Canopus Announces Imaginate 2.0 and ProCoder Station
April 14, 2004
San Jose, CA - Canopus Corporation will unveil Imaginate 2.0, the newest version of its still-image animation software, and debut ProCoder Station, a network-based encoding solution built on the company's powerful ProCoder video encoding software, at NAB 2004, the company has announced.
Imaginate 2.0 includes a Storyboard editing mode with multiple image support, soundtrack capabilities and a collection of smart productivity tools that make the set up and configuration of projects easy and straightforward. Imaginate supports Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.
Imaginate 2.0 features a new Edit Project Mode that provides a complete overview of the project and allows the importing of groups of images
directly into the project. The Storyboard interface allows images to be arranged in any order by simply dragging and dropping them. Imaginate 2.0's support for multiple images makes it easy to create photo montages, slide shows and presentations. Individual images are placed in the Storyboard and are connected with simple adjustable dissolves for a clean, professional look. Imaginate 2.0 uses smart memory management to handle hundreds of high-resolution images without overloading system resources.
Imaginate 2.0 includes a new soundtrack capability that lets users import audio files, including music or narration, to Imaginate projects. A host of productivity tools, including new wizard interfaces and template libraries are used to ease the set up and configuration of projects, such as camera movements, video effects and scene lengths. These tools let editors effortlessly create and modify compelling camera angles and movements that range from simple to complex.
ProCoder Station centralizes and automates the complex and demanding load of encoding multiple and large projects. ProCoder Station automatically encodes single or multiple sources to any number of output formats simultaneously and delivers the converted files to a LAN folder or by FTP, while creative work continues on the production system. Major content providers and post-production facilities can integrate the system into their existing production workflow and reduce encoding costs.
ProCoder Station features Canopus's high-quality, high-speed, proprietary DV and MPEG-2 codecs. The Canopus DV codec provides the best picture quality preservation at the highest speed, while the MPEG-2 codec employs two-pass variable bitrate compression and advanced motion-estimation algorithms to provide the highest-quality encoded video files. By taking advantage of Canopus's Scalable Technology architecture to harness the power of current computer systems, ProCoder Station can transcode files faster than realtime in many cases and is entirely customizable and scalable.
ProCoder Station is managed remotely using a Web-based browser interface. Using a Web browser allows video conversion services to be available on the network with the same ease as network printing, and users will have access to ProCoder Station from both Windows and Mac OS-based platforms.
ProCoder Station fully supports HD resolutions (720p and 1080i) and can transcode between HD and SD resolutions and frame rates seamlessly. ProCoder Station can also transcode between HD-compatible formats, including MPEG, DivX, Windows Media High Definition Video (WMV HD) and QuickTime. For added flexibility, ProCoder Station supports MPEG transport streams, including HDV and broadcast-compatible HD streams.
Pricing and Availability
Imaginate 2.0 will be available in May 2004 from Canopus, its authorized dealers and system integrators for a suggested retail price of $199.
Registered Imaginate users can upgrade to Imaginate 2.0 for a special upgrade price of $49. ProCoder Station will be available in June 2004 through Canopus authorized system integrators and VARs. Base price is $14,999. Price will vary depending on configuration.
For more information, visit
www.canopus.com
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