G4, Good Buddy
Apple Computers’ new G4 computer, the successor to the G3, is available in several configurations. The basic system has a 400MHz PowerPC G4 chip and includes: 64MB SDRAM, 10GB ATA drive, CD-ROM drive, 16MB RAGE 128 video card, 56K modem and 10/100BASE-T Ethernet. Options include the 450MHz G4, 1.5GB RAM, DVD-RAM, three 36GB Ultra2 SCSI drives, 48MB VRAM, the $4000 flat-panel Apple Cinema Display and more. Add Final Cut Pro ($999) to most configurations and you have a turnkey nonlinear editing system. (800) 795-1000
Suggested Retail Price: basic systems start at $1599
Custom configurations up to $15,000
| A Producer in Every Pocket |  |
The Pocket Producer Pro, from Play, Inc., attaches to a 3Com Palm Pilot to provide video logging functions. Pocket Producer Pro allows dual hardware control of cameras, VCRs and camcorders with LANC to LANC or LANC to RS-422. Other features include a time code calculator and a stopwatch. (800) 306-7529
Suggested Retail Price: $495
| New Version, Same Can |  |
Painter 6 from Metacreations is the latest version of the popular Natural Media painting software. One new feature is the ability to import a QuickTime movie as a stack and perform onion-skin-style painting directly onto the video. Other features include: text on a curve, pressure and angle sensitivity with digital tablets, Impasto (painting with depth) and more. Available for Windows 95 and MacOS 8 or later. (800) 846-0111
Suggested Retail Price: $399(New); $149 (Upgrade)
| Plug It In |  |
Cult Effects from Cycore, offers 18 new After Effects plug-ins. The 18 plug-in package allows users to create lightning, paint on video, perform optic and magnification corrections and much more. Available for both Mac and PC versions of After Effects. (650) 570-7722
Suggested Retail Price: $695
| Alien Candy |  |
New from Alien Skin, comes Eye Candy for After Effects 3.1. Eye Candy is composed of 20 individual plug-ins for After Effects. The package includes Fire, Smoke, Fur, Swirl, Motion Trail, Chrome, Carve, Perspective Shadow, Gaussian Blur and more. (800) 921-7546
Suggested Retail Price: $599
| New After Effects |  |
Version 4.1 of Adobe After Effects packs a wealth of new features. Adding support for 3D channel file formats (Softimage PIC, Electric Image EIZ, etc.) allows users to incorporate 3D data into compositions. Other features include depth matte, depth of field blur, 3D fog, flowchart view of projects and compositions and the ability to import files with a maximum resolution of 30,000 x 30,000 pixels. Available for MacOS 8.1 or higher, Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0(800) 323-1722
Suggested Retail Price: $699 (standard); $1,499 (Production Bundle)
| Digital Viewcam |  |
The VL-SD20U, Sharp’s latest mini DV camcorder, features a color LCD viewscreen similar to their Hi8 Viewcam. The 3-inch color LCD viewscreen uses Sharp’s Digital Gamma Brightness Correction. Without battery or cassette, the unit weighs 1.21 pounds. Other features include still image mode, FireWire interface, built-in S-video and composite audio/video out. (800) 237-4277
Suggested Retail Price: $999
| A Booming Mini DV Crane |  |
The three piece Skycrane Premiere from Picture This Digital Video Productions, can be configured in five, eight or nine foot lengths. The Skycrane was especially designed to accommodate the Canon XL1 but the manufacturer claims it can be used with any camera up to 10 pounds. (949) 631-6065
Suggested Retail Price: $895
| Synthetic Filters |  |
Video Finesse, from Synthetic Aperture, turns 2.0 with the addition of two new filters. The Adobe Premiere filter set includes video noise reducer, Gaussian Blur, SA Sharpen, SA Soften and more. Other enhancements include a floating window interface, waveform monitor and vectorscope. Available for Adobe Premiere 4.2, 5.0 and 5.1 on MacOS 8.0 and up and Windows 95 or greater. (949) 493-3444
Suggested Retail Price: $195
| Digital Bags? |  |
Touted by Lowepro to be as advanced as the cameras they carry, the Digital Resolution series of camera bags come in several styles. The Digital Resolution model D-Res 50AW has an adjustable divider that allows you to customize the interior to fit the needs of your camera. The bag includes a mesh pocket that holds two mini-DV tapes, flash memory cards or smart media cardsin their cases. (707) 575-4363
Suggested Retail Price: $48
