Video editing with the VAIO is easy and, for the most part, elegant
"This is the sort of simplicity and elegance we expect to see from Apple... the Sony PictureBook is the most elegant and hassle-free portable video editing device we've ever tested."
Digital Video Made Simple
We try to present a balanced view of the ongoing "platform wars" between Macs and PCs and, truth be told, Macs have been better than PCs for video-editing tasks for much of the last decade. Indeed, we have owned several Macs (and a few "Mac compatibles," too) over the years, and have found them superior for most graphics-related tasks almost without interruption since the mid-eighties. In addition to the many PCs we regularly use here at the Video Buyer's Guide test labs, we currently have a dual 500 MHz G4 tower -- an undeniably great computer! -- here.
It's healthy for technology journalists to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with their subject matter. Otherwise, punditry can descend into zealotry, or may at least be suspected of bias. And, despite the way we're sure it must appear from time to time, we really don't like those "mine's better than yours" platform arguments.
Currently, we're watching Apple's position in the digital video market very closely, and seeing a widening gap between the capabilities of under-US$1500 systems available for the PC (e.g., the US$999 Matrox RT2000, $1499 Pinnacle DC1000DV, etc.) and those available on the Mac, with tools such as Final Cut Pro, iMovie2, etc. In our view, Apple seriously needs to offer a real-time editing platform in this price range (or find one to champion) to stay relevant.
We've been testing the Sony PictureBook, a 2.2-pound, inch-thick portable powered by a power-thrifty 600 MHz Transmeta Crusoe processor with 128 MB of RAM (expandable to 192MB), a 12GB drive, built-in video camera, panoramic-format 1024x480 screen, iLink IEEE 1394 interface, TV out, VGA out, USB, PC Card slot, "Memory Stick" slot, built-in V.90 modem, stereo speakers, video effects processing tools, movie editing software, etc. and, we have to admit, it greatly exceeds the capabilities of any portable Mac as a video editing platform in terms of out-of-the-box functionality.
As we noted in early July, we fully expect Apple to announce a panoramic portable and an even stronger emphasis on video editing (and DVD) next year, but we really think Sony has raised the bar. We are finding its "MovieShaker" software quite magical -- it just works. It's amazingly easy to build a fully edited video with a musical soundtrack, professional looking edits, special effects and titles. Here are the steps.
On the downside, there are a few things MovieShaker lacks, too. Most notably, it can't import files directly from your camcorder -- you have to use a separate capture utility, or use Sony's proprietary Memory Stick solid-state storage media to move the files from device to device. It also can't export directly back to a digital camcorder, although it can save files in DV format directly from MovieShaker. (Thus, you can save DV files directly to a Memory Stick, if you have a compatible Sony camcorder.)
Despite these minor lapses, Sony appears to have the right idea. It customizes the Windows environment significantly. It bundles a vast collection of software: antivirus tools, Microsoft Word 2000, Quicken 2000 (not the Canadian version, unfortunately), digital and analog video editing tools, video email utilities, audio and video mixing utilities, video titling and special effects programs, a panoramic photo editor, sound clip library, media browser, choice of Netscape or IE, and the multimedia-rich Windows Me (which, as much as it chagrins most Mac users to admit, is the most trouble-resistant version of Windows yet).
No longer do you have to worry that the QuickTime Player doesn't do full-screen mode unless you pay US$29.95 for the Pro edition of QuickTime (an issue that is still true, by the way - we don't know how Sony manages to fool the QT player to go to full-screen mode when it is *not* the Pro edition). No longer do you have a separate CD audio player, MP3 player and yet another player for Windows Media files. Sony's Media Player handles full-screen QuickTime Movies, CD audio (complete with artist and song names pulled from the CDDB database), Windows Media video, audio, etc., all in a single unified interface.
Looking for a picture or a video file? The system's VideoFlow browser displays the pictures and movies in a fun, freeform fashion, where the directory hierarchy is displayed as a floating, moving collection of icons that follow your mouse pointer around the VideoFlow browser screen. When you left-click a movie, it plays. When you right click, it collapses and goes up to the parent directory. It's not necessarily more functional that the Windows Explorer "Web view" (or the Mac OS X "column view," for that matter) but it sure feels a lot more magical.
The SmartCapture utility, controlled directly from a button on the PictureBook is another highlight. with it, you can capture still images or full-motion video. A large number of special effects are available, all of which can be previewed in real time. With them, you can alter your videos with effects such as cartoon borders, spherize and warp distortions, black-and-white and high-contrast colour modes, real-time mirror images -- there's even a cutsie "change faces" effect that can be used to put someone's face on another person's body. What fun! The effects can be added to your movie and processed in real time, albeit at a resolution best suited for web-based movie distribution.
Anyway, this is the sort of simplicity and elegance we expect to see from Apple. It's good stuff, and we hope Steve Jobs and the team at Apple are still thinking of the small but elegant things that make Mac fans "love" their computers. For now, the Sony PictureBook is the most elegant and hassle-free portable video editing device we've ever tested. Recommended.
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