Apple iPhone 5S Display Production May Begin Next Month

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Review: Corel VideoStudio X6 eases creative video production

Version X6 of Corel VideoStudio brings the super-intuitive and easy-to-use video editor/producer within into a virtual dead heat with the feature sets offered by its competitors. New tricks in its bag include animation overlays, controlling DSLRs for stop motion animation, free-form motion editing, layer swapping, motion tracking, support for 2K and 4K video, and variable speed.

VideoStudio X6 also supports 50p/60p editing, AVCHD 2.0, 3D, surround sound, Blu-ray and most everything you could ask for. One cool new feature for subtitling is a form of audio beat detection that allows you to sync subtitles to speech more easily. There's even a whiteboard capture for animation overlays. Creatively, the VideoStudio X6 is very well-rounded.

The VideoStudio X6 interface isn't revolutionary, but because it doesn't overload you, it's easier to use than those it might resemble.

Most video editors have dark, paneled interfaces that rightfully focus your attention on the video. However, VideoStudio X6 manages to do it more cleanly and intuitively than Cyberlink PowerDirector or Adobe Premiere. It helps tremendously that Corel hasn't sized the icons for microscopes and has used them sparingly.

VideoStudio X6 also has a nice simple storyboard view that makes adding and arranging items a more intuitive process. You then use the timeline to tweak location and lengths, and add audio, multi-tracking, subtitles, and the like. I've only mentioned a few of the logical interface design decisions, but all told, they make VideoStudio X6's interface friendlier and more intuitive than just about anything out there.

VideoStudio X6 has a ton of transitions, effects, title styles, and what Corel calls instant projects which are basically templates. Drag an instant project element to your project, then edit details such as the audio file to be used, colors, text, videos to be used, etc. It's a bit different from the automatic productions you get from Muvee and others in that it requires your participation and creativity, but it's cool nonetheless.

2. The storyboard view in VideoStudio X6 makes it easier to order scenes than the standard timeline, which is also offered.

The Pro version of VideoStudio X6 costs $60, while the $100 Ultimate version adds a boatload of very nice effects from NewBlue and proDAD, plus the latter company's excellent video stabilization technology. Ultimate X6 is likely worth the extra $40, especially if you're editing lots of home video that needs steadying.

Corel may not be the powerhouse it once was, but the company is still putting out some very good software and VideoStudio Pro X6 is the evidence. For the average user it delivers a significantly easier, more intuitive, and more creative video editing experience than its major peers.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Juilliard, and now he power-mods his car for kicks.
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Rumor: iPad mini Production to Ramp Up Significantly in September

Rumors about a 7-inch iPad mini have been swirling around for a while now; when are we actually going to see the darned thing? Assuming the fabled device is actually in production and not just a figment of our projected desires, it could be cast into the spotlight very, very soon. Tipsters have been whispering that the shrunken-down iPad could be unveiled alongside the iPhone 5 at a September 12th press event, and now, DigiTimes reports that Apple’s suppliers are ramping up the production of the iPad mini’s components.

Citing its usual “sources from the upstream supply chain,” the publication claims that Apple’s suppliers will start pumping out iPad minis at a rate of 4 million a month starting in September; the same sources say that suppliers are currently producing several hundred thousand iPad minis a month.

That aligns with the Wall Street Journal said at the beginning of July; according to that report, Apple suppliers (including LG Display and AU Optronics) were told to be ready to ramp up production on a sub-8-inch tablet in September.

What can we expect when the iPad mini launches? Previous reports from credible sources like Bloomberg and the New York Times have said that the comparatively pint-sized tablet will have a 7.85-inch, standard resolution display with a smaller dock connector sitting between a pair of speakers on the bottom of the slate. Earlier this month, it was reported that the iPad mini could look more like an iPod touch maxi, with a larger bezel on the top and bottom and a smaller bezel on the sides.

Via MacRumors

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Report: Samsung Halting Production on Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) To Go Quad Core

Our friends over at Netbook News have just dropped some interesting news about the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1). Supposedly, one of their inside sources at Samsung Korea has just informed them that the company has stopped production on the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2  in order to upgrade the tablet to a quad-core CPU.  The new version of the tablet has been codenamed “Espresso.” 

At this point, it’s unclear whether the quad-core processor hiding inside the tablet will be Samsung’s Exynos 4412 and there’s no word as yet about any changes for the US launch. But intriguingly, there’s also been talk about sticking the same quad-core CPU in the Galaxy Note 10.1. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), however, will keep its dual-core processor, according to Netbook News’ sources.

via Netbook News

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A Sneek Peek Adobe to Unveil Production Premium CS6 at NAB Conference

The National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas will host the first public preview of brand new versions of Adobe's Production Premium video editing and motion graphics suite of programs, destined for Creative Suite 6 and its new Creative Cloud subscription service.

These pre-release demos are sneak peeks at what will soon be in store for cinematographers, videographers, color technicians, motion graphics specialists, and a huge number of creative professionals connected to the movie-making industry in the upcoming Creative Suite releases.

Among the programs planned for showcase to convention attendees are Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Story, Media Encoder, Encore, and newcomers SpeedGrade, a film finishing and color grading app, and Prelude, for ingest, logging, and transcoding. The impending release of Production Premium CS6 will provide a multitude of improvements to Adobe's video applications. Here are some of the highlights.

Demos will take place at Adobe's booth #SL2624 in the Las Vegas Convention Center from April 16 through 19. Demos will also take place in more than 60 partner booths throughout the exhibition.

Premiere Pro, Adobe’s flagship video editing software package, is targeted to a wide range of users, such as editors and post-production pros, motion graphics designers, visual artists, and photographers shooting video.

Updates include both new features and improvements in interface, workflow, image stabilization, enhanced multicam editing, and a newly enhanced Mercury Playback Engine. The program provides native support for more pro level cameras and more powerful color workflows.

Interface Enhancements The new version of Premiere Pro starts off with a new default two-up workspace, which positions the Source Monitor and the Program Monitor side by side to allow more room for the video display. The monitor panels have been redesigned to be less cluttered and more customizable. The Project panel, Media Browser, Info panel, and Effects panel are set at the lower left while the Timeline panel and Audio Meters panel are at the lower right.

The original default workspace is still available from the Workspaces menu, and you can save customized workspace layouts with each project file.

Taking a page from its sister app, the audio oriented Audition, Premiere Pro CS6 offers a redesigned and more functional audio mixer. Double-clicking a fader returns it to 0dB, and the mixer includes separate decibel-level scales for meters and faders. The mixer panel provides fast, accurate visual feedback about audio signal levels. Faders automatically scale when you resize the panel.

New Project Panel views let you view, sort, and arrange your media more easily by viewing resizable 16:9 thumbnails of your clips directly in the Project panel. Also included are a resizable thumbnail view in the Media Browser panel and a new time ruler bar in the Source Monitor, Program Monitor, and Timeline panels. New markers are now displayed in color. Thumbnails are live-scrubbable for preview inside the Project Panel.

Workflow Improvements This version of Premiere Pro offers multiple improvements to trimming features. The new Trim Mode in the Program Monitor provides a two-up display showing the outgoing and incoming frames. Buttons for performing some trim functions and applying default transitions, as well as counters that can track the number of frames trimmed, are located beneath the two-up display.

Additional workflow improvements include keyboard shortcuts for trimming, more customizeable keyboard shortcut sets, and gestural control. The program now updates sequence settings to match clips, lets you apply effects and adjustment layers quickly and easily, and offers enhanced flexible audio effects.

Image Stabilization Premiere Pro CS6 includes and improves upon a much-anticipated feature introduced in After Effects CS5.5—Warp Stabilizer. When you apply the Warp Stabilizer effect to a clip, the program takes care of the analysis and stabilization without further input. Warp Stabilizer processes individual areas of the frame separately to compensate for parallax.

The same power Warp Stabilization controls previously only available in After Effects CS5.5 are now available in Premiere Pro CS6.

Warp Stabilizer works in the background to analyze and stabilize a shot while allowing you to continue editing. Because Warp Stabilizer is optimized to take advantage of GPU acceleration, users with supported Nvidia GPUs or some MacBook Pros running OS X 10.7 with a supported AMD RadeonTM GPU and a minimum of 1GB of VRAM, will see even better performance.

The new Rolling Shutter Repair effect allows you to correct distortion artifacts that result from scanning a CMOS imaging sensor, typically presented in DSLR footage, vertically or horizontally.

during recording to correct problems like wobble, skew, and smear.

Expanded Multicam Editing The new version of Adobe Premiere Pro offers expanded multicam support, allowing you to work with as many cameras as you want. Previously, you could work with multicam footage from four cameras. Now, you’re limited only by the formats you’re working with and the power of your editing computer.

Premiere Pro CS6 has better Multi-Camera support, with many more simultaneous cameras selectable in the monitor.

The Multi-Camera Monitor plays the footage from each camera in a grid that automatically adjusts to accomodate the number of cameras in your shoot and a preview of the recorded sequence. After you’ve created a multicam edit, you can refine it either by re-performing sections of your edit from within the Multi-Camera Monitor or by using traditional editing tools, applying effects, or correcting color.

Live video scrubbing in the scaleable thumbnails inside the new Clip Bin.

Mercury Playback Engine If you're familiar with Premiere Pro CS5 or CS5.5, you already know the Mercury Playback Engine, technology that uses the graphics processor rather than CPU to boost video editing performance. GPU acceleration via supported Nvidia graphics cards and new support for OpenCL-based AMD Radeon HD 6750M and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics cards—coupled with at least 1GB VRAM on certain MacBook Pros running OS X 10.7—offer improved mobile workflows to Mac users, according to Adobe.

You can send your entire Premiere Pro CS6 sequence to SpeedGrade for professional color grading in the raw, native formats without having to render first.

With these cards, you will see results instantly when vector keying with the Ultra keyer, applying blend modes, correcting color with PremierePro's new Three-Way Color Corrector, and with many other effects. The new version also features expanded third-party I/O support for vendors like Aja, Black Magic Design, Matrox, and others.

Native Footage Support With this release, Premiere Pro gets native support for ARRIRAW footage shot with ARRI Alexa cameras as well as support for HD (1920-by-1080) and 2K (2880-by-1680) ARRIRAW files at a variety of frame rates. Building on its support for RED digital cinema workflows, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 includes native support for RED R3D and RMD files—including 5K resolution footage—shot with RED SCARLET-X and RED EPIC cameras. There's also native support for Canon XF MPEG-2 50mbps format footage shot with Canon Cinema EOS C300 cameras.

Suite interaction The new version of Premiere Pro CS6 offers a more intuitive three-way color corrector, integrated color grading workflows with the new Adobe SpeedGrade, efficient ingest and logging with Adobe Prelude, improved, workflows with Apple's Final Cut Pro and Avid software, and the ability to author and publish DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and Web DVDs faster with 64-bit Adobe Encore CS6.

Next: After Effects CS6

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Kodak Kills Digital Camera, Camcorder & Digital Frame Production

Paul Simon may have sung, “Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away” but that’s exactly what Kodak is doing today– at least for its digital capture products. After filing for bankruptcy protection last month, the imaging company announced today that they are ceasing production of their EasyShare digital cameras, handheld video cameras and digital picture frames during the first half of 2012. This move is expected to save the cash-strapped company $100 million. The company will continue its line of consumer printers, in-store kiosks, online photo printing service, Kodak Gallery online and Facebook apps as well as its commercial imaging businesses.

Companies file for bankruptcy and discontinue production all the time, but this is a big about face for Kodak, the company that invented the first handheld camera in 1888.  As recently as CES last month, Kodak introduced new cameras, camcorders and digital frames. Thankfully, the Kodak will continue to honor all warranties and provide support for its existing products, so if you found an EasyShare camera under the tree this past Christmas, you won’t be left hanging.

The company will license the Kodak brand name to other manufacturers to use on their products, which will presumably include cameras, camcorders, and digital frames. It sounds similar to the tactic Polaroid employed a few years ago after it filed for bankruptcy and was reformed as a licensing entity. Hopefully, Kodak will have an easier time of it than Polaroid did, as that company went through years of turmoil between the time it filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and came under control of PLR IP Holdings in 2009.

Image via Kodak.com

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