NAB 2012: Boris FX - Creative COW

CreativeCOW presents NAB 2012: Boris FX -- Boris FX Feature

Debra Kaufman
Santa Monica California USA

©2012 CreativeCOW.net. All rights reserved.

Boris FX came to NAB 2012 with new versions, each of which expanded the capabilities of the company's toolset of visual effects, compositing, titling, and workflow tools: Version 8 of its flagship Boris Continuum Complete, Version 2 of Soundbite and Version 6 of Boris Graffiti. The company also announced support for Adobe Creative Suite 6 and Avid DS.

At NAB 2012, Boris FX demonstrated its new Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) Version 8 suite of VFX plug-ins, introduced Boris Soundbite Version 2 powered by Nexidia's patented dialogue search technology, and unveiled version 6 of title animation plug-in Boris Graffiti for inside Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, and Grass Valley EDIUS.

The new Boris Continuum Complete Version 8 offers new flicker reduction and videoscope tools, 32-bit float support and enhanced lens flares, particles, glows and lights. This comprehensive VFX plug-in suite already offers 200+ filters across 16 categories and has been adopted by Turner Studios, CNN, ESPN, MTV Networks, Digital Kitchen, BSkyB, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, RTBF, Foxtel, and many other broadcast and post-production facilities.

Boris Continuum Complete 8

Every installation of Boris Continuum Complete comes with more than 1,000 professionally designed presets; presets can be shared with matching BCC installations on any host application in which BCC is installed. Users can save and freely share their own presets and build customized preset collections tuned to the specific needs of a project. Presets can be shared with matching BCC installations on any host application in which BCC is installed.

Maximizing flexibility and work efficiencies, Boris Transfer workflow utilities enable users to easily migrate VFX - with parameters and keyframed information intact -- between Adobe, Avid, and Apple video editing software. Boris Transfer AE allows the transfer of Avid or Apple Final Cut Pro sequences to Adobe After Effects, and Boris Transfer FCP offers the ability to transfer sequences between Avid and Final Cut Pro.

The Boris Continuum Complete product line consists of BCC AE for Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro; BCC AVX for Avid editing and finishing systems; BCC for Sony Vegas Pro; and BCC FxPlug for Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion.

BCC AVX for Avid -- Film Glow. Use the Glow Intensity parameter to control the intensity of the glow result. Higher values yield a stronger glow with a total white image when this parameter is set to its highest value.

Also new was Boris Soundbite Version 2, enabled by Nexidia's patented dialogue search technology. Boris Soundbite, a speedy, accurate tool for locating footage by finding any word or phrase spoken in multimedia files, adds support for workgroups with the new Version 2. This ensures all media in shared storage is searchable by all editors within a workgroup. President/founder Boris Yamnitsky notes that this workgroup feature is an ideal fit for the tool's installations at media and entertainment powerhouses such as ABC/Disney, Showtime Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Turner Studios.

A standalone Mac OS X application, Boris Soundbite finds any word or phrase spoken in QuickTime media files. Editors can play all occurrences of a spoken phrase and then insert the chosen take into an Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut Pro project, greatly reducing time spent logging and transcribing. Boris Soundbite is available for English, European Spanish, Latin American Spanish, European French, German, Italian, and Dutch. Boris Soundbite Version 2 will be available in Q2 2012 for an introductory price of $295 and available as a free downloadable update for all current Boris Soundbite users. A full-functioning 14-day trial version is available for free download.

Boris FX also debuted Version 6 of Boris Graffiti, a plug-in application for title animation inside Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro, and Grass Valley EDIUS. The new Version 6 release now supports for 64-bit applications such as Adobe Creative Suite 6, Premiere Pro CS5.5 and Vegas Pro 11, adds 40+ new filters, and provides a score of user interface enhancements. Also new is user interface/workflow enhancements including drag-and-drop panels and a curve editor for smooth parameter animation; new light rays filters for volumetric lighting effects; new glint, glitter and glare filters; and new Final Effects filters. Boris Graffiti 6 is available now through the company's worldwide reseller channel or directly from the website, for $299. Users with previous versions of Graffiti can upgrade for $199 and a free 14-day trial version is also available on the website.

Support for Adobe Creative Suite 6 was also announced at NAB 2012, and includes the entire Boris FX cross-platform family of visual effects, compositing, titling, and workflow tools. The company also announced that Boris Continuum Complete 8 AVX (BCC 8 AVX) is now available for Avid DS.

Boris FX has always understood the need to integrate with the larger production and post workflow, and NAB 2012 showed the company expanding its reach to where the visual effects are being created. Boris Continuum Complete Version 8 continues the company's evolution of this toolset, which is increasingly become indispensable in many large and small media and entertainment environments. Soundbite Version 2 is a very promising tool in an era of inexpensive digital cameras that create enormous shooting ratios for TV and even feature film projects. With something for everyone, look for Boris FX to continue to make inroads.

Cinematography

NAB 2012: Anton/Bauer

At NAB 2012, Anton/Bauer, a part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, debuted its QRC-CA940 Gold Mount solution for the new Canon EOS C300 digital cinema camera and also showcased the MATRIX Cheese Plate, a new mounting plate that can be used with the company's Gold Mount Solutions for the Sony PMW-F3 camera and NEX-FS-100; Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS 60D Digital SLR camera and the EOS C300; Panasonic AG-AF100 series professional HD camera and RED EPIC digital cinema camera. The company also unveiled its Customer Support On-Site Maintenance Program.

Feature

SAN - Storage Area Networks

NAB 2012: ATTO Technology

ATTO Technology showcased its entire line of storage and network connectivity products at NAB 2012, including its new Thunderbolt Desklink devices ThunderLink and ThunderStream. Also featured was a technology demonstration of the Celerity 16Gb/s Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), the FastStream SC SAS/SATA RAID Storage Controller with 8Gb/s Fibre Channel connectivity to SAS/SATA storage, ExpressSAS 6Gb/x SAS/SATA Host Bus and RAID Adapters and FastFrame 10Gb/s Ethernet Network Interface Cards.

Feature

Archiving and Back-Up

NAB 2012: Cache-A

Cache-A Corporation has served NAB-goers with an updated high-performance Power-Cache Archive Server, including the latest version 2.1 software release, which contains a host of powerful features for all the models.

Feature

Chyron

NAB 2012: Chryon

Chyron dived into social media and second screen solutions at NAB 2012, introducing the Engage platform, which integrates its BlueNet graphics with a variety of social interactions. Through a partnership with ConnecTV, Chyron now offers a powerful second screen application. Also new is Shout, Chyron's own standalone software application to integrate Twitter feeds into live broadcasts.

Feature

Genarts Sapphire Edge

NAB 2012: GenArts

At NAB 2012, GenArts showcased its newest products: Sapphire version 6 and Monsters GT version 7, both of which offer visual effects artists a wide variety of effects available on numerous platforms. The company also announced the imminent release of Sapphire Edge 2.

Feature

NAB Expo

NAB 2012: AJA Video Systems

AJA Video Systems brought out the big guns at NAB 2012, including T-TAP, a powerhouse in a small, inexpensive package for delivering 10-bit 2K, HD and SD (with embedded audio) from any compatible Mac. Elsewhere, the company released firmware to support Avid DNxHD and offered a post pathway for the 4K output of the new Canon C500.

Feature

NAB Expo

NAB 2012: Avid

Avid focused on broadcasters at NAB 2012, introducing Interplay Sphere, a cloud-based editing initiative, and a Multi-platform Distribution Platform for making it easier than ever to distribute to TV, web, social media and mobile. The company also unveiled numerous broadcaster-friendly products, including the AirSpeed 5000 server and Avid Motion Graphics. For the pure editing crowd, Avid unveiled a cross-promotion deal to offer Symphony's color correction and finishing capabilities for a fraction of its usual cost.

Feature

NAB Expo

NAB 2012: Blackmagic Design's Dan May Talks about The Camera

While at NAB 2012, Debra Kaufman sat down with Blackmagic Design President Dan May to talk about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera as well as other news from the company, including Teranex 2D and Teranex 3D Processors, a new family of high-end broadcast standards converter processors, and a release of the Desktop Video 9.5 software update with support for Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 video software using Blackmagic Design's DeckLink, UltraStudio and Intensity capture.

Feature

NAB Expo

NAB 2012: Adobe CS6 Release

With the release of Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium, Adobe's booth at NAB 2012 was packed every day of NAB 2012. Editors in particular came to check out all the dramatic changes made to Adobe Premiere Pro, including a redesigned interface that makes it friendly to users of other NLEs.

Feature

NAB Expo

NAB 2012 is in the books, final thoughts...

Walter Biscardi went to NAB 2012 with every intention of documenting each day and sharing the vast (and often overwhelming) wealth of information he would glean from the NAB SHOW floor. Well, day one left him needing tons of caffeine, and a lot more sleep - so we're wrapping up now, after a flight home and some time for Walter to catch his breath.

Feature