Mac Alert- Newsletter for the Macintosh industry

Tutorial
Bezier Animation in Studio Artist
Eight steps to create moving art
Those of you who have been reading this site for a while now are well aware that I'm a big fan of Synthetik Studio Artist. It's a great rotoscoping program, as well as a painting application with a tool set that boggles the mind. But an animation tool? Well, let's put it this way. Studio Artist isn't geared toward animation. But, then again, animation packages don't have the tools that Studio Artist has. So I thought it would be helpful to give you a quick look at how to get your Studio Artist still creations moving with a little bit of help from Bezier paths and keyframes.

Opinion
Talkin' Smack: On Peecees, the Mac and Everything
How the Mac universe looks from the inside
I've recently discovered that Mac users actually control the universe and that the Mac serves as some kind of pandimensional hub controlling the minds and wills of mankind. For almost a year now, I've sat here typing away my bile week after week, assaulting all things peecee, and I've received virtually nothing but praise for it. I kept expecting the dark forces of Gates to gurgle up from the shadows and feast on my soul, but it never happened.

Review

Contour ShuttlePro
USB shuttle/jog & multimedia controller
Shuttle/jogs are, on the whole, a bit more pricey than they need to be. After all, they're targeted toward the professional video market, and ... well, need I say more? However, there's a little thing called the Macintosh desktop video revolution going on right now. While this revolution might seem to be dominated at the moment by dads digitizing footage of their kids running on the beach, it does, on the whole, have some happy implications for video pros as well. The most important of these for our purpose here are pricing and availability. This means, in short, more stuff at better prices.

WWUG FEATURE
Avid on ICE
A Conversation with Gregory Nickerson, Media 100's ICE Product Manager
When Media 100 purchased the technological assets of ICE last year, the rumor mill instantly became ablaze with the doom and gloom forebodings of the fate that would soon strike those who owned Avid on ICE. The rumors even abounded that Final Effects was dead. But anyone who has been around the inside of this industry knew that that would never happen. The Media 100 of today is less concerned with old rivalries than it is with offering successful solutions—even to users of other systems, if that's what it takes. Now here's the official up to the minute report from ICE Product Manager Greg Nickerson of Media 100 Inc. on the status of Avid on ICE and Final Effects. Thanks Greg for taking the time to fill us in.