Apple Releases Shake 4.1
Friday, June 23, 2006
Industry Leading Compositing Software Price Cut to £329
CUPERTINO, California—June 20, 2006—Apple® today delivered Shake® 4.1, the first Universal version of its industry leading compositing software and cut its price from £1,999 (inc VAT) to £329 (inc VAT) to fit almost any production’s budget. Final Cut® Studio editors can now take advantage of Shake for sophisticated 3D compositing, keying, image tracking and stabilisation for the price of a plug-in. Shake continues to be the tool of choice for major motion-picture studios and leading effects houses to create award-winning visual effects including this year's Oscar winner, “King Kong.”
“At just £329, Shake is now priced as low as a plug-in for Final Cut Studio,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “Now Final Cut Studio customers can retouch their shots with Shake’s optical flow technology or add photo realistic visual effects to their productions, even on a shoestring budget.”
“Shake has become an essential tool at ILM for visual effects compositing, playing a central part in our pipeline on blockbuster movies such as ‘Mission Impossible 3,’ ‘Poseidon’ and the upcoming ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,’” said Cliff Plumer, chief technology officer of Industrial Light and Magic. “By pricing Shake at less than £350, Apple has opened up the doors for the next generation of artists to master their craft.”
Picky about Quality or is it just 'cos it's a HAIRY MAC?
Sunday, June 11, 2006
No doubt all of you who read this site know I have a love affair with Apple products, well I thought I would share with you my recent experiences that have 'almost' tempted me to get a quickie divorce and sleep with someone else.
Over the passed month or so, I was so so excited, the MacBook Pro was announced and I duly ordered one. Wow, I even got the free speed hike upgrade, so I was well pleased with Apple as a whole, until I took delivery. Yes, you guessed it I got a whiner, so loud it was a headache inducing whine, so it got swapped out. The second delivery was the same, so I got a refund (thinking I would wait a month or so before re-ordering).
Then in true Britney style, 'ooooops they did it again' and released the MacBook. Not only did this mean I could save some money for near identical performance, but it also meant I could have a nice matt black laptop. So the credit card came out again and after the awful wait for delivery it landed on my doorstep.
Opening up a new Mac is an awesome experience, much greater than opening up a plain boxed PC or other electrical item. My jaw dropped at how wicked it looked, then my head almost exploded as the disappointment hit home that I had another rogue product. The black finish was great, but whoever powder coated my one left a big drip of paint on one of the wrist rests.
I promptly got on the telephone again and duly arranged a replacement.
Now, I wasn't entirely straight with you earlier, I made it sound as though I was very decisive in my choice of black, well I couldn't make up my mind, so the day after ordering the black I had also ordered a white (yes, I know I am crazy). Well, the following day the white turned up and it was brilliant, no finish problems, no whines, no mooooooing, fantastic ! I used it until the battery was empty, then let it rest and charged it overnight to condition the battery. What I didn't bargain for was what happened the following morning. It would not turn on, until I plugged it back in the mains, then as soon as I tried to run from battery it would turn off.
A quick call to tech support had me resetting the PMU and all was then fine, until I charged it again and it would always stay on the same percentage of battery left from before I started charging (eg. if it was on 11% charge left, I would shut the lid, charge, then when I re-opened the MacBook it would still say 11%). The only way I could correct this was to do a restart. On top of all this the screen when closed had now twisted, so it protruded about 2mm over the right side of the bottom casing. So on the phone again and this one went back.
A few days later the second black one arrived, opened it up (no excitement, this was now quashed) and I didn't even turn it on. The front casing was pinched up and not clipped down properly, this left a bump on the wrist rest which was most uncomfortable. To add insult to injury, the person who had put this MacBook together, must have a very bald arm, as they had left most of their arm hair poking out the front casing of my not-so-awesome laptop.
Now this last problem had me remembering that the actual finish of my MacBook Pro was spot on, so when I contacted the big A for a return, I asked if I could upgrade this one to a MBPro. The irony is that they couldn't take my extra money, instead I had to return for a refund and re-order the MBPro, which I did same day.
The new MBPro arrived and (you guessed it) a finish issue was apparent straight out the box. Initially the screen would not open, then on closer inspection I would see that the screen was so wonky that it was tight against the right side of the case, yet it had a 2-3mm gap on the left. So I am giving them one more chance, with a new on due in a couple of days.
So my 'love affair' with Apple has been truly tested and I have already started the search for an alternative 'just in case' this last MBPro is a duff. My search has found one possibility in the shape of a 'Lenovo 3000 N100' which has nice specification and I have heard good things about quality build. I have had PC laptops in the passed and although they are boring, I have never had a quality issue with regards to build (eg. case alignment).
The crying shame is that I really want an Apple product, but I want a good one, I mean good out of the box so that I can be the one who puts the scratch on it. I have a lot invested in Apple equipment and I love the OS, but I feel that 'quality control' has slipped dramatically of late, or am I just unlucky, or am I just over picky when it comes to Apple products?
widescreen plugin for Mail(Mac OS X)
Thursday, June 08, 2006
View mail in a wide screen format kinda cool
read more | digg story
Apple's Mac@Work goes live
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Finally! Apple is getting its IT game again and not just focusing on the consumer market.
Not that Apple left the IT market altogether, it just left corporate advocates grasping for support when trying to make a case for Macs with the bigwigs.
read more | digg story
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Geekanoids launch printed Mini Magazine
Friday, June 02, 2006
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---Excerpt from Geekanoids Preview Issue---
Welcome to the very first issue of Geekanoids. This preview issue has been sent to you gratis, totally free, well, with one exception… you have to actually take the time out to read it and here is why.
More often than not, if you run a design or print company, or you are a designer with deadlines to meet, the daily grind and pressures can take their toll. Take a step back, give yourself (or your team) ten minutes to have a break, refuel the cells and you may well find productivity and fresh ideas start flowing. Geekanoids will take a look into the world of design, apple mac goodness, gadgets and tools. Many of our reviews and articles will not only help you in your day-to-day work, but also give you a light hearted look at some of the subjects other publications simply don’t cover. Why not drop us an email and we will try and cover it.
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Apple Named Hardware Company of the Year by PC World Magazine
Thursday, June 01, 2006
PC World magazine on Wednesday issued its 2006 Hardware Company of the Year award to Apple, which had five products land on its list of the 100 Best Products of 2006: the iPod nano (#4), Boot Camp (#10), the Mac mini (#35), the iPod (#36), and iTunes (#43).
read more | digg story
Adobe to phase out Freehand, GoLive
Adobe said that it will discontinue Macromedia Freehand illustration and and its own GoLive web design product, as the company simplifies its product line following the recent purchase and aquisition of Macromedia.
read more | digg story
ProTools now for Intel Macs
Digidesign releases ProTools 7.1.1 for Intel Macs.
read more | digg story
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Dave
Dave has been in the graphic design industry for 14 years. Long time reviewer of technology related products, he is Owner/Editor of Geekanoids.
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