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Video Editing Software Buyer's Guide
The range of the video editing software market has been remarkably stable over the past decade or so, with a clear divide between "consumer" tools in the $50 to $100 to $150 range, and "professional" tools from the likes of...
Authoring HD Productions to Blu-ray Discs
It's the era of high definition, shooting with equipment from professional video cameras and video DSLRs, to HD consumer camcorders, and even small pocket camcorders. Video-editing software also has stepped up to the challenge, so you can edit even HD...
Sony Vegas Pro 9.0d Software Update
One big splash at last week's NAB Show (see earlier post) was the release of Adobe Creative Suite 5, an impressive update of Adobe's entire collection of 14-plus tools (see previous post). Meanwhile, Sony Creative Software continues to update its...
Adobe Announces Creative Suite 5
Adobe has just announced the new Adobe Creative Suite 5 collection of publication, Web, and production tools, spanning the creative workflow across print, web, video, interactive and mobile (see previous post). These are due to ship within 30 days....
Corel VideoStudio Pro X3 for Beginner and Enthusiast Video Editing
Corel VideoStudio Pro X3 is intended as a complete consumer video editing program, to import, edit, burn and share standard or HD video. However, over time even consumer tools like VideoStudio have bulked up with a wide range of...
3D TV Is Here
This week Samsung and Panasonic (shown here) announced that the next generation in consumer electronics is here -- 3D TV products. So are you ready to throw away your HD TV equipment and upgrade to the latest new thing? ...
LaCie USB Keys Add Online Storage - Local vs. Cloud
The LaCie line of USB drives designed as metal keys has expanded further with the new WhizKey (triangular) and CooKey (rounded), available with up to 32 GB of storage for $99. These join the previous imaKey and itsaKey designs...
CES 2010 Wrap-Ups
The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wrapped last weekend on a rather positive note (see previous post). The mood was upbeat, as companies moved past the downs of the previous year to focus on new plans and products for...
Consumer Electronics Holiday Preview
It's almost Thanksgiving -- the important American holiday marking the traditional beginning of the Christmas shopping season, featuring Black Friday shopping action, with great deals and hordes or rampaging shoppers. This year, retailers are trying to spread out the peak...
Digital Content for Set-top and Handheld - Sony PS3 and PSPgo
The differences between today's console gaming systems can be reduced to sound bites: the Microsoft Xbox 360 is for hardcore gamers, the Nintendo Wii is for casual fun, and the Sony PlayStation 3 is for games and media. But the...
Sony Vegas Pro 9 for Pro Editing
Sony Vegas Pro 9, the latest version in the Sony Creative Software line of professional video and audio editing software, was released in May 2009. The product also includes DVD Architect 5, which adds support for Blu-ray Disc authoring....
Roxio Creator 2010 Available
Roxio Creator 2010 shipped today (press release). This is Roxio’s flagship suite of digital media applications -- Roxio describes it as the top selling multimedia software suite, with over 350 million copies shipped worldwide. It's a deep collection, with...
Apple Updates Final Cut Studio
Apple has announced and released an updated version of Final Cut Studio, with new versions of Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, and Compressor 3.5 (see press release). The price has dropped by $300...
Blu-ray Disc Publishing Costs (Finally) Reduced
Imagine you are promoting a replacement format for DVD, to support delivery of high-definition video on optical discs -- and let's call this new format Blu-ray Disc (because it uses a sexy blue laser beam). Is this format just...
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 Update for Flexible Workflow
These days, digital media professionals need to do it all -- production and delivery, video and Web and print -- and work in all media -- video production, and audio, motion effects, Web and DVD. Similarly, no one tool...
More Bond in Blu-ray -- Quantum of Solace
More James Bond (see 007.com) in high-definition Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, with the release of Quantum of Solace, plus more additions to your collection of Bond classics in high-def Blu-ray (see previous post). According to Home Media Magazine, Quantum...
Netbook or Notebook or Not: Sony VAIO P Lifestyle PC
Netbook or notebook? Between the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project (see previous post), and products like the ASUS Eee PC, there's a new kind of Internet device in town -- the "netbook" -- a highly portable wireless-connected small form...
CDSA Media Market Intelligence Summit Tomorrow in NY
The CDSA Media Market Intelligence Summit is tomorrow in New York City, sponsored by the Content Delivery & Storage Association. The CDSA publishes Mediaware Magazine -- which I edit -- and is a global trade association focusing on the...
Bond is Back -- in Blu-ray
To celebrate the upcoming release of the 22nd James Bond mission, Quantum of Solace starring Daniel Craig, coming November 14 in the U.S. (see the aptly named 007.com) -- MGM and Fox Home Entertainment are releasing six films across...
Nero 9 - Digital Media and Home Entertainment Suite
Nero has just released the latest version of its digital media suite, Nero 9, featuring an updated StartSmart launcher that has built-in quick media playback, ripping, burning, copying, and backup. The suite still is based on Nero's long-established disc...
Roxio Creator 2009 - With Blu-ray
If you're a fan of the Roxio Creator suite of digital media tools, you have only one more day to snap up a free copy of the Blu-ray/HD plug-in for the new version. Roxio Creator goes back to Easy CD...
Peaceful HD TV: Widescreen Screensavers
That big-screen TV is great for experiencing the explosions of action movies, the immersion of sweeping historical epics, and the excitement of live sports. But sometimes it's nice to just kick back and relax. Instead of turning off your display...
Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9
Sony Creative Software features a well-respected line of higher-end professional video and audio tools, including Vegas Pro for video editing, Sound Forge for audio editing, and ACID for music creation, plus the newer Cinescore for professional soundtrack creation. Sony also...
Blu-ray Movies on Your PC: CyberLink BD Advisor
Blu-ray Disc format (BD) is the next-generation DVD, so that once you move up to a beautiful widescreen HD television you can also enjoy high-definition movies on Blu-ray discs -- as long as you upgrade your set-top DVD player to...
Delivering Video with Sorenson Squeeze 5
So you've shot and edited your video. Now what? There are just so may different ways that you'll want to deliver video these days -- over the Web, burned to disc, played toyour PC -- from high-res on a widescreen...
CyberLink Steps Up PowerDirector 7
CyberLink, best known for its PowerDVD player software, has really stepped up the latest version of its consumer video editing application -- CyberLink PowerDirector 7 is a convenient and powerful tool that combines a friendly and straightforward interface, "Magic"...
"Ultraportable" Notebooks -- Sony VAIO 2008 Line
What’s an “ultraportable” notebook? I don’t mean a tiny pseudo-PC, but a real computer. A system designed to be stripped down and easy to carry, but without too many compromises … Stephen Manes wrote about looking for an ultraportable laptop...
Pinnacle Studio 12: HD Video Editing
Pinnacle Studio 12 was released in June 2008, providing simplified video editing and DVD creation for entry-level users, with versions for editing high-definition video and bundled with additional pro-style tools and a green-screen backdrop for chroma key overlays. The...
Digital Copy: Movie "Downloads" from Blu-ray Disc
With the victory of the Blu-ray Disc format for high-def movies, the great hope of the movie studios and consumer electronics industry is that that consumers will rush out to buy HD movies on disc for viewing on their home...
CyberLink PowerDVD 8: Enhanced Movie Experience
CyberLink has released the latest version of its well-known DVD player software, CyberLink PowerDVD 8. As you might expect, this new release adds support for the latest buzzwords in high-def video and audio formats, including Blu-ray Disk playback --...
NAB 2008 - Trends and Links
The NAB 2008 Conference (National Association of Broadcasters) wrapped up last week in Las Vegas. The NAB show spans acquisition, production, distribution, and delivery. Its historical core is high-end professional broadcast equipment, from high-end HD cameras to remote trucks with...
Acer Aspire Multimedia Notebooks
Yesterday in New York, Acer introduced its new generation of multimedia notebooks -- the desktop replacement 18.4" Aspire 8920G (press release) and more portable 16" Aspire 6920G (press release). Both feature 16:9 widescreen displays, with the option of Full HD...
Summary: Adobe Premiere Elements 4
Adobe Premiere Elements 4 was released in September 2007, with new emphasis on a cleaner interface for quick and fun editing. It includes integration with Photoshop Elements 6, new automated Movie Themes, and an updated Sharing Center with export...
Gallery: Sony Vegas Pro 8
Sony Creative Software has released the latest version of its professional video, audio, and DVD creation tool, Sony Vegas Pro 8. As in previous versions, the Vegas Pro product is actually a suite of products: the Vegas Pro 8...
Editing AVCHD Video -- With Today's Consumer Software
The good news is that high-def video is now accessible to consumers -- with sub-$1000 camcorders, today's computer power, and now $100-range consumer video editing software. The new AVCHD consumer video format promises better compression than HDV, especially for camcorders...
Creating Flash Videos: Sorenson Squeeze
To continue with our discussion of Flash video -- Sorenson Squeeze is a great encoding tool that supports encoding Flash video in both the older Spark and newewr VP6 video formats. Squeeze is now up to version 4.5.6, with...
Nero 7 Ultra Edition ENHANCED
Nero has continued to upgrade and expand its Nero 7 suite of tools for working with CD/DVD discs and digital media files. However, it's sometimes hard to keep track of what's going on with the product, since Nero confusingly...
Dell's New Inspirons -- Colorful Media
Dell announced its new consumer systems (and associated marketing campaign) today in a press event at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City. Dell has installed a Dell Lounge at Macy's to demonstrate these products for the next two weeks,...
Summary: Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6
Corel / Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 was released in February 2007, as the next generation of this simple and easy-to-use disc authoring tool, designed for consumers who want to get videos and photos from camcorders to disc. Key new features...
Creating Blu-ray Discs: Roxio DVDit Pro HD
The first software for Blu-ray authoring, including CyberLink, InterVideo/Ulead, and Roxio MyDVD, used the basic BDAV (audio/video) format that was designed for recording video clips to disc, but without menus or fancy DVD interfaces. Roxio DVDit Pro HD is the...
Blue-Laser Blues: Getting HD video to disc
All we want is HD video on disc! It's bad enough to have the confusion of yet another messy format war between the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats. But the industry is further dampening the promise of these formats...
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