Some may have been wondering why I have not been writing as much in 2010 and part of the reason is that I have been working on a film project.

The film was made in conjunction with the San Francisco based film makers community called Scary Cow (if you live in the Bay Area and are interested in making films you should check out the website or ask me in comments) and was shot on a fairly good consumer AVCHD camera.

I decided that I would author a Blu-ray Disc in addition to the DVD and as it turns out the film was the first (and so far only) Scary Cow movie to screen in HiDef at the Scary Cow Screening.

The disc was authored using one of the few editing packages out there that comes with Blu-ray authoring - though I believe that this aspect is actually handled by the Sonic Solutions authoring package.

While authoring the disc was very simple (just as easy as a DVD) I found that limitations like no lossless audio (not even LPCM) would make this solution firmly one for ‘amateurs’.

If folks are interested I can post more articles in the future covering Blu-ray authoring and burning - please show interest in the comments.

Lastly, if you want to check out the film I made, you can see it at YouTube or embedded below… feel free to link to it, digg it or make it a favourite to help spread the word…!

For those interested in Blu-ray authoring, I see that Sonic Solutions has introduced a package that allows automatic conversions of Adobe Flash animations to BD-J code.

The BD-J Converter enables animators and designers to create interactive menu animations using the familiar Flash authoring environment, with no need to understand Java programming.

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Related Content Database Inc. (RCDb) has announced the immediate availability of advanced services and technology for Internet-connected Blu-ray discs and players, also known as “BD Live.” This platform was outlined in our BD Live Roll Out article. The RCDb BD Live Platform provides Blu-ray studios, developers, and consumers with specialized online services to support the creation and consumer delivery of new BD Live features.

“We’ve worked very closely for the last two years with leading Blu-ray studios and Blu-ray player manufacturers to develop this essential disc technology and network service” said Zane Vella, president RCDb, “The end of the format war and the introduction of BD Live for the PS3 sets the stage for a new generation of special features and home theater experience.”

The BD Live Platform combines innovative and cost-effective BD Live software and network infrastructure to help the Hollywood creative community quickly realize advanced capabilities of the Blu-ray format. Earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, PHL, and RCDb unveiled BD Live in action with “Alien Vs. Predator Vs. You,” a multiplayer interactive game. “RCDb has been a valuable partner as we gear up for BD Live and widespread adoption of the Blu-ray format,” said Danny Kaye, EVP of research and technology for 20th Century Fox. “BD Live is an important step in the evolution of home entertainment.”

RCDb is working with Blu-ray player manufacturers, including Panasonic, to test and ensure robust player compatibility with the BD Live technology. RCDb BD Live technology has also been integrated into Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory’s authoring and production workflow. In addition, RCDb and PHL are jointly developing new BD Live creative concepts for future implementation into the growing Blu-ray market.

The BD Live Platform enables content owners to create new BD Live features and to easily update the content of Blu-ray discs after shipping. This enables studios to refresh out-of-date promotional trailers and to add additional subtitles, languages and bonus content. The BD Live Platform is specifically designed to support social networking features that connect viewers with each other, and to enable bonus content that bridges the home theater and the Web.

“After careful examination of BD Live solutions, we are pleased to be working with RCDb as the leader in BD Live technology,” said Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, managing director of Panasonic Hollywood Lab, “Studios need an economical and scalable solution to roll out BD Live features that take advantage of the new Panasonic BD-50 player announced at CES’08.”

I had a quick look around the NAB show floor today and saw a few things of relevance or perhaps at least interest.

On the Blu-ray relevance side of the equation, Sony was there with a special booth just to present their content software, which included Blu-ray authoring in the form of the professional Blu-print application as well as the more consumer friendly Vegas software.

Also of interest was a company called Ensequence whose on-Q software purports to simplify the creation of BD-J Blu-ray titles. This software is architected to support Java extensions, BD-Live, dynamic resources and other forthcoming advancements.

Sonic was also there in force to demonstrate their Scenarist product as well as a tool to simplify Java programming using a Macromedia like interface. I will try to dig up some more information on that one and post later.

I am sure many of you are equally fascinated by film making as well as film watching - I certainly am. It is always interesting to see great new products in this arena. Red of course is making a huge splash with the announcement of an Epic new camera with 5k resolution as well as a new baby Scarlet with only 3k resolution. Not to mention the Red Ray, said to be an optical disc player with 4k capability, and including a IEEE 1394 firewire interface and Compact Flash interface for higher bitrate playback. Native raw R3D files on Compact Flash will be supported for playback. These new products are due ‘early 2009′, though perhaps Red is not known for keeping their product releases to schedule…

Panasonic also has a new camera coming - this one will be full HD resolution AVCHD. It is interesting to see the AVCHD codec make it to the pro line. The camera is planned to support bitrates up to 21 Mbps as well as 24 fps progressice capture, all so SDHC flash cards. The target is less than $4500. It could easily be a real winner if the image quality is up to standard!

I will be spending another day on the floor so feel free to ask questions in comments about any of the above or anything else and I will see if I can get them answered.

Roxio has released Roxio Toast 9 Titanium, now with Blu!

Catalog and burn all your files across multiple CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs formatted for both Mac and PC.

Import and create high-def video from TiVo, EyeTV, AVCHD camcorders and burn to Blu-ray and standard DVD discs!

Sounds like great stuff for Mac owners - finally a chance to use the Mac for Blu-ray authoring.

Retail is $100, and the BD add on may be extra soon thought it is free for now.

Via TiVo Lovers