Hotfile to countersue Warner Bros. over anti-piracy abuse

The once-popular cyberlocker Hotfile is preparing to countersue Warner Bros., whilst currently in the middle of a lawsuit brought against it by the MPAA and its member studios.
In February, the MPAA sued Hotfile, run by a man in Florida, after the site saw such huge growth that it became a top 100 site in the world, in regards to traffic.

Cyberlockers, like Hotfile and Fileserve (and the fathers of the industry, Rapidshare and Megaupload) allow users to upload and share all files they want, and many use the platforms to share movies and music, while collecting an income. Hotfile, for example, paid $20 for every 1000 downloads of a user's file (with other conditions).

Despite shutting down some of its biggest uploader's accounts, Hotfile has not really gone down without a fight and a judge has so far thrown out the MPAA's case for direct copyright infringement.

Hotfile is also demanding that the film industry begin sharing its anti-piracy investigation techniques with the world, including why DMCA takedown notices are sent and they found such files. The MPAA has flatly said no, saying they are sensitive trade secrets.

The cyberlocker claims that they need the info to defend itself, but also so they can countersue Warner Bros., who is believed to be abusing its anti-piracy abuse by sending take down notices and deleting files that they do not own.

Of course, the countersued cannot be started until this info is procured from the MPAA. There is a deposition scheduled, which the MPAA says is only important "so that Defendants may satisfy themselves that there is no basis for any claim."

Source is http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2011/08/17/hotfile_to_countersue_warner_bros_over_anti-piracy_abuse

Peeking at a 3D Future with the JVC GS-TD1 Twin-Lens Camcorder

Filmmaker Zack Lieberman reviews the 3D JVC GS-TD1 camcorder (and gives his impassioned defense of 3D) over on Nofilmschool.com. He says, "I really liked this camera. A lot. For a two lens system, it’s incredibly small and durable, it makes a beautiful image, and is about as good as I could reasonably expect for 2011." Read it in full here.

Depth of Field Comparison: FS100, 5D MKII & AF100

Magnanimous Media have posted the below no-frills video showing a depth-of-field comparison between the Sony FS100, Panasonic AF100 and Canon 5D MK11. Says Cinescopophilia, "Using Canon 24-70mm and 70-200mm L-Series lenses on all three cameras not only do we get to see the DoF compared but we also experience the crop factor comparison from the three different camera sensor sizes." Read more here.

FS100 5DMkII AF100 - Depth of Field - Magnanimous Media from Magnanimous Media on Vimeo.

Source is http://www.dv.com/article/110220

Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

Incredible Woman, a Hero and an Amazing Service Dog to be Featured in Movie

Nonprofit organization raises awareness for debilitating disease and animal rescue.

(Vail, CO) Dr. Diane Dike and her service dog, Gracie, found each other through the most debilitating circumstances, and now an award-winning film producer wants to tell their story.

This month Dike joined with award-winning producer/director Darla Rae of Film-It Productions in Denver to make “Diane’s Song,” a movie designed to raise awareness for Diane’s life-threatening disease and bring hope and inspiration to viewers worldwide. Rae is well known for producing films that uplift, encourage, motivate and inspire.

“Our goal is to encourage all to overcome their challenges with faith, hope and love,” said Dike, who was diagnosed at age 23 with cryoglobulinemia vasculitis, a rare and incurable autoimmune disease that causes the blood to turn to sludge in times of stress, if she stands or sits with her feet hanging down, and in cold temperatures.

In the course of overcoming her circumstances, Dike sought to comfort a broken Italian Greyhound that she adopted and named, “Gracie.” The tiny puppy had no home and needed surgery for two broken legs, broken ribs and a ripped off tail. It wasn’t long before Gracie rescued Diane right back, and she’s been saving her daily ever since. Snuggling Gracie keeps Diane’s blood warm and freely flowing, thus keeping her alive.

Both were once homeless, hopeless and facing serious physical, mental and emotional challenges. Both persevered to overcome their daunting circumstances and discovered life was very much worth living.

“We rescued each other,” Dike said. “We each got a second chance.”

Out of their experience came the formation of Second Chance with Saving Grace, a nonprofit organization that reaches out to people and animals who are hurting through a variety of books, informative websites, presentations and engagements (including an appearance on Oprah’s OWN Mystery Diagnosis, "The Woman Whose Legs Turned Black"), prayer, and handing out Love Kits to those who need a little hope in their lives. For more information about the ministry, visit the Second Chance with Saving Grace website listed below.

There is much more to Dike’s story, and “Diane’s Song,” a modern-day Cinderella tale with a twist, will reveal this extraordinary tale of a woman, a dog and a hero who didn’t give up.

“We were waiting for an amazing story to create our next movie, and when I met Diane on Facebook, I knew we’d found it," Rae said. "Her life is a living testimony of what God can do with a life fully surrendered to Him.”

The movie will be filmed in Colorado, and will especially feature businesses in the Eagle County area where Dike resides with her hero husband, Paul, and, of course, Gracie.

Film-It Productions is coming to town Thursday, July 28 to review the area for filming locations and to speak to supporters about this incredible project and opportunity. Rae is raising the $500,000 needed to produce the film through Crowd Funding, a fiscal sponsorship allowing everyone to donate, sponsor, or be involved at many levels to see this brilliant family film brought to fruition. An account has been set up at FirstBank under Second Chance, “Diane’s Song” movie fund. Other ways to donate as well as advertising and product placement opportunities are listed on the SCwSG website. All donations are tax-deductible.

Source is http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/news/Incredible_Woman_a_Hero_and_an_Amazing_Service_Dog_to_be_Featured_in_Movie.shtml

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve Lite – Free Download

Milpitas, CA – July 22, 2011 – Blackmagic Design today announced DaVinci Resolve Lite, a new reduced feature version of DaVinci Resolve that includes many powerful color correction features in a downloadable software package available free of charge, is now shipping.

Download for free here.

To help promote the art of color correction, DaVinci Resolve Lite includes many powerful features found in the full version of DaVinci Resolve for an extremely powerful toolset that anyone will able to download. DaVinci Resolve Lite is based on DaVinci Resolve 8, and will run on the latest model iMac, 17inch MacBook Pro and Mac Pro computers.

DaVinci Resolve Lite includes all the same high quality processing of the full DaVinci Resolve, however limits projects to SD and HD resolutions, only two color correction nodes, a single processing GPU and a single RED Rocket card. Stereoscopic 3D features, noise reduction, power mastering, remote grading and sharing projects with an external database server are features only offered in the full DaVinci Resolve so are not included in this free DaVinci Resolve Lite edition. Customers who want to eliminate these restrictions can simply purchase the full DaVinci Resolve Software for only US$995.

Even with the restrictions of the free DaVinci Resolve Lite, image quality is never limited, and customers will see the incredible image processing quality of DaVinci Resolve. In addition, DaVinci Resolve Lite can still accept high resolution source footage in 2K and 4K from the latest digital cameras from RED and ARRI, so customers get a fantastic digital camera utility.

DaVinci Resolve Lite still includes high quality optical resizing, curve grading, XML import and export, 32 bit float processing, YRGB image processing, multi layer timelines, stabilization, window tracking, primary and secondary color correction, real time processing, capture and playback with deck control, compatibility with third party control panels and many more. With so many powerful features at absolutely no charge, customers will be able to experience the dramatic improvement to their work from using a professional color correction tool.

“We are very excited to be able to offer a free version of DaVinci Resolve, and we hope that many more people will be able to explore the art of color correction in their work”, said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We are so excited about what color correction can offer to the whole television and post production industry, that we think this no charge DaVinci Resolve Lite will create a revolution in visual design that will dramatically improve the production values of even the lowest budget work!”

About DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve is the world’s highest performance color correction solution for Mac OS X and Linux computers. DaVinci Resolve supports more real time color correction than any other system because it’s not limited by the performance of the computer it’s running on. DaVinci Resolve eliminates this performance barrier because it’s based on a cluster of high performance GPU cards, so all processing is always real time. DaVinci Resolve has the power of a true real time performance solution so handles complex color grades even when using dozens of primaries, secondaries, Power Windows™, multi point tracking, blurs, and more. DaVinci Resolve provides incredible performance in a low cost solution can then easily upgrade by adding extra GPU’s for supercomputer power to handle 4K resolutions, stereoscopic 3D and real time grading direct from raw camera files such as ARRI raw and RED raw R3D files can be handled with ease.

Availability and Price

DaVinci Resolve Lite is available immediately, free of charge from the Blackmagic Design web site.

Source is http://www.dvcreators.net/blackmagic-design-announces-davinci-resolve-lite-free-download/

Adobe Announces Switcher Program For Video Professionals

Save 50 Percent on Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium or Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5

SAN JOSE, Calif. — July 1, 2011 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced an upgrade program for video professionals who have purchased any version of Apple® Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer and want to switch to industry-leading professional video tools by Adobe®—Creative Suite® CS5.5 Production Premium or Premiere® Pro CS5.5. These customers will be eligible for a 50 percent savings on Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium or Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, both launched in April 2011 at the National Association of Broadcasters Show to industry acclaim. Eligible Adobe suite and point product customers also qualify for the program.

“We’re hearing from video professionals that they want pro level tools that address cutting edge work but also allow them to use legacy footage and workflows,” said Jim Guerard, general manager and vice president of professional video and audio, Adobe. “At Adobe we’ve been in the trenches with video pros for years and with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 and CS5.5 Production Premium we’ve delivered professional-grade tools that are already being battle-tested by some of the most innovative filmmakers, broadcasters and video pros.”

Built by professionals for professionals, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium is a fully featured video suite with tools that deliver massive productivity enhancements and enable video and audio pros to dramatically accelerate their post production workflows. The powerful Adobe Mercury Playback Engine, introduced in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, allows users to open projects faster, get real-time feedback for more GPU-accelerated features, and work more smoothly at 4k and higher resolutions on both laptops and workstations.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 boosts performance for powerful editing with a toolset that is native 64-bit, optimized for multicore systems, and is GPU-accelerated to provide real-time effects, color correction/color grading, accelerated rendering and superior multilayer performance. Professional video editors can also utilize all the system resources on modern Macs with Thunderbolt, 64-bit, and multicore CPUs for increased performance. Adobe is continuing to lead in truly native editing solutions with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 as it saves users time and eliminates the need to transcode or rewrap file based and DSLR footage. Editors can also leverage Adobe After Effects® and Adobe Photoshop® software to seamlessly integrate visual effects and still imagery into their workflows. For customers who use other editing programs, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 includes Final Cut Pro project import and export so projects can be shared between both applications without conversion or re-rendering. Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 also includes many Final Cut Pro and Avid keyboard shortcuts to help users get up and running fast.

Terms and conditions
Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer customers can receive a savings of 50% on the full versions of Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium (Mac or Windows) or Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 purchased through the Adobe Store, Adobe Customer Service or participating reseller.

Adobe customers who own qualifying suite and individual products* for the upsell of Production Premium are also eligible to receive the same price (50% off the full versions of Production Premium). Restrictions apply, see below. Offer void where prohibited. When purchasing through the online Adobe Store, you must enter offer code SWITCH in the shopping cart prior to checking out when prompted to do so. To purchase by phone, call 800-585-0774 and mention offer code SWITCH. Orders must be placed between July 1, 2011, at 12 am Pacific time and Sept. 30, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Offer is limited to nine (9) discounted copies per customer. Offer and current pricing is subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Offer is not valid for Subscription products, OEM bundles, or Education. Applicable local sales taxes and shipping charges may apply.

Eligibility Requirements
For more information on eligibility requirements for the switcher program, visit www.adobe.com/products/premiere/switch, or participating resellers. The program will end Sept. 30, 2011.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

Source is http://www.dvinfo.net/news/adobe-announces-switcher-program-for-video-professionals.html

AJA FS2 Dual Channel Universal Frame Synchronizer & Format Converter is Now Available

AJA Video Systems is now shipping FS2, its new universal frame synchronizer and format converter with two completely independent channels that support virtually any input or output. FS2 can be used as two separate frame synchronizers/converters, or channels can be combined in a variety of ways — all within a single, compact 1RU form factor — to support a wide range of workflows.

FS2 builds on the success of AJA’s FS1 by adding dual channel features in a streamlined 1RU design at an unprecedented price point. Each FS2 video channel supports analog component or composite, 3G/HD/SD-SDI, Dual-Link and HDMI I/O, as well as Optical Fiber I/O options, and each channel has its own still-store, keyer, and video proc amp/color corrector. With support for all broadcast video formats in a single converter box, FS2 makes it easy to match up disparate video and audio systems and is ideally suited for broadcast facilities, production trucks and other multi-format production environments.

Jon Maudlin, director of operations and technology at FotoKem Non-Linear--a global, family-owned, full-service post-production facility based in Los Angeles--said, “AJA’s FS1 has been a go-to device for us in post for a long time. For more complex installs we add AJA products for fiber conversion, HDMI and other tasks. We’re really excited about FS2 because it brings all of that functionality together into one rack unit that can handle pretty much everything — from audio delays to conversions to proc amp, signal generation and more.”

FS2 can be used for a variety of video and audio signal conversion, adaptation, timing and processing applications, including:
• Dual-channel 10-bit up/down/cross convert between various SD and HD formats including 1080p50/60
• General purpose dual HD/SD frame synchronization
• Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog audio/video conversion
• Mux or demux of two separate HD signals from one 3G SDI signal
• Convert 3G/HD/SD video over fiber to/from SDI (BNC)
• Built-in video processing amplifiers to adjust and/or color correct.
• Synchronize the timing of key and fill signals by putting both through the parallel FS2 video channels and adjusting their timing independently. Then key them using one of the two FS2 keyers or an external keyer.
• Dolby E encoding and decoding with full channel mapping (available as an option)

FS2 retails for $4995 US. Also available are dual fiber options for $295 and single fiber options for $195. Optional features that will also be available for FS2 at a later date include Dolby E encoding for $3895 and Dolby E decoding $2995.

Source is http://www.dv.com/article/109220