Camcorder & Computer Video articles from April 2004

Camcorder & Computer Video archives from April 2004

Camcorder twists and trends.(Editor's Reports)
April 1, 2004... We're all conditioned to look for the new car models introduced around September of each year. But, few people realize that manufacturers of came0rders 'also have a new model year. It starts around now as new camcorders supplant last year's...

Eye-Q 3341Z.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? A 3MP digital camera from Concord Camera. What does it do? Takes quality digital stills with its 3MP CCD sensor, 3X optical/4X digital zoom, plus AVI video clips. Special features? Users can capture AVI video clips at...

2.4X DataLifePlus Media.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? The industry's first double-layer DVD+R discs from Verbatim. What does it do? The discs nearly double the capacity on DVD-recordable discs from 4.7GB to 8.5GB on a single side while maintaining compatibility with current DVD...

Media-Player/Recorder.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? A new diskless digital video recorder (DVR) from PRISMIQ. What does it do? It can record scheduled or ad hoc shows, pause live television, and store shows throughout the home network or archive to DVD. Special features?...

Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? Sony's latest video-editing software program. What does it do? Provides users with a simple 3-step process for creating, editing and then sharing home videos. Special features? Context Clueing--when you move your mouse over...

SC-77DVD.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? A 7-inch tablet DVD player from Supersonic. What does it do? Plays your favorite DVD movies at home, on the road or at the office. Special features? Comes with a head strap gear and earphones for use in the car, as well as...

SC-D6040.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? Samsung's 2nd-generation DuoCam. What does it do? Lets users switch between a true 4.13MP digital still camera and a Mini DV camcorder at the switch of a button. Special features? For video, the DuoCam uses Power NitePix...

TLP-T70MU.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? Toshiba's newest LCD-based projector. What does it do? Delivers vibrant colors and sharp images, even in the brightest ambient-light situations. Special features? It features 2,000 ANSI lumens and XGA resolutions, and...

DivX DX-8020.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? The newest DVD player from Pixa. What does it do? The company says it's one of the first stand-alone DVD players that can play back video files burned onto a CD or DVD with DivX/MPEG-4 technology. Special features? It also...

Key019.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? A super-small digital camcorder/camera from Philips. What does it do? About the size of a lipstick, this tiny cam features up to 24 minutes of continuous MPEG-4 video recording. Special features? Features a micro-display...

Digistor 8X dual-DVD burner.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? The hottest dual-DVD burner from Sunland International. What does it do? The company says it's the first unit that writes to both DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8X speed. Special features? It's bundled with multimedia software...

CD & DVD-maker version 6.7 Gold Suite.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? The latest version of NewTech Infosystem's DVD/CD-burning suite. What does it do? Designed for video capture, editing, and authoring; simple CD/DVD writing and backup, and more. Special features? It automatically detects...

Studio 9.(Zoom in)
April 1, 2004... What is it? The latest version of Pinnacle's home movie-making software. What does it do? It delivers a powerful package of new audio- and video-editing features, such as automatic color correction, image stabilization, video cleaning...

HDTVs, LCDs and other CES news.(Camcorder Insider)
April 1, 2004... I've just returned from the huge trade show held in Las Vegas--the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It was such a massive show that it was impossible for me to get to even HALF of the companies I really wanted to see. It...

Flash foward: camcorders that record directly to flash memory cards.
April 1, 2004... At first blush, evolution looks like a straight line, just like that famous chart that shows the knuckle-dragging ape progressing toward upright man. That chart is incomplete, of course, because we know that homo sapiens (wise man, in Latin)...

Spy cam: wear and shoot.
April 1, 2004... Are you looking for a very cool camcorder alternative that solves several challenges for camcorder owners? For example, have you ever tried taping a sporting event and ended up missing the most important action scenes? You are waiting for your...

Virtual set: create your own 3D background.(Hardware Review)
April 1, 2004... Chances are if you've been involved with producing videos in any way, you've heard about chroma keying. This is a decades-old technology that allows a person to be placed into a video background, when in reality that person is actually standing...

Text effects: add a glowing burst with Adobe After Effects.
April 1, 2004... FIG. 1 CREATE A TEXT LAYER AND DUPLZCATE THE LAYER. Select the type tool and enter the title of your video. Choose font and size values for your text, then Select the text layer in the timeline, Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) ...

ADS HDTV UpConverter: watch your standard video in high def.(Hardware Review)
April 1, 2004... When is HDTV not HDTV? The answer's simple: When you try to play it on your HDTV! The promise of High Definition Television was to provide consumers With a cinema-like experience in the comfort of their homes. Because of this, people...

Moving up to HDTV.
April 1, 2004... First, a word about Hi-Definition television. Perhaps, you've heard of the NTSC standard, which stands for National Television Systems Committee (also humorously nicknamed "Never The Same Color" for its lack of definition). It's what you're...

Sony DCR-VX2100: above and beyond.(Camcoder Review)
April 1, 2004... ABOVE AND BEYOND When Sony introduces a new camcorder, our expectations tend to run high. Such was the case when it announced the new DCR-VX2100. Calling it the 2100 was our first clue. Sony presumably labeled it the 2100 as a subtle...

Panasonic's D-Snap SV-AS10: a super-small cam with big features.(Camcoder Review)
April 1, 2004... Panasonic's D-Snap SV-AS10 ($299.95 MSRP) is no ordinary video camcorder or digital still camera. It's really designed to be a mobile digital device that captures motion video, takes 2-megapixel (2MP) still pictures, works as a voice recorder,...

A musical trio: three soundstrack-creation programs.(Software Review)
April 1, 2004... Music has the magical ability to tell stories without words, convey emotions without pictures, make us laugh, make us cry, or just feel good. When combined with video, it can change the tone and even the pacing of the moving images. It is hard...

Power Tools: Pinnacles four programs completes the liquid edition package.(Software Review)
April 1, 2004... The purpose behind Pinnacle Systems' Power Tools is to add the finishing touches to Liquid Edition, for even a robust nonlinear editing (NLE) system like this one can benefit from further enhancements. Like many other NLEs on the market today,...

Movies on CD/DVD and Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0: two easy-to-use video-editing programs.(Software Review)
April 1, 2004... The new Magix Movies on CD/DVD and Sony's Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0 are two inexpensive and easy-to-use video-editing and DVD-authoring programs that make it easy to transform your raw camcorder video into final video productions--perfect...

Into the fire: choosing a hard drive for your editing system.
April 1, 2004... Every good editor deserves a fast hard drive. While the nonlinear editing (NLE) software is the engine that drives every video project, the gas tank that keeps it all going is the hard drive. This repository of data holds the fuel that makes...

"Distant recitals" Part 1: making a storyboard.
April 1, 2004... If you've been a regular Camcorder & ComputerVideo reader since 1999, you might remember some of my previous storyboard features. The first was Alien Al in the September 1999 issue, "Tiny Town Terror" in May 2000, then "Trapped" in May 2001 and...