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BoinxTV adds motion magic with LibOrientator
The guys from Munich (actually Puchheim, near Munich) have done it again. Boinx Software has updated BoinxTV to version 1.8 and created a special new iPhone and iPad app named Orientator (free) to control 3D graphics effects in BoinxTV. Even better, Boinx developed LibOrientator, a library for iOS developers who may want to include features in their apps that enable control of BoinxTV layers. BoinxTV is a powerful video console app for Mac OS X that provides professional TV effects and editing to humble consumers like myself. I use the app every week for TUAW TV Live, and although I haven't yet mastered most of the BoinxTV toolset, it helps me to combine video from several cameras and other inputs, movie clips, photos, lower thirds graphics and audio into a (hopefully) professional looking video podcast. What Orientator does is read the values for device motion, the gyroscope, accelerometer, location, magnetometer and other orientation data, and send that info over a Wi-Fi connection to BoinxTV on your Mac. While Orientator is fun for just looking at the readouts of the sensors in your iOS device (as shown above), it's even more useful when used to control video layers in BoinxTV. For displaying apps that don't contain the LibOrientator library and use the special BoinxTV layers, the company suggests simply velcroing an iPhone to an iPad 2 to send the orientation data to your Mac. There's a full description of how to use Orientator to help record iOS demos and training apps on the Boinx website, and the video below should give you a good idea of how Orientator controls special BoinxTV layers. The update to BoinxTV is available from within the application by selecting BoinxTV > Software Update.
Boinx offers Spring savings on its "Home" products
From now until Monday, May 23, Mac users with a craving to create can save a bundle on iStopMotion Home, FotoMagico Home, or BoinxTV Home when purchased through the Mac App Store. Each product is available for US$9.99 during the sale announced by the German software maker Boinx earlier this week. Boinx's iStopMotion Home transforms your Mac into an animation studio. With it, toys, clay, drawings, or other everyday items can become stars of your own animated hits. It's normally priced at $49. FotoMagico Home allows aspiring photographers to combine photos with music and transitions to create eye-catching slideshows. The non-sale price for this software package is $29. Lastly, BoinxTV Home turns your Mac into a personal TV studio. It's an affordable solution for adding spice to the YouTube videos and video podcasts you create at home. During the sale, BoinxTV Home is discounted from its retail price of $49.99. With prices discounted by up to 80%, this weekend's sale is a good opportunity to try some well-crafted, award-winning titles without devastating your wallet.
BoinxTV Home out tomorrow on the Mac App Store
Mike Schramm and I just spoke with Oliver Breidenbach from Boinx, and we're pretty excited to hear about a new Mac App Store release (tomorrow) of a new version of BoinxTV: BoinxTV Home. It's a consumer-level version of the live-broadcast software with a lower price point and distribution through the Mac App Store. We've covered BoinxTV on TUAW a few times, and it's great to see a more affordable version coming to the masses. In contrast to its US$299-$499 older sibling, BoinxTV Home will be $49.99, and it's geared more toward YouTube than broadcast applications. It only works with one camera, but still accepts all video inputs from other applications, so there are plenty of possibilities. It also caps out at 15 layers, but that's more than enough for the average "home" user. Overall, it sounds to us like a good move and will bring BoinxTV to a larger group who could really make use of it's impressive capabilities. Oliver will be demoing the new version for us tomorrow, so tune in to the TUAW live stream at 11:30 PST tomorrow to see it!
BoinxTV unlocked in MacHeist 3 -- next up, Espresso and The Hit List
UPDATE: Just as we suspected, the $500,000 blew past and now everything is unlocked. It took a while for the US$39 MacHeist 3 bundle to raise US$400,000 for charity, but it happened yesterday and now the US$199 BoinxTV Sponsored Edition application is unlocked for everyone who is participating in the fun. In case you're not familiar with BoinxTV, it's referred to as a "TV studio in a box" and it's wonderful for easy, yet professional-looking video editing. The Boinx TV unlock apparently opened the floodgates, because MacHeist 3 has raised another US$25,000 for charity since the US$400,000 level was reached. The new goal is a cool US$500,000 raised for charity, and when that happens, Espresso and The Hit List will be unlocked. This has to happen in the next two days, since this is a limited-time offer. Since we last talked about MacHeist 3, Cro-Mag Rally and the Times newsreader have been added as bonus apps. You also get Delicious Library 2 and Multiwinia if you tweet about your purchase (which caused Macworld editor Peter Cohen to firmly state the case against Twitter as a spam medium), as well as several other applications that have been slipped into the mix since the bundle started. The total value of MacHeist 3 is now at US$981, available to you for just US$39. Click here to visit the MacHeist 3 website.
MacHeist 3 bundle unveiled
The Heist might be over, but the software saving fun is just beginning! Tonight, the MacHeist 3 bundle was revealed in a geek-star studded live show. This year's bundle is, from a software perspective, really incredible. I love software bundles because they are a great way to get cool stuff, but the problem is, lots of stuff is frequently repeated across bundles, making it less and less exciting for the more seasoned Mac software-addict. This is not a bundle that can be accused of retreading old software; on the contrary, some new (and high profile) apps are available. This is the line-up: iSale Picturesque Sous Chef World of Goo PhoneView LittleSnapper Acorn Kinemac It wouldn't be a bundle without unlock incentives, and this year, MacHeist goes all out: WireTap Studio BoinxTV Sponsored Edition The Hit List Espresso And knowing MacHeist, I'm sure there will be other surprises to come as the sale takes shape.
WWDC '08: Boinx + TheCodingMonkeys = BoinxTV
We heard from TheCodingMonkeys last week, and there was mention of a joint project with Boinx Software. Being a big fan of Boinx software (iStopMotion, Mousepose, Fotomagico), I couldn't wait to see what they had up their sleeves. The project is called BoinxTV, and it's going to be an invaluable tool for a wide range of video production applications. It allows for on-the-fly camera switching, transitions, lower thirds, graphics, logos, crawlers, graphs, title, you name it. And when you finish a run, you've got a QuickTime movie that requires no post production (unless you really want to). Oliver and Dominik share more about its audience and development in the video after the jump. If you're interested in hearing more about the beta and staying up-to-date on the current status, check out http://www.boinx.com/boinxtv. I've been asked to emphasize that BoinxTV is pre-release. Many aspects of it, including the UI pictured above, are constantly changing and improving. [Viddler link|QuickTime format]
