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MSUS Releases 9 New Add-on Software Updates for Bogart Editors

From MacroSystem US News webpage - announced July 24, 2013

NOTE: the file size of this ISO image is 1.2 GB and can be downloaded from the MSUS website here, but due to the image size must be burned onto a DVD as it will not fit onto a CD.

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Along with the North American (NTSC) release of the new DVD Arabesk 6 software, the new Add On Software DVD includes several updates for other add on pieces of software.  These include:

1. BlueBoxWorld 1.1a - An install script has changed that allows the version to be deleted completely from the Install Product list.  This version is needed if you have a problem and have to reinstall BB World.

2. Deluxe Titler 3d V 2.0c - New or first installation of the prior 3D Titler did not set a mirror on the characters as a default.  Having the mirror makes it easier to see the rendered default title.  Archive paths added. When you save the Bogart archives, the archives of Titler archives will be saved too.

3. Deshaker V 1.0a - Different languages updated (french, czech, swedish, italian)

4 & 5. Motion 3d XL 1+2 V 1.0a - Archive paths added. When you save the Bogart archives, the archives of Motion 3D XL will be saved too.

6. Pro Club 2011 V 1.1 - This version will work with Bogart 5.  The prior version will not function.

7. SplitX Wedding HD 1.3 - This version fixes a bug where images didn't show up in the pattern operator and fixes a problem with image transparencies.

8.  Effect Jingles Traffic and Technology V1.1 - This fixes some samples that weren't creating or previewing with or Bogart 5 with the prior version.
 
9. Quadcam 1.4 - Improved use with HD footage on Bogart 4.3c or higher.  On Bogart 5, Shuttle TT is supported and now can work on Quadcam 1.4 as well.

Ask The Expert: How to Export Quality Photo from HD Video?

From the Ask The Expert File:

QUESTION: If i have an HDV movie and i want to use or create a Picture, to been used outside Casablanca, how can I do that? It must be in high quality!


ANSWER:
1. On Smart Edit you would have to use Casablanca Photo Transfer (add-on software) to export a frame from a video in the Scene Bin to an external USB drive as a JPEG file. But then you would not likely be working with an HDV project.

2. On the Bogart OS systems we can still use Photo Transfer but there is a much easier method that I love to use!
This function was added to the OS in Bogart V4 and is found under the OPT button. And since you are starting with higher resolution video, your still image will be a higher quality JPEG file that should print (or show well)

 I have a tutorial on this process here: Using the Photo Export Function in Bogart OS

Two New Editors Coming to North America & NTSC Casablanca Software Sale

MacroSystem US today shared news of both a summer software sale and impending release of the two brand new Casablanca editors, the Casablanca Karat and the Casablanca Topaz.  What follows is the text and links from the MSUS Announcement

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MacroSystem US Newsletter - June 21st, 2013

Casablanca Software Sale
Beginning today (June 20, 2013) and through the 19th of July, the following sale prices will be in effect.

For Club Members, 30% off retail pricing.
For Non-Club folks, 20% off retail pricing.

This offer is not to be combined with other discounts/specials.


Two New Casablanca Editors: Topaz and Karat
"We're happy to finally announce the availability and pricing for the Karat and the Topaz.  Dennis has almost finished his extensive beta testing on the Karat, and he says it's 3 to 5 weeks from being NTSC ready.

Karat and Topaz Pricing (pricing for MSUS Customers in North America)

* Karat - Retail cost is $3999. 
Full details are here - MSUS Casablanca Karat

* Topaz - Retail price is $2599. 
Full details are here - MSUS Topaz

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"We are now taking unit orders, and will ship when testing completes. 
We will ship in the order PO's are received.  The trade in offer stands on KARAT units only, with the same discount as with current S6000 trade options."
 

June Webinar in the Archives: Free Resources for your Video Projects

Thoroughly enjoyed presenting the Members Webinar this past Thursday (June 20th) where I shared resources (downloads from the internet) which provide you with free materials for your video projects! These resources were from four categories: stock video & motion graphics, audio, graphics/photos, and fonts. 

The recording of the lesson (1-hour, 20-minutes) along with links to the web resources and the Casablanca Expert tutorials that enable loading/use of these items into your Casablanca is available now - just visit this page: June 2013 Members Webinar Recording

Difference Between MPEG2 and MPEG4 video files

Had a website member ask today "if the video created in Arabesk is an MP2 or MP4 file."

There is easy confusion with all the different acronyms and compression schemes available today. Here's a quick, over-simplified answer:

• DVD is by default (industry design) an MP2 compressed video file/s.
• MP4 is created when you export a video file (and you have MP4 as an option).

This page explains in greater detail: Difference Between MPEG2 and MPEG4

June Members Webinar Next Thursday: Free Resources for Your Video Projects

Join Casablanca Expert as he provides a lesson to help you get the most from your Casablanca video editor.  

In this Members Session Casablanca Expert Chet Davis will share resources (mostly downloads from the internet) which provide you with free materials for your video projects! 

Included will be stock video & motion graphics, audio (music), graphics/photos, and fonts.  

This lesson will be of benefit to both Smart Edit & Bogart OS editors (actually all digital video editors) but importing all these files are easier using the Bogart V5 OS units. 

Chet will provide suggestions for converting/importing these resources into Casablanca Smart Edit units as well.

Click here to confirm all time zones for this June Members Webinar

Website member can register for this on-line lesson on the Casablanca Expert Members Webinar Page.

 

What Is Color Correction and Why Is It Important For Video Production?

I have heard some of our Casablanca colleagues suggest or request that future developments in Casablanca software really should provide some more capable tools to help out with video color correction.  This goes way beyond fixing bad white balance, but honestly I did not have a solid idea about this topic.  I came across this blog post from Lynda.com and thought it would be helpful for others in our Casablanca community: Learn The Art of Color Correction with Simon Walker

Casablanca Members May Webinar In the Archvies

"I enjoyed presenting the Members Only session this past Thursday morning, sharing Commonly Asked Casablanca Questions (and answers)." said Chet Davis as he spent more than an hour with Casablanca colleagues across North America and the UK who learned tips and tricks in several of the Casablanca menu screens.

The 74-minute video recording of the session along with 16 (yes, sixteen) links to articles/tutorial mentioned are now available to website members here: May 2013 Members Webinar: Common Casablanca Questions and Answers.

How to Incorporate Transparent Logos With Motion Effects

A colleague of ours on the Casablanca Forum asked the following:

"I have a client who wants his logo over his shoulder on a background I shot with green screen. He wants the logo to at least fade in or even better fly or wave in, he mentioned popping in like the old Pop Up Video on VH-1. I've used Pattern 2 to import the logo with no background (a .PNG with alpha channel) but I can only do a hard cut when bringing in the logo. Any ideas on how I can fade in or effect in the logo that won't effect the subject speaking in the foreground?"

He is correct - you can use the Pattern 2 function (found in the Bogart V4 and higher) to import and position logos over your scenes.  The limitation with Pattern 2 is that you can only cut to these logos/graphics.  But you can do more if you use the graphic in conjunction with your existing Titling Effects.

Import that .PNG logo into Custom Images and then using the Graphic Box in the titler, you can use any of the Titling Effects to move and position that graphic anywhere on-screen you desire.

I am going to create a tutorial video on this operation for my next Casablanca community newsletter (going out week of May 20th) to show how this is done and what the result looks like.

What is the Ideal Resolution for JPEGs in Photo Studio?

A Casablanca Colleague asked this week what the maximum size is for a photo (JPEG) that is to be imported into your Casablanca editor using Photo Studio.  Here is my reply - as I thought others might benefit from this info

I do not believe the ideal size (for our JPEG images) were posted in any company resources (at least not that I am aware of) but colleagues have found an optimum size for images destined for Photo Studio 2 to be Photo Studio 2 is 2048 X 1536.  I have no idea with the original Photo Studio (1) as it was much more limited in ability.

This larger (but not huge) size is important if you plan/need to do any zooming/motion to your PS2 photos. 

Now for the other end of the spectrum, if you ever get this message when attempting to import photos in Photo Studio 2  "Resolution too small", I have an article on that issue which you will find here:  "Photo Resolution Too Small?"

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