dvGarage Ships New Version of Conduit for Apple Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 and Motion 2

Combines High-End Nodal Compositing with High-Performance GPU Acceleration; Includes Free Three-Month Membership to Pixel Corps

(CREATIVE COW – SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 29, 2006) dvGarage, a provider of tools and training for the next generation of media artists, today announced that Conduit version 1.5, a nodal compositing plug-in, is now available for Apple Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 and Motion 2 users.

Conduit version 1.5 utilizes Apple’s FXPlug technology to combine high-end nodal compositing with high-performance Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) acceleration, providing Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion 2 users with a powerful variety of visual effects compositing tools that render in real time. In addition, Conduit version 1.5 is bundled with a free three-month Pixel Corps membership (a USD $200 value), an hour of video training and a quick start guide.

“Conduit fuses the entire compositing process into an efficient GPU program,” says Alex Lindsay, dvGarage founder and chief architect. “As a result, when you build an effect in Conduit, you’re actually getting better performance and color precision than Final Cut Pro offers on its own.”

Developed in partnership Lacquer’s Ben Syverson and Pauli Ojali, Conduit relies on the GPU, which powers graphics boards and is often much faster than the computer’s own Central Processing Unit (CPU) when calculating visual functions. This provides blazing fast render speeds to augment the power of an “open-ended” compositing environment. As a result, users can do complex effects, even to HD frames, without incurring much or any delay.

“Conduit is an essential element in the production of MacBreak,” says Ben Durbin, technical lead on MacBreak. “Conduit provides many of the functions of a high-end compositor but contained inside the FXPlug within Final Cut Pro or Motion. We’ve moved all the greenscreen composting for MacBreak into Final Cut Pro and Conduit. Now the rendering times are nearly the same as outputting the raw footage, saving us valuable time.”

Conduit’s interface allows users to build complex composites while watching their results in real time. A list of Conduit’s key features is as follows:

  • Real-time HD performance
  • Advanced color correction capabilities
  • Film-class color precision
  • Flexible node-based workflow
  • Artifact-free color manipulation
  • Blazing speed
  • Easy to use
  • Superb keying capabilities of both HD and DV footage
  • Multipass and visual effects compositing capabilities
  • Compatible with High Dynamic Range images

Pricing and Availability
Conduit is available for download from dvGarage’s website at: www.dvgarage.com. Priced at USD $149 MSRP, download contents include: Conduit for Apple Final Cut Pro 1.5.1 or Motion 2, a three-month membership to Pixel Corps, over an hour of video training and a quick start guide. Conduit system requirements include: Apple Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 or Motion 2 and the related Apple Final Cut Pro 5.1.2 or Motion 2 hardware requirements. For more information, please visit: http://www.dvgarage.com/prod/prod.php?prod=conduit15&sub=features

About dvGarage
Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., dvGarage is dedicated to providing tools and training for the next generation of visual artists around the world. Founded in 2001 by industry veteran, Alex Lindsay, dvGarage, is the home of dvMatte and numerous video training products on topics ranging from 3D to Illustrator to Photoshop. A list of dvGarage’s products include: 3D Toolkit 2.5, Maya Lab 1, Maya Lab 2, Camera Mapping Lab, Multi-Pass Render Lab, Graffiti Collection, dvMatte Pro, dvMatte Blast, Composite Toolkit, CTK Companion, The Surface Suite, Surface Toolkit, Reflection Toolkit, Grafitti Collection, Aircraft Parts, Water Damage, Terrain Toolkit, Illustrator Lab 1, Illustrator Lab 2, Photoshop Basics 1, Photoshop Basics 2, and training on Photogrammertry, QuickTime Pro and Realviz Stitcher. For more information, please visit: http://www.dvgarage.com

About Lacquer
Lacquer Oy (Ltd) is a privately held, limited liability company registered in Helsinki, Finland. The company’s founder and Managing Director is Pauli Ojala. The Chairman of the Board of Directors is Olli Hyppänen, who is Senior Vice President of Software Production at Basware Corporation. Conduit has been created by Pauli Ojala and Ben Syverson. Lacquer’s publishing partner is dvGarage Inc. For more information about Lacquer Oy, please visit: http://www.lacquer.fi