The 11th Annual MediaMotion Ball (MMB) will be held at "The Sahara Hotel" Golden Room on Monday April 14th 2008 from 6pm (Dinner at about 7-7:30pm). The event is brought to you by the International Media Users Group (IMUG) and the AE-List - totally independent, non-profit & volunteer organizations. In 2008 AJA video systems return as our Platinum partner and will be just one of the many sponsors giving away prizes on the night.

The MMB, now a tradition at NAB, is for media professionals who work in post production, 3D and motion graphics. Everyone is welcome. Ticket price includes a multi-course buffet, entry in the prize draw and the opportunity to mix with your peers. Tickets are $60 paid in advance or $70 at the door.

Each year our generous sponsors help make the MMB possible and provide one of the biggest prize pools on offer. Scroll down this page to see the prizes so far. Prize pool stands at over $27,000! Note we have updated prizes for Digieffects, Cinnafilm, SmartSound, Xprove and Zaxwerks.

The need and desire to make video look more like film is a considerable challenge. Historically, high transfer costs, time consumption, poor results, all resulted in the limited acceptance of applying a film look to video. Clients either accept the stark look of video, or spend the money to invest in shooting on celluloid film. Cinnafilm™ HD1 was created to fill this void by changing the appearance of digital video footage to look exactly like film. By breaking the real time barrier with our powerful effects engine, Cinnafilm™ has accomplished what has been considered unattainable in the past. This exciting technology advancement will streamline current production processes for professional editors and flimmakers alike that use digital video.

The Cinnafilm™ HD1 real-time film look system core technology and its associated features are currently patent-pending in the U.S. and internationally. Cinnafilm™ HD1 real-time film look system is a registered U.S. Trademark.

Cinnafilm™, is a privately held C-Corporation, and is operated by a board of directors. Brad Carvey, one of our most noted Board Members, is an Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Technical and Special Effects.

Cinnafilm are presenting a luck prize winner with $3000 worth of their Cinnafilm services!

We've got a big stack of prizes from Zaxwerks!
Reflector  - $99
Werks 1 - $199
3D Flag - $129
3D Warps - $199
Layer Tools - $149
ProAnimator - $695

Plus, Zax himself will be at the MMB along with so many other luminaries in the industry.

From SmartSound we have a copy of Sonicfire Pro which includes an upgrade
to the next version of Sonicfire when it's released. Sonicfire Pro was designed from the ground up to allow visual content creators to create soul-stirring soundtracks customized specifically for their video and visual projects. It is the first audio software on the market designed to fill the needs of visually oriented people, so that they can create the soundtracks they need for their projects quickly, effectively and with completely professional results. Visit SmartSound on the NAB showfloor booth #SL7712. Stephanie Joyce from SmartSound will be at the MMB if you have
any questions about Sonicfire Pro.

From Xprove we have a prize that is 6 months of their standard Xprove service valued at $300. Xprove provides you with a sophisticated online review and approval system. Your clients will think they are on your site! All you and your clients need is a web browser, and Xprove takes care of the rest. Compress a clip, upload it, and Xprove notifies your clients it's ready. Have your own customized online review and approval system up and running in minutes.

Thanks to Frank Capria and the Xprove team and look out for Frank at the MMB.

From Blackmagic Design, another of our Gold MMB Sponsors we have 2 prizes. First up is an Intensity Pro. Intensity Pro features HDMI-in for connecting to cameras and digital set-top boxes for the highest quality capture. Get higher quality capture from HD cameras by capturing direct. Intensity Pro also features analog component, NTSC, PAL and S-video capture and playback.

Prize number two is a DeckLink HD Extreme.
DeckLink HD series capture cards help make the move to high definition affordable while still retaining compatibility with your current standard definition equipment. DeckLink HD cards let you instantly switch between high definition and standard definition video connections.

 Thanks to Simon Hollingworth and the Blackmagic Design Team who will be at the MediaMotion Ball and on the showfloor at NAB.

GridIron Software are back, now bigger and better than ever as GOLD sponsors of the Media Motion Ball! And....they're putting up some great prizes for the famous MMB prize draw!

Nucleo Pro 2; the market-leading workflow tool for Adobe After Effects CS3 & 7 that allows you to render and continue to work in After Effects at the same time.  Nucleo Pro 2 is the must-have tool for After Effects professionals working on tight deadlines.
Not just one copy either...but TWO copies! MSRP is $395 each.

New for this year:  Flow, a revolutionary approach to digital content creation that dramatically simplifies the development process for creative professionals working on graphic design, web and video projects. Please note that Flow has not been released yet but these licenses will be for the first release anticipated for late summer.
TWO Flow licenses will be given away as well!

DSC laboratories are proud to sponsor the 2008 MMB and are offering one winner 3 prizes to choose from - the JW CamAlign Colorbar/Grayscale - the SRW Fiddlehead Backfocus/Resolution or the Frontbox VF/X 1 Plus charts. Find out more about these and other great tools at DSC Labs

The following great prizes have just been confirmed from our friends at Toolfarm:
2 copies of Digieffects Damage $99 each
Professional Video Templates Bundle Vol 1 - Contains SEVEN templates -  $199.00
Professional Video Templates Bundle Vol 2 Our two most popular PVT templates -  $69.00
Professional Video Templates Bundle 3 Flying Picture Templates- $69.00
and also: Trapcode Form Training with Harry J. Frank  - $27
After Effects Expressions Series 1 bundle with Harry J. Frank   - $45
After Effects Expressions Series 2 Bundle with Harry J. Frank  - $45
Details of these and many other fine products can be found at http://www.toolfarm.com

From Maxon we have two serious prize packages!  Each of two winners will receive c4D WITH MoGraph Module

CINEMA 4D is the 3D animation software of choice among motion graphics artists, architects, medical illustrators and many other industries because it's extraordinarily easy to use. Outstanding workflow, legendary stability, and easy export to compositing applications such as Adobe After Effects, Combustion, Motion, Shake, Final Cut Pro, and Eyeon Fusion set CINEMA 4D apart from the rest.
With the MoGraph module motion graphics artists can feast upon a smorgasbord of powerful tools that make it easy to create everything from flying logos to abstract effects. Clone numerous objects and create extruded text with just a few simple clicks, or add effectors into the mix and put everything in motion and much more, often without a single keyframe!

CINEMA 4D Core is worth $895
MoGraph Module is worth $395

Total value for each prize winner =  $1290
Total Value of Maxon Prizes =  $1290 x (2) =  $2580

From Andrew Little and all the great folks at Red Giant, more prizes than you can shake a stick at!
Trapcode Suite 2008
This motion graphics bundle of products provides a wide variety of the industries' best tools to create unique, eye-popping effects easily. Included are light effects, 3D particle systems, back grounds, 3D lights and much more.
Includes Shine + Starglow + 3D Stroke + Lux + Particular + Form + Echospace + Sound Keys. Value if purchased separately: $1212. Your price: ZERO, ZIP, NADA (if you win!)
Magic Bullet Suite 2007
This is a completely revamped product. Magic Bullet Suite now supports After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Premiere Pro, and Avid (note: due to technical barriers Frames does not support Avid). The full suite includes Magic Bullet Looks (including Misfire), Magic Bullet Frames, Magic Bullet Colorista, and Instant HD. Valued at $799!
Pro Keying Suite 2007
Primatte Keyer is a professional greenscreen tool that extracts keys from any color background quickly and easily. Version 4 brings new levels of power and speed to After Effects and Avid, and for the first time, Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro. New features include easy-to-use Auto setup, which creates an almost-perfect key with one click. Powerful features allow Primatte Keyer to overcome keying challenges such as uneven lighting, compression artifacts, subtle shadows, and edge light contamination. Best of all, Primatte Keyer 4 works right on the timeline. Key Correct Pro is a set of 15 plug-ins designed to help After Effects users create better composites with built-in keying tools. The plug-ins can be in used in combination with any keyer to better enhance the final result, like Primatte Keyer, Keylight, Ultimatte & Ultra. Retail value of this prize is $898!

Avid are giving away Media Composer on the night.
Media Composer is used to create more of the world’s films, television shows and TVCs than any other editing system, and it's more powerful than ever. New features include the high quality low bandwidth Avid DNxHD 36 Codec, improved XDCAM and P2 workflows, ScriptSync the automated script editor—plus all the creative tools, integrated media management, and multi-format editing support that have made Media Composer the best editor on the planet.

Imagineer have mocha-AE as a giveaway at the MMB.
mocha-AE is a standalone tracking tool based on Imagineer’s unique 2.5 D planar tracking system.
Designed as a cost-effective tracking solution for the After Effects community, mocha-AE affords you the ability to generate solid 2D tracks, even on the most difficult shots.
mocha-AE helps solve problematic shots that traditionally break point based trackers, such as footage with objects moving out of frame, lack of detail, motion blur and heavy grain. mocha-AE’s innovative AdjustTrack tool helps remove drift and enables the compositor to extract offset tracking data for areas that go off screen.
Thanks to Ross Shain and the Imagineer team for this cool prize!
One of our biggest prizes is an IoHD from AJA. The latest and greatest in input/output devices for Final Cut Pro and we have one of these fantastic devices to start off the prize pool for this year.

We've got not one, but TWO great prizes from our friends at Promax.
ProMax SteadyTracker Xtreme ($299)
This lightweight steady device is easy to operate while taking amazing footage. Works with cameras up to 8 lbs!
FireMAX 500GB Single Drive FireWire/USB External - 7200RPM PATA drive, (1) FW400 and (1) USB2.0 ports.  ($289)
Industry proven performance & value in a unique stylized desktop form factor.
Thanks Promax - and don't forget the famous Promax Digital Cafe on the Tuesday night at NAB at the Sands Expo from 7pm!

Julie Hill, Laura Hollifield, and the entire Artbeats team are looking forward to another great Media Motion Ball! We've just heard from Julie on the details of their prize...

"Once again, Artbeats is proud to be a sponsor of the Media Motion Ball. Artbeats, your creative footage resource, is offering two royalty-free stock footage prizes. Each winner will be able to pick an NTSC, PAL or HD footage collection of their choice from our vast library, valued up to $1,599."

Total value of both of these prizes is up to $3198!! Holy cow!

You can check out their upcoming releases and all of Artbeats footage here. Don't forget to visit the Artbeats stand on the show floor and check out their (excellent) free training sessions that are always VERY popular.

From Noise Industries we have a license of FXFactory Pro for Final Cut Studio with a MSRP of $399 for a lucky winner at the MMB.

FxFactory is a revolutionary visual effects package for Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Express, powering over 300 GPU-accelerated plug-ins. FxPlug: the next-generation of film-quality effects FxFactory is based on FxPlug, Apple's new plug-in architecture which guarantees the best integration with Final Cut Pro, Motion and Final Cut Express. FxFactory uses the graphics card in your system to provide hardware-accelerated previews and rendering.
FxFactory is a free plug-in management system that lets you install and try a vast collection of plug-ins. Some plug-ins are absolutely free. Others are available in trial mode and may be purchased as needed. Thanks to the team at Noise Industries and look out for them at the MMB. Also see them on the show floor - Stand SL2128H

From Digieffects we have a whole bunch of prizes including five (5) copies of the new set of plugins "Damage' as well as copies of Delirium, Aurorix and Beserk! Also two more prizes of products from Digieffects to be launched at NAB will both be given away at the MMB. Natural Forces ($299) – Launching April 2008. Harnesses the power of nature for you to command. Snow, rain, fog, clouds, fire and electrical arcs are just a part of this collection of effects. Simulate ($199) – Launching April 2008. Effects that let customers deal with everything from shot exposure to an aged film aesthetic to firearms discharge. Thanks Digieffects and check out their website for all the details on the new plugins "Damage" and updates to Delirium, Aurorix and Beserk.
From returning supporter Wondertouch we have a copy of particleIllusion 3.0 for Windows or Mac, bundled with "Pro Emitters Complete 1-12" to be won on the night.
particleIllusion is a standalone application that allows you to quickly and easily create amazing effects: explosions, smoke, fire, sparkles, motion graphics backgrounds, space effects, creatures, and abstract artistic effects -- literally hundreds of different types of effects. "ParticleIllusion is the ultimate 2D particle generation system. In power, depth and performance, it just can't be matched."
Dave Nagel - Digital Media Net

Thanks to Alan Lorence and Wondertouch for their support of the MMB.

... and from Genarts: One lucky person at the MediaMotion Ball will walk away with a choice of one of the Sapphire box sets: Sapphire is one of the most comprehensive plugin collections available and some of the coolest plugins to use in AE - but don't take our word for it. "The ultimate professional suite of visual effects... The best plug-ins money can buy."
Computer Arts magazine

Todd Prives from Genarts will be there on the night (once again) to draw prizes and answer any questions about Genarts. Thanks Todd and the Genarts Team!

Philip Hodgetts and the team at Intelligent Assistance have 20 copies of some of their best tools as a special MMB prize.
Who has time to learn but you need to be the instant expert? Well, this pack of Instant Expert knowledge from those Big Brains for Rent over at Intelligent Assistance will give you 303 Tips for Apple's Pro Apps, Simple Encoding Recipes for the Web, seven articles chock full of tips and techniques for titling in Final Cut Studio's suite of tools, and finally the three all-new HD Survival Guide: Essential Questions and Practical Answers covering HD Production, HD Postproduction and HD Distribution.  Purchased individually from the website - you'd spend about $50, but this CD version is exclusively available as a prize at the MediaMotion Ball.

From the AE lists very own John Dickinson we are giving away not one but two copies of the "Making It Look Great" DVDs. Look over John’s shoulder as he guides you step–by–step through real world techniques for creating an impactful broadcast motion graphics promotion, from start to finish.
For more info go to the Motionworks web site

Thanks John and look out for him on the NAB show floor as well as at the MMB.
From Adobe we have a copy of Production Premium CS3 for 1 winner at the MMB. Don't forget to visit Adobe on the NAB show floor - all the details here.





NAB is a busy time. Click here for details about other events the week of NAB in Vegas.