Software Review of:
MGI VideoWave II 

FireWire may even complement the IDE bus (i.e. ATA). The 1394 is a bus that can serve these devices both inside and outside the box, as well as provide a transfer-rate roadmap that goes well into the giga-byte per second range. A single 1394 interface on the motherboard gives the system access to a possible 63 of these devices. The IEEE1394 multimedia bus provides a high speed interface that meets the demands of todays multimedia PC markets. It offers high-speed, high-bandwidth communication for real-time data transfer. This, coupled with the low cost and ability to handle MPEG, MPEG2, MLAN, and DBC data, makes it by far the best choice for real time multimedia applications. 

FireWire / IEEE1394 advantages include: 

• High-speed real-time data transfer rates.
• True Plug-and-Play on Win 9X platforms.
• Guaranteed bandwidth for real-time applications.
• Peer-to-Peer communication.
• Support for isochronous and asynchronous transfer modes.
• Up to 63 devices per FireWire / IEEE1394 bus
• Compliant with the IEEE1394 standard for High performance Serial Bus (IEEE1395 busses available also). 

As the price of computers continues to drop, more people are finding practical uses to make it useful to own one. One of these uses is imaging. Photos, videos, audio, and images from camcorders, VCR, and TV capture cards or tuners, can be posted in family albums, web sites, or presentations. VideoWave is used to combine these various forms into a coherent video, customized to your preferences. You can output the video to tape, CD, DVD, or to your computer. VideoWave is a video editor, as opposed to an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop, MGI PhotoSuite, Or Micrografix Picture Publisher. It is not designed for manipulation of individual images, but combining them with special effects into a video. 

Before you buy VideoWave II, or any other video or image editor, let alone attempt installation, pay special attention to the hardware requirements. While computers are more capable than ever, these specialized software applications have requirements that are, in some instances, more than a match for even the top PC's. 

Installation of VideoWave went smoothly during the first try. I had to re-install it due to a mistake I made while using the application. The install program checks to insure you have all the necessary requirements, and installs version 6 of DirectDraw if it is not on your machine. Since it is designed to make use of MMX (Multi Media eXtensions), it also checks to see if your machine has this capability, and if it does, installs MMX components and drivers. 

While using VideoWave, I right clicked the mouse on the 'Transitions' button and chose close to discontinue this effect. Bad move! This turned off this effect. It should'nt have done this, and I am still checking on the cause, as I doubt this is a bug in the app, but rather something I did. To recover this important effect, I had to re-install VideoWave. The install hung during installing the DirectDraw components on the re-install. If this situation happens to you, when the install message ". . .installing MediaX. . ." comes on, do the following. Perform the Microsoft salute: alt-ctl-del one time to bring up the task manager. Look for a file named 'dxmedia', select it with one mouse click, click on 'end task'. This unloads the already installed component from memory, and frees up the system to begin the fresh install. If you did this by the numbers, the installation should immediately take off. 

After the installation is complete, open up the preferences to set up the app before starting use. While learning all the capabilities will take time, putting together your first video is really easy. Open the library and choose 'Add files'. Browse your drive to find images, video clips, sound files, graphics, and anything else you might want to use. After these are added, they show up in the library box, just to the left of the edit box. Drag and drop the first component into the edit box, select the effect from the bar and have at it. When the effect is complete, drag and drop the piece onto the first scene at the top of the desktop (into an image resembling a frame of film). Continue this process until you have the pieces, and go to produce. VideoWave will lead you through the necessary steps to turn the pieces into a video clip. If this sounds a bit oversimplified, it is not. Using this app really is just that easy. I admit however, it will require time and effort to maximize the capabilities, but even a total beginner can put a basic video together in no time. 

The GUI (Graphical User Interface) is well laid out. While VideoWave has a good manual, along with a comprehensive on-line help system, the GUI menu is easy to follow. Many applications claim this, but relatively few produce. My personal favorites are generally from Borland, and this one is every bit their equal. You can make a video clip look like it was done professionally. 

Text for titles and credits, along with text animations make a big difference. A process called Image Blend uses the Video Animator to combine video effects from multiple clips into one. You can add a person into a scene, and if done right, you would be hard pressed to tell that was a composite. The specific component is the Chroma Key. Perhaps the most familiar effect of Chroma Key is the weather forecast on all the local TV stations. The person doing the weather stands in front of a colored screen, usually blue or green. This image is superimposed over the weather map, making it appear as if the weatherperson is standing in front of the map. 

VideoWave does this using the Remove Color button, and Tolerance slider. There are numerous special effects like swirls, melts, etc., along with the ability to add sound, music, and narration. When you have a video ready, it can be saved in AVI (Audio Video Interlaced), Apple Quicktime, or MPEG (Motion Picture Expert Group — the same as the new DVD). VideoWave has a built in MPEG encoder, and this creates a high quality video and gives good compression to reduce the size of the video. This is very important, as video consumes enormous quantities of hard drive space. Remember, you can input files for the video from television capture cards, TV tuner cards, VCR, camcorders, still images, or the new digital sources. 

I have tried a few other video programs, the most well known being Premiere from Adobe. Premiere has a few more bells and whistles, and probably more absolute capabilities, but is far more costly, and I found it much more difficult to learn. For most potential users, VideoWave will be all you need. 

To give my opinion on the realistic difference between the two. I refer to one of my favorite movies, "Rio Bravo". In a scene, the drunken deputy played by Dean Martin, has been overpowered by the bad guys. This allows them to get the drop on the sheriff, John Wayne. They are going to force Wayne to release a prisoner, or kill him. The "kid" (good guy) played by Rick Nelson, assisted by the good-bad female, Angie Dickinson, bails Wayne out with some fancy gun work. When Wayne frees Martin, who was handy with a gun before becoming a drunk, Martin asks Wayne of Nelson, "Is he as good as I was?" Wayne responds, "It'd be close. I'd hate to live on the difference." 

This is a good product, and I recommend it to anyone interested in video production for the computer, or even editing home videos. The price is right, the product is effective, and easy to use. If anyone is interested in desktop production, a good source for applications and hardware can be found at: http://www.publishingperfection.com

MGI products are generally available locally, and VideoWave has a suggested price of $99.95, but if you shop around, it can be found for $89.99. Depending on when this review comes out, MGI is offering VideoWave to Alamo PC members for $40.00. Check with David Steward to see if this special offer is still available, as I think it is a great buy. 

I mentioned the stricter requirements, and they are substantial. Windows 95/98 or NT 4.0 with service pack 4, 166MHz Pemtium class CPU minimum (266MHz MMX Pentium II recommended), 32MB RAM minimum (64MB or more recommended), 1GB hard drive space for application to use minimum (6GB UDMA or SCSI recommended), 100MB hard drive space for video content, 2MB video card minimum with Direct Draw capability, 16-bit stereo sound card, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, Video capture or tuner card recommended, IEEE1394 (Adaptec 8520, 8940, or 8945) required to capture from and output to DV 

MGI Software Corp. 
50 West Pearce Street 
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 1E3 
phone 905/764-7000 
support@mgisoft.com
www.mgisoft.com