Boinx Software, a German company specializing in animation, movie production and photography products, has released FotoMagico 3, a major update to its storytelling software that allows the mixing of HD video, audio and still photographs into multimedia presentations.
Completely rewritten for Apple Macintosh computers, the new FotoMagico 3 allows users to define the visible area of a clip with in and out points and then select a variety of pans, zooms and other special effects. HD video can be animated like image slides without re-encoding. Titles and transitions can be added. The software can input a wide range of video, including HD provided by the latest Canon and Nikon still cameras.
Fotomagico 3 has support for multiple audio tracks and includes an integrated audio recorder —allowing story presentations to be enhanced with soundtrack, audio effects and narration. Each track has its own settings for locked timing and ducking. Narration can be added while the presentation is playing.
The software provides direct access to the libraries of Apple’s iPhoto and Aperture, Adobe’s Lightroom, as well as video and sound files. The application is nontechnical and can easily be operated by news photographers and editors.
When the presentation is complete, FotoMagico 3 creates a variety of output formats. These include HD and SD movies for the Web, YouTube, iPods and iPhones. An integrated player also allows the presentation to be distributed on DVD.
Fotomagico 3 can be downloaded from the Boinx Web site.
