When Adobe acquired Macromedia, a lot of people thought that’d be the end of Director. After all, Director and Flash have had increasingly overlapping capabilities for some time, and Director seemed like something people used years ago. Think again: talk to people doing interactive design, and Director — for better or worse — lives on.

With the Director 11 update announced this week, that’s unlikely to change any time soon. New in this release:

• Vista support on Windows, Intel support on Mac
• Bitmap filters (a la the bitmap API in Flash 8/9, I’m assuming)
• Full JavaScript support and Code Snippets
• Enhanced Flash support with CS3 and Flash Video support
• Built-in physics via AGEIA PhysX
• Native DirectX 9 3D support

Now, anyone for a Voyager interactive CD-ROM (as pictured right, from the Director heyday)?

Physics and 3D? Impressive stuff. So I should be excited, right?

Apple slipped in some almost silent updates last night to its portable line: MacBooks have been updated to come pre-installed with Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), and sport Intel’s Santa Rosa chipset. This provides frontside bus speeds up to 800Mhz (up from 667Mhz), and includes a new integrated graphics chipset, the Intel GMA X3100 which should offer a speed boost for end users and increased shader support for developers.

Apple also silently updated the MacBook Pro, which now has an optional 2.6Ghz CPU upgrade (up from 2.4Ghz), for a mere $250.

Leopard improves not only OpenGL performance with some advanced backend llvm compiling, optional Quartz GL rendering, but also enhanced OpenGL extension and shader model support on certain cards. According to the Mac OpenGL dev list (which just today posted some new information regarding 10.5 - ironically the OpenGL cababilities matrix does not yet list the GMA X3100), Apple supports Shader Model 4.0 on newer ATI hardware, and possibly on NVIDIA 8-series cards (yet to be confirmed).

Both of these are good news for visualists - better graphics capabilities in 10.5 and updated integrated graphics chipsets will support more advanced visual effects for those who want the slimmer MacBook, and who doesn’t want dual 2.6Ghz of power in the MacBook Pro?

Ed.: My only disappointment with Apple is that there’s not much in the mid-range price-wise, and the Intel chips still lag behind dedicated graphics chips like the NVIDIA GeForce Go (8600 in the case of the MacBook Pro). But the flipside for the bargain-hungry: each time Apple bumps its MBP, you have a shot at getting clearance or refurb versions of the previous model at the sweet spot.

Note that the MacBook doesn’t support the advanced 3D features with its integrated video chip. The X3100 video on the PM965 chipset supports only Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 1.5, which leaves out some important shader features, etc., of use to visualists. So, if you can shell out the cash for the MacBook Pro, it will give you far more advanced 3D features — and by extension, hardware-based video. (On the Windows side, it also means DirectX 10 over DirectX 9, but the important thing is the integrated shader architecture.)

Yesterday Apple released iTunes 7.3.1 and Quicktime 7.2. With updated h.264 transcoding, numerous bug fixes and free fullscreen support for those without Quicktime Pro. It also provides iPhone exporting options and seems to enable 640×480 captures from certain iSights which were limited to 320×240.

Oh, and it breaks Rosetta.

Ok, not to be overly sensational, it does not break Rosetta for everyone, but a large number of users are reporting issues opening PowerPC applications on Intel Macs post Quicktime 7.2 update. It seems as though installing the OS X 10.4.10 Combo updater after installing Quicktime 7.2 has fixed the issue for some.

You might want to sit this one out for a while folks until the dust settles. You can read about this issue over at Mac Fixit: The QuickTime 7.2 disaster: Breaks all CFM apps on Intel-based Macs (Office, Photoshop CS2) for some; Problems playing Flash.

On the eve of Macworld Expo, Adobe has announced it’s finally restoring feature parity between the Mac and Windows versions of its Production Studio suite. That means Premiere Pro, its video editing app, and Encore DVD, its DVD authoring package, will both be available as part of the Mac suite.

That makes three Intel-native (and Intel-only) Mac releases:

1. Premiere Pro: First Mac release since its completely-rebuilt, Windows-only 2003 upgrade. (see original Adobe announcement)
2. Encore DVD: First time on the Mac since its 2003 introduction.
3. Soundbooth: New product; first major Adobe-developed Mac audio app ever and the first “Macromedia” audio app since SoundEdit 16 sales were discontinued in 2004 (after a long, slow death).

Macworld News: Adobe brings Premiere back to the Mac (Official Adobe announcement due later today)

Intel-only Soundbooth development caused a bit of a stir in the Mac community, but it’s clear that Adobe has decided they can develop these products for two platforms if it means developing for only one processor architecture. After a difficult year of making the Intel transition, in other words, 2007 will be the year Mac users can reap the rewards. I’ll be especially interested to see what video performance is like in the OS X release of Premiere, as the Mac has some very nice optimizations for video.

The response so far from Mac users seems to be very positive; a lot of Mac advocates are (rightfully) seeing this as real momentum — long lost momentum — for the Mac platform. Some will continue to question Adobe’s Mac commitment, but it’s important to note that Adobe didn’t really “drop” Premiere support on Mac. They re-built Premiere almost from scratch in 2003, and decided it didn’t make sense to make that version run on the Mac, partly because Apple made it clear they wanted to own the whole platform. Don’t get me wrong: I love Apple’s pro apps, both on the music and visual side. But I love multiple vendors and competition even more.

Ironically, the biggest challenge facing the Mac release may be that Mac users just aren’t very familiar with the package. I’ll talk this weekend about some of the integration features, but as good as Final Cut Studio is, my own feeling is that Adobe’s suite has both better, more comprehensive integration, and a more complete suite to integrate in the first place. Motion, while a powerful tool, isn’t comparable to After Effects, and Apple has no equivalent of Photoshop or Illustrator.

But whichever suite you choose — or if you use a combination of both — for the first time in a long time, the Mac will have some real competition. And Mac creatives won’t have to go buy a PC just to run the full suite. Windows just won my 2006 platform pick. The Mac may dominate 2007.

Now, about a Mac release of DV Rack to complete the picture. (Hey, at worst you can boot into Windows on Boot Camp.) (Jaymis: Your wish is their command: Previously mentioned ScopeBox was released recently and is the subject of an extensive review and comparison with DV Rack. Of course, Adobe have purchased Serious Magic, so the future may indeed hold a Production Suite bundled tethered shooting tools.)

Adobe will have demos of Premiere next week at Macworld; we’ll be there to cover it.

Live visualists get one tasty upgrade in the form of Modul8 2.5, with lots of Mac-centric exclusives:

1. Hardware-accelerated rendering: Built on Core Video (requires OS X 10.4 or later), Modul8 has switched entirely to GPU-accelerated rendering. While other software offers bits of acceleration as an option, the new Modul8 will actually require 10.4 and a Core Video-capable machine; others will have to stick with 2.0.3. Unforgiving of older hardware, yes, but could be great for getting the performance you crave. (I’ve seen these features work just fine on the integrated Intel chips on the MacBooks, etc., so generally you don’t even need a high-end machine.)
2. Freeframe, Core Image Filters: Custom image processing is now opened up both to the increasingly-popular, cross-platform Freeframe standard, as well as the Mac’s own Core Image.



Don your mask: 2.5 now has cropping, alpha-channel filters, and a fully-featured masking system.
3. Crop, mask, and key: (Sorry; somehow that came out naughty-sounding.) Here’s where Modul8 starts to set itself apart: the new release includes lots of new alpha-channel filtering options (alpha blur, alpha crop), plus an entirely-integrated masking system. It really moves Modul8 closer to true, live image compositing, which has always been a goal of this package.
4. Multi-projection: Via PCI-Express, you can run up to four graphics cards on a single Mac, for up to eight projectors, a configuration fully supported by Modul8. That’s the good news; the bad news is this means lugging around your G5 or MacPro for those of you on the road.
5. Intel-native: Gentlemen, start your MacBooks.

And there’s more … new, more programmable modules and compositing, color pickers everywhere, a revised media window that lets you delete in-place, move to the Finder, and adjust quality settings, improved recording, and other enhancements. This comes on top of other unique settings in Modul8: per-pixel transparency, a built-in drawing module for text and graphics, BPM sync, and (particularly unique) extensible modules that can be customized at the UI level or built in Python.

garageCUBE Modul8 [Product Page; Upgrade Details]

Modul8 looks to me like it’s become the VJ app to beat on Mac. Hope to have a review soon. And this heats up the cross-platform battle, too, as Windows users wait on more hardware acceleration in an upcoming release of Resolume.

Of course, the other route to go is to build your own app using tools like Jitter (which just got easier thanks to v001). You’re unlikely to recreate something like this — but you could build only what you need, just the way you like it, and nothing more.

Thanks, Anton! Now, can we quit all our other jobs and just do this, please?

Suddenly, that dual-booting Mac isn’t looking like such a value:

Boot Camp Beta 1.1: VGA adapters, Mini-DVI adapters are not supported

Reader Robotkid notes S-Video won’t work, either.

So, in review, if you want to boot your new MacBook into Windows XP, all will be fine — unless you happen to need to connect video output via VGA or S-Video. That means you’ll need to either use all-DVI monitors and projectors, or … well, stay away from Boot Camp, basically. This sounds particularly nasty on the MacBook, which doesn’t have a dedicated output port. In fairness, Boot Camp is still beta, but if dual-booting Windows is a big factor in your purchase decision, you might want to investigate seriously.

What I find puzzling is, why would this be an issue at all? Is there something really strange about Apple’s video drivers in Windows XP? Is there something weird in Windows to begin with? If anyone has a machine with Boot Camp, please, let us know if you can test this and see what’s going on. (And does the same thing happen with Vista? Linux? Parallels Desktop, when you’re running Windows apps inside Mac OS X? I would think not the latter, but no idea on the other cases.) Thanks to Robotkid, and to Chris Breen for sorting me out.

For more information, Bart from Resolume points us to this vjcentral thread, further evidence that I really should have been paying closer attention to this issue:

macbook pro: s-video out under xp?

Maybe mankind was never intended to run both Mac and Windows. Perhaps I should rid my mind of such unnatural desires. Anyone with a clue on what’s going on, please chime in. (I mean, I know it doesn’t work, but why not, I wonder?)

Updated: Quick clarification. Apparently the DVI-to-VGA adapter does work on the MacBook Pro. (Keep in mind, the MacBook lacks even a dedicated DVI; you have to use a dongle.) So the current score is, unless I’m mistaken:

MacBook VGA: No.
MacBook S-Video: No.
MacBook Pro VGA: Yes.
MacBook Pro S-Video: No.

Still disturbing. Given that Apple is aware of the issue, it seems a fix is likely; it’s just a matter of how long you’re willing to wait and what the technical obstacles are to making it work.

The Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros are here, and even if you’re a Windows user, these machines deserve a look. See Create Digital Music for the full once-over, but here’s my short list for why the MacBook Pro has appeal for the VJ/visualist/live visuals person, particularly for the intensive requirements of running live visuals in performance:

1. Backlit keys: This one is a huge lifesaver when you’re in the dark, and it isn’t available on most PCs, or on Apple’s cheaper MacBook. Sure, you could plug in one of those USB lights, but do you really want that thing in your face and taking up a free USB slot?
2. It runs Windows: I love the Mac, but Windows has a performance edge when running Java (read: Processing) and for live video input (thanks to DirectX), for Flash (for reasons unknown, it runs faster on PC even with the Intel Macs, and you have better developer tools), as well as running fantastic Windows-only live visual software like vvvv and Resolume. Spend your daily life in Mac OS, then boot up a cleaned-out, stripped-down performance-only rig in Windows.
3. It runs Mac: The Mac has some nice features of its own, especially if you’re using tools like Max/MSP/Jitter. Max runs really well on Windows, but on Mac it has a very nice bonus: you can build custom image filters using Core Image and Quartz Composer. Driver support for audio and MIDI is far better on the Mac, too. You know the rest of the reasons why you like Mac OS. Isn’t it nice to be able to run both everywhere you go? Thanks, Apple. (See also: Linux on Intel.)
4. FireWire 800: This is great for audio, but it’s even more awesome for video. One MacBook Pro, one external RAID array with all your video clips. Need I say more? (Hint: do not try this trick even
   with FW400.)
5. RAM and storage: When you’re comparison shopping Macs with PCs, note that Apple has finally put sensible 1GB / 2GB standard RAM and 120GB / 160GB standard storage specs on these models. ‘Bout time. Most PC makers aren’t. Most PCs also aren’t expandable to a full 3GB RAM, and the MacBook Pro is.
6. ATI X1600: For visualists, this is the other key spec difference between MacBook and MacBook Pro. The ATI X1600 isn’t the most powerful video card on the market (see Alienware’s incredible dual-SLI NVidia 7900 systems, which are surprisingly price-competitive with the Apples), but for most custom live visuals, this is the difference between a truly usable GPU and one that’s bare-bones (like the integrated video on the MacBook and most cheaper PCs). Odds are your custom visuals aren’t putting out the massive polygon counts needed for games, so the X1600 should be just right. If you really want to do crazy simulated fluid models, I’d suggest getting a small form factor PC, anyway, rather than a laptop, so you can upgrade visuals. The truth is, most of the software we use still relies heavily on the CPU, so the Core 2 Duo ultimately becomes more important than having the absolute top-of-the-line video card — and don’t forget, the X1600 can blaze through Unreal Tournament 2004 at around 60 fps, so it’s no slouch. (Try that with your PowerBook G4, or even MacBook. Actually — don’t.)

If you only need to run Windows, I don’t think the MacBook Pro makes much sense. But for those wanting the perfect mobile Mac, or a machine that can run Mac and Windows (for whatever reason), the MBP looks better. And if you were waiting for a speed bump, this is it. I’m guessing Apple will keep the current high-end / low-end configurations of their laptops for the near future.

Laptops and Mac minis are wonderful, but they don’t let you upgrade your CPU or fill two PCI slots with hyper-powerful video cards. I’ve been loving lugging my Shuttle XPC to gigs, in a custom Shuttle case that I can carry on the subway or in cabs. But if it hadn’t tempted you yet, this might:

Shuttle XPC Barebone SD37P2

The new barebones kit lets you add your own Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and, with two x16 slots, ATI CrossFire-compatible video. The Core 2 Duo is not to be confused with the Core Duo in Mac laptops; this is the souped-up desktop-class Core 2 Duo (up to Duo Extreme) that’s the fastest consumer CPU on the planet. Gizmodo has the story, and readers there are confused by the cost. Let me explain: unlike, say, a new Mac Pro, the barebones system lets you customize the machine for your individual needs, and unlike almost every other solution out there, you have an upgradeable machine that you can actually lift to gigs. VJs and live visualists, I’m sure, don’t need an explanation here. Much as I love Apple, the ability to fully customize and transport your machine has a lot of appeal.

The US$537 cost isn’t cheap, but it’s not just a case — as with the Shuttle I covered here, “barebones” includes the motherboard, fans, cables, and little extras like a card reader. The case is definitely first-rate, too.

I’m still happy with my AMD-compatible Shuttle, which has now been through four gigs. This case design is similar, though I don’t like the fact that Shuttle moved the drive eject button so you could accidentally hit power. Full post-gig review of my SN26P coming soon.

Related:

Building a Portable SFF PC for Live Visuals, Music Gigs: Part 1, Assembly in Comic Book Form

Building a Gigging PC, Pt. II: RAID Setup, Installing Windows XP Without Bloat