Features:
- Add the power and impact of video to product demonstrations, sales and training tools, and family events
- Capture rate of 30 frames per second
- Composite and S-video inputs and outputs
- Includes WebStudio to create Web pages
- USB plug and play
Description:
If The Blair Witch Project taught us anything, it's that anyone with a clever idea and a video recorder can make a movie. The DM4100 Digital Video Creator from Dazzle Multimedia makes it possible to put together your creation on your PC. Basically an input-output device for composite or S-video multimedia, the Dazzle ships with an excellent suite of video editing software that makes it simple for anyone with a moderately powerful PC to make and edit their own movies. The Dazzle claims to run on a Pentium 133 or higher with only 16 MB of RAM, but we recommend at least a Pentium II and 64 MB of RAM for any serious video handling. This USB version we tested was a cinch to set up--we installed the software, plugged the Dazzle into a free USB port, and we were ready for prime time. A lot of multimedia graphics cards offer hardware input-output similar to the Dazzle, but one of the things we liked best about using this device was not having to dig around behind our machine every time we wanted to plug in a different multimedia source. We were able to capture smooth video--up to 352 x 240 resolution at 30 frames per second--on our Celeron 300 (with 64 MB of RAM). We could then easily output the video to a VCR or even to CD with our CD-RW drive (although a third party program is required to create video-CD format discs.) In addition to the Dazzle software, this package includes the powerful Ulead Video Studio and Ulead Photo Express. (The Dazzle can create still images with resolutions up to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels.) An Internet version is also available, offering an easy way to create streaming audio and video. At its current price, the Dazzle is expensive for hobbyists, but for those users interested in professional digital video, it's a steal. Pros:
- Easy to set up and use
- Excellent software bundle
Cons:
- USB version won't work with Windows 95
- Connecting cable could be longer
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