In addition to herds of Canadian glitterati, adding another stylish element to the Gemini Awards this year was the art nouveau-themed design package, created by Tony Cleave, creative director at Soho Post & Graphics.

The package, which included opening animation and various design elements throughout the show, was created using Matador software from Parallax, which facilitated the multilayer composite in the package.

Soho has also added more nouveau staff to the Toronto facility. Arlene Atkins joins Soho as producer – animation and post-production, and Brian DeVille joins Wayne McKenzie as hal artist/designer. Alan Kennedy has been appointed technical director of the animation department and Andy Hunter joins Paul Jacobs as Edit Box effects editor.

Dead woman shot with digital camera

The cbc, home to the world’s largest digital facility, is producing the first series in the country to be shot on digital Betacam.

Dead Woman Kept 73 Cats is currently being taped at the cbc’s Studio 62 using two Sony DVW-700 Digital Betacam cameras. The comedy series, which follows the machinations of an opportunistic news director, is shot in documentary style by cinematographer Joan Hutton, with Ken Finkleman producing, directing and writing, and Peter Meyboom producing.

Technical producer Jake Werner says the digital camera is well suited to the particular needs of the show. In addition to superior picture quality and sharpness, Werner says the camera provides greater latitude in terms of lighting and better color saturation.

‘On this project, because we’re shooting documentary style, we don’t have a lot of time for lighting, so I knew going in that the ideal tool would be the digital Betacam,’ says Werner. ‘You can shoot anywhere with minimal lighting and have a sharp, crisp picture.’

Hutton says the Betacams lend themselves well to the dominantly hand-held shooting method used on the project and the results approach the look of film.

The show is being edited in an online suite at the cbc with Lightworks. The digital Betacams, provided along with technical assistance from Sim Video, are more expensive to rent, but also allow for sidestepping the costs of film stock, processing and transfer.

Audio for the project is also being recorded on dat and conformed in a Dyaxis non-linear audio editing suite. The series will air this fall.

Owl online

As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, Owl Communications has launched OWLkids online. The online service consists of Web pages catering to different Owl demographics.

Wired Owl is directed at children aged eight and over and features samples from Owl magazine and links to other Net sites. Chickadee Net caters to kids three to eight, and Cyberfamily is aimed at parents and inclined adults.

The sites were designed in-house at Owl by managing editor Keltie Thomas and associate art director Erin O’Connor. OWLkids online can be found at // www.owl.on.ca.

Net show

The Canadian National Internet Show is being held March 28-31 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The show will feature the Executive Forum, a one-day symposium on key Internet issues facing managers and executives; the Technology, Infrastructure and Content Conference, a four-day series of seminars, workshops and demonstrations; and the exposition/floor show.

Among the speakers at the event will be Don Tapscot, author of The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in Networked Intelligence.

The show’s Web site can be found at //www.cdnnetshow./ca/show.

New media voices

California-based Interval Research Corporation and New York-based interactive media publisher The Voyager Company have announced the selection of jury members for the third annual New Voices, New Visions international artistic competition in digital media.

This year’s jury will include performance artist Laurie Anderson, cartoonist Lynda Barry and filmmaker Mark Pellington. Entry deadline is June 28, 1996.

More information can be found at //www.nvnx.org or by calling (415) 855-07780.

Closed captioning

Following a recent crtc decision which requires broadcasters earning over $10 million per year to provide 100% quality captioning of news programming by 1998, Oakville, Ont.-based lobco has developed the VoiceWriter captioning system.

The VoiceWriter is the first non-linear captioning system with voice recognition. The system uses voice, keyboard and mouse controls, features a built-in video card for digitizing and compressing video, and provides the user with a preview window that displays the captions on the computer screen. The system has undergone Beta testing and meets fcc regulations.

Sharper image

Sharp Electronics of Canada has introduced a computer/video lcd projection panel. The QA-1200 has a new high-transmissive 1.7 million color tft lcd display and is designed for those who require bright images and multimedia capabilities in a projection panel.

Sharing

An agreement has been signed for Connecticut-based Management Graphics to share technology with u.k.-based Quantel for improving contrast and maintaining color purity in Management Graphics’ film recorders. mg, makers of the Solitaire Image Recorder, will have access via the deal to display technology created by Quantel for the DOMINO Film Recorder, which is based on mg hardware.

McGill wins CD-i gold

Toronto-based McGill Multimedia has been recognized for its achievements in cd-i technology with a first-place win at the 1996 International Compact Disc-Interactive Association’s award ceremony in Cannes last month.

The gold award for best use of cd-i technology in a professional title was based on McGill’s 1995 Toyota auto show kiosk, which allowed patrons to design their own Tercel on a computer screen.

Home theater advance

California-based audio products manufacturer amc has developed a new circuit for its PRO7 Dolby Pro Logic Decoder, which permits users to listen to movie sound tracks at lower volume levels while maintaining the intended sonic details.

The low-level compensation circuit compensates for the loss of 3D quality when sound tracks, mixed for loud volume levels in theaters, are played back at much lower volume levels.