Best Products of the Year

Looking back over the wave of products that rolled through our offices and made it into the pages of Videomaker during 1998, from the swell of exciting new technology it's clear that enthusiasm for desktop video is on the rise.

The release of so many new desktop computer video products aimed at so many different markets, in fact, forced us to re-evaluate our prize categories this year and increase our number of desktop video awards. You will find this year, for example, that we awarded prizes for the best video editing software, the best "turnkey" nonlinear editing system and for several categories of best video capture boards. The growth of desktop video is great news for videographers who more and more want to incorporate computers into their productions. Like computer technology, desktop video is getting less expensive and easier to use even as it becomes more powerful.

Alas, some other categories didn't fare so well as the tide shifted towards things simpler and silicon. There were no entrants this year, for example, in the S-VHS or S-VHS-C camcorder categories. Neither were there any new VHS editing VCRs or new stand-alone edit controllers. In these categories, due to lack of new products, last year's recipients are still the newest and the best (see Videomaker, Best Products of the Year, Feb. 1998).

Luckily, the standards were well represented in 1998, with strong contenders in the Mini DV, 8mm, Hi8, VHS and VHS-C camcorder categories. Because sound is half the battle for good video, we've added new audio awards this year for wired and wireless microphones. As always, we've included our Best Accessory award for that broad yet important group, our Innovative Product and Innovative Technology awards for best ideas and our Best Buy award for the product that represents the best overall value. 1998 was a great year for consumer videography. We hope you enjoyed it.

Panasonic AG-EZ30U, Best Mini DV Camcorder

A professional-quality DV camcorder at a consumer-level price, the Panasonic AG-EZ30U is packed with the kinds of extra features we love to see in our Best Products of the Year winners. With three 1/3-inch CCDs, a 2.5-inch flip-out LCD monitor, manual focus, manual white balance, manual iris and manual shutter speed controls, all complimenting fully-functional automatic modes, the AG-EZ30U offers a broad range of controls in a sleek, easy-to-operate design. We were particularly impressed with the camcorder's professional "zebra bar" function, which highlights parts of the shot that are overexposed and allows for a high degree of accuracy in the manual exposure mode. Added touches include a lens-mounted manual focus ring and one-touch buttons for all the manual settings instead of the all-too-common mess of controls buried in an endless list of menus. (800) 211-7262.

Suggested retail price: $3,995

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Sony CCD-TRV99, Best Hi8 Camcorder

The Sony TRV-series of Hi8 camcorders has by far the widest array of features of any of the camcorders in this category. The top-rung TRV99 is packed with all the bells and whistles that make it a Best Product of the Year award winner. All the TRV Hi8s have 18:1 optical zoom, 72:1 digital zoom, electronic image stabilization, manual focus, manual exposure, external mike input, external headphone jack, Control-L edit control, NightShot, Laser Link and the Sony InfoLithium battery system. The TRV99 additionally boasts a four-inch color flip-out LCD monitor and RC time code, making it the most versatile, user-friendly and feature-packed Hi8 camcorder available at any price in 1998. (800) 222-7669.

Suggested retail price: $1,299

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Canon ES970, Best 8mm Camcorder

From the little things like button placement, to the really important stuff like manual settings and edit control, the Canon ES970 8mm is a great camcorder. There are several unique features, however, that really put this camcorder in a class by itself. The ES970 features two "Custom Keys," for example, that are easy-to-reach programmable buttons you can set for one-touch operation of whatever features you use most, such as fade or manual focus in the camera mode, or record or playback in VCR mode. FlexiZone autofocus is another interesting feature. Controlled by a thumb-operated toggle, FlexiZone allows you to select which object in the frame will be the subject of the autofocus. For editing, not only does the ES970 have traditional Control-L, but it also has a nifty Auto Editing mode. In this mode, the camcorder sends an infrared blast to nearly any brand of VCR to start and stop recording in sync with whatever sections of your camcorder tape you've selected to edit to VHS. (800) 828-4040.

Suggested retail price: $799

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RCA CC-4371, Best VHS Camcorder

For full-size VHS function, the RCA CC-4371 is a worthy winner in a category that's unfortunately slowly fading in favor of smaller formats. Full-size VHS camcorders have always been known for stability and for the convenience of instantaneous VHS VCR playback. It's just easier to keep still and make good camera moves with a full-sized camcorder. Pop the tape into any old VCR to see the results. The CC-4371 lives up to this tradition of reliability, ease and convenience, but takes it one step farther by adding audio/video insert edit capabilities (for dubbing sound over video or video over sound). The CC-4371 also features a flip-out LCD monitor, electronic image stabilization, 16:1 optical zoom, 130:1 digital zoom, on-camera light and a unique in-camera titler. (800) 336-1900.

Suggested retail price: $599

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Panasonic PV-L958, Best VHS-C Camcorder

VHS-C continues to be one of the most popular formats for entry-level and hobbyist videographers. It's always a close contest, but this year the Panasonic PV-L958 edged-out other capable contenders by delivering the broadest and most useful range of features at a typically affordable VHS-C price. Plenty of in-camera editing power characterizes the palm-sized PV-L958. A broad selection of fades and wipes, for example, allows for quick and easy in-camera transitions on the fly. A digital still camera feature called PhotoShot stores up to 30 JPEG images in its memory. They're downloadable to a PC with the cable and software included with the camcorder. Slap a title across the frame with Adobe software (also included in the package), upload it back to the camcorder, and you've got yourself a nice-looking title for an in-camera production. (800) 222-4213.

Suggested retail price: $1,0000

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JVC HR-S9500, Best S-VHS Editing Deck

The JVC S-VHS edit deck was the hands down winner in this category for the second year running. HR-S9500 maintains the core features that made last year's S9400 an exceptional consumer editing deck, including TimeScan, a JVC feature that allows the user to move forward and backward through tape at speeds up to 7x faster than normal while still playing an unbroken image on screen. The deck also features JVC's Random Assemble Editing, which uses the proprietary JLIP editing protocol and allows edit control with other JVC products. Commercial Advance, which automatically fast-forwards the tape through commercial playback, is icing on the cake. (800) 252-5722

Suggested retail price: $700

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Audio-Technica AT851A Boundary Mike, Best Wired Microphone

Many videographers may have never thought of using a boundary microphone for their video projects, opting instead for more traditional styles. That's unfortunate. The AT851A boundary mike is versatile, streamlined and delivers exceptional audio quality in many difficult-to-mike situations. Not only does it easily win the Best Product of the Year award for this new category but it just might make you a convert. A boundary mike sits low to the surface of the area you want to record, therefore eliminating much of the distortion caused when sound "bounces" off a wall, table, stage or other large, flat surface. With the AT851A those notorious problems with loud footsteps on a wooden stage or shuffling chairs near the lectern overriding the vocals are gone. It's so small and streamlined, it's virtually invisible on-camera. (330) 686-2600.

Suggested retail price: $222

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Nady Platinum 802, Best Wireless Microphone

Nady is known for its high-quality microphones and the Nady Platinum 802 wireless transmitter and receiver package is a great example why. The Platinum 802 wins this category for several reasons. Signal quality is excellent because the transmitter operates in the same UHF (ultra-high frequency) range professional gear uses. UHF is subject to less outside interference and allows for better sound quality. Dual outputs (three-prong XLR and 1/4-inch line-level) combined with 250-500 foot receiver range give the mike outstanding versatility. The Platinum 802 houses a true diversity receiver, which means it has two separate receiving circuits in case one is suffering from static (some mikes claim diversity but only offer two antennas and a single receiver). The lavalier microphone is of excellent quality and sound recorded with the system is outstanding overall. The Platinum 802 offers audio on par with a wired system but with all the convenience of wireless components. (510) 652-2411.

Suggested retail price: $480

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Roland Edirol V-5, Best Special Effects Generator

The new Edirol V-5 special effects generator/mixer/switcher from Roland is a unique take on a classic video production standard. For one thing, the V-5 comes bundled with a Roland microphone, a 3D titling program for Windows, and a PC music program. The V-5 mixer itself features a VGA input port on the box to help easily incorporate computer content into video productions. It offers fast fades and transitions. It stores up to 24 images on board, more with an add-on card. The V-5 also offers a unique graphics extractor function for custom titling. (360) 332-4211.

Suggested retail price: $1,288

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Casablanca DV Nonlinear Editor, Best Turnkey Nonlinear Editor

This is a blossoming category that reflects the growth of digital technology in the video arena. A turnkey nonlinear editing system requires no user hardware or software installation and little or no configuration. Just plug it in and start editing. This year, several systems were either introduced or came down in price to fill the growing need for these types of easy-to-use digital nonlinear products. The Casablanca DV by DraCo systems wins because of its combination of price, compatibility with several makes of DV camcorders, ease of use, reliability and availability. The DV Casablanca has all the features that made the Casablanca classic such a hit last year, including its portable, stand-alone independence and its easy-to-use storyboard editing interface. Additionally, DV Casablanca has a FireWire (IEEE 1394) input port that allows the transfer of video data and edit controls back and forth between the unit and most DV camcorders. (303) 440-5311.

Suggested retail price: $5,195 (w/9GB hard drive)

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Canopus DVRex M1 DV Capture Board, Best Capture Board Over $2,000

The Canopus DVRex is an outstanding high-performance video capture board for the serious digital nonlinear editor. While most DV capture boards can only accept video through the FireWire port, the DVRex accepts composite and S-video signals as well. All the inputs are accessible through a versatile (and good-looking) breakout box that works in either an internal or external configuration. To top it all off, the DVRex handles its duties with a high-quality hardware codec by Sony, making it smooth, clean and reliable. The board's performance is outstanding, with easy installation in an available PCI slot, fast rendering time and the ability to do batch audio and video captures through the FireWire automatically from a DV camera to the hard drive. (408) 954-4500.

Suggested retail price: $3,495

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Truevision Bravado 2000, Best Capture Board Under $2,000

In a robust category with many strong contenders, the Bravado 2000 by Truevision takes the 1998 Best Product of the Year award with its proven reliability, affordable hardware codecs and user-friendly design. One of the most noteworthy features of the Bravado, for example, is a breakout box that places the board's input and output plugs at the video editor's fingertips. This eliminates the need to reach behind the computer to adjust cables. Also noteworthy is the exceptional quality of the input and output plugs themselves. These might seem like small things, but they reflect on the overall quality of the board and the thought put into its design. In performance, the Bravado uses a hardware-based Motion JPEG (MJPEG) codec to efficiently and reliably capture and render video and audio through composite or S-video inputs and outputs. This board is a workhorse that supports either Adobe Premiere or Ulead MediaStudio Pro editing packages, either of which come bundled with the board. (800) 522-8783.

Suggested retail price: $699

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Pinnacle Studio DC10plus, Best Nonlinear Editing Solution Under $500

A great solution for the nonlinear editor on a budget, the Pinnacle Studio DC10plus is a bundled package that includes a capture board, proprietary video editing software and useful audio creation and mixing software. Pinnacle's Studio software interface is one of our all-time favorites because of its potent mix of simplicity and functionality. Rest assured the DC10plus also scores well in the reliability department. It installed easily and ran steadily on a PC with a basic video-editing configuration (P133, 64MB RAM, and 6GB SCSI HD). Of special note is the fact the DC10plus has to render only transition effects. It doesn't need to render cuts and it doesn't have to render to an entirely new file. This saves lots of time and hard drive space. The included Magix MusicMaker music creation software is an added bonus, allowing video editors to easily create and incorporate professional-sounding soundtracks. The Studio DC10plus is a great desktop video product. (650) 526-1600.

Suggested retail price: $229

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Medea VideoRaid PCI, Best Hard Drive

Reliable, cost-effective, high-capacity, high-speed data storage is a panacea for desktop video editing. The Medea VideoRaid external disk array fits all these criteria and is the best product of the year in the hard drive category. Because Medea uses Enhanced IDE drives and technology, it's cheaper than most SCSI disk arrays. Medea makes both internal and external arrays. The external disk array uses a PCI board to interface with the PC, which makes it easy to install and configure. And boy is it fast. The VideoRaid pushes video data faster than comparable SCSI arrays for a cheaper cost. How about no-sweat 10MB per second digital video all the way across the disk? Not only is this faster than your capture board probably even handles, but this extra horsepower comes in handy when rendering, previewing, transferring and playing back captured videos. (888) 296-3332.

Suggested retail price: $1,299for 10GB - $4,999 for 67GB.

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Sony VAIO Digital Studio, Most Innovative Product

Sony's line of VAIO Digital Studio computers, which so far includes the PCV-E302DS and the PCV-E308DS, are high performance multimedia computers that combine plenty of horsepower with the latest video and audio editing technology in an amazingly affordable turnkey package. Never mind the 350 or 450MHz Pentium II processor, the 10.2 or 13.6GB hard drive, the 64 or 128MB of RAM, the Matrox graphics accelerator or the 5X DVD-ROM drive. What makes the VAIO Digital Studio computers the most innovative products of the year is how they combine this power with the hottest digital video and audio technology. They have, for example, an i.LINK (IEEE 1394) port for digital video transfer and editing with Sony i.LINK Handycam Camcorders; S-Link (control A1) to control Sony CD changers and MiniDisc decks to record custom MiniDiscs, optical digital audio outputs for recording digital audio from the Internet or CD to a MiniDisc deck; and a bundle of custom audio and video editing software. All of this is available for the price of less-stocked machines without the unique features. Now that's an innovative product. (800) 222-7669.

Suggested retail price: $1,500 (PCV-E302DS); $2,300 (PCV-E308DS).

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Canon Optical Image Stabilizer, Most Innovative Technology

When it comes to image stabilization, optical technology is better than electronic because it doesn't degrade the image nearly as much. Canon takes our award for Most Innovative Technology this year with an exciting new optical image stabilizer. The main difference between Canon's new optical system and previous optical systems is in the size. The Canon Optical Lens Shift Mechanism, adapted from Canon's auto-focus SLR camera lens, is the smallest optical image stabilizer ever invented. It allows for high-quality stabilizing in a significantly smaller package. Basically, the lens shift mechanism shifts horizontally and vertically to the axis of the lens very quickly, which compensates for the shake and removes it from the image. Canon's top-shelf products like the Vistura already have it incorporated, but look for it in many new products as Canon incorporates it into its full line and other manufacturers license the technology.

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Ulead Cool 3D, Best Buy

A powerful animated 3D titling program for a bargain-basement price, Ulead continues its tradition of designing outstanding video editing software for the consumer-gear videographer with Cool 3D. The software package is very versatile. It provides, for example, a series of well-designed prefabricated title templates to choose from. It additionally offers a custom interface that allows the user to get as elaborate as he or she desires. Cool 3D is not only inexpensive, it's very easy and quick to learn. The program can create realistic-looking 3D titles in a matter of minutes, or take a little longer to animate and render them. For a great desktop video titling product at a great price, Ulead Cool 3D is a Best Product. (800) 858-5323.

Suggested retail price: $49

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Videonics MediaMotion 3.0, Best Accessory

MediaMotion is a nifty desktop video accessory that makes editing with Adobe Premiere a snap. MediaMotion allows Premiere to read either the time code or the counter numbers from your video source, which gives you convenient mouse control of the video source decks. MediaMotion also allows you to log tapes by marking edit in and out points and then saving them in an Adobe Premiere "library." You can later select only those clips you want to digitize for your actual production from the various libraries. This saves you the trouble of digitizing everything at once, even stuff you don't want. Similarly, MediaMotion allows batch digitizing, wherein the computer is left to digitize a preselected list of clips automatically, one after another. MediaMotion is a great accessory that takes some of the time and space sting out of desktop video editing. (800) 338-3348.

Suggested retail p