Videomaker's 2005 Best Products of the Year (page 5)
Most Innovative Software
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.
Best Production Planning Software
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.
Best Audio Mixer
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.
Best Video Hard Drive
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.
Best Animation Software
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.
Honorable Mentions
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.
Camcorder $500-$1,500
Panasonic PV-GS35
Camcorder Under $500
Sony DCR-HC32 Mini DV
Tapeless Camcorder
Panasonic SDR-S100 3CCD SD
DVD Burner (duplicator)
LaCie DVD Duplicator
Turnkey Editing System < $3,000
Apple iMac G5
Turnkey Editing System $3,000-$6,000
Velocity Micro-Laptop Turnkey
Introductory Editing Software
Apple iMovie HD
Video Editing Software $150 to $449
Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8
Light Kit
Photoflex 3 Octodome nxt Softbox
Tripod
SLIK 505 QF Tripod
Microphone
Rode Videomic Shotgun w/shock guard
Audio Mixer
Nady SRM-10X
