate and shot preparation. This is a complement to eyeon’s new stereoscopic site licensing.

Rotation 6.1 has been updated to include a plethora of new tools that enhance overall productivity, including significant changes to the stereo conversion workflow for rotoscoping, depth map creation, occlusion painting, and keying to extract features and objects. The expanded tool set allows artists to efficiently meet deadlines and prepare plates for the senior compositing pipeline.

Highlighted Features:

Stereo playback

64Bit version

Floating point, HDR image engine

DOD/ROI – domain of definition and region of interest

Python and Lua scripting

Node-based workflow

Ram image cache for instant playback

A/B image buffers for comparing shots

RED camera image support

Shared collaborative workflow bins system

ASCII-based projects

Tight integration with eyeon’s Fusion, as well as 3D animation applications

Advanced support for EXR, Cineon and DPX

Bezier and Bspline rotosplines

Controllable motion blur with shutter angle and weighting to match live action

Advanced spline integration, such as double-edged splines to control drop-off

Vector Paint and retouching system

Advanced keying and matte manipulation tools

Advanced Color system, such as color gain, hue curves, grid warping, blur, and more.

Rotation 6.1 provides a cost effective solution and expanded tool set for visual effects studios. Taking advantage of 64bit computing, GPU’s and other architectural initiatives in eyeon’s supercomputing roadmap, realtime rendering now provides facilities with immediate results, changing the landscape of compositing pipelines forever.

For more information click here.