B-L-A-C-K-O-P ships CamCamX Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 Pro Video Mixer for
the Podcast Generation
Washington, DC - Sept 9, 2007 * B-L-A-C-K-O-P Design today announced they
are shipping CamCamX, a broadcast quality video mixer for Macintosh
computers which utilizes 8-bit uncompressed 4:2:2 component video as its
native video format. CamCamX takes a fresh approach to live video mixing on
the desktop; just as with traditional video mixers any two camera sources,
QuickTime movies, and still images can be used as inputs and mixed in real
time. What sets CamCamX apart from other existing video mixers is that the
video mix is re-routed back into the Mac as an emulated iSight (webcam)
camera. And this CamCamX emulated camera is simultaneously available to all
traditional webcam and video recording applications as a live camera input.
With CamCamX, the operator can perform a live video mix that is published
as a live video in Yahoo Messenger, Skype video phone, Adobe Flash based
video webchat sites (www.stickcam.com) - all at the same time. The video
mix appears simultaneously on all webcam application inputs without any
special configuration, as if the video mix were itself a built-in iSight
camera. Not only can you broadcast live, but you can, at the same time,
record your live video mix directly into iMovie 08 (iMovie HD, QuickTime
Pro, et al) for later republishing as a DVD, youtube.com clip, or iPod
compatible podcast.
Familiar Interface Means Simple for Anyone to Use and Operate
CamCamX is designed to look and work similarly to Apple's most recent iLife
applications. The ergonomics of the design are styled after traditional
professional video mixers - the mix is controlled by a single slider that
fades between A/B camera inputs, making it possible to easily operate the
mixer with just one hand on the mouse. Still images and QuickTime video
clips can be selected as source using the conventional Drag and Drop
paradigm familiar to all Macintosh users. While video professionals will
enjoy the familiar interface, anyone capable of using iMovie will have no
trouble creating compelling video mixes for webcast or podcast.
Democratic Webcasting for Global Breaking News
Leveraging the emerging market of free one-to-one and one-to-many
webcasting video pipelines (Stickam, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, QuickTime
Broadcaster), CamCamX makes it possible for an individual to create live,
professional broadcasts of breaking news, live music, interviews, and
publish them live (in real time) to a global audience of web viewers. Live
video feeds can be mixed with pre-recorded content and arranged on-the-fly
for adapting to changing conditions (sportscasts, political conventions
etc). Increasingly, the web is being relied upon to provide the most
up-to-date, accurate reporting of world events, and CamCamX makes it
possible for anyone to create compelling live coverage with just a Mac
notebook, internet connection and one or more webcams (including, but not
limited to the Mac's built-in iSight camera).
Speeds Youtube/Podcast Production
Despite the fact that today's video editing applications are more powerful
and easier to use than their predecessors, they all follow the familiar
capture-edit-render-publish workflow model. In today's fast-paced world,
with an immediate waiting global audience, CamCamX makes it possible to
produce professional video content much faster and more efficiently than
the capture-edit-render-publish model by mixing sources directly for
broadcast or directly recording mixed video to MPEG-4 320x240 clips that
can be immediately uploaded to Google's youtube.com, myspace or published
as a podcast file. No editing, rendering or compressing is required - the
clip is available for publishing both while the video mix is underway AND
immediately after completion. Because the mixer works with both live camera
inputs and pre-recorded QuickTime clips, professional productions with
titles, custom wipes, bumpers, commercial insertions and theme music are
produced as easily as ad-hoc video mixes.
Application and Hardware Compatibility
Since CamCamX publishes it's video mix as a QuickTime compatible camera
input, it achieves unparalleled compatibility with existing video
applications that Mac customers already use and enjoy, including iMovie for
recording video mixes, QuickTime Pro for converting them to different
formats, Final Cut, and all streaming video and video chat services that
work with Apple's built-in and external iSight (webcam) cameras. CamCamX
also works with a wide variety of creative video software, including all
the popular VJ applications. Literally, any live camera application
developed for the Apple Mac OS X system can immediately take advantage of
the new video mixing services provided by CamCamX. On the hardware side,
CamCamX works with most live camera hardware input devices available for
the Macintosh. This includes Apple's own built-in USB and external FireWire
iSight cameras, 3rd party USB Class Video webcams such as the Logitech
QuickCam Ultravision and many other webcams with Macintosh drivers,
FireWire based MiniDV camcorders and professional video input devices such
as those made by BlackMagic and AJA.
Price/Performance Breakthrough for Professional Desktop Video Mixing
While other professional video mixing applications for the Macintosh have
been available for hundreds (or thousands) of dollars, at just $29 USD,
CamCamX sets a new price/performance mark by combining the 8-bit
uncompressed 4:2:2 format of the video professional with the ease of use
and iSight compatible camera output which the typical non-professional
requires for webcasting.
Pricing and Availability
A fully operational demo of CamCamX is available for free download from the
web at: http://b-l-a-c-k-o-p.com/download/
The demo can be serialized online for just $29.00 at the B-L-A-C-K-O-P
Online Store at: http://b-l-a-c-k-o-p.com/store.html
An AppleCare-like subscription covering 3 years of upgrades is $59.00 and a
lifetime subscription to the product is just $99.00. Site licenses,
educational and volume discounts are available.
About B-L-A-C-K-O-P
B-L-A-C-K-O-P Design is a brand of 0x00000001 LLC, a privately held
Delaware Corporation.
For details and pricing information on all B-L-A-C-K-O-P products, please
visit our web site at http://b-l-a-c-k-o-p.com/
