Jim Heid's Latest Writings

Writing

The Jim Heid Reader

This page contains links to my most recent magazine articles and other writings. The most recent additions are listed first. For links to my Los Angeles Times "Mac Focus" columns, please go to the Mac Writing page.

Six DVD Burners Compared (Macworld, December 2001). Forget about CD burners. Today's optical drive of choice is a DVD burner, which lets you create video discs that play in most consumer DVD players. The DVD-burning trend began when Apple added the SuperDrive to its top-of-the-line Power Mac G4. But you don't have to buy a new Mac to get a DVD burner. Several storage vendors now sell external drives that contain the same Pioneer mechanism and connect to a Mac or Windows computer via FireWire. Although they're not called SuperDrives, they are super drives.

Matrox RT Mac (Macworld, November 2001). Are you building an editing system around Apple's Final Cut Pro? Check out Matrox's RTMac, a $999 PCI expansion card that kills three video-editing birds with one stone: it allows real-time display of many common transitions and effects, digitizes analog video and audio, and lets you connect a second monitor to your Mac.

Final Cut Pro Expert Guide (Macworld, September 2001). Director Alfred Hitchcock once said, "Drama is life with the dull bits left out." Today, you can cut out the dull bits — or more accurately, assemble the interesting ones — using your Mac and affordable video-editing software. And for a growing number of professional and independent video editors and filmmakers, Apple's Final Cut Pro is the editing program of choice. Note: Don't miss the sidebars on color and media management, which did not appear in the print version of the article.

Adobe After Effects 5 (Macworld, August 2001). After Effects is the best place to whip up video eye candy, and version 5 is the most significant update yet. Adobe has added powerful new compositing and animation features, broadened After Effects' reach to encompass the Web, and enhanced the program's interface in ways that boost productivity and encourage experimentation.

Final Cut Pro 2 (Macworld, July 2001). Forget this summer's blockbusters — the real on-screen action is among video-editing programs. Earlier this year, Adobe released Premiere 6, a greatly improved version of its editing software (see review). Apple has just returned fire with Final Cut Pro 2, the first major update of its high-end editing package since the product's release in 1999.

Adobe Premiere 6 (Macworld, May 2001). Adobe Premiere has been around almost as long as QuickTime itself, but problems with Premiere 5 left this venerable video editor on the cutting-room floor. With version 6, Premiere has made a comeback.

Propellerhead Software's Reason (Macworld, May 2001). More than a software synthesizer, Reason is a virtual recording studio encompassing instruments, rhythm-pattern generators, effects units, a multitrack sequencer, and a mixer. And it has one of the most appealing user interfaces I've seen.

VR Toolbox (Macworld, April 2001). QuickTime VR-development tools have evolved very slowly, but the pace is picking up. The VR Worx 2.0, from VR Toolbox, is a major upgrade.

Cleaner 5 (Macworld, February 2001). Legendary compression tool adds video capture and rudimentary authoring.

Flash 5 Matures But Lacks Accessibility (Macworld, December 2000). These days, it's hard to surf the Web without being flashed. Flash 5 is a superb upgrade.

iMovie 2: The Sequel (Macworld, November 2000). A how-to guide to the new features in Apple's iMovie 2 video editing software.

MP3 Players for the Mac (Macworld, November 2000). Three Mac-compatible portable MP3 players compared. (The Rio 600 is the best of the pack.)

Aladdin Tuner (Macworld, November 2000). Get easy access to streaming broadcasts with this inexpensive utility.

Boris Red review (Macworld, October 2000). Pricey but powerful plug-in brings 3-D motion graphics to video-editing programs.

Adobe LiveMotion review (Macworld, September 2000). LiveMotion is no Flash killer, but it's a solid program for making basic animation.

SiteCam 5.0 review (Macworld, September 2000). Have a Mac? Want a Webcam? You want SiteCam.

Spark 1.5 review (Macworld, September 2000). Audio editor is sleek but often slow.

Create a Barrier-Free Web Site (Macworld, August 2000). How to make your site accessible to physically disabled users.

Make Some Noise (Macworld, August 2000). Tools and techniques for creating a Mac-based recording studio.

iMovie 1 review (Macworld, August 2000). A four-mouse review of Apple's iMovie digital video editor for the rest of us.

Haven't suffered enough? You'll find links to older articles on these category pages: Macintosh, Windows, and Web/Internet/MP3.

Heidsite > Writing