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The Year's Video Products in Review

by Stephen Muratore
Special Issue 2002

Getting ready to shop for a videographer in your life? Give tools. Hobbyists who receive video tools are reminded of their givers whenever they engage in their favorite pastime, and that's a nice time to be remembered. These tools also bring their donors to mind when their recipients are earning a living.

Maybe this isn't about the "videographer in your life." Maybe this is about you. You want to spend some cash to help the economy grow. Buying tools is one type of indulgence that also keeps you productive. If you want to start making videos, buy tools because you need them. If you're already engaged in the craft, buy them because you want them.

The magazine in your hand is a tool to help you make sound buying decisions when it comes to tools for videography. Herein, the editors of Videomaker magazine have amalgamated an introductory feature and a few reviews for each of five categories of tools that have become necessities or very-nice-to-haves for people making video. Those categories are:

  • DV camcorders
  • Turnkey video editing systems
  • Editing appliances
  • Video editing software
  • DVD authoring software

    Turnkey video editing systems are systems made to edit video without requiring the user to install anything. Editing appliances are units completely committed to video editing, pre-loaded with hardware and software. In the DV camcorder category, make sure you check out the reviews of two updates to legendary cameras: Sony's TRV-950 and Canon's GL2. We also describe some great updates to video editing software with the stunning debut of Vegas Video 3, a significant update to the venerable MediaStudio Pro and, for Apple users, an important version 3 for Final Cut Pro. We also showcase two prominent DVD authoring software titles: Apple DVD Studio Pro and Dazzle DVD Complete Deluxe.

    All of the reviews in this issue first appeared in our pages over the course of the last year. In some cases, the prices may have changed since the reviews were first published; in some, the products themselves might have been upgraded. To help alert you to possible changes, we have placed a line at the head of each review stating when it first appeared.

    This compilation will help you locate what you're after and give you a sense of what you can expect from a certain type of product at a certain price. To make this collection easy to navigate, we've organized the reviews by product type, and given each type its own color code. The edges of the DV camcorder review pages are blue, those of the editing computer pages are orange, editing appliance pages have green edges, editing software edges are violet and DVD authoring software edges are gold.

    We invite you to visit our Web site, www.videomaker.com, where you will find a huge collection of reviews and comprehensive buyer's guide grids for every product category pertinent to the making of video.

    Remember: carry this manual with you while you shop for those new tools.

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