Stories by: Digital Arts staff

Sony Creative Software has released two updates for its Vegas Pro video editing software. The 8.0c and 8.1 versions have the same functionality, with the former adding some new features to the program and the latter being the first 64-bit version of the software.

Sony Thursday announced its HDV compact camcorder for professional creatives, the HVR-Z5E, as well as the memory recording unit, the HVR-MRC1K. The camcorder features a new fixed 'G Lens' system, native progressive recording capabilities, increased sensitivity for low-light conditions and an array of other features that the company says are designed for general TV production, videographers, budget movie-makers and corporate video production professionals.

Avid has released its latest family of professional digital video editing systems that it says offers greater speed, responsiveness, reliability and price-performance. The new lineup, which includes next-generation versions of Avid Media Composer (v3.0), Symphony (v3.0), and NewsCutter (v7.0) -- plus new hardware configurations, Mojo DX and Nitris DX, maximizes real-time performance for customers by intelligently using all available computing bandwidth to evenly disperse the processing of video and effects across the entire system.

VJs and mash-up specialist duo Addictive TV has turned its attention to Iron Man, the new movie starring Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Sonic Solutions has released Scenarist BD 4.5, a major upgrade to the professional Blu-ray Disc creation solution. The new version features expanded capabilities for the creation of BD-J titles, which fuse Java-programmed applications to enable the integration of high-definition audio and video with advanced interactivity.

The BBC has revealed that the number of its TV shows downloaded or streamed on demand via BBC iPlayer has reached 500,000 a day, and that its partnership with third-parties for BBC-branded entertainment channels will be extended soon to Blinkx and MSN.

BBC TV programs such as Life on Mars, Torchwood, Spooks and Little Britain have been made available for download from digital store iTunes.

Version 8.5 of Portfolio -- the application that catalogues creative digital assets so they can be easily organised, archived and published -- offers few new tools to attract new users, but plenty that will endear it further to existing users.

In addition to restricting the type of games played, Xbox 360 will soon be able to limit the total number of hours played by younger gamers.

Strauss Zelnick, head-honcho of Take 2, denied comment when asked for a specific Grand Theft Auto IV release date Thursday saying the publisher won't ship the game until it's ready.

Adobe has announced two upgrades to its consumer digital photo and video software -- Photoshop Elements 6 for Windows and Premiere Elements 4 for Windows.