Video Editing without Ado

introDV is a software meant for amateurs entering the field of DV (digital video) editing. Once you get familiar with the basics, you can graduate to high-end software. 

introDV is simple to install. The minimum system requirements are a P/II 400, 64 MB RAM, and a hard drive capable of 5 MB/s sustained transfer rate. The latter is necessary, as digital-video capturing needs a lot of data to be written very quickly on it. The software can run on Wi 98 SE/2000. You will also need a IEEE 1394 port (DV In, FireWire, Sony VAIO i.Link) input to your PC to capture from a DV camcorder. The installer installs the introDV application, QuickTime, DirectX and tutorials. While installing the application, you will also need to specify the kind of input on your PC so that the appropriate capturing support is also installed.

The process of making videos is neatly laid out into six steps. The first is to capture the digital video, in which an application called DVTester checks if your camcorder is connected properly and is communicating with the software. The capture application controls the DV device from your PC itself. Editing the video is easy. The video is captured and added to a ‘Library’. A Timeline makes arranging and editing clips a breeze. The X-axis is time and the Y-axis has the component (video, audio, titles etc.). Drag ‘n’ drop the video clips in whatever order you want them, trim them and add an audio track too. The next step is adding titles. The Titles window gives you the option of preset title formats. Just drag ‘n’ drop them onto the timeline and edit the text. Between individual video clips, you can then insert transitions. introDV gives you a lot of transition options and you can experiment with them at will, even adjusting the transition properties such as speed. The options of Print and Export allow you to output your final video to your DV camera or tape, to a CD-RW or file suitable for web download and web

streaming

The Bottom Line At Rs3,950, this is a great buy for you to start making inroads into the world of digital media.

Ashish Sharma at PCQ Labs