Since the increased popularity of Hi8 and Digital Video, we’ve seen a steady decline in camcorders in the S-VHS format. S-VHS VCRs, however, have managed to hold their own in the high-end consumer marketplace. They’ve also managed to come down in price quite a bit, which is good news for

Realtime Workhorse Matrox Pro Edit Realtime Workstation ($8895) Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. 1055 St. Regis Blvd. Dorval, Quebec, Canada H9P 2T4 (514) 685-2630 www.matrox.com Among nonlinear video editors, 1999 may well be remembered as the year of the turnkey system. 1999 was the year in which

You might remember the classic TV show The Invisible Man, about an English scientist, Dr. Peter Brady, who discovered a way to make himself invisible. Episodes featured floating coffee mugs and clothing worn by a transparent figure. In 1959, making a man invisible on-screen was a challenging task. T

Hardly anyone needs to be introduced to video transitions like cuts and fades. Even the dampest newbie instinctively recognizes them from years of watching TV. Still, the use of such elements needs a closer look. Transitions are key components in the language of video communication –a visual

NLE Lite Since the early days of the desktop video craze (way back in the early 1990s), prices for nonlinear editing software packages have dropped dramatically. It used to be difficult to find any nonlinear editing software for under $500. Most that you could find were difficult to operate and only

Canopus Lights a Fire in the Wire DVRaptor IEEE 1394 Capture Card ($649) Canopus Corporation 711 Charcot Avenue San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 954-4500 www.canopuscorp.com To get the most out of your Mini DV or Digital8 camcorder, you need to have an IEEE 1394 (i.LINK or FireWire) port on your camcorder

Super Versatile VCR Mitsubishi HS-U790 S-VHS VCR ($749) Mitsubishi Electronics 5665 Plaza Dr Cypress, CA 90630-0007 (800) 332-2119 www.mitsubishi-tv.com With a large portion of the video market going digital, new S-VHS VCRs are becoming an endangered species. One new model released in the last ye

FireWire and SCSI, All in One In the race to provide digital video professionals and hobbyists with IEEE 1394 FireWire solutions, Pinnacle Systems’ miroVIDEO DV300, aimed at the advanced hobbyist and prosumer alike, is in the middle of the pack between inexpensive FireWire cards like the DPS S

One of our chief goals in video editing is to engage the audience in our story. We can achieve this particularly well if we can evoke an emotional response like happiness, fear or anger. Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein recognized the importance of this and originated the idea of cultivating a p

As an educator in video production I am disappointed with the slim selection of full-size VHS camcorders still on the market. Most of the models available don’t have the basic features vital for teaching students how to properly shoot good video (and audio). My question deals with overcoming

It’s All in the Perception Perception RT/3DXi-4200-18 Turnkey Nonlinear Editing System ($17,495) Digital Processing Systems 11 Spiral Drive, Suite 10 Florence, KY 41042 (800) 775-3314 www.dps.com Most videographers are looking for a nonlinear editing system that can do the job at the best pr

A/B-roll editing Uses two video sources played simultaneously, to be mixed or cut between. assemble edit Recording video and/or audio clips in sequence immediately following previous material; does not break control track. Consecutive edits form complete program. [See edit, insert edit.] compo

A Friendly Suggestion I would like to say that I have enjoyed your magazine for about two years now. One suggestion I would like to make though is that your magazine do some articles on video deposition work. This is a very big money field and I am sure that there are many readers of your magazin

One for the Road PV-DV910 Mini DV Camcorder ($1,400) Panasonic Consumer Electronics One Panasonic Way Secaucus, NJ 07094 (800) 211-7262 www.panasonic.com Now that the newness of the Mini DV videotape format has begun to wear off, camcorder manufacturers have begun to offer models that are more sed

In video and film, "continuity" refers to the many strategies utilized by the director and editor to create the illusion of, yes, a continuous program out of a bunch of separate shots. Continuity consists of all the techniques employed to arrange those pieces into a mosaic picture in whic

Media In Motion Videonics MediaMotion 3.1 Batch Capture Device ($179) Videonics, Inc. 1370 Dell Avenue Campbell, CA 95008 (408) 866-8300 www.videonics.com One of the most time-consuming parts of the nonlinear editing process is the logging and capturing of clips from the source tape to the compute

An AG Deck for DV As the Mini DV format becomes more popular, many users of all formats are looking for a way to edit their footage to DV. Panasonic’s new editing DV deck, the AG-DV2000, offers prosumers and advanced hobbyists a solution. With insert editing and a built-in edit controller, th

One of the most compelling claims that people make for digital video is no generation loss when you make copies. This means the 9th level copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy is 100% as good as the 1st generation original. This claim of digital superiority is just a tad overrated, (see Digital’s Dirty Sec

The Old Horse Learns a Few New Tricks Premiere 5.1 Nonlinear Editing Software for Windows ($599) Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Ave. San Jose, CA 95110-2704 (888) 724-4507 www.adobe.com Aimed at anyone interested in nonlinear editing (NLE), Adobe’s latest update for its popular Premiere

A Foley Artist in a Can Fresh Produce Production Elements and Sound Effects Library ($295) Fresh Music Library 34 South Main St. Hanover, NH 03755 (800) 545-0688 www.freshmusic.com In a film or video, it’s the little things that make a difference. One of these little things is the sound that