Camcorder articles from April 1997

Camcorder archives from April 1997

The ultimate camcorder ... and more.(1997 Consumer Electronics Show)(Cover Story)
April 1, 1997... It's the electronic super spectacle, the biggest display of consumer goods and video products in the U.S. It occurs in mid-winter and the items shown are typically on store shelves by early summer. Naturally editors from all the...

All about boards: the key to turning your computer into a video machine.(Buyers Guide)
April 1, 1997... It's only natural -- after you've been shooting video for a while, you begin thinking about doing a little editing. In the past, that meant hobbling together your camcorder and a VCR and copying the good scenes while discarding the shots you...

Low-tech add-ons: some very simple and inexpensive video helpers.
April 1, 1997... Just call me Jack the Junk Man. It's okay, lots of my friends and fellow camcorders users do. I consider the title a high praise for my ability to make the most out of an eclectic assortment of what I like to call low-tech video accessories....

Power titles: TitleMaker 3000 offers over 200 fonts, 16,000 characters, borders, colors and effects.(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... The ability to produce quality titles has always been a Thigh hurdle for video enthusiasts. The problem is that there has been little on the market between the blocky letters on a camcorder's built-in titler and a professional system which...

Laptop Video Editor: Panasonic's dream machine ... at a price!(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... Real breakthroughs are few and far between. But Panasonic may have just done it with the introduction of their AJ-LT75 digital Laptop Editor. Suddenly you can get true editing on the road. The AJ-LT75 is not for the faint of heart, or...

The future of the video toaster: it started a revolution, but what lies ahead?(software for editing video recordings; includes related article on Amiga)
April 1, 1997... The last time I wrote on NewTek's Video Toaster in Camcorder and computerVideo, I focused on two major Toaster developments: the stand-alone version, the soon-to-be-released Amiga Toaster (without the Video Flyer); and a "pre-release" look...

How to buy an editing deck.
April 1, 1997... Any kind of video editing, even the simplest, involves at least two machines: typically a camcorder is one of them. It is connected to a VCR (the "deck") which copies selected segments from your "raw" video onto the VCR "master" tape. That's...

The baby zoom: the world's most photogenic subject is also the most difficult.
April 1, 1997... Why do babies never do what you want them to do when the camcorder is rolling? They move away, roll over and look away continuously. There is no posing with babies. Once you get the camcorder focused, they could be long gone out of the...

Packaging your videotapes: many people tend to judge the video by its cover.
April 1, 1997... One of the most difficult situations I have encountered is the task known as "video packaging." Simply described, packaging is when the home or professional videographer decides to complete his tape with a printed image on the tape box cover...

Beyond video editing.(video conferencing)
April 1, 1997... Recently, after completing a small editing project, I sat back in my chair, congratulated myself for wrapping up the last piece of video work on my plate, and gazed at the wonderful video editing machine I had assembled. I have invested...

Precision editing on a budget: you can start right now with the tools you have. (video editing)
April 1, 1997... The key to creating a video that is fun to watch is editing. But editing doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. The fact is you can put together a good, edited video with a minimum of equipment, probably with the equipment you already...

Sony DCR-PC7. (camcorder)(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... The new one-chip DCR-PC7 Digital Video camcorder is yet another step towards replacing VHS and 8mm as the new home videotaping format. Digital Video, whether in a professional $100,000 machine or in this consumer-targeted unit, offers...

Panasonic PV-D506. (camcorder)(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... The trend these days in camcorder design seems to be to combine features in such a way as to target both the general user plus a certain segment of buyers who have a very specialized application. Panasonic's PV-D506 does exactly that; most...

Sharp VL-E39U. (camcorder)(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... By now most everyone has seen the Sharp ViewCam, with its LCD monitor on the back and its rotating lens turret. The VL-E39U is a stripped-down, bare-bones version of this famous ViewCam. It is designed for the price-conscious consumer who...

Going wireless: high-quality video/audio transmission. (WAVECOM wireless TV signal transmitters)(Evaluation)
April 1, 1997... Have you ever wanted to move your VCR, cable box and TV set to a different part of the house, but the cables just wouldn't reach? Wouldn't it be neat to have a pay-per-view party and be able to send that expensive program to another TV...

Sound of silence: why you must use earphones and external mike when you record.
April 1, 1997... When Simon and Garfunkel recorded "Sound of Silence" in 1965, they were making a musical/philosophical comment on our society. Today, however, if you use a camcorder and don't have an earphone hooked up so you can hear exactly what you are...

Free video software on the Internet.
April 1, 1997... Do you want video software for free, or for a small fee? You can get it from the Internet. That's right: You can use the Internet to access a variety of video-editing tools and utilities. With a little searching and downloading creativity,...

Filtered images: creating special effects in front of your camcorder's lens.(includes related article on mounting equipment for camcorder filters)
April 1, 1997... How would you like to create a scene that gradually changes from one color to another? Or has three, five, or twenty replicas of the subject? Or that crowns the subject with a rainbow? You can easily do any of these. All you need is a...