Optibase subsidiary Media 100 on Wednesday took off the wraps on some of the new features coming to its long-delayed Media 100 HD video editing system, now promised for release this fall. The company describes the new offering, dubbed Version 10, as its “biggest Mac OS X release to date.”
Media 100 HD can edit High Definition (HD) or Standard Definition (SD) video. It’s a combination of software and hardware in the form of Media 100’s “HDX,” a PCI card that’s designed to work on Apple’s Power Mac G5. The video editing system can handle 10-bit uncompressed SDI and component video I/O at various resolutions, sports real time format conversion capabilities, AES/EBU digital audio and more.
The new version will allow Media 100 HD systems to process up to 99 tracks of video and graphics data, each with keyframed opacity controls. Editors will be able to view single frames of the composite of all tracks in both the subsampler window and on the output video monitor, allowing them to see how all graphics and video elements work together.
Real-time RGB color correction has been added, as well as real-time keying of media with motion-alpha mattes, helpful for editors integrating content produced using Adobe After Effects, Discreet Combustion and similar applications. An advanced keyer that supports RGB, chroma, luma, HSL, softness and offsets is also present. Overall performance has been tuned and tweaked for dual-processor Power Mac G5 systems, as well.
Media 100 HD was first announced in December, 2003 and was expected to be released in February 2004. Media 100 fell on hard financial times and had to delay the introduction until this fall, following its acquisition by Optibase Ltd. It’s Optibase’s support that has enabled the company to finally bring Media 100 HD v10 to market, according to Media 100 Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mike Savello.
“With Optibase backing, we have staffed up our Mac development team and the result is this new Version 10 software release now planned for initial Media 100 HD shipments expected to begin this fall,” said Savello.
Media 100 expects to begin delivering complete system configurations — including the G5 and high-speed media storage — for about $12,000. The company is offering an upgrade program for existing Media 100 users who want to migrate to Media 100 HD, as well.