Happy September! It's
Labor Day weekend in the US - and I don't think anyone around here is working at the moment. Still, news is starting appear in the run-up to IBC in two weeks; plus, I have a couple of "thought-pieces" for you this week.
First, though, I need to start with an explanation. I don't know who was affected, but last Monday, some hackers in Belgium sent out a phishing email purporting to "confirm" an Amazon shipment from me. The sole purpose of this, apparently, was to get people to click it to either install malware or harvest their Amazon login credentials. Sigh... It wasn't from me, but it looked like it.
Nothing was hacked or stolen from my website. Phishing doesn't require that. Phishing simply tries to confuse you into sharing your login credentials - in this case, to Amazon - so hackers can grab them. There was nothing I could do to prevent this because they used the same email address I use for everything I write. While nothing was hacked, damaged or stolen, it is still very frustrating to me for this to occur. I'm sorry.
Turning to more cheerful news...
SmartSound released version 6.4 of Sonicfire Pro. This music library and manipulation software has been a favorite of mine for more than 20 years. The new version includes an improved interface, multi-take sound effects, 64-bit support (so you'll need this version when you transition to macOS Catalina), and better Hit Pack integration. The upgrade price is only $49.
Red Giant announced their new VFX Suite, nine tools for keying, tracking, cleanup and visual effects compositing - all running inside After Effects. Also included are glows, distortions, lens flares, and object replacement/removal.
EditShare just announced it's next-generation file system and management console, EFS 2020, which will debut at IBC 2019. EFS 2020 enables media organizations to build extensive collaborative workflows, shielding creative personnel from the underlying technical complexity while equipping administrators and technicians with a comprehensive set of media management tools. The latest release also offers an increase in throughput performance of up to 20%. To the engineers who manage it, EFS 2020 offers a scalable, stable and incredibly secure media storage platform.
Sound Devices announced the MixPre-3 II, MixPre-6 II, and MixPre-10 II. Each of these can function as recorders, mixers, and USB interfaces. These have significantly improved hardware, with 32-bit float recording, patented ultra-wide dynamic range A-to-D conversion, full internal timecode generation, and recording up to 192 kHz in all models.
Sonnet Technologies announced special pricing bundles of the eGFX Breakaway™ Box 650 + AMD Radeon™ Pro WX 9100 and eGFX Breakaway Box 650 + Radeon Pro WX 8200 Performance. For computers without card slots, or slow GPUs, external GPUs (eGPUs) provide an alternative, connecting a graphics card to a computer via a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.
In about a week, Apple will announce their newest iPhones and in less than two weeks, IBC opens. In anticipation of all the changes we are about to go through, I have two articles. The first provides tips on
when to upgrade to macOS Catalina. The second shares my thoughts on what I learned this summer in exploring
Python - a very popular computer programing language. I've also added a couple of older articles that you might find interesting as well.
Next week, I expect to share even
more pre-IBC announcements. Once these start shipping, I can begin creating product reviews and webinars to cover the new software and tools coming to market. Summer is over, time to get back to work.
Until next week,
edit well.
