Motion, Shake 3.5, DVD Sutdio Pro Introduced by Apple

by Nathaniel Hansen
Published on Apr 18, 2004 12:00 AM



Apple's newest $299 software for creating and editing motion graphics, was announced today at a press conference at NAB in Las Vegas. According to Vice President of Application Marketing Rob Schoeben, ''Motion may do for motion graphics what Final Cut Pro did for non linear editing-bring the ability to create pro-quality results to the masses.'' Apple claims Motion is revolutionary, opening the door for creative freedom by eliminating the need for keyframes and complex timelines.

he interface relies on transparent 'Dashboards' with slider controls for manipulating effect parameters, which are viewed in real time. ''Motion's Behaviors,'' Schoeben explains, ''use procedural animation techniques to create natural simulations, such as gravity and wind, or sophisticated interaction between multiple objects such as attraction and repulsion.'' Behaviors are applied to layers, image and text, but the guesswork of mapping out an animation's course is removed though users experienced with keyframes can use Motion's Keyframe Editor to ''plot precise parameter values at specific frames.'' Additionally, files can be imported with layers intact and individual behaviors can be applied to each layer.

Motion also allows users to edit and update imported files, effectively ''refreshing'' the media in the timeline, eliminating the need to export and import from various applications. Motion shares the recognizable Final Cut Pro interface, and offers full integration of Apple's suite of pro-applications: Final Cut Pro HD, Shake 3.5, DVD Studio 3, Soundtrack, Logic Pro 6, as well as Adobe Photoshop and other third party applications.

Motion will be available Summer 2004 and is listing for $299.

Additionally, Apple announced the release of Shake 3.5 and DVD Studio 3. DVD Studio Pro now has a fully integrated Graphical View, ''allowing DVD authors to develop and interact with their entire project in a storyboard environment,'' noted Schoeben. Editors can print out this graphical view of the DVD's overall menu layout for approval by the client. DVD Studio Pro 3 also includes Alpha Transitions which are Quick Time based movies, and incorporates HD to MGEG-2 encoding.

DVD Studio Pro 3 is available immediately for $499.

Shake 3.5 includes new shape based morphing and warping features, making the effect creation and modification more intuitive. According to the press release ''Shake 3.5 also improves upon the Rendezvous enabled Shake Qmaster network render manager that can now handle distributed rendering tasks for both Shake and Alias' Maya, allowing visual effects artists to easily distribute rendering tasks.'' Shake 3.5 has warping and morphing capabiltiy and has been Dual processor optimized with improved dpx file support. Shake 3.5 is also available immediately for a suggested retail price of 2,999 for Mac OS X, and 4,999 for Linux and IRIX. Those who have registered copies of Shake 3 can upgrade for $799.