Focal Point Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that the FilmLogic application which has been so well received in the Macintosh community will soon be available on the Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/NT platforms.

The first release will be a limited edition which will be priced at $395.00 and is expected to be available in June. A full version will be released shortly thereafter, and will be equivalent to the Macintosh version now in circulation.

Applications are now being accepted for participation in the beta-testing program for FilmLogic on Windows. Many people have expressed interest in beta-testing FilmLogic, but the program must be limited to a select few. Those who are accepted and complete the beta-testing program will receive free copies of the full version of FilmLogic for Windows when that is released.

To apply, send an email to support@filmlogic.com, and state your qualifications for participation in the beta-testing program. Be sure to specify the computer platform and the editing system you are using, in addition to all your contact information.

http://www.filmlogic.com


What is FilmLogic?

FilmLogic® is the acclaimed software application from Focal Point Systems, Inc. that is designed for filmmakers who are shooting 35mm or 16mm film and want to edit electronically while finishing on film. FilmLogic is not a digital non-linear editing system, but rather an application which works with desktop digital non-linear editing systems.

Editing electronically is a relatively new addition to the art and craft of filmmaking. Whereas the whole history and tradition of film editing has always involved cutting and splicing pieces of film together, electronic editing is essentially the process of manipulating digital representations of picture and sound within a computer system. It is easy to see that this represents a radical departure from the long-used and well-known processes.

Using computers to edit film presents a whole new range of capabilities to the filmmaker, as well as a new set of challenges. Film editors must become conversant with computer technology in order to take advantage of the benefits that can be achieved. Yet these benefits are so compelling that almost all major motion pictures are now edited electronically.

While most video editing systems and many high-end digital non-linear editing systems are capable of producing an output of high enough quality for television viewing and broadcast, they do not produce film for projection. Audiences in a theatre still view a film that is projected on a screen in the same way that it has always been. The process of making a film still begins by exposing the film in the camera, and ends by projecting the film on a screen.

It's the part in between the original photography and the final projection that has been changed so radically by computer technology. In order to be edited in a computer, a film has to be transformed into a digital medium, and then back again for viewing. Typically that means that the film is first transferred to video tape. The next step is to "digitize" or "capture" that video into files on the computer. The sound is also captured into the computer, and is often recorded in digital format originally. Once in the computer, the picture and sound can be edited far more quickly and easily than the old methods could ever allow.

The result of the computer editing is not, however, what audiences will see. Somehow the editing decisions made in the computer must be translated into a conformed negative and sound track from which prints for projection can be made. It was primarily for this purpose that FilmLogic was developed.

In the present day, makers of feature films with large budgets have access to high-end digital non-linear editing systems which have been designed to provide the film editor with all the necessary features. These systems are expensive and complicated, but have clearly proven their value. At the same time, there are less expensive non-linear editing systems available which are affordable to the filmmaker on a limited budget, but which do not contain the extra capabilities needed for finishing on film. It is these "extra capabilities" that FilmLogic provides.

FilmLogic tracks all the elements that go into the making of the final film. It knows the relationship between the original camera negative, the transferred video tapes, and the captured clips in the editing system computer. In that sense it is like the traditional film "code book", but in electronic form and extended. That in itself is a valuable tool for filmmakers. The main value of FilmLogic, however, lies in its ability to understand the edited program from the computer editing system, and translate those edit decisions into the instructions for conforming the original camera negative.

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