Macintouch has an excellent review of a third party Hackintosh denominated the SuperMaX — a Mac OS X-ready PC that installs OSX using the Snow Leopard retail DVD. The $7000.00 super fast computer uses a pair of Intel’s latest hexacore “Westmere” X5680 processors — 12 CPU cores in total, overclocked from 3.33 GHz to 4.2 GHz. By contrast, Apple’s just-released 12-core Mac Pro runs at just 2.93 GHz. The storage system includes a hardware RAID card, with two 100GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSDs striped into a super-fast 200 GB startup volume and dual 2TB Western Digital RE4 drives striped into a fast, 4GB data volume. Video is provided by a Mac-edition Nvidia GTX 285 card with two DVI ports. Included in the article are some impressive bench testing.

Synthetic Aperture has released Color Finesse 3.0, its color correction and enhancement plug-in for Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and other programs. Among several new features is 64-bit plug-in (to support Adobe’s CS5 64-bit applications), native FxPlug plug-in support for Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, and Motion, new Auto-Color and Auto-Exposure buttons, a new Vibrance control, HSL curves, a Highlight Recovery tool, and zoom in the Vectorscope. The Color Finesse plug-in is $575 for Mac OS X 10.5 and up (Universal Binary) or Windows XP and up; the standalone HD+ version (with plug-in) is $1,995. Upgrades from previous versions start at $149.

Nikon announced its new entry-level DSLR D3100 includes a 14.2-megapixel CMOS sensor 1080p HD video capture @ 24 fps and full-time autofocus with monaural sound. The video DSL shoots to the AVCHD format with a maximum bit rate of 21 mbps. Pricing is around $699.00.

Here are the salient video related specifications from the Nikon Press Release:

The Nikon D3100 D-SLR allows users to capture stunning Full HD, 1080p resolution (1920×1080) movies. Users can record cinematic quality 24p video clips, or shoot at 24 or 30 frames-per-second at 720p, ideal for sharing online. By incorporating versatile NIKKOR lenses to the equation, users can now create a variety of photography effects to video such as isolating subjects with a shallow depth of field, and recording in low light conditions. NIKKOR lenses also deliver the sharpness needed for HD video, and Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) II technology helps to eliminate camera shake.

While Nikon pioneered HD video in a D-SLR, Nikon is now introducing another industry first to enrich the user experience: The D3100 is the first D-SLR to implement full time AF for D-Movie video shooting and while in Live View mode. Using contrast based AF, the D3100 automatically focuses on subjects when Live View is activated to aid shooting when using the LCD. The D3100 camera also uses Face Detection technology to lock focus on up to 35 human faces, a feat not even accomplished with consumer camcorders. To further simplify movie shooting, Live View is activated at a single flick of a dedicated switch, and HD video recording is achieved by a simple press of a button.

Sharing and editing video clips is also easier than ever, as the D3100 records movies in the versatile H.264 AVCHD codec (.mov file). While playing movies back in the camera, users are able to edit recorded videos by clipping footage from the beginning or end of a movie. High Definition movies and stills can be shared with family and friends on an HD television via HDMI output, and control slideshows and video using the HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) interface that is a part of most modern remote controls from HDTV manufacturers. Additionally, the D3100 is compatible with the new SDXC memory card format to store large amounts of photo and video data so users can shoot multiple scenes without interruption.

Boris FX has released Boris AAF Transfer, a new plug-in designed to transfer Apple Final Cut Pro sequences to Avid Media Composer, with all the FCP media, markers, cuts, dissolves, filters, and audio preserved. The transferred sequence can be edited and finished in the Avid Media Composer timeline without returning to Final Cut Pro. Editors can edit Final Cut Pro sequences live in Media Composer – either on the same system or any other Macintosh or Windows Media Composer system.

Boris AAF Transfer Feature Highlights:

* Alpha Channel Support. Transfer still images and video clips while retaining alpha information, preserving the alpha channel. The transferred sequence appears exactly the same in Media Composer as it did in Final Cut Pro.

* Boris Continuum Complete Compatibility. Transfer Boris Continuum Complete filters and transitions that were applied to clips in the Final Cut Pro timeline while retaining all of the keyframed changes. The BCC filters are seamlessly transferred into Media Composer as long as the corresponding BCC filter or transition effect is present in the Media Composer host where the transferred sequence is opened.

* Motion Tab Support. Boris AAF Transfer translates many of Final Cut Pro’s Motion Tab features including basic motion, crop, opacity, and speed.

* Text Generators. Convert Final Cut Pro’s built-in text generators into Avid Title Tool effects.

* Time Effects. Boris AAF Transfer supports many of Final Cut Pro’s time-based effects.

Boris AAF Transfer is available for an MSRP of $299 USD

Boris FX has announced the release of Boris Continuum Unit 3-Way Color Grade that provides professional-level color grading tool support for Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Final Cut Express, Apple Motion, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro. The 3-Way Color Grade filter is also included with the Boris Continuum Complete 7 visual effects plug-in collection.

Boris Continuum 3-Way Color Grade Unit Feature Highlights

• Primary Color and Luma Controls. Separately adjust dark, mid, and bright regions of an input clip using industry-standard lift/gamma/gain controls.
• Built-in Power Window Matte and Masking System with Motion Tracking. Isolate a color adjustment to a specific region in the image. Adobe After Effects masks and matte layers can be imported – a perfect complement to CS5’s new Rotobrush tool.
• Inside/Outside Color Grading. Separate color correction can be applied inside and outside of the mask region within a single instance of the filter.
• Built-in HSL Keyer. Isolate areas of the image based on color values for more precise color adjustment or to replace the selected color.
• Exposure Parameter. Enables fine-level exposure control; editors can globally lighten or darken an image by setting f-stops in the slider control.
• Built-in Compare Mode. Enables live-view comparison of the filtered result with the unfiltered source via either a side-by-side view or a live split-screen view

The Boris Continuum 3-Way Color Grade Unit is available through the Boris FX worldwide reseller channel and direct from the Boris FX web site at http://www.borisfx.com for an MSRP of $99 USD. Customers who purchase the Boris Continuum 3-Way Color Grade Unit or any other Boris Continuum Unit may credit the price of the Unit towards the full Boris Continuum Complete plug-in suite. For more information, please visit the Boris FX web site.

Grass Valley is now shipping its “ADVCmini” hardware and software conversion product for the Mac. The ADVCmini video converter is used to transfer VHS tapes, digital camcorders, and similar sources to their Mac computer for editing in Final Cut Pro via composite or S-Video connections along with stereo audio. The unit is small, portable, and powered by the Mac’s USB port. USB, composite video/audio, and S-Video are included. The 3D Y/C separator in the new Grass Valley ADVCmini box is claimed to provide higher-quality conversion than what is generally available by using the company’s PerfectPicture technology.

Key Features

• Works with all home and professional analog equipment
• Capture from composite, S-Video, and SCART equipment (EU only)
• 3D Y/C separation for superior composite video capture quality
• Nothing else to buy – capture software and all cables included
• Stereo audio capture with input level adjustment
• Connects to Mac via USB 2.0
• Powered by your Mac via USB cable
• PerfectPicture technology provides:
  • 3D Y/C separation
  • Hue, saturation, and brightness (HSV) controls
  • Contrast and quality adjustments
• PerfectSync technology for recording synchronized video with audio

BoinxTV 1.6.1 is a live-production package for video podcasters and others. The software can work with up to three cameras and includes templates for shows, layers for live and pre-recorded inputs, output to a QuickTime movie or fullscreen to a monitor, chroma keying, and other features. This release adds iPad as well as iPhone display in the iPhone Demo layer, a fix for high rendering loads when using audio-only files, a fix for a crash loading previews of sources, and a fix for some movie files playing audio at double speed. BoinxTV is $499 for Mac OS X 10.5.7 and up (G5 or Intel) including Snow Leopard. A $199 Sponsored Edition requires a five second credit to BoinxTV in each production.

DVDxDV Pro 3.0 for Macintosh provides demuxing capabilities to convert unencrypted standard definition DVDs into Quicktime video files. It includes a editing timeline similar to Final Cut Pro which can be used to set the exact in and out points for movie clips. DVDxDV Pro 3.0 will convert DVDs into High Definition 1080i video for use in Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere and iMovie HD. It also supports conversion to the MP4 format for use in the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Apple TV and to any Quicktime compatible codec. DVDxDV Pro is priced at $80 (USD) and can be purchased directly from the company’s website.

The Axon Haptic is an Atom based 10.1″ touch resistive iPad type device that supports installs of any Darwin OS, including Apple’s Snow Leopard via a hidden EFI partition. The device has yet to ship, but its specs are impressive for this size device. They include 2GB of RAM, 320 GB HDD, WiFi, web cam, 3 USB ports, VGA port, ethernet, headphone and microphone jack. The company cautions against installing Snow Leopard due to EULA restrictions, and there is no assurance the FCS will install and run, but it’s worth a look.