2012 February 02

Avid edits HD on iPad

February 2, 2012 by Paul Worthington

Avid offers storyboard and frame-by-frame editing methods.

Leading film and video editing tool developer Avid released its first application for the iPad, “leveraging decades of experience working closely with the world’s leading movie and television studios.”

The company says its Avid Studio app is “easy enough for first-timers, yet sophisticated enough for more advanced editors” and is the first iPad app for video editing to offer frame-by-frame editing accuracy and access to all kinds of media.

The introductory price is $5.

More information is here.

Filed Under: Product News Tagged With: iOS app, video editing software

Stan Freimuth named CEO of Presstek

February 2, 2012 by Gary Pageau

Stanley E. Freimuth was named chairman, president and CEO, of Presstek Inc., Greenwich, Conn., effective Feb. 13. Presstek is a digital offset printing supplier. Freimuth, who has been a member of the Presstek board since 2009, replaces Jeffrey Jacobson, who is leaving the company to accept a new position.

Freimuth, 65, spent nearly 25 years with Fujifilm, where he ran the company’s U.S. graphic systems business for 17 years and went on to serve as COO and senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer, with responsibility for al U.S. Fujifilm businesses.

Filed Under: People on the Move Tagged With: Presstek

Shutterfly announces 58 percent increase in fourth quarter revenues

February 2, 2012 by Gary Pageau

Jeff Housenbold, president and CEO, Shutterfly

Shutterfly's Jeff Housenbold

Shutterfly Inc., Redwood City, Calif., reported fourth-quarter net revenues were $263.8 million, a 59-percent year-over-year increase.

In the fourth-quarter, Personalized Products and Services net revenues totaled $218.9 million, a 77 percent year-over-year increase, and represented represented 83 percent of total net revenues.

Net revenues from Prints totaled $40.3 million. Commercial Print net revenues totaled $4.6 million.

Net income in the quarter was $ 35.411 million, compared to $ 32.513 million last year.

For the full year, net revenues totaled $473.3 million, a 54 percent year-over-year increase. Personalized Products and Services net revenues totaled $374.7 million, a 71 percent year-over-year increase, representing 79 percent of total net revenues. Net revenues from Prints totaled $85.0 million. Commercial Print net revenues totaled $13.5 million, a 165 percent year-over-year increase. GAAP net income was $14.0 million, compared to $17.1 million in 2010.

For the coming quarter, Shutterfly is projecting net revenues to range from $83 million to $85 million, a year-over-year increase of 45-49 percent. For the full year, the company expects net revenues from $550-$560 million.

“Our strategic investments throughout 2011, combined with our focus on strong execution, diverse product offerings and improved efficiencies led to record revenues, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flows,” says Jeffrey Housenbold, president and CEO. “We continue to outpace the industry in terms of innovation, user experience, quality, and customer service. With the social expression and personal publishing markets still in the early stages, Shutterfly is well prepared to extend our leadership position in these large markets.”

Filed Under: Earnings Tagged With: Shutterfly

Curtain call: Kodak seeking exit from theatre sponsorship

February 2, 2012 by Gary Pageau

The Wall Street Journal reports Eastman Kodak Co. aims to cut costs in its Chapter 11 restructuring by getting out of its $75 million, 20-year sponsorship agreement for exclusive naming rights to the Kodak Theatre, the Academy Awards for the past decade. Kodak signed the deal in 2000.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Eastman Kodak Co.

Business Journal: Lifetouch closing Tennessee plant

February 2, 2012 by Gary Pageau

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports Lifetouch Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn., is shuttering a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., acquired through its purchase last year of Olan Mills Inc. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Tuesday tthe city will lose 383 jobs after the closing of two Olan Mills facilities, but the company will keep open a third Chattanooga facility, which it bought in 1999. That plant can employ up to 350 people.

Filed Under: Pro Photography, PSPA Tagged With: Lifetouch, Olan Mills

New Pentax ILC highlights design

February 2, 2012 by Paul Worthington

Yes, Yellow is a designer color.

Pentax-Ricoh calls Marc Newson “one of the most acclaimed and influential contemporary designers” — and worked with him to develop its newest compact system camera, the K-01.

The company says the new camera is “another bold effort from the manufacturer that is known for pushing camera size, color, durability, and now, design, to the limit.”

Newson has designed furniture, bicycles, cars, aircraft, and yachts, Pentax adds. “The elimination of an optical viewfinder and SLR-style mirror gave Newson more freedom in designing the camera body.” He also worked on the 40mm F2.8 lens for the camera, which the company says is “the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens.”

The camera has a 16-megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor, 3-inch LCD, 1080p video capture,sensor-shift shake and dust reduction, and a burst rate of six frames per second.

It will sell for $750 body only, and $900 with the lens.

More information is here,

Filed Under: Product News Tagged With: K-01, Pentax Ricoh

Nevercenter launches CameraBag 2 Desktop for Windows, Mac OS

February 2, 2012 by Gary Pageau

Nevercenter Ltd. Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, has launched CameraBag 2 Desktop, Windows and Mac OS X versions of its popular image-editing app. CameraBag 2 can apply classic film stocks and techniques or creating a signature, one of a kind look in seconds, and applied to favorite snapshots or in batch mode for a day’s work at shoot, the company says. The program features a full suite of advanced controls, from simple contrast and exposure adjustments to advanced vignetting, color correction, and curve editing to give users more control over effects for maximum creativity – but not at the expense of a complicated workflow.

CameraBag 2 Desktop features 100-plus fully adjustable filters and 25-plus professional controls. At CameraBag’s core is a new Analog Engine: high-fidelity, 32 bits-per-channel, non-destructive, mult-threaded image processing.

“The most common feedback we got from previous versions was that the user wanted greater control, without sacrificing CameraBag’s straightforward, accessible nature,” says Tom Plewe, president, Nevercenter. “We came up with a simple tile-based system which presents all the additional control from the new Analog Engine in a quick, intuitive way. Then we added full-screen Quicklooks and instant previews to emphasize a visual decision-making process. Instead of starting from scratch with a photo, you can compare a lot of great options, choose the very best one, and then start tweaking. And you never have to do the same work twice; once you create a new look or workflow, you just add it to the menu for next time.”

Users can purchase either the duo Mac/PC license for $29 or a single Mac-only license available on the Mac App Store for $24.