Technology’s only permanent quality is its impermanence. Recent tech advances are revolutionizing the broadcast and new media industries across the board, in the areas of production, post, delivery and distribution. Not only do hardware/software innovations improve the quality and creative efficiency of what we see on our tvs, movie screens and computer monitors, but they are rearranging the business and economic structures of the information and entertainment industries.

If you think this refers only to the Internet, consider your local multiplex. The technology involved in the century-old ritual of movie-going is changing, with industry experts forecasting a massive rollout of digital projectors within three years.

Meanwhile, companies that established themselves on a foundation of celluloid are investing time in improving tried-and-true motion picture film products and buying up ad space proclaiming, ‘There’s no substitute for film.’ Make no mistake, they are also stocking their shelves with all forms of new digi-merchandise.

While there is still plenty of room for this photochemical/digital two-tier system, the recurring theme in the following month-by-month overview of 2000’s tech highlights is the ever-expanding possibilities of the digital domain at all levels of the industry. More than ever, things will never be the same.

January: Toronto’s Side Effects Software ships Houdini 4.0, the next release of its 3D animation tool. The update features a new visual user interface and a navigation system which streamlines artists’ work flow.

Kodak, that bastion of the photochemical image, introduces Black-and-White Print Film SO-302, offering improved performance in 16mm and 35mm formats. Even with the increasing popularity of digital video origination, this product will be useful for feature release prints, archiving and restoration.

February: Sony ships prototypes of its high-definition 24P (progressive) HDW-F900 camcorder to Panavision, which equips the model with specially developed lenses. Panavision and Lucasfilm begin testing the cameras at Fox Studios, Australia. The new hdcam’s film-like 24 frames-per-second capture rate and traditional 180-degree shuttering finally allow for a proper video-to-film transfer. Satisfied with the test results, director George Lucas commits to shooting Star Wars Episode 2 in the cost-saving new format. (Recent rumors suggest, however, that Lucas will now shoot some segments on film as well.)

Toronto-based Alias|Wavefront announces Maya 3, the fifth major release of its 3D animation and visual effects software for film, broadcast, video and game development. With the release, Alias|Wavefront introduces Trax, an advanced nonlinear animation tool especially beneficial to games artists.

March: The Alliance Atlantis/Tribune Entertainment production Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, shooting in Toronto, gets a one-day trial with Lucas’ Sony 24P hdcams. The producers immediately decide to make Earth the first episodic series to switch from 35mm to 24P video.

April: Sony makes the biggest splash at the National Association of Broadcasters uber-trade show in Las Vegas by releasing the HDW-F900 camcorder and recording 100 sales.

Panasonic anticipates the impact of hd – while addressing the variety of digital video formats in the global marketplace – by introducing a dvcpro product family that accommodates conversion among these systems.

Lowell, Massachusetts developer SynaPix launches an nt version of SynaMatch 3D matchmoving software. SynaMatch works with various animation systems, including Maya, Softimage, Discreet’s Flint/Flame/ Inferno and SynaFlex, and fx shops like it for the ease with which artists can identify, edit and switch tracking points.

Lightworks digital nonlinear editing systems challenge Avid’s market dominance with a return to nab under the banner of Montreal-based Lightworks, which acquired assets of the product family from Tektronix. The new company demonstrates a prototype of its newest system, vox [populi], scheduled for shipment in early 2001.

On the heels of an Ontario Film Development Corporation/Toronto Film and Television Office study suggesting Toronto needs more high-tech soundstages, set design/building company Handmade Sets announces the $10-million development of StudioWorks, a custom-built facility east of downtown.

May: Teac Canada releases the TASCAM MX-2424 24-track digital audio recorder/editor. The MX-2424 is a random-access, hard-disk system allowing for near-instantaneous rewinding and edit point location. It can also save hard-disk space in looping, where, as in analog recording, the recorder rewrites directly over existing tracks until the desired result is achieved.

Softimage, a Montreal-headquartered subsidiary of Avid Technology, ships Softimage/xsi, a 3D animation solution that provides animators in the broadcast, feature film and gaming industries with an extensible means to move data between platforms and applications.

June: The death knell for motion picture projectors grows louder when Texas Instruments announces the signing of an agreement with Mississauga, Ont.-headquartered Imax Corp., whereby Imax and Digital Projection International, its subsidiary out of Manchester, Eng., will develop, manufacture and market projectors based on ti’s Digital Light Processing Cinema projection technology for large-format imax theatres and standard cinemas.

July: In keeping with the demands of the multi-platform universe, Avid announces the launch of Avid Symphony 3.0 and Media Composer 10.0 prior to IBC2000 in Amsterdam. The online finishing systems enable users to perform multi-format mastering and delivery of 601 ntsc, Web/cd/dvd and dtv formats.

August: Fujifilm Canada, subsidiary of the Japanese imaging product developer/manufacturer, introduces F-400 tungsten negative stock, combining the benefits of high speed with fine grain and muted color saturation.

September: System 5, the new digital audio console from Euphonix, a Silicon Valley developer of audio systems, wins the Technical Excellence & Creativity Award for large-format consoles, voted by readers of Mix, the professional audio trade publication.

Oakville, Ont.-based Sheridan College opens its $32-million, 85,000-square-foot Sheridan Centre for Animation and Emerging Technologies. The focus of the facility, three years in the making, will be animation, multimedia, advanced tv and film, new media journalism and telecommunications.

October: Montreal-headquartered systems and software developer Discreet ships Character Studio 3, the newest version of the extension to 3D Studio Max, delivering improved performance for 3D character animation in games, film, broadcast, video and interactive entertainment.

November: Cycore, the Swedish graphics software company with an office in Toronto, announces the availability of Cult3D Exporter for Alias|Wavefront software. Cycore’s free software allows users to export models created in Maya directly to Cycore Cult3D, which can then be used to create interactive 3D objects for the Internet, Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat.

December: Toon Boom, the Montreal-headquartered 2D cel animation software provider, releases Toonshader, which allows the conversion of Maya models and scenes to its usanimation’s Paint format, running on the nt platform. *