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Creative Mac Review of Apple Shake 4.1

Apple Shake 4.1:
The bottom line Shake is and always has been one of the major powerhouses in compositing tools. Version 4.1, though, is the best to date, for its ability to run on Intel-based Mac hardware, for the performance enhancements it gains on those pieces of hardware and for its new breakthrough price of $499. At that price and with the kind of power Shake offers, it ought to be irresistible to anyone working professionally in the visual arts. I give it a Must Buy recommendation, making it the tenth application that has received that recommendation to date. (Apple now has three of those 10, including Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro.) To receive a Must Buy recommendation, a piece of software must be the best in its category; it must be a tool central to the workflow of creative professionals; it must be an outstanding application in its own right, apart from what else is out there in the market; and it must be priced within reason. Shake easily makes it on all four counts.

Intel MacBooks are faster (In some cases) to G5s

13-Inch MacBook Benchmarks 1: "For this first round of benchmarks tests, we'll compare the 13-inch MacBook with a dual 2.0 GHz G5 and a 2.16 GHz MacBook Pro running various rendering and encoding tests in Final Cut Studio 5.1. The applications in Studio are, of course, Universal Binaries, so they're designed to run natively on PowerPC and Intel hardware. The results are surprising. Like the 15-inch MacBook Pro, the 13-inch MacBook surpasses the performance of a dual 2.0 GHz G5 in many cases. But it also holds its own against the MacBook Pro, coming in just slightly slower in most tests. Some components of Mac OS X have been updated since we ran our MacBook Pro benchmarks, and, as a result, the MacBook comes in faster in some tests--significantly in some Compressor encoding tests."

A hands-on look at the new MacBook Pro - Computerworld

A hands-on look at the new MacBook Pro - Computerworld: "A hands-on look at the new MacBook Pro Is it fast? "This baby cooks," says columnist Yuval Kossovsky

(Via http://www.computerworld.com .)

Macworld: Review: iMovie HD 6

Macworld: Review: iMovie HD 6: "Pros: New themes are visually interesting; real-time previews are helpful; audio effects are a welcome addition.

Cons: Locked clips don't always stay locked; a few cosmetic glitches persist; performance annoyingly seems to vary by machine."

Macworld: Review: iDVD 6

Macworld: Review: iDVD 6: "Pros: Ability to rearrange menu structure in Map view; new wide-screen support; resizable windows; Magic iDVD creates polished projects with little effort; can burn directly to third-party DVD burners.

Cons: Choppy preview, even on fast Macs; Map view lacks a disc space indicator and slide-show transition contro"

Review - Optimizing Your Final Cut Pro System - Apple Pro Training Series:

Review - Optimizing Your Final Cut Pro System - Apple Pro Training Series:: "I think the title of this book 'Optimizing Your Final Cut Pro System' is a bit of a misnomer. The sub-title ' A Technical Guide to Real-World Post Production' is more to the point."

I think he likes it.

(Via http://www.kenstone.net .)

Macworld: Review: Shake 4

Macworld: Review: Shake 4: "Pros: New 3-D compositing tools; high-quality retiming and warping; improved stabilization features.

Cons: Interface remains awkward for completing basic functions; performance problems on complex projects."

Review: Color Correction for Final Cut Pro

Color Correction for Final Cut Pro: "ith every review I do, I try to find at least one fault of the product I'm reviewing (unless the faults are obvious). This so people don't think I'm just regurgitating marketing blubber from the product developer. But with this DVD production, I find no faults. In every way, this DVD shines through. The content is top notch, the quality is there, Steve Martin has nice presence, there's extra usable media content and the price is right. Never before have I given a prefect rating for a product because I find it almost impossible to do so. This DVD is a rare exception and I know you'll find great value in its teachings... I did.

I give this DVD 5 out of 5 Cows.

$69.95 USD - Color Correction for Final Cut Pro DVD"

(Via www.creativecow.net .)

HD For Indies - IBC coverage from last month

HD For Indies: "IBC 2005 Report - news, pictures, & video of HD camcorders, including video of Panasonic HVX-200 (!)-UPDATED "

HD For Indies: "IBC 2005 Report #2: Cine-one indi, NAS solutions "

HD For Indies: "IBC 2005 Day 3 Report: Details on Panasonic HVX-200, Grass Valley Infinity Camera, Sony XDCAM HD "

(Via http://hdforindies.com.)

DV Matte Blast for Motion 2

DV Matte Blast for Motion 2: "  DV Matte Blast for Motion 2 http://www.dvgarage.com $99.00 Review by Steve Douglas This is one incredible piece of software.... Its applied quickly, is thoroughly effective and works in real time. I threw on some old, somewhat poorly lit green screen shots in Motion 2, applied the DV Matte Blast as one would do with any filter, made a couple of minor adjustments and viola, an excellent final produ"

(Via http://www.kenstone.net .)