Mac video software news, reviews and tips, including video editing and plug-ins

Red Giant Software releases Holomatrix

Jackie Dove — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0800

New After Effects plug-in gives your footage that sci-fi look.

Speed-up iMovie clips

Christopher Breen — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:38:00 -0800

Here's the way to time-compress a very long video clip.

Orb for Mac lets you stream your media anywhere

Lex Friedman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:20:00 -0800

A new Mac version of the popular Orb software streams music, photos, and videos to any Internet device, including iPhone

Create pause-zoom-pause effects in iMovie stills

Rob Griffiths — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:01:00 -0800

Learn how to show a still image for some time in your iMovie project, then zoom/crop/move that image, and then pause on the final image again before moving on.

Sorenson Media releases Sorenson Squeeze 6

Jackie Dove — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:15:00 -0800

Sorenson Media has released Sorenson Squeeze 6, an update of its video encoding software. This version is designed to let users more easily encode and publish video to the internet. It adds e-mail and text notification, secure review and approval, optimized video codecs, new filters, and more.

Review: VHS capture tools compared

Christopher Breen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:15:00 -0700

If you have a box of VHS slowly deteriorating in the basement, use these tools to convert them.

iTunes 9.0.2 update blocks Palm Pre syncing, again

Dan Moren — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:15:00 -0700

In a startling case of déjà vu, Apple's recent iTunes 9.0.2 update once again blocks the Palm Pre from syncing with the software. Then again, maybe it's not very startling at all.

Plex 0.8.3 brings extensive Snow Leopard compatibility

Aayush Arya — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:45:00 -0700

The latest update for Plex makes the best media center application on Mac OS X even better by improving compatibility for Snow Leopard.

Review: ScreenFlow 2

Rob Griffiths — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:30:00 -0700

ScreenFlow 2 adds transitions, audio ducking, clip playback speed adjustment, and more to the screen recording and editing suite.

ScreenFlow 2.0 adds powerful new editing features

Lex Friedman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:25:00 -0700

Telestream's already-powerful screencasting studio, ScreenFlow, gets more powerful with version 2.0.

Pro Applications Update tackles Final Cut Studio

Philip Michaels — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:33:00 -0700

Pro Applications Update 2009-01, released by Apple Thursday, includes updates for Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Color, Motion, and Compressor.

News Corp. exec suggests Hulu may begin charging in 2010

Dan Moren — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:27:00 -0700

Speaking at a online media event, a News Corp. executive suggested that online streaming site Hulu may begin charging for content in 2010.

Missing VisualHub? Stomp your videos instead

David Chartier — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:33:00 -0700

With a strong array of features organized neatly in a single window, Stomp could emerge as the go-to video compression and conversion savior for general Mac users.

Sharing home movies with iWeb

Adam Berenstain — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0700

The My Albums templates in iWeb aren’t just for pictures––they can hold videos, too. Here’s how to use them to organize your movies in one convenient place online.

iMovie update improves device compatibility

Philip Michaels — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:41:00 -0700

iMovie 8.0.5, released Tuesday, improves compatibility with importing video captured on the new camera-equipped iPod nanos, among other changes.

First look: Popcorn 4

Jonathan Seff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:01:00 -0700

On Tuesday, Roxio released the latest version of its Popcorn DVD and video conversion and burning software. Here's a first look at some of the new features.

Xinet unveils updated asset management tools

Jackie Dove — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:47:00 -0700

Xinet released new versions of its digital asset management and video asset management systems.

Gain more control over QuickTime X playback speeds

Rob Griffiths — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:45:00 -0700

Learn how to use more than just three (2x, 4x, 8x) playback speeds in QuickTime Player X.

iTunes competitor doubleTwist gains Amazon MP3 store

Dan Moren — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:19:00 -0700

Media software doubleTwist has added access to the Amazon MP3 store in its latest update, allowing you to purchase music from within the app.

Tweetie 2, iMovie, and Snow Leopard

Christopher Breen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:33:00 -0700

We begin this episode of the Macworld Podcast with Dan Moren interviewing Atebits’ Loren Brichter, the man behind Tweetie. Rob Griffiths also joins host Chris Breen to discuss his observations on iMovie, Snow Leopard and leisurely pastimes.

Ripping your unprotected DVDs

Christopher Breen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:53:00 -0700

We've had plenty of fun talking about ripping the commercial DVDs you own. But what about the discs you've created? Here are tips for extracting their video.

Mac News Briefs: PDFpen has new OCR engine

Macworld Staff — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:25:00 -0700

PDFpen 4.5 uses version 15.5 of the OmniPage OCR engine, which should improve accuracy in the PDF editing program. Also updated on Tuesday were Typinator, RealBasic and Real Studio, VideoFlash Converter, and Djay.

Mac News Briefs: BoinxTV, Cinematize add Snow Leopard compatibility

Macworld Staff — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:46:00 -0700

Boinx added Snow Leopard compatibility to its BoinxTV video podcasting tool, while Miraizaon did the same for its Cinematize DVD movie clip extraction offerings. Also, Werck unveiled Checkout 3, and Zervix released the new PDF Checkpoint.

Organize Your iMovie Video Library

Jeff Carlson — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

To deal with the glut of video that quickly accumulates in the Event Library, iMovie includes features for marking favorite footage and rejecting (and hiding) sections to reduce the clutter, and applying keywords to find related video.

Review: Camtasia for Mac

Rob Griffiths — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:57:00 -0700

The newest entrant in the screen recording market introduces some new features, but also comes with a few bugs and limitations.

iTunes gains Automatically Add to iTunes feature

Aayush Arya — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:24:00 -0700

With iTunes 9, Apple has brought the ability to have the software automatically monitor and add media content from a folder to the library. The only thing is, its usefulness may be limited.

Mac News Briefs: Western Digital revamps Mac drives

Macworld Staff — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:22:00 -0700

Western Digital unveiled redesigns for its My Passport and My Book hard drives for the Mac. Also, a number of companies rolled out software updates that added compatibility with Snow Leopard on Thursday. iWebTemplate has seven new templates for use with iWeb. And EditShare's product line is now compatible with the recently updated Final Cut Studio suite.

Avid updates pro video editing and production lineup

Jackie Dove — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Avid announces updates of its Media Composer, Symphony, NewsCutter, and Interplay software packages at the IBC show.

Adobe Story public preview released

Jackie Dove — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:10:00 -0700

Adobe Systems has announced the public preview of Adobe Story, new online and offline collaborative script development software, at the 2009 IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) trade show. Adobe Story automatically turns script content into metadata that can be used throughout the company’s digital video workflow.

Apple updates QuickTime for Leopard, Tiger users

Philip Michaels — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:27:00 -0700

According to Apple's notes, QuickTime 7.6.4 adds support for the newly released iTunes 9, improves audio device support for Windows Vista users, and fixes several security issues.

The Macalope Weekly: Good kitty, bad kitty

The Macalope — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:00:00 -0700

The Macalope realizes it's 'he said/he said' when it comes to the Snow Leopard launch, but when it comes to Flash and AT&T, there's plenty of blame to go around.

Mac News Briefs: iStudio Publisher design app updated

Macworld Staff — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:19:00 -0700

iStudio Publisher 1.1 features a new image manipulation tool and an improved image inspector palette that gives users more control over document images. In other news, the SneakPeek Photo plug-in adds image data to Quick Look previews and more developers updated their apps for OS X 10.6.

Snow Leopard: QuickTime X

Jonathan Seff — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:35:00 -0700

Apple's latest OS, Snow Leopard, includes a revamped version of the company's venerable multimedia software, QuickTime.

Opinion: iMovie needs to open up to developers

Jonathan Seff — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:30:00 -0700

Prior to iMovie '08, developers could create plug-ins that added new titles, transitions, and effects to the software. Apple needs to bring that ability back.