Desktop Video News and Reviews

Screen Tests
by Doug Polk

PC Video Ed/It ($60)
Sima Products Company
6153 Mulford Street
Niles, IL 60714
(800) 345-7462

Sima has a long history of making stand-alone video editors for the budget- minded consumer, but this is their first venture into computer-controlled editing. The PC Video Ed/It uses software and a priority cable that connects to any open parallel port on your computer.

The cable carries control-L commands to your source VCR or camcorder, and emits infrared for your record machine. This means that while you must have a control-L capable source (mostly 8mm or Hi-8 machines), virtually any modern VCR will act as the record machine.

Once you hook up the cable (you will need a 9V DC battery for the box at the record end of the cable), you open up the software and configure your machines.

First, you aim your VCR's remote control at the cable box to teach the editor the correct operation codes. Then, from the main menu, you pull down a configuration screen to learn and test these codes. Once learned, you can save your settings as a file in the program.

To edit your tapes, you use the simple main screen icons to control your source machine and mark in and out points for each scene. Once you've marked all the scenes you want, you go to the edit decision list (EDL) screen and make any changes you desire. You can cut, move, copy, paste and delete any scene much like a word processor.

Then, with a push of the Perform Edit button, the PC Video Ed/It takes over and creates your edited master.

The PC Video Ed/It worked surprisingly well. The major problem with this unit is a lack of time code on the source side. Every scene marked is referenced to the real-time counter in the source camcorder, rendering accuracy that varies between 20 frames at best to a second or more at worst. Further, you can only use one source tape during a session, so you must plan for this while shooting.

Beyond these limitations, the Sima PC Video Ed/It is a real bargain for those looking for an entry-level computer-based editor.

Ease of Learning: (4)
Ease of use: (4)
Documentation: (3)
Value: (5)

Soundtrack Express ($70)
The Blue Ribbon Soundworks, Ltd.
1605 Chantilly Drive, Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 315-0212

You need some cool original jazz to go behind your latest video masterpiece. You don't have the money to hire a bunch of jazzmen, you've got worries about copyright hassles and you couldn't strum a decent chord on the guitar in a million years. What to do? You could buy out a music library, but such disk collections can run into the hundreds of dollars. Or you could consider Soundtrack Express by Blue Ribbon Soundworks.

Soundtrack Express works with any sound card or MIDI interface that's compatible with Windows 3.1 or better. Soundtrack Express uses 120 basic musical progressions altered with 30 different musical styles. You can further alter these with a number of different musical personality and band sound choices. Because of this, the software creates a new and original piece of music every time you use it.

The main interface screen is where you "compose" your musical pieces. You use a grid with musical instrument icons to control the volume and right/left balance of each. To the left of the grid are the Style, Personality and Band windows--the parts of the program that give you the most creative control over your music.

Below this are sliders to control the tempo, activity and the key (pitch). The activity slider increases the amount of activity (notes being played) in a given measure, but does not increase the tempo.

On the right side of the screen is the compose section. You may set the length of the music to any length of time above 3.3 seconds. Also on this side is the Perform button, which starts the music when pushed. You'll also find individual start, stop and fast forward buttons.

Rounding out the controls are two ways to save your musical creations. An OLE button lets you drag and drop your music into any presentation package that recognizes OLE 2.0. Or, you can save your music as MIDI, STX or Clip files.

Soundtrack Express is easy to install and use. You'll need a 386 or higher computer with 4 MB of RAM and 4 MB of free hard disk space. It will also work with numerous multimedia and business packages such as Microsoft's Multimedia Works and Powerpoint software.

Soundtrack Express is a ball to play with. Depending on the quality of your soundboard, the music can sound very good. Most important of all is that you don't have to worry about copyrights or licensing fees. Anything you can create is yours to use free. And at Soundtrack Express's price, that's a bargain.

Ease of Learning: (4)
Ease of use: (4)
Documentation: (4)
Value: (4)