WAX: NLE & EFFECTS SOFTWARE - FREE!

Wax is a high performance and flexible video compositing and special effects software. The idea for Wax is to be very general purpose and flexible in video compositing and effects, so that you can compose your dream video sequence with ease everytime.

Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application which would appeal for home users/beginners, and as a "plug-in" to video editors/NLEs which would be more useful for professional editors. Currently Wax can as a plug-in with Sony Vegas®, Pure Motion EditStudio and Adobe Premiere® and work for integrating with various other NLEs is in progress.

And the best part ... it's FREE!

ROTFLMAO ...

This has to be the silliest thing that I've seen in a LONG time.

VISUAL COMMUNICATOR STUDIO

A Television Studio in a box ... and more.

They've done it again. It wasn't a few years ago that Serious Magic's Visual Communicator got the nod as E-R's software of the year. After a sophmore effort which largely focused on web capability, Visual Communicator Web, Serious Magic is back with a vengeance with it's STUDIO version of the award winning Visual Communicator.



Early efforts making good use of the ability to produce videos that could be downloadable from a the web, or burned to DVD, for more traditional distribution. And while it touted itself as a "television studio" in a box, what VC lacked was a multi-camera format.



Well, Visual Communicator Studio changes all that. Visual Communicator Studio’s live output adds the ability for users to self-produce live corporate broadcasts, conferences, distance learning courses, campus-wide newscasts and more. Video can be streamed to the Internet or Web server in real time, or displayed live on a large projection screen, monitor or TV, without expensive hardware or technically complex set-ups. Users can also publish their videos to video-embedded web pages without learning HTML, and add chapter markers and web links, which can display web pages, pictures or PowerPoint slides alongside the video.

Multiple camera support, enables users to provide for a more professional look by moving between different camera angles much like high budget professional newscasts and to use interview-style formats. Up to three camera sources are supported, and all can be used with Visual Communicator’s "VScreen" virtual sets and green-screen effects.

And with a full screen enhancement to their teleprompter, reading copy is much easier for the user, and as such, cuts down on rehearsal time.

With upgrades that really places itself in High gear, Visual Communicator Studio not only takes the next step in it's evolution, it does so with a giant leap.

Basic Requirements
Windows® 2000 or XP
933 MHz Intel® Pentium® III processor or equivalent (including Intel® Pentium® 4, Intel® Celeron® 2, AMD® Athlon® or Athlon XP®, or AMD® Duron®)
256 MB RAM
CD-ROM drive
300 MB available hard drive space
Standard PC sound card
16 MB AGP graphics card with 3D acceleration

Additional Requirements for Live Streaming
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor at 2.4 GHz or higher
NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon based AGP video card
USB webcams are not supported for live streaming. Use DV or analog video capture cards.


Price $695 - though users of previous versions can get an upgrade price.

For more information, please visit www.seriousmagic.com.

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT THING!

Now that's what FILM GEEK calls a screening room!

COOL TECH FOR MAKING MOVIES: Part I - PRE-PRODUCTION

When beginning a work on that summer film project, it’s usually best to start with the story. Writing scripts can be done is just about any word-processing program. This issue is format.

There is a script format at the Microsoft Website. So if you have Word, this may be the way to go to at least get the proper format down. Now some people would say why bother with proper format?

Well, Hollywood has been making movies, and writing scripts for a century now and this format has evolved to the point of being the most efficient way to not only read the script, but to break it down into it’s components in order to actually prepare to make the movie. FORMAT FORMAT FORMAT is key.

Film Geek's advice is to do it the way it’s done formatwise and get the template. Trouble is, the template (though adequate in the job that it does) still busies the writer with format work while the writer should be dealing with writing the story. This is where a script writing program comes in. And there’s two that lead the pack for intuitively writing a script. FINAL DRAFT and MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER 2000.

I like Final Draft, my writing partner likes Scriptwriter. Both have their advantages, and few – if any – disadvantages. The big advantage to either of these is that they take the formatting effort out of writing. When you start typing INT. or EXT. they know that's a "slugline" or main scene heading. Hit enter and you're in narrative. Then when you "enter" after typing narrative, you're ready to type character. Then, when you type in the character and press "enter" again, you're in dialogue. They automatically wrap the line, paragraph and even page. They add CONTINUEDS. They go into "transition" mode when you hit "tab" so you can write the transition. And when you're done, you can even do a report on characters, their lines, etc. With Scriptwriter 2000, you can even import the script into Moviemaker Scheduling/Budgeting and break it down nearly automatically.

A freeware word processor that I just found is called ROUGHDRAFT and seems to be written with a writer in mind. It has features specifically designed for writers of novels, short stories, articles, poetry, plays and screenplays. It will import files in Word 6.0, Word 97 and HTML formats. Did I mention that it’s a FREEBIE? Script writing programs are definitely worth their price if you plan to do any serious scriptwriting.

Next week: Part II: PRE-PRODUCTION - Tools for planning your film.

TAPWAVE ZODIAC

TAPWAVE ZODIAC:
Could it corner the portable video market or the PDA Market? How about BOTH.
Reviewed by James DeRuvo

Directors in touch with their “inner Spielberg,” need more than just an PDA organizer to manage the creative side of their brains. Adn the TAPWAVE’s ZODIAC seeks to do that, with authority. This PDA/MP3 PLAYER/VIDEO PLAYER seeks to be the one stop shop for mobile entertainment, while, at the same time fulfilling the needs of the business crowd. It even functions as a high octane GAMESTATION as well. After all, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

The first thing you notice when you hold the Zodiac is how thin it is, in comparison to a Palm Pilot. In addition, the Zodiac designed with a cool, nearly recessed “joystick” and function keys which can be used to navigate it's edgy OS interface. And, amazingly, it comes with stereo speakers built right in (though the true stereo quality is really only experienced with the stylish ear-bud headphones that are included).

Two Secure Digital (SD) card slots are included for additional storage space with SD cards acting as solid state hard drives. In additional, there is a button enable BLUETOOTH. The stylus is designed to fit on the back of the unit in an enclave clasp. The video screen is huge for its design, measuring 3” high x 4” wide. Right here, FilmGeek has one complaint. The only thing that is designed to protect the unit is the small screen cover which fits flush onto the screen itself. There is no slip cover or case to protect the entire unit. Probably more by design for selling anscillary products, than an oversight.

Turn on the unit, and you see a sideways mounted customized Palm OS 5.2T which can be switched to the vertical mode for traditional PDA functionality. The main screen shows the usual – games, organizer. But there’s also additional options along the right side including buttons representing any SD cards in the 2 SD card slots, a media section, etc. All the usual Palm utilities are here. Using Graffiti 2, the Organizer functions have the touchscreen function of a PDA you would expect, but also three sections for handwriting. Upper case, lower case, and numbers. It is software driven with the organizer and changes position as go from horizontal to the vertical and back. A quick pressing of the “Home” button takes you back to the main screen.

The Zodiac also comes with BLUETOOTH at the push of a button. IR for beaming and synching the PDA with computers or via the traditionally including hotsynch cable. A real annoyance, though, is that in IR mode, E-R tried to beam simple files from our old PDA to this one and could NEVER get the Zodiac to be recognized by our Visor and vice versa. And email tech support on this issue was slow and didn’t help much.



And this is where it gets fun for us film geeks. The MEDIA section comes with an MP3 player – which, plays either off the internal or SD memory card; an eBook reader; a photo viewing utility, and Kinoma Video Player which turns the Zodiac into one of the first personal video players. Using the Kinoma Producer Software ($29.95) which can encode in MPEG1, MPEG4, QuickTime and AVI formats and fit a feature film can fit on two 512MB SD cards. Unfortunately, the demo version of the software only encodes a few seconds, so E-R can’t comment on how good it is - only to say that the movie trailers loaded onto the SD card we reviewed (Shrek2 & King Arthur) were most impressive in both audio and video presentation when viewed on the Zodiac.

But there are some interesting choices which FilmGeek needs to address along with suggestions for the next generation Zodiac to really take it over the top. The first, which we’ve already addressed, is the issue of beaming not working. One of the hallmark functions of a Palm PDA is the ability to IR beam information from one PDA to another. As stated, we couldn’t take advantage of that function and are at a loss as to comment on why – only to conclude until otherwise convinced that it just doesn’t work. E-R can’t comment on the BLUETOOTH function – except to say that it has one and it seems to activate and deactivate with a touch of it’s convenient on button design.

A lack of concrete protection for the unit without having to purchase additional cases or covers is downright annoying considering the $300 pricetag. While the screen guard is a commendable effort (or maybe an afterthought?), it doesn’t do anything to protect the rest of the until and will simply flap away from the screen if the unit is dropped – and as such, doesn’t offer much screen protection unless the unit is simply lying flat.

FilmGeek is also mystified that, in this iPod dominated world where MP3 players have small 60 gig hard drives, why didn’t Tapwave offer this option in the level 2 players? Considering serious use for the unit is for mp3 and video playing – a hard drive to house the media would be a beneficial and natural feature. FilmGeek can only guess that price considerations led to relying on the SD card technology – which does the job but forces investment in several additional SD chips in order to have house the movies or songs which a mobile oriented professional needs for their entertainment needs. And FilmGeek has a hunch that if the target audience is willing to poney up the bling bling for an iPod, they’d pony it up for a hard drive feature on the Zodiac. Perhaps it’s fortuitous to wait on that option, since, with newer storage technologies leading to hard drives of several gigs ending up in cellphone designs within the next few years – it is certainly doable without sacrificing much in the way of form or function of the unit.

Some may cringe at the PocketPC style price tag when comparing conventional Palm based PDAs, but when taking a look at the value behind the it – that users can enjoy video gaming, mp3s in stunningly clear stereo sound, and yes, even a movie with descent framerates - users will see that the Tapwave Zodiac represents an exponential leap in what a PDA can actually do when it’s designers think outside the box.

Whether working OR playing, FilmGeek recommends taking a good hard look. If the target audience is anything like us, they’ll end up being hooked more on it’s features than it’s shortcomings.

List Price: $299 for Zodiac1 (32 MB of onboard memory)
$399 for Zodiac2 (128 MB of onboard memory)

System requirements can be found here.

http://www.tapewave.com

WELCOME TO FILM GEEK!

Welcome to FILM GEEK. This blog will be dedicated to products which filmmakers can use to get their vision on the Silver Screen. Whether these are freeware or pricey, hardware or software. FILM GEEK will test and examine them and let the film community know what will make a filmmaker's job easier.

Kick back, pop some popcorn, and stay tuned for the best in FILM GEEK.