With this first (and destined not to be the last) tech highlights overview, VirtualInnovations asked some technically savvy types from various areas of the industry to make their calls on the significant production technology moments from last year and to forecast the major issues of 1999 and beyond.

We sought opinion from an assortment of post/effects professionals on which facets of the vast technical arena made an impact: which products stood out (for better or worse), how the processes changed, what projects mattered and why.

Participants were also asked to provide their thoughts on what the near future of production technology holds – how the products, platforms and processes will continue to change and what it will mean to their own businesses and the industry.

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The biggest news in technology for 1998 was not about what new technology was being created, but who was doing what with whom.

Softimage was sold by Microsoft to Avid. Intel dropped its 8% interest in Avid, but Microsoft picked up 10% of Avid as part of the Softimage deal. Discreet Logic picked up D/vision and turned it into edit*. Intel also invested in Discreet Logic – which was later sold to Autodesk (the makers of AutoCad drafting software and 3D Studio Max). Tektronix abandoned Lightworks to exclusively rep Avid for broadcast.

Maya tops new product list

The best new product of 1998, without question, was Maya from Alias (which was bought by Silicon Graphics a couple of years ago). This program has significantly added to the ease of use and sophistication of 3D modeling and animation.

There were also significant upgrades from Quantel, Discreet Logic and Avid.

The high-resolution Spirit telecine appeared the year before, but it saw heavy use in ’98 and helped push Cintel into releasing a high-def product in ’98.

DVCPro and DVCam made a big impact in ’98 by pushing digital video into the cheap but good category for the first time.

The best use of technology in 1998 was the film What Dreams May Come. While I have some issues with the film creatively, the impressionist painting world was a technical tour-de-force. It is pretty rare these days to see something that makes your jaw drop.

Things to look forward to in’ 99

Will high-def make a dif? The technology is pouring out of the manufacturers, but there is no one at home watching. In the u.s., they are talking at least five years before any significant penetration and even longer in Canada, but most major facilities are gearing up now.

If we start working in high-def, will anyone see it? Will anyone want to actually pay more money and take more time to go high-def on every job, or will it just be a novelty for the next few years?

Avid now has a lot of products that don’t fit well together. I hope to see a rationalization of their product line that is driven by user benefit rather than marketing convenience. The potential is there for a killer high-end product if they take the best of Symphony, Media Illusion, and Digital Studio. Will they do it?

Sony has an exciting new scanner in the wings that is cheap (as scanners go), high-def and low maintenance. There is also a lot of exciting work with compression.

High Bandwidth Wide Area Networking is moving along slowly but surely. This technology allows facilities and clients to have high-quality direct video, audio and data feeds to each other. Unfortunately, Canada is lagging behind in this area.

Jazz Media Network, out of Montreal, has dropped the rest of Canada from its business plans for at least 18 months to concentrate on the u.s.

Most other facilitators are finding it hard to work with the Canadian carriers. Toronto is going to have to push hard on this technology. If we succeed, it will significantly help our international business growth. If we fail, we will be left in the dark.

NT 5.0 and Apple OS X will be released in 1999. Apple is supposed to be releasing a four-processor machine this year, Intergraph is rumored to be working on an eight-processor nt workstation.

These new operating systems and hardware promise to fix all the issues (multiprocessing, multitasking, native graphic abilities, speed) that are seen as currently holding them back from the high end. But don’t count on it being an easy decision. I’m sure the unix vendors will respond in kind.

High cost of staying in the game

As always, the artist drives the industry. You cannot be a good artist if you do not know the tools of your medium. We are all adapting to a mode of continually learning new skills as technology evolves.

Fortunately, a lot of modern software has really become easier to use and more powerful. This has empowered more people than ever before with the ability to express themselves creatively in the video medium. But the competition is fierce. The cost of entry may be cheaper, but the cost of staying in the game is higher. If you don’t keep up, you become last year’s fad.

The biggest question for 1999: will anybody even be able to watch tv once 1999 rolls over into the new millennium? (How does the media department deal with this one?)

Bob Kennedy is editor/partner at Flashcut, Toronto.