We tested ShotPut Pro with both AVCHD and P2 video. Since ShotPut Pro treats our different types of memory cards very similarly, we don't have to worry about adjusting our settings between offloads. Along with a notebook computer, we have an external RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) to copy our video to. Okay, we first test the Automatic feature. We make sure we do not have any memory cards connected yet, so we can input our settings for ShotPut to use. We add our Custom Volume Name, "Sandymontana," and check the box labeled Include Prefix. Using this feature, we can add the prefix P2 automatically when we offload P2 video, without having to type out the pesky word each time. Then we choose where the app will copy our video; we select our Local Disk as our first destination, which tells ShotPut to copy our video to our notebook's internal hard disk. We also select our external RAID disk as a second location to copy video to. ShotPut Pro's default features include playing a sound when our card is finished offloading and automatically formatting our card afterwards. Formatting deletes all video from our card. This is a great timesaver for us, since we usually have to use our camcorder's internal formatting feature. ShotPut offers two File Verification features, to be sure our video is byte-for-byte accurate when transferred to our hard disks. We use the faster of the two, which Imagine Products says is more than 99% accurate. Next, we use the default Logging Type, which is called Minimal, to receive a paper trail of our offload. Next, we connect our P2 camcorder via FireWire to our notebook. ShotPut Pro recognizes our P2 memory and our offloading starts immediately. Since we set up Shot Put to its Automatic setting, our video is offloaded to three places at once: our internal notebook disk and the two disks that make up our redundant RAID. The sound beeps, our video is compared to the original, our P2 card is formatted, ready for another use, and our receipt appears in a basic text box. Boom! Done! And now we're off to shoot more video.

AVCHD video on SDHC memory cards acts the same way within ShotPut Pro. Since ShotPut does not re-compress or transcode video, our wait is very short, and we're left with our identical copy. Using the Manual setting, we even offload multiple SDHC cards to the same hard disk, all at the same time!

ShotPut Pro is a great addition to any video editor's toolkit, if you have projects with mixed video formats such as AVCHD, SxS, P2 and RED. With all of the new video formats coming out, we think it's great that ShotPut Pro includes many of them. While ShotPut isn't a replacement for your NLE, it does act as a solid "first contact" when offloading footage for editing. Our tests ran smoothly and quickly, which makes it hard not to add this new app to our permanent toolkit.

Windows XP: 2GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 16GB free disk space
Windows Vista 32: 1.8GHz Dual Core CPU, 1GB RAM, 16GB free disk space
Macintosh: OS X 10.4 or later, PowerPC or Intel CPU, 512MB RAM, 16GB free disk space

• Greatly reduces error when offloading memory cards
• Creates a log of your activities
• Downloadable version installs quickly
• Well-made user manual

• Requires web access to install

ShotPut Pro is a simple-to-use application, and it has proved to be a useful tool for anyone who is shooting with AVCHD, SxS and P2 camcorders.

Contributing editor Andrew Burke has worked in all areas of video production on three continents.

Imagine Products, Inc.
1052 Summit Dr.
Carmel, IN 46032
www.imagineproducts.com
Price: $89