Film and Digital Media @ Messiah

Toshiba announced that they are withdrawing from the HD DVD market leaving only minor manufacturers to continue producing the HD DVD format discs. This closes the chapter on the Hi-Def DVD format wars.
Here’s the story from the BBC: Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war

According to a NY Times story, HD DVD is now dead, if not officially, then in reality. It seems that all the largest retailers have decided to carry only BluRay discs and players:

The announcement by Wal-Mart Stores, the nation’s largest retailer of DVDs, that it would stop selling the discs and machines in June […]

U.S. movie and TV writers vote decisively to put down their pickets after a three-month dispute with the Hollywood studios over online royalties.
Their ratification of a proposed contract in weekend balloting in Los Angeles and New York ends the […]

Here’s good news concerning my earlier QuickTime 7.4 post: Apple released QuickTime 7.4.1 on February 6th, resolving a Web security measure inside 7.4 that inadvertently disabled After Effects rendering. According to Apple, “QuickTime 7.4.1 addresses security issues and improves compatibility with third-party applications.” Another reminder that, although many might think otherwise, Apple and Adobe are […]

It’s confirmed: there’s a terrific bug in QuickTime 7.4! Unfortunately, the bug only kicks in when you have a video render that takes longer than 10 minutes. I had installed the update on my Macs at home and did a short video render this last week in both FCP and After Effects and […]

Striking writers and intransigent producers made “significant progress” in recent talks aimed at ending their labor dispute according to a source briefed on the discussions. This news came out today (Saturday, 2-2-2008) posing the possibility that a settlement may be near.

Word of a breakthrough came as the Writers Guild of America strike neared its […]

Paramount’s hit Cloverfield had a three month shooting schedule, from May to September 2007. The movie cost $25 million and used Grass Valley Viper and Sony F23 cameras handheld. They also […]