Digital media specialist Scene Change announced the arrival of the next generation of the Hippotizer digital media server family by Green Hippo. The new Hippotizer family offers new functionality and increased power to meet the expectations demanding designers–further stretching the possibilities of digital media.

The three new Hippotizer models are all built around the same Generation 2 technology. All three offer a hardware-accelerated graphics engine for fast playback, full support for almost any file format that is compatible with Windows Media Player (sound as well as video), a second monitor output offering full preview of all layers and effects, an advanced 3D engine, and multiple control options. The Hippotizer layers offer comprehensive control possibilities, and each of the new Hippotizer models offers a master layer to give overall control of complex sequences of images or video clips.

The three new models are:

Hippotizer Express
Hippotizer Express is the first general purpose media server designed for less demanding environments. Housed in a portable micro-case, the Hippotizer Express provides four layers of PAL/NTSC video or still images, each with brightness, contrast, color mixing, and application of two variable effects chosen from a bank of fourteen. These layers are then fed to a master canvas that allows for an additional two effects and full geometric adjustment. The Hippotizer Express incorporates a number of control options, including DMX, RS232, MIDI, touch screen, and a VJ/DJ interface and will be available in an optional 19" rack-mount.

Hippotizer Stage V2
Version 2 of the Hippotizer Stage offers eight layers of video or graphics with media resolution of up to 1024 x 768. Each layer can control brightness, contrast, color mixing, and has two effects engines with an additional two on the master layer. Hippotizer Stage offers one live input as standard, but may be expanded to include up to sixteen. The Stage is housed in a 4U professional 19" rack case, and has the same control options as the Hippotizer Express.

Hippotizer HD
The HD addresses the needs of the most demanding video applications. Building on the feature sets of the Hippotizer Express and new Hippotizer Stage, the Hippotizer HD uses fast RAID hard drives to give high-speed access to complex video sequences, supporting high resolution output of source material in all HD formats up to 1080i. Housed in a 4U professional 19" rack case, the HD can optionally support SDI input, Genlock in/out and studio-quality sound output.

Available immediately, the new Hippotizer family can be seen in action on the Scene Change stand, stand A72, at the 2004 PLASA Show, which runs from September 12th-15th at Earl’s Court in London.