NAB: Apple has introduced Final Cut Server, a powerful new server application that works seamlessly with Final Cut Studio 2 to provide media asset management and workflow automation for post production and broadcast professionals.

A scaleable server application that supports workgroups of any size, Final Cut Server includes a cross-platform client that enables content browsing, review and approval from within a studio or over the Internet. Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets and enables searching across multiple volumes via an intuitive user interface. Final Cut Server is designed to manage the flow of work, as assets and projects move from producer to editor to artist through the entire production process.

“Final Cut Server’s powerful media asset management capabilities simplify managing the thousands of assets that make up a typical edit,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “And Final Cut Server’s sophisticated workflow automation tools ensure projects flow smoothly through an organization, enabling everyone to be more productive.” (more…)

Apple today unveiled Final Cut Studio 2, a video editing suite which features:

• Final Cut Pro 6, which introduces Apple’s ProRes 422 format for uncompressed HD quality at SD file sizes and support for mixed video formats and frame rates in a single Timeline;
• Motion 3 featuring an intuitive 3D environment, paint and new behaviors;
• Soundtrack Pro 2 with dozens of innovative tools for multitrack editing, surround mixing and conforming sound to picture;
• Compressor 3 delivering powerful batch encoding for multiple formats with a single click; and
• DVD Studio Pro 4.2 for SD and HD DVD authoring.
• Final Cut Studio 2 also introduces “Color,” a professional color grading and finishing application for ensuring consistent color and creating signature looks.

“Final Cut Studio 2 was specifically designed to enable the rapidly growing community of over 800,000 Final Cut editors worldwide to animate, mix, grade and deliver their work as a natural extension of the editorial process,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “Final Cut Studio 2 is the most powerful production suite on the planet.” (more…)

The market for digital media routers appears to be heating up. Apple is expected to introduce its iTV this coming week at MacWorld, Microsoft is rumored to be adding IPTV to the XBox 360, and NetGear has introduced its Digital Entertainer HD media router.
Engadget reports that the Xbox 360 will soon be able to double as a set-top box for Internet Protocol Television.

NetGear, a networking products provider, has introduced the Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000), a wireless networking router designed to bring the digital media to television sets. NetGear made its introduction a week before MacWorld Expo, where Apple is expected to introduce its own wireless media router, the “iTV”.
NetGear’s digital media receiver offers lets high-definition televisions display media files and Internet content streamed from Windows as well as Mac computers, network storage devices and USB media devices.

Apple is expected to introduce the iTV at Macworld Expo this week. The iTV is expected to feature USB, Ethernet and 802.11 wireless networking, HDMI, Component Video, S/PDIF digital optical audio and RCA analog stereo audio connectors.

Failed Internet video site Intertainer has filed a lawsuit asserting that Apple, Google and Napster are infringing on a 2005 patent that covers the commercial distribution of audio and video over the Internet.

Founded by Jonathan T. Taplin and two other Hollywood entertainment executives in 1996, Intertainer developed technology to distribute movies on demand through cable and phone lines for viewing on televisions and personal computers. It gained investors including Intel, Microsoft, Sony, NBC and Comcast.

“Intertainer was the leader of the idea of entertainment on demand over Internet platforms before Google was even thought up,” said Mr. Taplin, now an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He and a secretary constitute the entire remaining staff of Intertainer.

According to Theodore Stevenson, Intertainer’s lawyer, the company filed suit against Apple, Google and Napster because they were perceived as leaders in the market for digital downloads. He declined to specify the damages that Intertainer was seeking.

Apple, Google and Napster have declined to comment on the lawsuit.

via New York Times

MadZ Software has announcedthe release of version 2.5 of its DVD to iPod / PSP Video Converter software. DVD to iPod / PSP Video Converter rips DVD video files and converts them into the appropriate format for uploading to and viewing on an Apple iPod Video or a Sony PSP.
With DVD to iPod / PSP Video Converter 2.5, you can convert almost all DVDs for play on an iPod Video or Sony PSP, including purchased DVDs, original DVDs, DVD copies, even downloaded DVDs. The input video can be in either NTSC or Pal format. For multilanguage DVDs, you can even choose which soundtrack language to convert. You also have full control over which titles and chapters are converted. Also, you can control the output format such as setting a custom sample rate for audio and custom resolution and bit rate (quality vrs. size) for video.

DVD to iPod / PSP Video Converter also features a preview function that allows you to preview DVD title and/or specific chapters prior to conversion or monitor the video during the conversion process.

You will also be automatically notified you when software updates are available, and at your command, the updates will be downloaded and installed free of charge.

Works with Windows XP and 2000.

A demo version is available.