Tenolian Bell Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Apple acquires Silicon Color By Katie Marsal Apple Computer has acquired Silicon Color, a San Diego, Calif.-based company responsible for developing FinalTouch color correction software. Under the terms of the deal, the Mac maker also acquired the rights to all Silicon Color technology as well as its intellectual property. "We are pleased to announce that all Silicon Color technology and intellectual property, including FinalTouch color correction software, was recently sold to Apple," reads a message on the Silicon Color website. "Maintenance agreements held by current Silicon Color customers will be honored by Apple until they expire." Financial details about the acquisition were not made public. Silicon Color had a strong reputation for catering to video professionals through its FinalTouch 2K, FinalTouch HD, and FinalTouch SD packages. The FinalTouch 2K package, priced at $25,000, was designed for the demanding needs of professional film colorists, offering direct support for 10-bit, log-encoded Cineon and DPX files without requiring time consuming conversion or proxy-generation steps. A scaled down version of the software, called FinalTouch HD, retailed for $5000 and interfaced with Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing software via XML. The package included direct support for QuickTime media while offering many of the same features as its larger sibling. The most recent product to come out of Silicon Color was a $1000 software package called FinalTouch SD. Designed for the production facilities that have yet moved to high-definition, it offered color correction for users working with DV-CAM, Digi-Beta, or any other SD format. Apple next year is expected to roll the assets it acquired from Silicon Color into the next-generation of its Final Cut Studio digital video editing suite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Wells Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 Apple next year is expected to roll the assets it acquired from Silicon Color into the next-generation of its Final Cut Studio digital video editing suite. Interesting news. I've been looking at Color Finesse --- I don't suppose there's some kind of a crossgrade in their somewhere next year :D Thanks for the info.... -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Darling Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 I've been investigating this product and it seems great. The thing I like is that it is real-time. It's designed as a colorist/DI system. I'm planning on buying it and the controller to compliment the super-8 film conversions I do along with online color correction/manipulation for HD and other video projects. It's amazing what a Mac, some software, and a controller will do in comparison to the high cost of a DaVinci and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenolian Bell Posted October 17, 2006 Author Share Posted October 17, 2006 Apple has made a priority over the years of working to standardize color workflow. Such as it did in the early 90's with color synch for the print industry. I imagine Apple would be a good partner in working with bringing ubiquitous color standards for video color and digital intermediate. Such as the ASC Technology Committee's effort for a digital printer light system. Another good thing about this deal is that a company like Apple can sell software that is expensive to develop at a lower cost than a small company. Apple may bring software color correction at 2K files to around $5000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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