– So honed software

Toronto-based Soho Digital Film recently capped a six-month process of polishing its proprietary video-to-film up-resing software, which is able to convert any video format, including cgi, to high-res 35mm film.

The software was recently employed on a Kuwaiti commercial job for which material delivered on D1 pal format was shot to 35mm, with material originally ntsc converted to pal and pal titles added.

The job entailed dealing with a poor conversion, with the mandate to improve picture quality.

Soho director of operations Brian Hunt rewrote the software to deal with 25-frame-per-second pal video and the interlacing problems that typically attend ntsc-to-pal conversion.

The spots, for TGI Fridays, will run before the premiere of Titanic in the Middle East.

– Frantic friends

Winnipeg-based Frantic Films, together with other members of a users group for Speed Razor editing systems, has created a psa for the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

The virtual online community, hosted by docutainment production house Flying Pig Ranch of Jenson Beach, Florida, collaborated on the spot for the wspa, using the Internet as the production site. Frantic and other members edited together the broadcast spot using stock footage provided by the charity organization.

– Panasonic swims with sharks

Vancouver-based Dusmar Multimedia recently employed the Panasonic AG-EZ1 digital dv camcorder to capture underwater footage for documentary The Bikini Atoll, which recently aired on a&e.

Dusmar shot color footage on the camera to run with black-and-white archival film. The camcorder was used with a custom-designed underwater housing to allow the camera’s controls to be operated while diving, and was used with another mechanism to effectively capture shark footage while being rammed by the fish.

– D.I.G. I.T.

Digital Imaging Gatherings In Toronto Edition 3 will be held March 9 at the Poor Alex Theatre. d.i.g. i.t. showcases the demo reels of Canadian computer animation talent coming out of school programs in the area. The show, produced by the Animation Resource Centre, will feature live mixing of each of the roughly 20 reels via two Beta players and a video switcher.

For more information call Robin Donovan at (416) 324-9863.

– Web win

TVOntario’s Online Group and tfo won a Milia d’Or award for the Website ‘Perdus dans les Etoiles.’ The Milia D’Ors were announced Feb. 10 at Milia, the international content market for interactive media in Cannes.

The site (www. tfo.org/mega) uses storytelling modules and user-controlled activities to guide children in learning about the universe and is the first in a series. Six new modules are in development, with production set to begin this spring.

– To the Holopod

Toronto’s Vivid Group, makers of the Video Gesture Controlled camera-based virtual-reality system, has added another interactive element to its vr roster with the Holopod, which allows users to ‘beam up’ to a selection of virtual destinations and game activities.

The Holopod, located on a space station orbiting the earth, allows players to select from a menu of virtual game environments, then, using a blue screen, the system displays the player in a teleportation unit.

The player’s body is scanned to determine physical measurements like height and arm length. The user then materializes in another setting where a game is played using the vgc system, including Virtual Volleyball and VR Netminder Soccer.

– Bang-on MPEG-2

Paris-based Vitec Multimedia will use NAB ’98 as an opportunity to launch its new MPEG-2 editing system, touted as the world’s first nonlinear, frame-accurate MPEG-2 editing software. The system is for cut-and-paste editing of MPEG-2 program files in the Windows NT/Windows 95 platforms.

The company is selling the software as an easy-to-use system which allows users to edit files before authoring a dvd by removing MPEG-2 segments of a video program file without re-encoding the entire file.

Video Clip MPEG-2 was previewed at Comdex in Las Vegas last fall and is officially launching at nab in April. The system is priced under us$1,300 and will be bundled with the Vitec RT20 MPEG-2 encoders and DRT 4 decoders.

– Higher Octane

Silicon Graphics Canada has upped the horsepower on its Octane workstation family based on the 250MHz MIPS RISC R10000 microprocessor and has introduced its E-Series graphics, which is said to deliver up to a 40% increase in graphics performance.

E-Series graphics will be available in the Octane/mxe workstation shipping this quarter. The 250MHz Octane/mxe with E-Series graphics starts at $75,256.