FileMaker Inc. may announce the release of FileMaker Pro 8.5 and Pro 8.5 Advanced - its first release as a Universal Binary for Intel processors - on Monday. According to its maker, FileMaker Pro 8.5 runs up to 91% faster on Intel-based Macs than on PowerPC systems.

FileMaker v8.5 also features a Web Viewer where information on Web pages can be downloaded directly into FileMaker databases. The upcoming v8.5 already includes MapQuest/Google Maps, Google Search, Google Finance, FedEx, and Wikipedia in its address book. Web integration has also been expanded to Web-enabled applications.

Other additions will include an online Learning Center with over 30 QuickTime-based video tutorials, sample databases, documentation, a searchable Knowledge Base, and other resources. Upgrade to FileMaker v8.5 will cost $99.

Finally here a comes a tool that would probably make every aspiring filmmaker scream hallelujah. Glue Tools has recently announced that Cineon and DPX QuickTime Components for filmmakers, editors, videographers and production staff are now available for QuickTime 7.1 for Mac. This would enable applications like Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, iMovie, Adobe AfterEffects, QuickTime Player and others to read and write digital film files.
   
Commercial Component Features:

• Reads and writes images.
• Reads and writes 10-bit LOG Cineon and DPX images. (10-bit YUV DPX images are not yet supported)
• Currently supports QuickTimeÂ?s 16-bit per channel API
• MacOSX 10.3 & 10.4 only.
• Can convert any QuickTime movie to a range of Cineon/DPX images.
• Can covert any range of Cineon/DPX images to a QuickTime movie.

DPX or Digital Picture Exchange, is a common file format for digital film work. It primarily represents the density of each colour channel of a scanned negative in a 10-bit log format where the gamma of the original camera negative is preserved as taken by a film scanner. It also has the flexibility in storing color and other information fore exchange between production facilities.

"Our components make it really easy for filmmakers and production staff to load either Cineon or DPX images right into Apple's Final Cut Pro. The appropriate LOG/LIN conversion is even done on the fly! There is no need to have the frames converted using an expensive secondary application," says Robert Monaghan, Senior Engineer at Glue Tools.

In order to own this device you would have to download the Cineon/DPX components first to gain a System ID number. Once you have installed it in your computer, head on to Glue Tool's website to input it in their system for immediate purchase. It is priced at $29.00 each.

Download: [Binary installer for Cineon/DPX QuickTime Components]

If you're into model railroading, then you would surely have a blast with this Mac application. RailModeller rids you of the hassle of using cumbersome pen and paper or hard to decipher CAD applications to design your model-railroad trackplans.

It lets you build layouts by simply dragging the tracks from its extensive library of more than 160 tracks of many major manufacturers, to the plan. Tracks magnetically snap to free track-segments on the trackplan, automatically rotate to the correct angle, and can optionally be colorized automatically to match the color of the segment. You can view your masterpiece in 3D, giving you a better idea of how the actual thing will look like. It is available for $30 USD.

Changelog:

• Improved print dialog with "Fit Worksheet" option for single page printouts and customizable footer
• Several bugfixes
• New and updated libraries (now more than 160 libraries included)

System Requirements:

• Apple Macintosh (PowerPC or Intel)
• Mac OS 8.6 - Mac OS X 10.2 - 10.4
• 15 MB available disk space
• CarbonLib 1.6 (or better)
• QuickTime 4 (or better)
• when running Mac OS 8.6/9 optionally an OpenGL extension

Download: [RailModeller 2.3.4 Free Trial]

QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple that is capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music and immersive panoramic images. And recently, the Mac user's media player of choice has gotten even better, with the release of QuickTime 7.1.2. This new version addresses an issue with Apple's DVD creation software application called iDVD. It requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

Download: [QuickTime 7.1.2]

Flip4Mac WMV, the collection of QuickTime components that allow Mac users to play, import, and export Windows Media files, has just been upgraded to Beta v2.1.0.29. New in the latest release are:

• Universal binary support for Intel Macs
• Playback optimizations for Intel Macs
• Significant export optimizations for PowerPC Macs
• Multi language audio support in player
• Overlay when importing WMV content in trial mode
• Support for web authors to disable "save as" feature in embedded stream

A few improvements and fixes were also squeezed into v2.1.0.29. Support for MMS servers and live streams is one of those improved for this new version. Fixes include DCT blocking issue (progressive deterioration with increasing distance from previous keyframe) and encode errors when the audio bit rate is set higher than the video bit rate.

Since this is not yet the final release, there are still some things that are yet to see its inclusion in the Flip4Mac app. Among them are the updated user guide and the fix for 2-pass VBR green shift issue.

If this app strikes your fancy, feel free to download it below (it's compatible with mac Intel and Power PC OS X v10.3.9, 10.4 or later and QuickTime v6.5, 7.0 or later). After test driving it, help make the final issue better by filling up the feedback form here.

Download: [Flip4Mac WMV Beta v2.1.0.29]

It seems that a new version of Apple Computer's iTunes Producer software suggest that the Steve Jobs camp may begin to offer tracks through its iTunes Music Store that are encoded in its higher-quality lossless compression format.

The Apple Lossless format is an audio codec developed by Apple Computer for lossless compression of digital music. It does not utilize any digital rights management (DRM) scheme, but by the nature of the container, it is commonly perceived that DRM can be applied to the Apple lossless audio codec much the same way it can with other files in QuickTime containers.

The iTunes Producer is a software that is distributed to record labels by Apple as a tool for prepping and submitting their content for inclusion on the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes service currently serves tracks only in the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format. In a release of iTunes Producer 1.4 recently, Apple said that the software "now encodes music in Apple Lossless format, which produces larger audio files and will increase upload time."

For now, this development has no major role on the iTunes Music Store. The format, unlike AAC, does not presently utilize a digital rights management (DRM) scheme to assure copy-protection but as mentioned earlier, it is speculated that a DRM could be applied to the format in much the same way as other QuickTime file formats.

For a select few, that is.

Most of those who installed Warcraft III in their Intel Macs experienced game crashes. Sometimes the Frozen Throne expansion crashes.

jlukas tells us how he was able to install Warcraft III and play it without it crashing. He had previously tried installing it but like most Intel Mac users experienced, the game crashed. He saw a notification message from Console.app saying that loading LiveType.component failed.

What he did was delete LiveType.component for Warcraft III to work. He also did some debugging and did these steps to make the game work:

• Navigate to /Library/Quicktime/
• Create and Archive of LiveType.component
• Delete LiveType.component
• Empty your trash

Hopefully this will work for some Intel Mac users dealing with the same problem.

Apple recently opened it's latest store at Fifth Avenue New York. The whole store is underground except for the entrance, a 32-foot glass cube in front of the General Motors building opposite the Plaza Hotel and Bergdorf Goodman on 767 Fifth Avenue. This Quicktime VR panorama shows you the cube and where it's located. it was made during the opening and taken with a canon 5d + Nikkor "shaved" 10.5mm fisheye.

A lot has been going on at the cube, for example, there has been a proposal in front of it. In the proposal video you'll see a man with a piece of paper asking someone to marry him. Typical.

According to Apple the glass is about 12 inches thick and therefor creates an illusional effect. You can't really see that in the QTVR but you can in the picture here on the right.

    

Looks like chatting isn't what it used to be. Before all it took was a webcam, a face and things to say, but that's not good enough anymore. Hot on the heels of Logitech's hugely successful video cam effects, Chatfx presents visual effects for iChat using QuickTime, Quartz and Quartz Composer (provided by Apple to developers in Mac OS 10.4).

According to Chatfx "Normal teleconferences are plain. Talking and seeing people in offices and cubicles is ordinary." Why settle for "normal" and "plain" when you can get insane and creepy with special effects like those seen in movies and PhotoShop.

Included in its bluescreen lib are twirl, comic book, alien, interrogation, pencil, vortex, dent, bump, bodyart, facepaint, fisheye, gloom, mercury, on fire, ogre, sepia, sorbel, xray, thermal, and an infinite number of additional special video effects that can be created by using Quartz Composer.

Anyone can do it, according to the company. "Like the special effects in movies anything is now possible to add to iChat," they claim. For example you can make your normally filthy room look like it has been straigthened by the Queer guys. Or make your shoebox office look more Trump-esque.  Or you can make it look like you're on mars, the moon, inside a rainforest, or under the sea.

"Keep video conferences interesting by simulating TV news and weather reports." Weather reports are interesting? There is a practical side to this fun little program. Although Chatfx didn't name even one. Going back to the keeping conferences interesting using visual sfx... whatever happened to smart and witty conversations?

YakaMoov v1.2 is already out! If you're wondering what this is, this one converts video into the proper format for your video iPod. It will recognize all movie formats supported by QuickTime 7 (some formats may need third-party plugins). It cleverly analyzes each movies, and warns you when the movie cannot be converted (thereÂ?s no point converting QuickTime VR movies, for example).

It features a list-oriented main window. The main window of YakaMoov is a list of all the movies you want converted. Adding movies to this list, or rearranging the list is as simple as drag & drop. Prepare one batch of movies for conversion, hit start and wait (for quite some time, ha ha!). It also has no complex compression settings and outputs video in the standard iPod movie formats. This ensures that your iPod movies will always remain compatible with current and future evolutions of the iPod.

Basically, it has three output formats, iPod Standard, iPod Optimized and iPod TV. The version now has a maximized movie resolution. Aside from that, multithreading is also possible which means that even if you started a conversion you can add movies to the list or rearrange it. It also has an AutoUpdate Feature since it can check if a new version is available on our web site and update itself automatically if you decide to select this feature.

Download: [YakaMoov v1.2]