Apple's Shopping Spree never stops...

simX

simX

Unofficial Mac Genius
According to MacRumors, Apple has just acquired yet another company.

This time it is Prismo Graphics. From MacRumors:

The program [India 1.0] can animate text in every imaginable way--letters can bounce, slide, spray, or wiggle into place. There are also animated textures that make great backgrounds, fades and zooms that you can apply to text or graphics, and numerous glitter effects that wash across text. Some of the effects belong in late-night used-car commercials, but others are downright beautiful and wouldn't be out of place on a network news show. You can customize each effect, and India Titler Pro even has a simple scripting language, called EffectScript, for creating new effects.
Click to expand...

Sheesh. So that makes 3 that I can remember: Nothing Real, Silicon Grail, Prismo Graphics... but I'm sure I'm forgetting some, especially the one where Cinema Tools came from.

When will Apple ever stop?
 
Originally posted by googolplex
I just read this too. Wow. What are they up to?
Click to expand...
I'm guessing iMovie 3 and Final Cut Pro 4. :p Dunno, but some of that technology would saaaweeeet in the next iMovie.
 
I'm thinking Apple is going to try and take over the digital video/music production arena... so many graphic houses and digital animation studios are seriously considering Mac OS X because of its UNIX underpinnings and stability that it only makes sense that Apple would cater to them now -- and it also makes sense that Apple will want to be the major supplier of software and hardware to Pixar studios.

I think Apple realizes that it's going to be a feat of incredible proportions to try and double their market share with home users alone -- they need some bragging rights, and the high-end digital production market is a good way to get those.

Look for Apple hardware to dominate this area soon like they dominated the desktop publishing and pre-press arena many years ago.
 
This last one seems more suited for consumers than the others but they have all been rendering rather than editing. I could see them squeezing them in to a major release of iMovie or FCP but with the amount of stuff they are buying it seems like they could write their own infini-d like application. That program was and is my favorite all around application because it's so easy to make impressive 3d renderings. Not pro level by any means but for fun and school work I got a lot of good comments.
 
It's no surprise that Steve Jobs considers the digital video editing/compositing markets the next big thing. He likens them to the printing industry in the mid 80's - ready for a revolution with all the new technology. Of course, also being the CEO of Pixar, he finds this market close to his heart.

It's pretty clear with all of these acquisitions that Apple is making a huge power play for Hollywood. It has now cornered the market on high end compositing software. Alot of the installed base of users of these developers wares who use NT systems are very nervous now - because they know they are about to be told Windows support will now be ceased in favor of OS X and (possibility) UNIX.

Apple is executing a strategy that's pretty easy to read - buy all the tools necessary to make Apple in to the biggest provider of hardware and software for editing/compositing of digital video.

Apple has two more problems to address if it wants to play with the big boys in this arena...

First, they need to buy a 3D modeling/animation package. Alias Wavefront is on the ropes and Maya could be had for a song. This would be the most likely purchase since Maya is used at Pixar and is THE tool of choice for the 3D professionals. Lightwave might be an option, but I doubt Newtek would let it go at a price Apple could afford for it. There is Universe too, which is a great app, and could be had for a song...

The last piece of the puzzle is a true high end workstation 3D graphics card for the Mac. The best you can get for the Mac now is the Nvidia GeForce4 Titanium, which is great for games, but doesn't cut it in the pro market. Apple needs to get Nvidia to develop a Quadro4 version for the Mac.

The next 12-18 months will be very exciting, as these purchases start to show up as Apple products...
 
A dancing Panda bear told my drunk cat who told me that Apple was going to acquire those goons in Redmond and fire Bill Gates. He also said that Adobe was willing to be purchased for $1 in exchange for top of the line Macintoshes for all Adobe employees for life. This all could be a rumor, but I doubt it. My cat has pretty reliable sources, especially that dancing Panda bear, the next most reliable source is the Easter Bunny, and he's 8 FEET TALL!!! Betcha never knew that, huh?
 
To put it simple:
Nice guys finish last, Apple is done being the nice guy and are buying the best of the best to get the sales rolling
 
Originally posted by voice-
To put it simple:
Nice guys finish last, Apple is done being the nice guy and are buying the best of the best to get the sales rolling
Click to expand...
Exactly! Apple's like the nice little creative boy who get's beat up by the big kids. Now Apple's commin' back and it's gonna be packin' heat!:D
 
Originally posted by wdw_
Exactly! Apple's like the nice liitle creative boy who get's beat up by the big kids. Now Apple's commin' back it's gonna be packin' heat!:D
Click to expand...

Wow! That last statement really disturbs me...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top