One of the biggest questions that had been plaguing editors for years was how to justify the high price and slower speeds of a laptop. On one hand, a video editor could have the superior portability of a laptop, allowing a person to edit on the road or at a conference, or use it as a computer to tak

Matrox has released its MXO2 Mini, a slick little box that captures HD and SD video, and outputs video in just as many formats. The MXO2 can also perform faster-than-real-time H.264 compression operations through hardware. Knowledge is power when selecting any kind of video capture device, and Matro

There are a few editors who gladly strike up the band and the Foley studio to record their own custom music and sound effects. But many of us don’t have the time, equipment or money to make that a reality. That’s when royalty-free music and sound effects (SFX) libraries come in handy. A

One of the more mysterious aspects of video editing is the use of proxies. The very word can strike fear into even the most confident of video editors and make beginning editors decide to start a new career. However, with the onset of high bit rate HD video editing, proxies have become a necessary e

We’re hearing a lot of buzz about the capabilities of the new iPhone. I think it was fun that Steve Jobs, in his public release announcement, said, “stop me if you heard this…” in reference to the Gizmodo fiasco where Giz revealed the secrets of Job’s new toy before he

This year’s conference was the largest in NAB history, with the total attendance reaching 88,044. Almost 24,000 of those were international attendees, representing 156 countries. The Videomaker staff was also in attendance, representing the curious minds of our readers. Our quest? To bring yo

February 12th is a wild night at Majerle’s Sports Bar and Grill in downtown Phoenix. More than 200 people are packed into the 9 Lounge at the grill, and the noise is deafening. The laughter overpowers even the stereo system. As 7:00 p.m. approaches, people begin to pay more attention to the y

With the excitement behind the iPad and with the NAB conference just around the corner, it’s hard not to catch technology fever. As I’m sure you’ve heard countless times before, technology is rapidly changing. Ever since 1985 when Videomaker first started, the magazine has covered

It’s no secret that Adobe is launching CS5, its much-touted update to the Creative Production Suite, but today is the official release date and Videomaker has one of the First Look reviews in the country. Brian Peterson, a stellar commercial video producer and trainer, has been twiddling aroun

How many times have you been in an outdoor situation where you needed some light but there was no plug-in to be found? Or been to a shoot where they had to bring in a bulky and noisy electrical generator in order to get the power that they needed? Well, thankfully those days are just about to end th

Everyone is getting into the video creation field, either as a hobby, a business or just to save precious memories for future generations. From harddrives and flash cards to “sendingit to the cloud”, where do you think your footage will be in 1000 years? Will you be able to access the Cl

Are you ready for 64 bits? Like the American westward expansion, it’s about opening up new vistas and wide open spaces – but for video editing tools – which have become cramped and slowed by the demands of working with more applications, using higher resolutions, and applying a ton

Covering an event as a live multi-camera production used to be the exclusive turf of the networks, but today we can see good-looking live HD video content streamed into people’s homes created by more people than ever. Now, video producers are finding ways to join in the live TV revolution thro

It’s an understatement to say that the Internet has changed pretty much everything in our daily lives. Digital audio was one of the first forms of media that really took off on the Internet. Today, we buy our music online, listen to radio and download podcasts, which was all impossible just a

Nowadays, editors of different abilities and ambitions can put together an effective video editing computer at a fairly low cost. This story looks at some of the options you have in the current marketplace and examines what makes a video editing computer ideal for each type of editor. Research Tech

Recently, when Great Aunt Whinnie was named the Explorer of the Year by the St. Elkings Dog Sled Club she asked if I’d help with a video of her acceptance speech. She planned to be in the Antarctic during the awards banquet tagging macaroni penguins, but wanted to personally thank some of the

Officially created in February 2005, YouTube celebrates the 5-year-anniversary of its May 2005 public launch this week by announcing it just hit the 2 billion viewers mark PER DAY.That’s a LOT of video, folks, proving that YouTube IS the big kid on the block. YouTube was created by three guys

Have no fear mini-DV, you who were once held dear by cinematographers the world over only to be pushed aside as the world embraced hard disk drives. It's finally time to hold your head up high as even newer technology makes those hard disk drives pale in comparison. Cinedeck has just released

Well this was a long time coming. When Internet speeds went from dial-up 56kbps to broadband in the late 90’s, content providers the world over realized the huge potential for delivering video, information, and rich applications to users. This led to a huge boom in internet activity only riva

2.5″ hard drives have been available since 1988, but they have more recently become popular as external data storage that can fit in your pocket. These smaller drives lack the power of a desktop drive, but they make up for it with their portability. There are, of course, more stable forms of p