Not Dead, Just Resting
Apple, back from the dead, announced two new software packages (Xsan and Motion), and three updated software packages (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Shake) at the NAB media event on Sunday.
Xsan is the SAN filesystem for Mac OS X. Under development, Xsan allows up to 64 systems to read and write to shared storage on the storage area network (SAN) simultaneously. Xsan will ship later this fall for 999USD.
Motion is a real-time motion graphics design package. Motion uses procedural animation technology (called behaviors) to create movement and simulations without keyframes. Motion integrates seamlessly with Final Cut Pro HD and DVD Studio Pro 3. Motion will be available this summer for 299USD.
Final Cut Pro HD boasts the beauty of HD with the simplicity of DV. New features in Final Cut Pro HD include native DVCPRO HD editing, 720p HD video support, and Digital Cinema Desktop (which allows real-time HD previewing on an Apple Cinema Display). Final Cut Pro HD is available now for 999USD, and is also available as an update for Final Cut Pro 4 users.
DVD Studio Pro 3 adds render-free transitions, alpha transitions, DTS audio, and superb HD to MPEG-2 encoding. DVD Studio Pro 3 should ship in mid-May, and costs 499USD.
Shake 3.5 is now optimized for Panther and the Power Mac G5. Shake 3.5 features shape-based morphing, film quality compositing, and Qmaster (Shake’s distributed network rendering software). Qmaster also supports Alias’ Maya distributed rendering. Shake 3.5 is available now for 2999USD (Mac OS X) and 4999USD (Linux and IRIX).
