Videomaker's 2005 Best Products of the Year (page 5)

Adobe Photoshop CS2 Image Editing Software ($599)

Sporting teams wish they could hold onto a championship title as long as Adobe's Photoshop has. The standard for image manipulation is not resting on its laurels with the release of CS2. The new version not only has simplified file handling with Adobe Bridge, but also includes a really cool vanishing point tool and a one-click red eye reduction. Also included: a group of tools that will help the digital filmmaker that include non-square pixel support and video preview support via FireWire.

Final Draft AV Version 2.5 ($199)

Ever try to write a script in proper format using a word processing program? You might have more fun trying to get sand out of your telescoping tripod legs. Luckily, Final Draft has developed software that lets us concentrate on the story and not the tab key. Switch between audio/visual, radio and linear layouts with the click of a button. It is 100% cross platform, comes with a variety of templates, has a spell checker and thesaurus and has a script registry. All of this with 24/7 tech support. Get writing.

Alesis Multimix-8 FireWire Audio Mixer ($599)

The 5.4 lb., 8-channel mixer with FireWire from Alesis is both Mac and PC compatible. Need we say more? It ships with Cubase LE 1.0.8 and automatically works with Soundtrack Pro on the Mac. This sturdy 9.8" x 9.1" x 3.2" unit is designed well with a 3-band EQ per channel, phantom power, 100 28-bit onboard preset effects and a 24-bit FireWire interface. It's portable and light enough to take on the road, or mount it in a rack system.

Infrant ReadyNAS 600 Network Attached Storage Device with 4 250GB Hard Drives ($1,395, also bare $695 and 1.6TB $1,995)

Time to add a new word to your tech vocabulary: terabyte. The well-constructed, retro-looking, cube hard drive is fast and has flexible configuration options. It accommodates up to four hard drives, and is configurable as a stripe, a mirror or as a full RAID 5 array. The 16 lb. storage system works on a home network and can act as a print server as well.

Zaxwerks Invigorator ProAnimator ($645)

Make sophisticated 3D animations like you see on broadcast station identifications or televised sporting events with the moderately priced Invigorator ProAnimator from Zaxwerks. Both Mac and PC compatible, this program comes with object style presets or you can create your own from scratch by manipulating the material, lighting and camera movement in an intuitive interface. The software has an Easy Mode for quick start and an Advanced Mode for fine-tuning details. Output a QuickTime movie with an alpha channel for easy insertion into all major editing programs.

There are times when it's too close to call, and only slight differences like price were the deciding factor. These products listed here are among those we deem worthy of Honorable Mention.

Panasonic PV-GS35

Sony DCR-HC32 Mini DV

Panasonic SDR-S100 3CCD SD

LaCie DVD Duplicator

Apple iMac G5

Velocity Micro-Laptop Turnkey

Apple iMovie HD

Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8

Photoflex 3 Octodome nxt Softbox

SLIK 505 QF Tripod

Rode Videomic Shotgun w/shock guard

Nady SRM-10X

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