Nikon Capture NX Software for Windows and Mac

Capture NX is a radically enhanced and redesigned version of Nikon’s digital image editing software. It delivers powerful and dedicated tools for photographers who want to work with their raw digital images (NEF file). Until now only possible with extensive mastery of layers and masking techniques — but with the creative advantages of U Point technology, you’ll be able to subtly blend with other adjustments to provide a natural looking result. Capture NX will revolutionize the way photographers work with digital images. Choice of positive or negative application of selective tools for Brush, Lasso and Marquee (four kinds), Gradient and Fill/Remove Reinforced Color Management optios include Perceptual, Saturation, Relative Colorimetric and Absolute Colorimetric Inherits advanced functions like Color Aberration Control, D-Lighting, Image Dust Off, Vignette Control and Fisheye-to-Rectilinear Image Transformation Compatible with non-Nikon cameras Part of the Nikon Total Imaging System comprising cameras, lenses, Speedlights, film scanners, accessories and related software Operating Systems – Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional; Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later System Requirements – CPU 1.0 GHz Pentium III/G4 or G5 processor or higher; 256MB RAM; 800 x 600 display; CD-ROM; Internet connection

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Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2 Do Amazing Things Bpg Other

Millions of people have downloaded Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2, which offers new features that make creating home movies amazingly fun—and this guide shows how to get awesome results right away! The author is a Movie Maker expert who teaches you the best ways to import and edit footage; make titles, credits, and captions; create scene transitions; add soundtracks and voiceovers; and premiere your movie on CD, DVD, or the Web. The author’s Web site keeps you up to date on the latest in hardware, file format, and other digital video topics that are constantly evolving. Fun, focused, and easy to follow, this book shows how quickly your own movies can come together with Windows Movie Maker 2—and how you, too, can create the effects you see in movies and on TV every day!

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Wonderful Movie Maker!
If you have made slideshows and used pictures in PowerPoint or other programs, give Movie Maker a shot. Then after you fiddle with Movie Maker, give this book a shot. I have found it to be the very best guide to Movie Maker available and I don’t think you will be disappointed. It gives a very good description of Movie Maker from top to bottom and the pictures on every page are beautiful and glossy. It is clear that the author spent a lot of time working on the book and it only benefits us as readers. Good luck with your movies and good luck with this book too. Enjoy!

5 Stars Movie Maker 2 review
Opens up the world of video/audio post-production on your home computer.

Software is already installed on most windows computers.

3 Stars Just not for me..
To much reading,I needed more visuals. It jumps around a bit to. I would Recommend “Movie Maker 2 Visual Quickstart Guide By Jan Ozer”

4 Stars Good information
While you could probably discover most of what’s in the book on your own — just using the program — this will guide you to quickly understand the power of Movie Maker. It’s not the best developed book on the subject. But it’s a book worth buying and perhaps using as a reference or introducing you to the many rich features of the program.

5 Stars Great for beginners like me!
I’ve been doing photography since the 1970’s. Until recently I never owned a camcorder. So I literally knew nothing about how to work with it or any kind of video media. This book totally solved this issue. If you’re a beginner this is a great book for you. It goes deep enough to keep me going for the next few months. Eventually I’ll outgrow it but not for a good while.What I like best about the book is that it really does start with the bottom line basics which everyone “in the know” assumes that you already know. But that’s the problem that this book solves. Buy it!

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Microsoft Expression Studio 2 Upgrade

Microsoft Expression Studio 2 Mac/Win English UPG DVD , a suite of tools for creative designers that gives you the freedom to bring your vision to reality and boosts developer collaboration in the delivery of rich user experiences for the Web, Windows Vista applications and beyond.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Quite a package
Version 2 of this suite of programs seems to have smoothed out some rough edges from the first release, as you’d expect.

Blend 2 has helpful verbose tooltips on the various properties you can set in the Properties Panel.

Blend 2 offers Silverlight 1 layout and design, but people who buy Blend 2 or Expression Studio 2 will get Blend 2.5 for free. Blend 2.5 will be able to create Silverlight 2 applications. You can download the Blend 2.5 Preview for free. It can run on the same computer as Blend 2.

Expression Web 2 is a solid HTML/CSS Web design program. If you edit HTML or web pages, it’s as good as any program out there.

Expression Design 2 is a capable drawing program similar to Adobe Illustrator but without as many filters and effects and layer blending modes. Its main advantage is its native file format is XAML so anything you create can be exported for WPF or Silverlight. I’ve had good luck opening Adobe Illustrator files with it, then exporting them as XAML.

Expression Encoder 2 is supposed to be faster than version 1 and produce better results, according to the training videos on the DVD. The presenter really seems to know video production and the free training videos have whetted my appetite for the full training series.

That brings me to the first extra — there are hours of free training videos from Total Training on the DVD. They’ll give you a quick start on each program. It’s a lot easier to watch someone demonstrate something in a video than to read step-by-step procedures in a manual.

The Expression Web training gives a quick tour of the program and new features in version 2. The Expression Blend videos cover a lot of info about how Blend creates WPF content. In fact, the trainer said that basically Blend is a XAML editor. If you are a design person, you’ll learn much about the terminology and functionality of WPF. If you’re a developer, you’ll learn to visualize the XAML code you’re familiar with.

The second valuable extra is that Expression Studio includes a free version of Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition. If you don’t have Visual Studio 2008, that alone is worth about $200.

If you are a developer interested in learning to develop new WPF and Silverlight applications, this is a full-featured toolkit. If you’re a designer interested in developing rich Internet content, this is a cohesive set of design tools.

And if you are a developer with an interest in design or a designer who can dip into code, there’s a lot of power available to you in Expression Studio 2.

5 Stars Useful set of tools for the web and design
I purchased the Expression Studio 2 suite of programs a few months ago and have really enjoyed working with all of them. The current version seems stable and useful. The program modules enhance each other and work well together. It has very good documentation for all the programs in the help files. These are advanced programs that take some time to become proficient with but are worth the effort.

I use the Design program with a wacom graphic tablet The user interface is well designed and the tools have a consistent logic. Import and export capabilities are good.

I have found a lot of use for the Media module. This is a powerful, easy to use, photo organizing program. Another feature is the ability to make html galleries for the web. There are several options for gallery designs and they are easy to modify in a web design program.

Studio includes Expression Web, a standards compliant web authoring program geared to using css as the basic design format. Once you get used to the css style of web design the tools and set up of Expression Web make sense.

Studio also includes Encoder which produces a set of files that can be incorporated into a web site to display movie files for the web. By using tools in Blend you can customize the “skin” that holds the movie file.

Blend also allows you to design Silverlight applications to animate the web user-interface. This gets a bit complicated for someone like myself without a strong coding background, but is doable with some persistence.

Expression has a strong future in designing for the emerging rich media interface of the web. I am glad I purchased it and I find powerful new ways of using the tools as I explore the extensive feature set of the programs.

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Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus

Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus Mini Box Terms Ideal for ambitious filmmakers: MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 14 PLUS unites highly precise video editing tools with advanced surround dubbing Turn your PC into a complete first-class film studio in a flash: With highly precise editing tools, support for Blu-ray Discs- and AVCHD camcorders, movie-ready special effects, individual 3D animations for videos, text and photos, crystal-clear Dolby Digital sound and much more: your videos deserve the best.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Nice product
This is my third or fourth edition of this product and so far it is all that I would expect from Magix. Provides some very good abilities for an inexpensive program. Would recommend it to anyone.

5 Stars Movie edit pro 14 plus
Excellent program- Could not believe that you could get all this editing power for such a reasonable price.

5 Stars Finally, we get the same version as Europe!
I’ve been unhappy with Magix since they released a buggy Version 10 to North America but nowhere else. (see my review of Version 10 for details).

But now we get the same version as Europe, and it is good! If you do more than basic editing, get the Plus version, it is worth the extra for all the extra stuff you get.

I love Magix Movie Edit Pro! Loads of layers, video and audio effects and cleaning tools, etc. It has everything- capture (via firewire or analog capture, cards not included), editor, titling, wipes and fades, blue/greenscreen and black/whitescreen, audio mixer, keyframes, motion tools (ie, you can do the Ken Burns thing), plus it includes DVD menu creation including animated backgrounds/buttons and DVD burning. Comes with its own stand-alone CD and DVD burning program.

Says it has HD High Definition capabilities but I haven’t used that part of it yet.

If you are making fanfilms on the cheap, get this one! Check out YouTube for loads of examples and tutorials.

5 Stars Great Value, easy to use
Compared to other solutions that I have used before (Pinnacle, Ulead), Movie Edit Pro delivers much more stabilty and more functions. First, I took me some time to understand the workflows, but after that it was simply joy. For example: You have 99 tracks, other have 3 or 4. You never need 99 tracks, but you need sometimes 5 or 6 for titles, effects, some noice, music…..and you can use any track for all kind of medias, also pictures. The effects are all realtime and non destructive….

Pros: – you need 2 hours to understand the principle, after that VERY easy to use

- great deep in functionality, you can build your own effects, create pro looking DVDs…

- youtube upload is fun

- cheap price for high quality

- after all I tried BEST VALUE

Cons: – user interface is different than other video applications

- some German words in translation

Summary: This product is a deal. After I tried Pinnacle and Sony Movies Studio, this is the best choice. I am totally happy with the results and the product works very stable.

Concerning DVD burning I had no problems and my player was able to playback all DVDs I made.

5 Stars Movie Edit Pro 14 is finally a good Vista Version
I own thousands of dollars worth of Magix Products, Movie Edit 14 PRO finally is not buggy and it’s pretty fast.

Magix needs to over haul their layout and tools and make the program more professional and make effects, chroma and green screen stuff easier. It seems that every tweak Magix does to it’s Movie Edit series, is ahodge-podge hidden add-on that really don’t give you much control.

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Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Upgrade from Final Cut Studio Mac

Upgrade only

Final Cut Studio 2 takes you beyond editing. This powerful new version of Final Cut Pro is at the center of six integrated tools. Work is fast, fluid, and flexible, no matter what you’re doing: Motion graphics, audio editing and mixing, color grading, and delivery. Whether you’re cutting commercials, editing feature films, or pushing out the nightly news, Final Cut Server helps you work faster whenever you’re working together. DVD Studio Pro 4 is professional DVD authoring. Create SD and HD projects, author discs with interactive elements and create animated menus. Whether you produce demo reels, complex commercial titles, or anything in between, it has simple, powerful tools for authoring DVDs.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Upgrade version
Because this is an upgrade, most users will be familiar with the product.

My complaint is that, while it comes with 90 days of support, by the time it is delivered and installed, you only get about 60 days of support. Learning this software is like trying to get a PhD in Astro Physics and the training is outrageously expensive. The difference between 90 days support and 60 days is probably worth 6 or 7 hundred dollars. It’s like the old ad for Listerine. I hate it but I use it.

—-

5 Stars Pleased
Simply put – this is an excellent program…I am not a professional, and I had to get a video just to begin to learn how to use it (35 hrs of lessons). But, WoW, it can do everything.

5 Stars Wonderful world of computer movies
I love this product and wish I could use it all this time. Perhaps then I’d master more. As it is, it has overshadowed Photoshop as the finest software I don’t know enough about. The manuals are great though. If I devote the time, I can do anything I want. I’m still struggling with the chasm between Adobe Flash and Final Cut. I wish I could meld them together. Photoshop CS3 has helped with its movie and 3D features.

5 Stars Final Cut pro gets better and better!
I’ve been using FCP since version 1, and it just keeps getting better and better. I started out doing linear editing on 3/4″, 1″ and then Betacam. Moving to non-linear was the best thing in the world (’cause everyone wants to make changes!). What’s frustrating for me is that FCP allows me to do anything I see on TV, and I’m only limited by own creativity (which is the problem!).

The only drawback I see is the loops and clips for motion and soundtrack take up like 40gigs of my 100gig Macbook Pro! If you can find a big flashdrive, I’d recommend storing the loops/material on something external.

5 Stars Final Cut Studio 2
Great product and easy to update for old version 5.5

Very good set of books that has detailed information on very part of the program.

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Startech com 4 Port IEEE 1394 FireWire PCI Card with Digital Video Editing Kit PCI1394 4

Harness the power of FireWire with StarTech.com’s PCI1394 4 digital video editing kit. This complete kit allows you to connect iPods, MP3 players, portable drives, digital camcorders and more to your desktop computer. As well, the card supports hot-swapping, so you’ll be able to plug, unplug, and swap your FireWire peripherals with ease. The kit includes a 5 foot FireWire cable and a copy of ULEAD’s VideoStudio SE Basic video editing software, making it easy to capture and edit video from your digital video camcorder. Guaranteed to work with both PCs and Macs, the PCI1394 4 is backed by StarTech.com’s lifetime warranty and free lifetime tech support.This card is WHQL Certified – designed to work with Microsoft Windows XP.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good to go
I use a Mac G4 Power Mac for video editing and was looking for a quick fix when my firewire400 died. I ordered and received this card within a week. Installation was a breeze and I was up and running in under 15 minutes. No drivers, no fuss. Just plug and play. I’ve done a few short subjects with this card and so far so good. I didn’t bother with the Ulead software, as I already have video editing software.

4 Stars Great Value, Minor Software Issues
I recently installed this card on a system running Windows Vista Home Premium. Installing the card and included ulead version 10 software package takes less than 15 minutes.

In General

First, this is a great value for the price. The card, firewire cable and software is a great starter bundle if you need to transfer video to your computer.

Second, the video editing software is very simple to use. Just connect the firewire cable to your camcorder and your ready to rock and roll. The on-screen controls let you view, fast forward, reverse, pause, play and pause your camcorder. Users simply scan through the video to find what they want to capture, then click on Capture Video. From there you move through your miniDV tape to the next section of video, click on Capture and subsequent clips are recorded and stored in a media library on your computer.

Once you have a few clips captured, users can easily drag and drop the video clips onto a timeline, insert a handful of transitions, add titles, include background music and perform other basic editing tasks.

After the user has finished adding the effects and other touches you can export the video to formats such as mp1, mp2, vcd and so forth. The program also has a Share Online feature that will export your project to a nicely compressed .wmv file that you can upload to youtube or insert into a web page or blog.

Considerations

Hey, for the price of a complete package, there is nothing much to complain about. However, I want to point out a few things. First, I recommend that if you are using a miniDV camera that you use the cameras video controls to locate what you want to capture then pause the camera. Next, click on the Capture Video button in the program and it will start from the paused location and record until you press Stop Capture. Using the software to control a miniDV camera can be done, but, it is easy to go forward or reverse too much while waiting on the tape.

The only other issue that I have, again with the software, is that it doesn’t let the user export to .FLV (Flash) or Quicktime formats. As a web developer I prefer the .FLV format since 99% of every personal computer has flash already installed.

However, if your only concern is uploading video to youtube, remember, you can upload .wmv files to youtube and it will convert them to flash files when it places them online.

The last three issues that I have are with the software and windows Vista. The software that came with the order included Ulead 10 SE. 1. When you run the program, Vista will “downgrade” your display settings (a software update should fix this). 2. I could never get the Auto Update to work. I suggest that after you install the software that you go to uleads support web site and download the updates. If your a novice computer user you may need help downloading and installing the updates from ulead’s web site. If your comfortable with downloading updates and installing them, then, this should not be a problem. 3. The Ulead SE program will pop up advertisements from Ulead from time to time. From what I could tell it only did this whenever you finish exporting your final project.

In conclusion, this is a great package for the price. If you can operate a camcorder and get around in Windows you shouldn’t have a problem getting started capturing, editing and exporting your projects to a DVD, the web, or for other uses.

I rated this product at 4 stars. I deducted one star for the minor inconveniences when using it with Windows Vista and for the nagging pop up ads.

5 Stars Great product
The card was super easy to install and works great. Can’t be much simpler than that!

4 Stars Very good product
I bought this card for use with my mini-DV camcorder. The card worked flawlessly and was true plug and play right out of the box (atleast on Windows XP Professional). The only issue I had was with the supplied ULead software which required a license key that was not included in the package. I emailed StarTech customer service and they sent a key promptly. However the ULead software was buggy and had issues with playing audio during preview. So I use Windows movie maker to transfer video from the camcorder. I am extremely happy with StarTech but not satisfied with ULead software.

5 Stars Great deal.
This is a great deal for a firewire port and cable. Came quickly, no problems. The Ulead software is almost useless if you have Windows Moviemaker, but it’s nice that they throw that in there anyway. I haven’t fully explored it, but it didn’t seem as good to me. Overall, great deal!

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Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Mac

Final Cut Studio 2 takes you beyond editing. This powerful new version of Final Cut Pro is at the center of six integrated tools. Work is fast, fluid, and flexible, no matter what you’re doing: Motion graphics, audio editing and mixing, color grading, and delivery. Whether you’re cutting commercials, editing feature films, or pushing out the nightly news, Final Cut Server helps you work faster whenever you’re working together. DVD Studio Pro 4 is professional DVD authoring. Create SD and HD projects, author discs with interactive elements and create animated menus. Whether you produce demo reels, complex commercial titles, or anything in between, it has simple, powerful tools for authoring DVDs.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Finally!
Using v1 for years, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of v2. I can now confirm that FCS2 has matured to the point of being called industry ready. v1 had issue no doubt. But with so much effort directed towards Motion and DVD studio Pro, v2 has all the elements in place for serious mission critical use. Though FC itself seems to have been ignored. To date, we still rely heavily on third party plug-ins to get most of our intensive work done in FC. Soundtrack lacks. But we do very little sound. But it does have unparalleled integration and ease of use. Though the app seems a bit unstable. Certainly not as bad as mentioned above. Having used After effects CS3, I can reasonably claim that it simply does not compare. We haven’t launched AE since we became familiar with the newest Motion. Now that the entire suite has been optimized to run on the 8 Core Mac Pro, we have officially listed all of our remaining Avid hardware for sale on ebay. Avid can’t hold a candle. With the Pro HDVC from Apple and broadcast H.264, color correction was all that was keeping Avid alive in our studio. Now that Color is finally here along with support from Red industries, goodbye to Avid and their lackluster and unjustifiably high priced hardware. We get better results in less time for $100,000 less. Color is a bit raw, but has been the biggest difference maker. It is beyond words. Apple made the purchase for $25,000,000 and still kept the price-point the same. This is a sign of great things to come. We are no longer at the mercy of over priced hardware and overly difficult software from Avid. To top it all off, FCS2-Server was the reason why we made the hardware switch all together to Mac Pro 8 cores. It has full support for X-grid and SAN solutions. Now, if any station is unmanned, we run our own scripts to jump start the rendering on 24 cores with 48 Gigs of ram. We get final color and rendering done with a 30 minutes to 1 hour of content time ratio. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable! If the expected fixes come to Soundtrack and Color, we will be ready to move our entire Dubai fleet over within 6 months. Thanks Apple for your hard work and impeccable business ethics. You have finally done it!

3 Stars Expected More quality
Updated Feb 2008

Final Cut Studio 2 is an inigma. On th one hand it has MASSIVE strengths and on the other it has MASSIVE weaknessess. If you are eperianced on other pro editing applications like Pro Tools or Avid you could experiance frustration … as I do.

STRENGTHS

Final Cut Studio 2 has everthing you need to produce a great program

Final Cut Studio 2 ships with awsome content to get you up & running … templates, presets, royalty free music and sound effects (lots!)

Intergration with the other programs in the suite makes Final Cut Pro do amazing stuff. Some great codecs too.

Apple listen to feedback (note the change in this review … you CAN now zoom in on the cursor … thanks Apple.)

WEAKNESSESS

No manuals for applications that have had a major overhaul!! (Except FCP6) There are 4 manuals for Final cut Pro 6 containing far too much detail about a program that really doesn’t have a lot of functionality. (there is about a quarter of an inch thick section on the audio mixer … a mixer that has inputs, levels and pans AND NOTHING ELSE!!!! no inserts – nix!)

and yet there is not even a piece of paper for Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Live Type, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro. The brand new program – Color gets a “setup guide” but no user manual. There are pdf files woopie doo. (Oh and you can’t buy them either!)

Final Cut Pro is not a user friendly cutting platform. As others have said, the User Interface is cumbersome … You often need to move the mouse / Trackball by fractional amounts to grab minute “hot spots / Lines” … not so easy when you have your mouse set up to cover 2 screens with one sweep. If you want to Export from Motion or STP (and many other MAC based Programs) you use Cmd E right? NOT on Final Cut Pro! Luckily you can assign it if it bugs you (i did) So the suite integration isn’t all it could be.

File Management (as with other NLEs is tricky. With FCP your files get stored on a “scratch disk” It seems to have more in comon with Avid Liquids FM system (which is terifiying!) than with good ‘ol Adobe Prmier Pro.

Soundtrack Pro 2 now seems to be less Buggy than it’s first (2.0.0) release. It offers so much and is enjoyable to work with (better in some ways than Adobe Audition)

Put asside 12 hours if you are installing OS and FCS2 from scratch.

All in all Final Cut Studio is OK … getting better … but still just Ok. I expected more quality and less initial bugs from Apple … (There was the OS 10.4.10 bug that prevented the use of the Alesis iO2 Audio interface … now fixed I am glad to say) … after all there are only about 10 Intel based MACs on the market as opposed to a quadzillian number of PC hardware / software combinations. Motion rocks but is still not as good as After Effects (I run AE CS3) You can do better. Avid Liquid (PC only unfortunatly … but does run well on boot camp) Pro Tools and After Effects is often a better (but far more costly) solution.

With all that said … I do use FCS2 a lot.

4 Stars Studio apps rock; FCP still could use a bit of work
Final Cut Studio is a fantastic suite of products, and the package just got sweeter with the release of FCP Studio 2.

Motion 3 and Color are the standouts, in my opinion, providing unprecedented power for their respective capabilities in anything remotely approaching this price range. In addition, the whole suite provides a level of interoperability that’s unparalleled, and blows away any competition in the industry today.

Given the suite’s fantastic breadth and depth of functionality, however, the newest iteration of the core application of the bunch, FCP6, does come off as a bit disappointing by comparison.

While the Open Timeline and ProRes 422 are notable and worthy enhancements to the FCP canon, the app nevertheless continues to be hampered by some long-standing Achilles’ heels, including various media management and UI issues. While everyone has their individual list of pet concerns, few knowledgeable users would argue that notable limitations don’t exist.

Especially considering the two-year “hiatus” from FCP’s last major release, this is an unexpected bit of a letdown. Clearly, the hard-working Apple team focused the bulk of their efforts on the other apps, and the results do show there (as noted above). [It's also worth noting that seasoned editors who've had experience on other platforms besides FCP, and who are accustomed to more demanding workflow situations as a matter of course, tend to be more mindful of shortcomings than the majority of users who may have used nothing but FCP, simply by virtue of a greater spectrum of experience.]

However, none of this is to take away from the FCP Studio apps’ overall high level of quality, tremendous synergy, and unbeatable price point. For the money, it is hard to imagine a better value in the world of post-production today.

3 Stars A mixed bag
Final Cut Pro 6 is a fantastic tool; a mature app with great features and rock-solid implementation.

Soundtrack Pro 2 (specifically 2.0.1), on the other hand, may be the worst piece of commercial, non-beta software (based on the severity and frequency of fatal/non-recoverable errors) I have ever had the misfortune to use. Of course, your mileage may vary, but I would advise anyone to think twice or three times about using Soundtrack Pro 2 for any sort of serious and/or mission critical application. Check the various boards/forums dedicated to Soundtrack Pro 2 and you will see that I am not alone in this estimation. Hopefully, Apple will soon see fit to patch this inexcusably buggy piece of software.

3 Stars Little difference–should have been a “point release” upgrade
I like Final Cut Pro, I like Motion, and I like LiveType. But it is as if they were written by 3 different companies who didn’t expect them to work together. And sadly, this version is no different. Still if you are doing editing on Apple hardware Final Cut Studio 2 is your best choice.

This program is for the every-day editor/user, not for casual users as the learning curve is way out there. Add to that the inconsistencies between the “Studio” products and you have more learning curve issues. Sadly, the video editor which bares the studio name Final Cut Pro, is the one tool that could have used a contemporary face lift and yet it had only what I would call “point release” quality updates. Whereas Motion (which was the most user-friend and modern interface) got huge new features that are outstanding.

It seems to ne that Final Cut may be at the end of what software engineers can do with the Final Cut Pro editor itself without a complete rewrite from the grown up. But then they stand the chance of alienating their current legacy users; and as we’ve seen with iMovie 2008, Apple isn’t too smart when it comes to cleverly updating video editing workflows.

Unfortunately, I still have to resort to using iMovie from time to time to capture video since it always captures anything from any camera, and then import it into Final Cut Pro. Whereas Final Cut Pro often imports without a problem 60 to 80 percent of the time. The other times you can spend an entire day trying to select the right “Easy Setup” to capture video. Why or why Apple does it not capture as easily as iMovie (’06)?

Is it worth an upgrade fee? Well sure if you’re in the business it isn’t that much of an expense. If you’re counting your pennies, however (if you only do wedding videos for example and don’t need the latest and greatest) you are really not missing anything by staying with the previous version. If you are considering this vs Adobe, well I’d go with Final Cut Studio and get a copy of Adobe After Effects (the CS3 version is very cool) and you’ll have the best tools available for the Apple platform.

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Microsoft Expression Web 2

Microsoft Expression Web 2 English DVD

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars I really wonder…
I’ve used Frontpage for a number of years but it began acting badly on my new computer. As there wasn’t a Frontpage update available – and nobody at MS seems interested in resolving my problems – I began a search for a replacement. I tried Dreamweaver C3 and was pleased. I thought about buying it but found it impossible to order online – something about matching my credit card information. I switched to Adobe’s phone ordering and was promptly placed on hold. After waiting 10 minutes I hung up and started searching again.

Amazon suggested Microsoft Expression when I searched for Dreamweaver so I downloaded the free trial version. It loaded just fine, but that’s about it. I attempted to edit a simple php page and the cursor bounced all over the place. It was very difficult to even select and move content. I saved the file and closed the program – then started again. The problems were the same AND I discovered that Expression added some heading code to my file – code that I did not want.

If Expression is supposed to really be a threat to DW then I’m missing something. Of the two programs I prefer DW3, but I can’t order it. Heck, the Adobe site suggested a retailer in my area, but has their address wrong. If I go to that store I wonder what I’ll find.

I am sorely disappointed in both of these giants. It seems that success has turned them both into typical uncaring behemouths.

My search continues. I have pages to write and I don’t have a WYSIWYG editor. I guess I’m returning to hand coding. At least Notebook still works as expected.

Larry J. Frieders, RPh

larry@thecompounder.com

340 Marshall, Unit 100 ~ Aurora, IL 60506

Tel 630-859-0333

5 Stars Watch out dreamweaver!
Great product. I used it to create my company’s website and I found Expression Web 2 to be smoother, easier to use, and more transparent than Dreamweaver. Highly reccomended!

5 Stars Watch Out Dreamweaver, There is a New Boss In Town
When I first started fooling around with we pages back in 1994 when the Internet was fresh and new my HTML editor of choice was a simple text editor. Over the years the Internet has evolved and technology has changed, but I’ve stuck with a simple text editor for most of my needs. I tried Microsoft Frontpage back in the day, but felt it was just so bloated and inefficient that it wasn’t worth it. It was with hesitation and a lot of reservations that I finally decided to give Microsoft Expression Web a shot — and wow, Microsoft has come a long, long way.

First thing about Expression Web is that it’s so flexible depending on your skillset. Are you still working with Frontpage extensions? No problem! Are you moving up to using stylesheets? It will guide you and help you along! Maybe you run your own site with custom coding — Expression understands PHP, Javscript and ASP without a problem! It will even do syntax checking as you write the code.

Even if you are a web guru Expression Web can help you out. With extensive support for XML, CSS and data sources you will find everything you need to keep your site chugging.

Gone is the inefficient, slow and incompatible features of Frontpage and in is the support for WWW, XML and CSS standards. You’ll love how it can help you not only keep your site compliant with the latest standards, but also how it helps with promoting your site from “dev” to “prod” with just a few clicks.

I tried Dreamweaver in the past, and found it not only too complicated, but way too expensive. Expression Web is really going to give Dreamweaver a run for their money — and their user base. Once you get the hand of Expression Web you may even find yourelf looking at the other Microsoft Expression products such as Microsoft Expression Blend 2 and Microsoft Expression Encoder 2 to further expand your web toolkit.

3 Stars Training Video Does Not Work
This product probably does what it claims to, but there’s a considerable learning curve. Microsoft includes a training video disc — but you can’t use it. The video demands Silverlight 1, and you can only download Silverlight 2 from Microsoft’s site. They have made version 1 completely unavailable, and in doing so ensured that the video won’t work. And of course you can’t email or call Microsoft for help, unless you want to pay $99 per bug. I would have hesitated before paying for this product if I knew part of it would not work at all.

4 Stars Good, bad, similar
Expression Web 2 is very similar to Dreamweaver 8. ‘EW2′ handels CSS code very well and has a good Design Window. FrontPage did a poor job viewing CSS web pages. I miss the Review button. Now you have to press F12 key to view through the browser, same as ‘DW8′. Overall, I like Expression Web 2, but I suggest buying a good manual to review the newer menu system, creating CSS, and publishing to the web. A good FTP program is suggested too. MS made just enough improvements to keep up with Dreamweaver 8. My give Expression Web 2 a positive review.

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Microsoft Expression Web 2 Upgrade

Microsoft Expression Web 2 English UPG DVD

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Crash Prone
Expression Web 2 is less reliable than Web Expression 1 which was less reliable than the last version of FrontPage. The process of making Expression Web 2 crash is very simple. Make lots of revisions to your Web page and just at the moment you figure it is time to save your page, the window turns whitish and the program churns indefinately. Eventually, you will give in and stop the churning by closing the program. When the program restarts you will see that all of your revisions were lost.

Expression Web 2 does not have an auto save feature. When it fails is random. However, I have found that if you frequently move your cursor from lower left to upper right of your window, it will crash more often.

Web Expression 2 is not ready for release, but neither was Web Expression 1. Go to the online forums that deal with Web Expression and you will read lots of reports and complaints from many users.

I publish more than 20 Web sites. My success depends on my publishing content. If I am slowed down Web Expression 2, it costs me money. Microsoft appears to be unconcerned with all of the negative reviews and complaints.

I’m currently evaluating Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver has a steep learning curve, but it appears to be more stable.

I suggest that first time Web publishers stay away from both products. Search for simple to use products. Consider whether you really need CSS. Most Web publishers don’t need CSS for simple personal sites or even simple commercial sites.

If I had to make a recommendation for a novice use, it would be for the last version of FrontPage. It was easy to learn, fairly reliable, and produced good Web sites. If you are a professional using Expression Web, you should plan to migrate to Dreamweaver. It is the industry standard. If you can use Expression Web, the transition will not be as difficult as migrating from FrontPage to Dreamweaver.

5 Stars Solid performer as successor to FrontPage
I’ve used trial versions of SharePoint Designer and Expression Web 1 for about a year and finally bought Expression Web 2 (one copy for my son from Amazon) and a copy at work from another vendor.

I’ve had a web site for 12 years and used FrontPage until Microsoft engineers made FrontPage text-based hyperlinks not work in Vista. Good financial move for them resulting in a web editor update necessity for me. I have other pricey web page editors available, but prefer the simplicity of MS products because I don’t need a hi-tech webpage and I don’t have the time to learn the other products.

I prefer the performance and features of SharePoint Designer over Expression Web, but it’s pricey to the point that I can’t justify it over the equally solid performer Expression Web.

Like FrontPage of old, Expression Web 2 is a no nonsense get it done web page editor that most people will quickly learn how to navigate and easily use it to make nice web pages. It’s for ordinary users and business people who need a competent easy to use interface and don’t want to spend 1,000 hours mastering esoteric features in high-priced competitor products.

Russell Smith

4 Stars Very good value
First off let me say, I’m not a professional web developer, don’t have extensive web designing experience, and thirdly, I’m aware that the de facto best professional web design software is Adobe Dreamweaver.

With all that being said, this is a very good product. For one, it’s loaded with great features, especially good CSS support and nice templates to get started. It’s also a very good value for the money because I got my upgrade from Frontpage for less than $100. For people like me, it’s better money spent on Expression Web than to spend over triple that amount on Dreamweaver.

If you aren’t a professional and aren’t going to need the full features of Dreamweaver, then this is easily one of your best options for getting into web design. Very user friendly, learning curve is quick, and it’s one of the best values for the money spent.

1 Star Microsoft Expression Web
I am very dissappointed in Expression Web. I have been a webmaster for 12 years and never experienced such aggravation with any software product in all these years.

I have reloaded the program 4 times because of it’s habitual freezing up causing it to shut down, in some cases causing me to lose my work. It times out, freezes up and a couple of times disappeared off my PC entirely. I waited to purchase it until the final version was released. I should have waited another year!

5 Stars FrontPage to ExpressionWeb
I had heard it would be difficult to learn ExpressionWeb but that wasn’t the case for me. I had used FrontPage before. It was easy to convert over. EW seems much more powerful and flexible but pretty intuitive, at least thus far.

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Apple Aperture 2 1 1

You can access your entire iPhoto library directly within Aperture 2, to import selected events, albums, or individual photos using the iPhoto Browser. Aperture 2 includes an all-in-one inspector that consolidates the Project, Metadata, and Adjustments panes and lets you switch between them simply by typing W. Quickly locate images in the innovative All Projects view with project skimming. The new Quick Preview mode provides rapid-fire photo browsing, letting you quickly compare, rate, and make image selections. Aperture also offers enhanced performance when making processor-intensive adjustments, such as Noise Reduction and Highlight and Shadows. Leveraging the next-generation RAW image processing in Mac OS X Leopard, Aperture 2 delivers images of astounding quality, offering superb color fidelity, increased shadow detail, reduced noise, and advanced highlight recovery. Aperture provides RAW support for the leading digital cameras and camera backs. It also supports DNGs made from the RAW files of most digital cameras. With a .Mac account, you can take advantage of new support for .Mac Web Gallery to create beautiful online portfolios even allowing clients, colleagues, or friends to download JPEG or RAW originals complete with embedded metadata. Aperture also lets you sync your Aperture library to an iPhone or iPod. Or enjoy your photos on a widescreen TV in glorious high definition using Apple TV.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Not a bad Step Up
I purchased this product because I was looking for something more than just the iphoto my Mac comes with. I can tell that I have opened the door to a whole new world. This product was cheaper than an Adobe Pro program and better than Photo shop Elements. I am overal happy with my purchase and I look forward to getting all that I can out of this.

5 Stars Aperture Vs Nikon Capture NX2
I used the trial version of Aperture and Nikon Capture NX2 back to back for about a month. Both are great programs and I believe I would be happy with either. Ultimately I choose Aperture for its familiar interface and believe Apple will continue to ensure compatibility with OSX for a long time to come. Nikon support is excellent but their new proprietary RAW format that works only with Microsoft Windows took me by surprise. Not that I am affected because so far the new RAW format is only on their point and shoot cameras, I still felt slightly betrayed and uncertain what the future relationship with Apple will be. I figure no matter what happens I will still be able to use the same software to catalog and edit my photos.

5 Stars Thoroughly Pleased with Aperture 2
I am an amateur at best and I took advantage of both free trial offers from Aperture 2 and LightRoom. Although LightRoom was similar, to me there was no comparison. I went into it with no experience and was totally objective in my opinion and found Aperture to be much much better. Used the same photo in both and consistently got better results in Aperture, with a more seamless flow to the work. One mans opinion !!

5 Stars A MUST HAVE
APERTURE 2 for MAC is a complex program. You will need to get a large detailed manual, or better yet, sign up for some classes at your Apple store. There are plenty of photo editing tools, all of the usual ones plus plenty more, allowing you to be as creative as you want to be. But probably the main purpose of this program is a way to organize and categorize your images within Aperture. In iPhoto, I have so many copies of the same image in so many folders, and sometimes the one I want is still hard to find. Aperture gets you away from folders. It takes time to do it right, but when you do, finding the image you want is a breeze. You assign various keywords to each image, whichever ones are appropriate for you, and as many as you want per image. When you complete that project, you can search by any keyword, and all of the images you have assigned that keyword to will show up. It couldn’t be easier. But you will need help in getting this done so you do it right. I take classes at my Apple store, the One-to-One classes.

5 Stars Graduated from iphoto
Quick access to photos for very easy modification. Much more editing, organizing, and viewing options then iphoto and is worth the $$. Iphoto was too basic plus it did not provide and option for use with an external editor like PT Lens. I have used Photoshop Element, ACDC and like Aperture the best.

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