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]
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ScreenSteps 2.1 released, interview with Blue Mango

Screensteps, the software documentation generator we’ve come to love, has reached an official 2.1 status and has been released into the wild. Well, as wild as software documentation gets, anyway. This gem is a favorite and I’m personally very psyched about the new upload-to-blog feature, which has come a long way since we first announced it in the beta. The other 74 enhancements, changes and fixes can be found in the release notes.

You’d expect software in this genre to be well documented … you won’t be disappointed. In addition to the extensive, ScreenSteps-generated online manual, there are new screencasts available on the updated website. You can also grab a 30-day trial of ScreenSteps Pro on the download page. The Standard version is priced at $39.95 and the Pro version comes in at $59.95 (feature comparison).

I happened to have a chance to sit down with Trevor and Greg, creators of ScreenSteps, at WWDC. It’s quite by coincidence that I managed to finish editing and uploading the video right before they let me know about the 2.1 release. Our chat is after the jump.

[Viddler Link|QuickTime version]
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WWDC’08: Justin Williams and Today 1.2

Second Gear’s Justin Williams released Today 1.2, um … today. Justin (also known for PocketTweets) says he’s shooting for a release every month — just to keep things lively — but he’s managed to pack some big upgrades in despite the tight timeframe. You’ll find a few nice UI tweaks and some massive date selection improvements, along with further incorporation of Leopard’s own Mail and iCal.

I interviewed Justin at WWDC, and he demonstrated the current-at-the-time incarnation of Today for me, but before I got the video uploaded he’d already added new features and asked if he could send me some updated footage. I took him up on it, and edited together a screencast of the latest update with a conversation from last week. That’s right, let’s do the time warp (again). Speaking of time warps, I’ll have to ask Justin how he got June confused with November … that’ll make more sense after the jump.

You can try Today out for free, and license it for $15.

[QuickTime Version | Read ]
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WWDC’08: Jeff Mancuso (Magnetk)

ExpanDrive made a pretty good stir when it was released. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an application that allows remote SFTP servers to be mounted (using MacFUSE) and used seamlessly as part of the filesystem. We’ve been following it as it develops and I wanted a chance to talk to its developers about what’s up next.

I caught up with Jeff Mancuso of Magnetk last week and did just that. I found out where Amazon S3 plans are at, and what ExpanDrive has to offer Flickr, Facebook and other web applications. The video (after the jump) is very nicely lit, too, just for you.

[Viddler Link|QuickTime Version]
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(Post) WWDC ‘08: Vara Software

I missed my chance to meet up with Vara Software at WWDC, which I was lamenting even before they went and won two Apple Design Awards, including Best Mac OS X Leopard Application. I called Paul Carnine, Vara’s founder and one of its developers, to talk about the achievement, Vara Software in general, and their increasingly impressive software lineup.

The software winning all of the acclaim right now is ScreenFlow, which we excitedly covered when it was initially released. With the last several releases it’s become increasingly polished and continues to be one of the best screencasting applications on the Mac market. It’s possibly the only application in it’s category to rightfully bill itself as a complete “studio.” Apparently Apple appreciates this one as much as I do. Read the rest of this entry

Popularity: 14% [?]