June 28, 2006

FrameFree launches advanced digital imaging sorftware

FrameFree Technologies, developers of a family of products that provide efficient authoring and compression of motion imagery, recently launched FrameFree Studio, digital imaging software that allows for the creation

of movies from still photographs.

FrameFree Studio is available in four different versions: FrameFree Studio HD, FrameFree Studio SD, FrameFree Studio Pro, and FrameFree Studio Express.
 

Built on a pixel-matching and interpolation engine, FrameFree Studio starts with two digital still images of any resolution, and through analysis, interpolation, and morphing, automatically provides interactivity and smooth motion between them. The result is a completely new medium and style of visual expression. The motion imagery generation is virtually automatic. FrameFree Studio eliminates the need for lengthy pixel-by-pixel and frame-by-frame edits.

Additionally, artists who use FrameFree Studio will also have access to the FrameFree United Networks (FUN). FUN is a global content delivery system that aggregates original digital content for efficient, worldwide distribution. For businesses, FUN allows artists and publishers complete control over delivery, tracking, and syndication of their work by providing a secure, global, 19,000 edge server network for quick and easy access to any computer in the world.

According to the company, FrameFree Studio is the "first digital imaging technology to employ a method of simultaneously examining both global and local features of an image to determine the ideal match, resulting in a smooth representation of motion images, perfect morphs, precisely stretched and deformed images, and true frame rate interactivity." The matching is accomplished at the pixel level, overcoming the need to represent motion as a set of discrete frames and allowing the interpolation to retain extremely high fidelity. The software provides high-resolution, scalable input tools for photos, sketches, scans, and 3D images, and is appropriate for still, Web, and movie projects. FrameFree Studio also allows for output to all industry-standard formats.

FrameFree Studio HD and FrameFree Studio SD are designed for TV, film, and Web-streaming content producers who want to create unique motion graphics from still images. FrameFree Studio HD offers AVI, BMP, and TIFF with alpha channel output at resolutions up to 4096x4096, and 10 layers, while FrameFree Studio SD offers identical frame-by-frame output protocols up to Standard Definition NTSC and PAL broadcast resolutions, and up to 10 layers.

Motion graphics can be created in HD, SD, QuickTime, Windows Media, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, Real, DivX, and other video formats, including output to AVI or sequential BMP and TIFF files. The FrameFree Studio multi-layer, text-authoring tool includes text rendering and stereo audio support for all major codecs (MP3, WAV, AIFF, and AU) and image formats (JPG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF with alpha channel).

FrameFree Pro and FrameFree Express are designed for Web producers who want to create high-resolution motion imagery, with short production times, interactivity, and minimum bandwidth. Both Pro and Express offer motion imagery that is fully resolution-independent and frame-rate-independent. Each provides automated intelligent streaming of content for everything from the highest-resolution Internet productions to the smallest, new mobile screens. With output to a FrameFree Media file, Web projects can attain resolutions up to 640x480, or up to 1280x960 pixels when using auto-zoom. Files played through the Web Player need only the first few key frames, plus a small interpolation file, and the audio track to begin display and playback of your files.

FrameFree Studio Pro allows artists to work with up to four image layers, while FrameFree Studio Express is suitable for content creators who only need one or two authoring layers. Both products take advantage of industry standards in audio (MP3, WAV, AIFF, and AU) and image handling (JPG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF with alpha channel) and add their own text-rendering, multi-layer workspace. Using FrameFree Web Player, artists can enhance Websites with interactive motion graphics.

FrameFree Studio HD, FrameFree Studio SD, FrameFree Studio Pro, and FrameFree Studio Express, are all immediately available. The introductory subscription price for FrameFree Studio Express is US$30 per month. FrameFree Pro is US$50 per month. For every file destined for worldwide distribution, there is a FUN certification fee of up to $30. And there's a monthly metered fee of US$0.25 per MB for secure serving and tracking of files.

FrameFree SD and HD are now available exclusively on a site-license basis, but they will be made available soon on a weekly subscription basis on FrameFree United Networks. A free 14-day trial version of FrameFree Express software is available for immediate download from www.framefree.com.