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:
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.
