Mediaboss Marketing

For starry-eyed pilgrims like this foot-sore columnist, the NAB Show is an endless spree of techno-splendor. But lets face it. The real purpose for exhibitors is to showcase their new products and sign mega-buck deals for new equipment.

So it was striking how many post-production companies this year have discovered that the road to fortune is paved with free giveaways to further the acceptance of the uniqueness of their products.

AVID MEDIA COMPOSER|FIRST

Even before the exhibit halls opened, Avids CEO Louis Hernandez told their Avid Connect pre-show gathering that the whole Avid MediaCentral environment would be extended to the cloud using Azure servers, thanks to their new partnership with Microsoft.

Hernandez also announced they would offer Avid Media Composer|First, a free version of their flagship NLE. Although its a fully featured version of Media Composer, Media Composer|First is limited to four video tracks and eight audio tracks and outputs to streaming social media channels. It joins their existing, free offering of Pro Tools|First, which has been available for download for almost a year.

Pro Tools|First is available from the Avid website now and is actively involved in cloud collaboration. You can register for Media Composer|First on the site today and download it beginning June 29. Its cloud component will be coming in the near future.

LIGHTWORKS FREE

EditShares v14.0 of their Lightworks NLE is available on Windows, Mac and Linux as a version gratis: Lightworks Free. It has all the same tools as Lightworks Pro, except you dont get advanced features such as project sharing, stereo 3D editing or Avid DNxHD codec support, and its output is limited to exporting to You Tube or Vimeo at up to 720P.

However, the Lightworks site provides a large library of tutorials to help you get started and there is an active community of users to share advice. As an editor you get to import a long list of formats, play with more than 100 built-in FXs and train on the same user interface that was employed to cut a whole bunch of feature films (such as all of Scorseses flicks).

MISTIKA

Another powerful edit system that is seeing the advantage of free training is SGOs Mistika. Actually, SGO has taken the Mistika hero suite and broken it down to its components, with the first to be released being Mistika VR for stitching equirectilinear virtual reality images together. The next will be Mistika Color. Once they are all available, you can reassemble the modules to get the original Titan, which will then be called Mistika Ultima.

This takes considerable learning to master. So SGO is also releasing Mistika Insight, a free software intended for education and training that lets students and freelancers learn the Mistika technology. Supported by weekly webinars and online tutorials, Mistika Insight runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

MYNC

One of the niftiest freebies dangled in front of us at the 2017 NAB Show may only be available through June 30, although Grass Valley, a Belden Co., may extend the offer. This little pip is called Mync, a personal content management tool. Originally bundled with GV Browser in EDIUS v8 back in 2015, Mync has now been cut out on its own in two versions: Basic (free) and Standard (not much more).

Mync is a video player running on Windows, which is no big deal. But its also a video organizer, and one that can handle the kind of files youll get from smartphones, USB flash drives, memory cards and DSLR cameras. And that is a big deal. Imagine being able to browse and search files shot on your iPhone.

Mync can create a storyboard that can be shared with others over YouTube, FTP, Facebook or Vimeo, even trimming shots and exporting to an XML file. And thats with the free Basic version. The standard version adds the ability to import professional file formats, and export unlimited storyboards and MP4 movies.

But just being able to organize your cell phone photos/videos on the free Basic version is a gift in itself. Claiming absolutely no inside knowledge, but just judging from Grass Valleys nomenclature, Ill bet there is going to be a Mync Pro somewhere in our future. Until then, you ought to grab that Mync Basic while its still there for the downloading.

CINEXINSERT

The final unexpected gift from the video gods I found at the NAB Show was truly unexpected. Not just unexpected that its free. Unexpected that it works at all.

If there is one thing everyone in postproduction knows, its that once a master file has been rendered, you cant unmix the soup. So if even a single subtitle has to be changed, the whole production has to be remastered, re-exported, and, equally time-consuming, re-QCd. But somehow everyone didnt tell the folks at Cinedeck.

By treating the rendered master as data instead of video, they figured out a way to insert edit into it without having to remaster the whole kit-and-kaboodle. Its called CineXinsert, and this utility to their recorder has proved to be a rather disruptive technology in the post houses of Hollywood that specialize in making deliverables, although its gradually catching on.

So what does Cinedeck do next? Theyre giving a version of this technology away for free and calling it cineXtools BASIC. Ive spoken with them, and their goal is to reach more users to let them know the impossible is possible.

The catch is that cineXtools BASIC only works on rendered master files with two soundtracks. That pretty much eliminates the next Star Wars, but makes it perfectly applicable for corporate videos, house of worship productions, student projects and anyone who simply wants to see the way this magic works.

Of course, Cinedeck will be glad to sell you the full version once your budget is convinced its worth it.

Jay Ankeney is a freelance editor and post-production consultant based in Los Angeles. Write him at JayAnkeney@mac.com.

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Reaching Post-Production Users With Free Software - TV Technology

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lavu (lavu.com), the leading iPad POS for restaurants, announced they will offer free point of sale software to local businesses affected by the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project.

As Albuquerque residents excitedly await completion of the ART project, Lavu would like to help local businesses during this time of change (and construction). Lavu Point of Sale is offering FREE service to establishments along the route of ART construction.

The Lavu team are proud members of the Albuquerque community, having grown from a fledgling local startup to the leading mobile point-of-sale system for restaurants and bars in 88 countries worldwide. We know how invaluable entrepreneurship is to this city, and we want to help our local businesses succeed, said Ohad Jehassi, president of Lavu. Our mission statement sums it up: Were here to empower those in the restaurant industry to realize their full potential.

Lavu believes that Albuquerque is a great citywith the best green chile and sunsets aroundits only natural that Burqueos use the worlds greatest POS system, currently used by over 20,000 restaurants worldwide.

Bars and restaurants in the affected area will not want to miss this exciting offer. It will be made available to eligible businesses as long as ART construction continues.

About Lavu

Lavu is the worlds leading mobile point-of-sale system for restaurants. Used in more than 80 countries, Lavu is a full-featured iPad-based POS system designed exclusively for restaurants and bars. Lavu was the first iPad point of sale in the Apple App Store and continues to offer the latest in features and functionalities. Features include flexible payment-processing solutions, an intuitive interface, and Lavu's business management suite for all reporting needs. Lavu is ideal for all food and drink establishments, streamlining operations to simplify management and improve the customer experience. https://www.lavu.com/

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Lavu Offers Free Software to Businesses Affected by the ... - Business Wire (press release)

Philando Castile did what you are supposed to do if you have a concealed-carry permit and get pulled over by police: He let the officer know he had a gun. Had Castile been less forthcoming, he would still be alive.

Last Friday, a Minnesota jury acquitted the cop who killed Castile of second-degree manslaughter, demonstrating once again how hard it is to hold police accountable when they use unnecessary force. The verdict also sends a chilling message to gun owners, since Castile is dead because he exercised his constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

OPINION

Jeronimo Yanez, an officer employed by the St. Anthony, Minnesota, police department, stopped Castile around 9 p.m. on July 6 in Falcon Heights, a suburb of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The official reason was a nonfunctioning brake light.

The actual reason, according to Yanez, was that Castile resembled a suspect in a convenience store robbery that had happened four days before in the same neighborhood. The full extent of the resemblance was that Castile, like the suspect, was black, wore glasses and dreadlocks, and had a wide-set nose.

Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria manager, had nothing to do with the robbery. But in Yanezs mind, Castile posed a threat.

The traffic stop began politely but turned deadly within a minute. Audio and video of the encounter show that Yanez asked for Castiles proof of insurance and drivers license.

After Castile handed over his insurance card, he calmly informed Yanez, Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me. Yanez interrupted him, saying, OK, dont reach for it, then.

Castile and his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, repeatedly assured the officer that Castile was not reaching for the weapon. But by now Yanez was in full panic mode.

Dont pull it out! he screamed, immediately drawing his weapon and firing seven rounds into the car, heedless of Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat. Mortally wounded, Castile moaned and said, I wasnt reaching for it.

Reynolds, who drew nationwide attention to the shooting by reporting it via Facebook Live immediately afterward, has consistently said Castile was reaching for his wallet to retrieve his drivers license, per Yanezs instructions. Yanez initially said he thought Castile was reaching for his gun; later he claimed to have seen Castile pulling out the pistol, which was found inside a front pocket on the right side of the dead mans shorts.

Yanez clearly acted out of fear. The question is whether that fear was reasonable in the circumstances and whether deadly force was the only way to address it.

Jeffrey Noble, an expert on police procedure, testified that Yanezs actions were objectively unreasonable. The officer had absolutely no reason to view Castile as a robbery suspect, Noble said, and could have mitigated the threat he perceived by telling Castile to put his hands on the dashboard or stepping back from the car window.

If Castile planned to shoot Yanez, why would he announce that he had a firearm? That disclosure was obviously aimed at avoiding trouble but had the opposite effect because Yanez was not thinking clearly.

Officers like Yanez, who is leaving his department under a voluntary separation agreement, pose a clear and present danger to law-abiding gun owners. Yet the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been curiously reticent about the case.

The day after the shooting, the NRA said the reports from Minnesota are troubling and must be thoroughly investigated. It promised the NRA will have more to say once all the facts are known.

The reports have been investigated, and the facts are known. Yet the NRA has not added anything to the bland, noncommittal statement it made a year ago. Youd think the nations largest and oldest civil rights organization would have more to say about an innocent man who was killed for exercising his Second Amendment rights.

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine.

Creators Syndicate

Original post:
The NRA shuns a Second Amendment martyr - Chicago Sun-Times

Photo: Cathy Zuraw / Hearst Connecticut Media

Second amendment group opposes lawsuit in Sandy Hook shooting

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League has filed a brief opposing a lawsuit that would hold manufacturers and sellers of the gun used in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting liable for the crime.

The suit filed by the families of 10 victims argues that makers and distributors of the AR-15-style rifle used in the shooting recklessly marketed it to civilians, ignoring the risks that it would be misused. The suit was thrown out by a lower court, and the families have appealed to have it reinstated.

CCDLs brief against the reinstatement argues that the firearm is 25 percent as powerful as a regular hunting rifle, because it uses lightweight ammunition. It also states that crime statistics show that ordinary handguns are more than 15 times more likely to be used by mass shooters than the model of firearm chosen by Adam Lanza.

If the defendants are held liable in this case, then, it will set a precedent that would expose businesses to legal liability each time they sell virtually any type of firearm in Connecticut, the CCDL news release states.

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Second amendment group opposes lawsuit in Sandy Hook shooting - Danbury News Times

Forbes

An Expensive Escape Hatch For US Illegal Immigrants Fearing Deportation Forbes President Trump's proposed budget aims to dramatically increase immigration enforcement and border security funding by adding $300 million to the current $20 billion spent each year. The proposed budget would also provide funds to increase immigration ... How Sanctuary Cities Can Protect Undocumented Immigrants From ICE Data MiningThe Intercept Business pushes Rauner to sign bill to protect immigrantsChicago Tribune ICE director: If you entered the US illegally, you 'should be concerned'ABC News Independent Journal Review -GOPUSA all 49 news articles »

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An Expensive Escape Hatch For US Illegal Immigrants Fearing Deportation - Forbes