Gear

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Magix Entertainment Corporation's Music Maker 3.0 software allows digital composers to choose from over 1200 digital samples to create their own musical artworks. With a drag-and-drop interface, the Music Maker's 16-track arranger window reduces the process of composition to a simple cut-and-paste procedure. As an added bonus for digital videographers, Music Maker gives you a way to easily replace the soundtrack of any .avi file. (310) 656-0644.
Suggested retail price: $50

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Hitachi Hi8

Hitachi's VM-H835LA Hi8 camcorder features a 3-inch color LCD monitor, five digital effects, electronic image stabilization and a 16:1 optical zoom lens with up to 130:1 digital enhancement. A built-in monaural speaker lets you hear what you've recorded as you watch on the LCD monitor; other features include a stereo built-in microphone and four kinds of fade (white, black, wipe and zoom). (770) 279-5600.
Suggested retail price: $999

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What's the Buz?

Iomega's Buz is a low-cost video digitizer that allows video hobbyists to digitize 640x480, 30-frame-per-second, 24-bit video and edit it using MGI's VideoWave SE Plus nonlinear editing software (included). To make connections easier, Buz incorporates a separate breakout box (called the "Buz box") with S-video, composite video and stereo audio connections. (888) 88-IOMEGA.
Suggested retail price: $199

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Panasonic Broadcast's Latest Mini DV

The new ultra-compact AG-EZ20 Mini DV camcorder from Panasonic Broadcast and Digital Systems Company features a four-pin IEEE 1394 FireWire interface, a 3.8-inch color LCD viewfinder, five program AE modes and 16-bit, 48kHz PCM audio. If it looks kinda' familiar, that's because it's nearly identical to the PV-DV710, marketed by Panasonic's consumer video division. (800) 524-0864.
Suggested retail price: $2895

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Plug-in Effects, Hollywood Style

Hollywood FX version 3.5 is designed to help nonlinear videographers develop their own 3D effects within many of the most popular nonlinear software interfaces. A powerful new path editor allows you to determine your own motion paths, and multi-processor support enables blazing new speeds and optimized rendering. (801) 281-0237.
Suggested retail price: $800

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DV Technology

Canon makes a big splash in the prosumer camcorder marketplace with the 3-chip XL1--the world's first DV camcorder to incorporate Canon's exclusive Interchangeable XL Lens Mount System and advanced SuperRange image stabilizer. The XL Lens Mount System, which is compatible with Canon's XL video lenses and EOS 35mm lenses, offers imaging perspectives ranging from extra wide to super telephoto. The XL1 offers three distinct recording modes: Frame Movie mode, Normal Movie mode and Digital Photo mode, as well as three digital audio modes. An IEEE 1394 FireWire digital connector and a wide range of exposure controls and manual functions are also part of the package. With a fighting weight of about 6 lb. 5 ozs, the XL1 comes with plenty of extras, including a 16x zoom lens, lithium-ion battery pack and optional XLR microphone inputs. (800) 828 4040.
Suggested retail price: $4699

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Super Duper Earphones

The ER-4 series Canal Phone Earphones from Etymotic Research are in-the-ear, high-fidelity transducers developed specifically to combine flat frequency response with isolation from external noise. With 20-25dB of external-noise exclusion, the ER-4 series Canal Phone Earphones allow the listener to hear the full dynamic range of digital recordings. (847) 228-0006.
Suggested retail price: $330

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New and Improved Soft Boxes

Photoflex Inc., a leading manufacturer of lighting products for film, video and photography, has announced two improvements to its popular line of soft boxes: the Quick-Release Corner and Bullet-Tipped steel support rods. The Quick-Release Corner design makes tear-down much easier with a simple Velcro tab, while the Bullet-Tipped steel support rods prevent the possibility of the rods poking through corners of the fabric. (800) 486-2674.
Suggested retail price: $50-$510

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Workin' It

Parnassus Software's Script Werx is a major upgrade and name change for Scriptwriting Tools, a series of standard scriptwriting templates which has been sold by Morley and Associates since 1992. With a total of twelve templates that you can immediately incorporate into your copy of Microsoft Word 6.0 or above, Script Werx includes a number of macro shortcuts designed to have a script generate its own storyboard, shot list, scene list or teleprompter text. (818) 952-5210.
Suggested retail price: $99

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A Fresh Search

Fresh Music, a buyout production audio library with over 45 CDs, offers SearchTrack, a free search engine on CD-ROM that cross-references audio tracks in the entire Fresh Music library. Search operators include keywords for emotion, style and use to pin-point the exact track you need for your production. Once you've made your selections, you can print the worklist you've created and go shopping for music. (800) 643-3438.
Suggested retail price: Search CD-ROM, Free; Individual Disks, $59

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A Case for Tiny Camcorders

Today's itty-bitty stealth cameras--such as the Sony DCR-PC7, the Panasonic PV-DV700 and the JVC GR-DVM1--are so small that they'd get lost in many larger camera bags. One solution is Case Logic's CB series of small camera bags, which combine a sturdy design with convenient features and attractive styling. Models range from the basic CB-1 to the full-featured CB-3, which adds a rain hood for all-weather protection and a pleated, expandable case for accessories. (800) 925-8111.
Suggested retail price: $6-$13