|
WAVE POWER
STANDFIRST
Turn your PC into a powerful video editing
studio with this simple to use package from MGI. Rick Maybury puts down his
camcorder and picks up his mouse to put VideoWave through its paces...
COPY
Nowhere is the pace of PC development more
clearly illustrated than in their ability to process moving video. It is an
incredibly complex business, that until very recently remained out of reach of
all but the most knowledgeable and well-heeled users. Faster processors and
tumbling prices have changed all that. Now it is possible to put together
professional-looking productions on a home multimedia system.
However, the hardware is only part of the
story. Software has had an equally significant role in the PC video editing
revolution. MGI VideoWave is one of the first of a new generation of personal
video editing suites, that are no more difficult to use than a word-processor
or paint-box program.
VideoWave puts all of the main features of a
pukka video studio, into a PC. The PC in question needs to be at least a
486DX/66 with 16MB of RAM and 10Mb of free hard disc space, though as ever MGI
are being somewhat optimistic. Unless you enjoy watching paint dry a more
realistic minimum specification would be a P133 system with at least 100Mb
space on the hard disc and 32Mb of RAM. Better still would be an MMX machine,
for which the software has been optimised.
The publicity blurb and packaging needs to be
treated with a certain amount of caution. Video capture is at the top of the
feature list, but it’s important to note that this requires a video capture
card, that is not included in the basic package. It’s also important to say
that the quality of the finished video will depend to a large extent on the
capabilities of the capture card, moreover, if you want to get the video out of
the PC and onto tape you will also need some form of video output device.
However, you can still put together movies without a capture card, the package
includes a CD ROM stuffed full of demo files, video and sound and clips.
The rest of the features are rather more
straightforward. After video editing -- more about that in a moment -- the main
areas of interest are transitions, special effects, titling and audio editing.
The transitions range from a simple cut or dissolve, to a choice of 20 animated wipe patterns.
There are nine special effects categories:
* Swirl -- stirs the image into a whirl of
colours
* Spherize -- turns the image into a ball
shape
* Brighten -- alters the luminance level of
the picture
* Tile -- breaks up the image into a pattern
of square blocks
* Relief -- creates a 3D effect by adding
texture
* Ripple -- makes the picture appear as
though it is seen though water
* Smoked Glass -- adds an opaque filter
* Oil Painting -- exaggerates colour
contrast, crating a cartoon like effect
* Oval Frame -- inserts the video into an
oval shaped frame.
Titling is handled by a simple text editor,
that adds titles, credits or captions to the video. The colour and transparency
of the text can be customised, and it can be made to move on and off the
screen. Audio .WAV files can be added to the video; up to three tracks can
processed, mixed and edited as required with just a few simple mouse
clicks.
The instruction manual deserves a small pat
on the back for being so easy to follow. It assumes little or no prior
knowledge and there’s a very useful section on making better video movies. Installation went smoothly on our testbed PC
(P133/16Mb). The program opens with a friendly-looking desktop. At the top
there’s the Storyline, represented by a filmstrip, showing the clips and the
transitions. On the right side of the screen there’s the main toolbar and
library window. In the middle is the main preview screen, control panel and
editing time display. Below that are controls for the effects and transitions.
Editing is a doddle. Imported clips are shown
on the library window, simply click on the screen icon and drag it to the
preview screen. Edit in and out points are determined by two buttons on the
control panel, which also shows timings and clip duration. When the cuts have
been made, and any necessary adjustments to brightness and colour, the clip is
transferred to the Storyline. Transitions, effects and audio clips can be added
at any time. The technique is basically the same, and once they’re completed,
can be added to the Storyline.
The Storyline can be saved at any time as a
work in progress but the final step is to save the video as a finished
production. At this point you’re presented with a number of options. They
include the file type (MPEG or QuickTime) and settings for frame size, frame
rate, number of colours and compression settings. The instructions do a good
job of explaining the ins and out of compression, and there’s an introduction
to video streaming. This enables video and audio clips to be incorporated into
Internet Web page. VideoWave supports four streaming protocols: VDOLive,
Vxtreme, Clear Video and Vivo Active.
The quality of the finished video depends on
a number of factors, including the speed and configuration of the PC, capture
card and the nature of the original video. The results on our very modestly-specified
system were most impressive, the excellent range of special effects will keep most
budding video directors amused for hours. Arguably there’s too many of them, the
temptation is to over use the more eye-catching effects (Swirl, Spherize and
Ripple), and end up with a dogs-dinner of a movie... Video footage shot on an
8mm camcorder were stored using a MediaVision capture board. Playback at the
default compression and quality settings was relatively smooth, there was some
loss of detail but colours were reasonably natural-looking.
VideoWave is an ideal introduction to PC
video editing but it has enough advanced facilities and effects to appeal to
more adventurous or demanding users. The most impressive feature has to be ease
of use. Video editing is basically a simple process but a lot of packages and
systems manage to make it appear a lot more complicated than it actually is.
VideoWave cuts through the jargon and mystique, the user interface is largely
intuitive -- Windows veterans should be able to get it up and running with no difficulty
whatsoever -- making it suitable for video movie makers of all aspirations and
abilities. Recommended.
FACT BOX
Simple to use video capture and editing
software for PC
How much? £99
Features video capture (with capture card,
not supplied), special effects, transitions, titling, text animation, MPEG
encoder/decoder, audio editor and mixer
MGI sales information, telephone (01628)
680227 , www.mgisoft.com
CV RATINGS
Features *****
Ease of use ****
Value for money *****
---end---
Ó R. Maybury 1997 1009
|
