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Blackmagic Design unleashes 6 new real time effects for Kona SD. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - 6rd June 2002 - Today Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. in conjunction with AJA Video Inc. announced the immediate availability of the new image control real time effects upgrade for the Kona SD. This upgrade is included in the Blackmagic Kona SD software v1.3.1 available now, and is downloadable at no cost to our hundreds of users. Update notices will be sent to registered users today. Image Control real time effects include Tint, Sepia, Gamma Correction, Brightness Contrast, Proc Amp, and Desaturate. All real time effects update on the Mac monitor in real time, and don't need to be rendered before playout to tape, accelerating the creative process. "These new real time effects are tremendously exciting, and reinforce the Kona SD product theme of the one card that does everything." Says Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. "The Kona SD features almost a dozen real time effects, 10 bit uncompressed capture and playback, desktop view for realtime Photoshop paint, 6 channels of AES/EBU digital audio with built in sample rate conversion, native OS X support with certification for Final Cut Pro 3 on OS X, and a full three year warranty at no additional charge. That makes the Kona SD a dream come true for editors, designers and digital artists, and the only product with these features by far" With these new real time effects, the Kona SD provides unprecedented power to the professional editor. Creative decisions can be seen immediately, and the new image control real time filter effects are the perfect choice for tasks such as music videos, and episodic program production. Image control real time effects are extremely useful when doing long form work. If final program duration is around 30 or 60 minutes, rendering filter effects for common image treatments would be impractical, and require enormous quantities of disk space. Real time effects don't need rendering, and don't use additional space on user's disk arrays. Image control real time filter effects are extremely flexible, and can be used for many image treatments including: Tint, fantastic for completely changing the mood of a shot. For example, tinting a shot slightly blue can create an emotionally cold feeling, or by tinting red or orange can create a warm, or aggressive feel to a shot. Sepia, a perfect filter for setting the mood in shots that need to have that "turn of the century" look, and can add a more sophisticated feel to shots than simple black and white. Gamma Correction, great for enhancing or darkening a shot without clipping whites or blacks. This retains image detail that level adjustments cannot do. Gamma can quickly fix a shot that has not been well illuminated during the shoot, and can be a life saving filter! Brightness and Contrast, great for lifting the mood of shots that are flat. This is a great filter for adding contrast to flat "best light" color grades from telecine, giving shots that finished look. Proc Amp, an effect that's used to quickly compensate for slight differences in individual cameras used in a multi camera shoot. This filter is great to help match the look of shots along the timeline so each camera view has the same look. Setup, video, chroma, and phase can all be adjusted, and played back in real time. Proc Amp is a huge time saver for long form work where shots come from very different sources, and need to be matched. Desaturate, turns shots into black and white instantly and can be used to reduce color in noisy video sources. Desaturate can also be used to enhance color, allowing editors to add richness to shots that would otherwise look flat and lifeless. With the addition of these new real time effects, the Kona SD now makes other cards obsolete, even before some have even been released. Releasing this powerful new effects upgrade to our customers reinforces the Blackmagic Design and AJA Video commitment to announcing products and features that customers don't have to wait months to get. All 6 of these Image Control real time effects are included with the latest v1.3.1 software from Blackmagic Design. Customers not currently registered should email [EMAIL PROTECTED] About the Kona SD and Kona HD. The Kona SD and the Kona HD are the world's first uncompressed 10 bit PCI video cards designed for both editing and design on Mac OS X. Understanding the unprecedented change taking place in the television industry, the Kona series of video cards include features required for all tasks performed in the industry, including editing, design, effects and broadcast paint. Designers expect the highest quality uncompressed 10 bit video, and desktop view for laying out complex graphics in video space. Editors demand uncompressed 10 bit video and real time effects. The Kona series is the first to deliver both of these features in a single product. Being the only card created for both editing and design, the Kona family meet all needs in a modern creative television facility. The Kona SD provides all the features for standard definition television into the one single product, and takes the place of many products from competitive companies. No other card includes all these features into the single product, making selection for creative users a simple and mistake free task. The Kona HD is the big gun of HDTV television, packing extreme processing power, and speed into a simple plug in PCI card, for true film quality editing and effects on the desktop. Both the Kona SD and Kona HD are designed from the ground up to take advantage of the power of Mac OS X. Additional features for both the Kona SD and Kona HD include, real time capture to Offline RT motion jpeg files for Apple Final Cut Pro�, 6 channels of 48/96 Khz AES/EBU digital audio with sample rate conversion on each input, with additional channels to be available on a forthcoming embedded audio update, fully digital SDI connections, separately available multi format analog options, software codec's for Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Windows for cross platform media access, and unique internet firmware upload facility for downloadable software updates. The Kona family is a joint development between AJA Video and Blackmagic Design, and is available from AJA Video authorized resellers world wide. See http://www.aja.com for local dealers. See http://www.blackmagic-design.com, and http://www.aja.com for additional product information. The Kona SD is available now for US $3,295, and the Kona HD will retail at US$10,995 and will be released after certification testing has been completed. About Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. Blackmagic Design� is the world's only independent developer of driver software for industry leading uncompressed video hardware for the creative markets. Over the last year, Blackmagic Design has quickly moved to an industry leading position with the first uncompressed 10 bit QuickTime� video card for Mac OS X, the first QuickTime� card certified by Apple� for Final Cut Pro 3� on OS X, the first uncompressed real time effects on Mac OS X, and the first film quality uncompressed 10 bit HDTV QuickTime� card. With growth in the creative segment of the professional television industry at an all time high, Blackmagic Design� is well positioned to take advantage of it's unique software technologies for future innovation and growth. Blackmagic Design's headquarters and development facility is located in the post production district of South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. About AJA Video Inc. AJA Video Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of high quality analog conversion products, and OEM SDI video hardware for advanced computing applications. AJA Video has consistently lead the industry with ground breaking analog conversion products for high end effects and broadcast. As one of the most respected companies in the industry, AJA Video continues to innovate with the Kona series video cards for uncompressed editing and design applications. AJA Video's world wide headquarters is based in Grass Valley, California, USA. __________________________ Please visit our sponsors: RadGad(sm): The Place for Useful Gifts & Gadgets.(sm) http://www.radgad.com/, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], or 877-5-RADGAD MacTech(r) Magazine: The journal of Macintosh technology and development http://www.mactech.com, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], or 805-494-9797 DevDepot(sm): Your Source for RAM, Technical & Developer Products http://www.devdepot.com, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] or call 877-DEPOT-NOW To submit a posting to MacDev-1, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]. To subscribe to MacDev-1, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the SUBJECT line reading "SUBSCRIBE MACDEV-1". To unsubscribe, the SUBJECT line should read "UNSUBSCRIBE MACDEV-1". MacTech, Developer Depot, RadGad, and Xplain Corporation are not responsible for any errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies in this message. 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