*Avid/Tektronix align

Avid Technology and Tektronix have formed an alliance to bring the resources of the two companies together to develop integrated broadcast and post-production solutions. In addition, the two companies have inked a distribution agreement and formed a joint venture to develop newsroom computing systems.

At the same time, Tektronix will ultimately phase out the development of its nonlinear editing systems. The Tektronix vip editing system will continue to be developed through Version 3.

Ray Baldock, Tektronix vp product marketing and strategy, says future product plans are going to be on the media management side, with the Lightworks engineering team focusing its efforts on media management in the production and post environment.

Boldock says there will be joint development with Avid, and while it probably won’t involve the development of an editing system, it will be ‘closely related to that.’

The Tektronix/Avid deal will align Avid’s broadcast news division and Tektronix’s video and networking division, combining Avid’s leading digital nonlinear editing systems and Tektronix’s playback server, storage, routing and networking products.

The intention is to create a production-to-air digital broadcast solution and facilitate the move to an all-digital broadcast production environment.

Among the early efforts under the technology agreement will be the integration of Avid’s NewsCutter dv digital nonlinear news editing system with the Tektronix Profile digital servers to provide a complete editing-to-playback system for broadcasters.

Under the distribution agreement, Tektronix will become the exclusive distributor of Avid’s broadcast products in the u.s. and Canada and will have non-exclusive distribution rights to Avid’s line of professional products for broadcast accounts in both countries, effective Oct. 1.

The two companies will also unite their newsroom computer system efforts to create a 50/50 joint venture to address that market.

*In other Avid newsÉ

Avid Technology is shipping its iS Plus line of storage products for the post-production market. The iS storage devices incorporate 10k rpm drive technology to deliver speedy data transfer rates. The drives are available in 9gb and 18gb capacities that work in conjunction with the Avid MediaDock storage system.

iS Plus is the only line of removable storage drives designed for use with Avid products like Media Composer and Digidesign Pro Tools audio systems.

The iS9 Plus MediaDock shuttle is priced at about $3,130 and the iS18 MediaDock shuttle in the $5,000 range.

*Toy Box does Twain

Toronto’s Toybox was recently called into action to dimensionalize an American legend for 3D feature Mark Twain’s America from Sony Pictures Classics and Ogden Entertainment.

The film, shot in imax format and directed by imax veteran Stephen Low (Across the Sea of Time), chronicles the life of colorful literary icon Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, using old photographs. The 3D documentary integrates footage of Civil War re-enactments and small-town celebrations shot for the project with 19th century images enhanced by the Toybox team.

Toybox was charged with creating a 3D effect for the 39 real photos of Twain and family, reproducing the look of the stereoscopic viewers of Twain’s era using a special viewer with left-eye and right-eye lenses to make photos appear in 3D.

To recreate the illusion of depth, Toybox took original photos and slightly changed the angle at which they were shot using the Quantel Graphics Paintbox 2.

The ‘left eye’ – the original shot – and the ‘right eye’ – the new shot – were filmed with Toybox’s motion-control rig.

For this project, Imax and Toybox created a modification for the motion-control rig to accommodate an imax Mark 2 camera and also used a special computer chip to run the camera at six frames per second crystal sync.

The motion-control rig was used to shoot the left and right eye images separately, which when projected simultaneously appear as a stereoscopic or 3D scene.

The Toybox team included senior Paintbox artist Dale Codling, Paintbox artist Anthony Bennett and visual effects director Tony Willis.

The film has premiered in the u.s. and Japan and will debut in Toronto in 1999.

*We Never Close – Quantel

Quantel has launched HelpDesk, a new 24/7 customer support initiative operated out of the company’s Newbury, u.k. headquarters.

HelpDesk is designed to provide support service where local assistance is unavailable and is integrated with a central computer system called Masterpack and Quantel’s global warehouse network to facilitate product tracking and speedy dispatch of replacement parts.

*Step-by-step video guide

Artel Video Systems has introduced QuickSilver, a new guide to assist service providers in defining and launching video service undertakings.

The program, developed by Artel together with telecommunications consulting firm TeleChoice, consists of a source book that provides a step-by-step guide to developing and promoting new video services, particularly with the impending shift to hdtv.

For more info, see the Artel Website (www.artel.com).

*Minerva makes Impression

Mountain View, California-based Minerva is launching Minerva Impression, an interactive video authoring software product for dvd. Impression has been designed to allow video producers to author dvd titles with software-only tools that plug into the existing development environment

The system, which integrates with existing nonlinear editing tools, allows output from any video editing system to be immediately fed into the dvd process.

Impression is aimed at corporate dvd developers as well as video post facilities, which can incorporate the system into their existing operation. Impression is an nt-based system and will be available beginning in October for $9,995.

*Wharry helms SGI

Silicon Graphics Canada has appointed Dave Wharry new company president and ceo. Wharry has been with sgi for six years, moving from Ontario sales branch manager to director market development to head honcho.

He succeeds Doug Walker, who is assuming the position of vp, worldwide field operations and marketing at Toronto-based sgi subsidiary Alias| Wavefront.

Wharry recently presided over the launching of a new digital animation studio at the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville, Nfld. The $2.4-million facility is a joint venture of sgi and the college and was funded with a public/private investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Operation online, sgi and North Atlantic.