[ACCESSORIES][CUSTOM
HOME THEATER INTRO]
Custom Home Theater Trailers
by Cinemawise Productions
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Letter to Keohi HDTV from Michael Maston of
Cinemawise dated 22 June 2003:
Hello:
As you reviewed our Movie Night DVDs a few months ago, we wanted to follow up with you
and let you know that we have now added a line of video products for HTPC owners.
Specifically, HTPC users can now buy the personalized introduction portion of our Movie
Night line as standalone MPEG-2 videos.
We offer support for full 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p videos with full Dolby
Digital 5.1 audio. Our new "Movie Night Custom - HTPC" products are the
personalized portion of our Movie Night DVD, customized for the client.
They do not include the rest of the animations on our DVDs (the dream theater,
filmstrip in space, etc.).
Base price for customized 480i/480p videos is $24.95. Higher resolutions are a bit more
due to the added rendering time.
We would appreciate it if you could update the review of our products to reflect this
new offering. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Michael
CinemaWise Productions
(Updated on 10/22/02) Cinemawise took our initial review seriously and made
the appropriate adjustments to their product. That's what you call responsiveness!
They've extended display time of the personalized logo that appears at the very start
of the intro. They have also corrected/smoothed out some earlier transitions that
were less than seamless.
Great job Cinenawise!
Cinemawise Productions brings the experience of going to the movies to your home at an
affordable price. With cool graphics, tons of non-repeating trivia, and other
features, Cinemawise has enough in their bag of tricks to impress your friends and
neighbors.
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good
home theater intros that are very affordable |
Home theater enthusiasts can choose from two products that would please even the most
budget conscious:
- Movie Night: Basic Edition
- Movie Night: Custom Edition
Each is done in 16:9 anamorphic enhanced format optimized for a widescreen set and has
full Dolby Digital 5.1 sound to make your audio system come alive.
The Basic Edition contains the entire set of movie theater animations, trailers and
basic trivia features.
The Custom Edition has the same features as the Basic plus a whole host of added
features. These include enhanced menus; a new and improved trivia section that will
randomly select quiz questions from a database of over 100 questions so you don't get
the same quiz twice; a new concession stand animation;, dolby trailers, and calibration
screens to boot. The best part of the Custom Edition above all of course is the
ability to customize the introduction to give it that personalized look. This is the
version I previewed.
 Custom Edition
opens with a graphic that immediately announces to the audience that this is your home
theater. This opening scene is where your personalization would appear. Cinemawise gives
you the option of selecting from four custom logos: Ticket, Clapper, Space, or Striped.
The one I chose was the Ticket logo. The logo is nice and remains on the screen for a
while. It used to be only three seconds but Cinemawise has now extended that to 16
seconds to help maximize your "moment" in the spotlight as much as you can,
figuratively speaking. =)
Next comes a deliberate stroll through the auster but elegant marble hall past the
refreshment stand and into the theater. Briefly scanning the dimly lit room, the scene
then guides your view from right to left giving you an appreciation of the room size and
plush decor. The scene transitions next to the control seat where an LCD panel emerges
from the armrest and positions itself at an angle ready for user command. Next comes the
view of the ceiling in the middle of the room where the hidden projector CRTs are lowered
into view. The full length velour curtains then slowly part revealing the theater screen
with the familiar old filmreel countdown to showtime. Well, not exactly.
 The next scenes
feature animated images along with a more upbeat soundtrack. This eventually lead
you to the 10 minute Trivia. Some of the questions are quite challenging. Additional
tidbits of info are also provided with the correct answer. Questions and answers cycle
every 20 seconds. The static screen images change every two cycles. Unfortunately, no
background music is provided. Although not present in commercial theater, Cinemawise'
decision to add a countdown timer at the bottom of the screen (from 10:00) is a nice
feature. It provides a visual when the movie will start, especially for those who have to
make a scheduled visit outside the theater. :)
 Next comes the
intro to the feature presentation. Music resumes heralding the upcoming event. The scene
takes you on a rollercoaster ride in space along a long reel filmstrip. You ride the
crests and troughs almost at breakneck speed as you pass a red planet and gargantuan
structures made of popcorn/soda containers. Nearing the end of the trail, two laser bursts
are propelled into the moon causing it to explode. Then comes the announcement
"Feature Presentation". Runtime is under a minute.
The DVD contains a number of other neat features. It has a selection of Trivia topics
and a number of Dolby Digital samplers. This version also gives you the choice to drive
your audio system in either DD 5.1 or DTS. You can try them out and exercise your
subwoofers using the DD samplers or on the new and enhanced menu screen which is mostly
LFE. And as an added bonus, it has a few calibration screens (similar to those in Avia or
Video Essentials discs) that you can go through to tweak your set, if need be.
Application:
Commercial theaters use at least two projectors: one set for the trailers and one
for the feature presentation. The trailer projector(s) show movie trailers, trivia,
and theater announcements. The main projector shows the feature presentation.
So, in a home theater setting, you'd have two dvd players. The first one to
player the custom trailers and the second one for the movie. And just like in
the movies, there will be some staging required such as picking the right audiotrack and
scenes. You then use your remote(s) to play/unpause the appropriate player to your
display.
Equipment used to conduct the tests are a Sony SVP-7700 (interlaced), a Toshiba SD2200
(interlaced), and a Hivizone home theater personal computer (HTPC) (progressive). The picture was displayed on
an ISF calibrated Toshiba TW65x81. Switching between the players was done via the Inday switcher.
Verdict:
Cinemawise Productions' products are perfect for budget conscious home theater
enthusiasts who are looking to round out their system. And the investment is almost
painless. Basic and Custom are only $25 and $50, respectively. That's just
slightly over the cost of a new DVD. What a bargain!
So, do you want to impress your home theater friends and be the envy of the
neighborhood? Then this just might be the ticket. Cinemawise gets a thumbs up
for making available to home theater enthusiasts good home theater intros that are very
affordable.
For more info:
To learn more about Cinemawise Productions, please visit their website which includes MPEG4 and
Quicktime samplers of their product offerings.
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