2/15/99
BILL FERSTER’S VIDEOGRAPHICS NEWSWIRE
ISSUE 99-3
ABOUT THIS NEWSWIRE
Bill Ferster’s VideoGraphics NewsWire is published bi-weekly and summarizes the important events in the convergent worlds of multimedia, video, animation, chips, mass storage and computers.
Please feel free to forward this NewsWire to someone who might appreciate an item, or heaven forbid, might want to subscribe to it. Please refrain, however, from continually mailing it to others on a regular basis. You can visit my website for more information, as well as read and search past issues of this NewsWire, at http:/www.stagetools.com/bill.
WEEKLY NEWSWIRE COMING
Things in the VideoGraphics industry are moving pretty fast, so unless I get a lot of complaints I plan to publish this NewsWire weekly, rather than bi-weekly.
BUSINESS
---> Avid and Tektronix Name Newsroom Alliance
It sounds more like a competitor to International Harvester than a high technology company, but Avid and Tektronix recent joint venture to meld together their respective software products for newsroom automation, but "AvStar" (Avid+EditStar) was launched with veteran newsroom automation executive Matt Danilowicz as its head. Matt was head of Avid’s Newsroom products and worked at EditStar, prior to its acquisition by Tektronix for many years, so he understands both sides of the street.
---> Descreet Earnings and Sales Down
Discreet Logic (http://www.discreet.com) earned just $.4M on sales of $28M this quarter. Last year they earned $7M on sales of $37M. The low earnings were blamed on the continuing write-offs incurred by the acquisition of 3D-model provider LightScape Technologies.
---> 3Dlabs Sales Up, but Still Running at a Loss
Leading 3D chip maker 3Dlabs (http://www.3dlabs.com) seems to still be having trouble digesting their acquisition of board-maker Oxygen by posting a $5M loss on $5M in sales. This compares to last quarter’s $6M loss on $4M in sales. They are banking on a successful rollout of their new Permedia III chip this coming quarter.
---> Things Still Glum for Videonics
Prosumer video equipment maker Videonics (http://www.videonics.com) reported a loss of $7M on sales of $20M this year, as compared to last year’s $13M loss on $20M in sales. This already included $4M in expense reductions and the company plans to chop more heads this year.
---> Chyron in the Red Again
Leading CG-maker Chyron (http://www.chyron.com) posted a $1M loss on $19M in sales this quarter. This compares with a $632K gain on $23M for the same quarter last year. The loss was blamed on slow sales for their HDTV products and softer sales internationally from their Pro-Bel division.
---> Avid Announces Record Sales
Avid (http://www.avid.com) reported a record $145M in sales this quarter, which compares with last year’s $124M in sales for the quarter. They earned $15M, before deducting the acquisition costs incurred from the SoftImage deal, which compares favorably to last year’s $9M.
TECHNOLOGY
---> Katmai Instruction Set On Pentium III
Intel (http://www.intel.com) announced they would be using the new Katmai instruction set additions on its upcoming Pentium III processors. Katmai adds 70 new instructions, such as SIMD to extend the raw processing power of the chip and add parallelism in very much the same manner as the MMX instructions did, although in floating-point rather than MMX’s fixed point. Most major 3D API’s, such as OpenGL and D3D are expected to support the new instructions.
---> Connectix Stops TRO from Sony
The maker of the PlayStation emulator for the Mac, Connectix (http://www.connectix.com) has successfully fought a temporary restraining order sought by Sony to keep them off the market.
---> Xilinx Offers Cheap PCI IP Core
FPGA and Reconfigurable Computing leader Xilinx (http://www.xilinx.com) announced that it could sell an FPGA-based IP core for interfacing logic with a PCI bus at a price competitive with ASICs. Their new "LogiCORE PCI32 Spartan XL" core, which is a fully compliant, 32-bit 33 MHz PCI interface, is priced under $7, and allows for reprogrammable flexibility fixed designs can’t.
3D TECHNOLOGY
---> 3D Characters Available
Credo Interactive (http://www.credo-interactive.com) is offering an assortment of pre-made 3D character models, complete with motions and animated actions. The $99 "PowerMoves" series are available for most 3D modeling and animation program formats.
---> 3Dfx to Offer Voodoo3 Boards
Voodoo Graphics 3D-chipmaker 3Dfx (http://www.3dfx.com) is planning to offer cards with their anxiously awaited Voodoo3 chip directly to the market, rather than just to board makers. Capitalizing on their acquisition of board maker STB, they plan to sell the cards to CompUSA and other vendors. The Voodoo3 chips finally integrate 2D graphics into their fast 3D capabilities.
IMAGING
---> Ulead Offers Panoramic Software
A sure sign that the use of panoramic images in multimedia applications is growing more mainstream, software maker Ulead (http://www.ulead.com) is offering software to create panoramic images from a series of still photos. Their "COOL 360" package creates QuickTime VR files as well as their own plug-in format.
---> Pixar Wins Academy for Film Recorder
Pixar Studio’s (http://www.pixar.com) David DiFrancesco won an Academy Award for the development of a new film recorder technology based on laser rather than CRT technology. Pixar’s "PIXARVISION" was used on "A Bug's Life" and offers better resolution, higher lumen output (which enables the use of intermediary film stocks) and faster imaging times.
BROADCAST / POST-PRODUCTION
---> Avid Used in 60% of Sundance Festival Films
Avid Technology’s (http://www.avid.com) editing tools were used in 70 of the 114 entries into this year’s prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City.
---> ICE Speeds Up Commotion
Leading effects acceleration card maker ICE (http://www.iced.com) is continuing to add capabilities at impressive rate to their "BlueICE" card, which is used by After Effects, Avid and other NLEs. They have added drivers to speed up Puffin Designs (http://www.puffindesigns.com) popular "Commotion" compositing and rotoscoping software 2 to 50 times, depending on the effects used.
---> Avid Lowers SoftImage|3D Price
Avid (http://www.avid.com) lowered the entry point for their SoftImage|3D modeling and animation software to under $5,000, as well as offering a number of updates.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
Bill Ferster’s VideoGraphics NewsWire is published weekly and summarizes the important events in the convergent worlds of multimedia, video, animation, chips, mass storage and computers.
The cost is $49 per quarter billed to your MasterCard, Visa or American Express card. You may cancel anytime you like for a pro-rated refund. I regret that the administrative billing overhead prohibits me from accepting checks and purchase orders. Corporate site licenses can be negotiated. Students, Schools and other educational facilities may receive the NewsWire at no charge.
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CYA DISCLAIMER: The preceding NewsWire represents my best efforts to gather the facts and the offering of my opinions. Although I try to describe the world as it appears me, I make no representations as to the accuracy of the reports within, which are gleaned from press releases, print and online magazines and the Inquisit Information Service.
