TechRadar: All Multimedia Feeds

Hercules Mobile DJ MP3 (Preview Edition)

Tech staff — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:53:00 +0000

While it's highly unlikely that our previous Hercules Mobile DJ MP3 review became a design bible for the Preview Edition, it's uncanny that most of our problems with the original unit have been fixed.

Our main criticism was the lack of headphones. DJing at any level requires the ability to monitor the track you are cueing up, and even an Automix option can't be trusted to accurately perform a perfect beat-matched transition.

Fun and functional

The new wireless cans suddenly justify the device's mobility and tracks can be selected, prepared and mixed-in all from the unit. Even the more minor quibbles have gone: the slight stickiness to the sliders is absent now, ensuring smooth fades and volume changes.

Okay, the software isn't up to the standard of even Atomix's Virtual DJ, but it's certainly fit for purpose. We'd also still like the option of external power for the unit.

In the end, though, these small issues don't detract from the fact that the Mobile DJ Preview Edition is a fun and functional entry level DJ controller.

Plasq Comic Life Magic

Tech staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:28:00 +0000

Comic Life Magic is for 2D work, although less about drawing and more about arranging pages of images together as stories.

In CLM you choose images from your library or new ones taken in iSight and arrange them into comic strips, then add effects, speech bubbles and captions to bring life and a story to the pictures.

It's a popular application that most fans use simply to have fun, but can also be put to work sketching out storyboards for more serious movie or print projects.

The Plasq website shows off professional work done in the software by comic designers and even film makers, who used the previous version of Comic Life, Comic Life Deluxe, to plan film scenes.

Core tools

New features in Comic Life Magic are mostly thanks to the intervening release by Apple of Leopard, with its Core Animation and Core Image tools. These 'Core' areas of Leopard are blocks of coding resources that software developers can interface with to add dynamic graphics features to their products.

Plasq has leveraged these resources in Comic Life Magic to good effect, adding an entirely new floating effects palette (see the image to the right) containing a powerful range of new editing features, including things like being able to apply interesting warps and blurs to images, amongst several dozen other filters.

A highly intuitive vector-cutting tool has been included too, which enables an editor to roughly circle a figure or element to cut from an image, and then automatically gauges where the edges of that figure are placed.

It works well even on non-uniform backgrounds without using the 'greenscreen' feature, so you can quickly cut out Granny from a photo shot in the Grand Canyon and have her imposed on a Amazonian background, which should sufficiently confuse her!

We don't have any pressing need to create comics or storyboards, and imagine it will hold niche appeal on that score, but we found it very useful for creating dynamic photo albums.

Effects and themes

We took a few hundred shots from a wedding and laid them out in Comic Life Magic, adding captions and speech bubbles as we went along.

Then, using the one-click output options, popped the results on our .Mac account. iPhoto and Aperture can both do the same kind of thing but lack the funky comic templates and comic-like effects, which are great fun and a novel way to document holidays and special occasions.

We especially liked the Japanese manga-style themes, which seemed very fresh to our eyes.

That's magic!

If you have Comic Life Deluxe and are thinking of upgrading, we recommend the new version. The new editing tools are one draw, but the new layout is a better place to work in, and has less of a childlike look and feel.

Our only complaint with Comic Life Magic was a minor bug in the main interface, when we clicked the Hide Details tab, which slides the left-hand effect panel away to reveal the main layout in a bigger space. This produced a wonky layout change for us, where the editing panel remained superimposed on the main layout though with the commands de-natured.

A fully featured demo is available on the Plasq site, and there are quite a few videos on the web about Comic Life Magic, mostly on Viddler but also on YouTube, including some from the Macworld 2008 show, which was where we first got wind of the update.

Comic Life Magic went on sale in June, and the price seems good to us. It's a fun application with good iLife and .Mac integration and if you already use it for your story-boarding we're sure you'll love the richer set of features in this new release, not least the expanded template selection.

BIAS Peak LE 6

Tech staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:23:00 +0000

Whether you're transferring your vinyl and cassette collection to iTunes, creating a podcast or recording the soundtrack for your holiday video, the typical music recording program is likely to be overkill, and unnecessarily clumsy to use.

In professional circles too, broadcasting, record mastering, voice-over recording and so on rarely need the full-blown multitrack music approach. One app that's been serving this pro market for many years is Bias Peak Pro, while its smaller sibling, Bias Peak LE, brings these abilities to home users.

Easy recording

Peak's default file format is AIFF, but it will handle a wide range including MP3, AAC (not Protected AAC), WAV, FLAC and others. Files may be mono, stereo or dual-mono, and that's it - two tracks max.

You can record from any physical audio input including USB or FireWire devices. Peak can't directly capture streaming or system audio, but it does come bundled with a copy of WireTap Pro that can.

In terms of recording, there are other cheap, or even free, applications that will do as good a job. Where Peak LE stands head-and-shoulders above them is in audio editing. With most applications you'd need to find your edit points by sight from the waveform or try to spot the correct point as the playback cursor whizzes through.

Then it's trial and error until you get it just right. High-end professional editing programs - and Peak LE - do it differently. They offer dynamic audio scrub, which plays back a continuous short loop, typically about 50ms, as you drag the mouse cursor left or right. This enables you to find a specific note, an offending crackle or the start of a word with great speed and accuracy.

Useful editing tools

Having placed the edit correctly, you may still be left with an audible blip from the discontinuity. To smooth this out, Peak LE offers a Blend option. Or, for the ultimate precision, there's a Pencil tool, which enables you to redraw the waveform by hand.

We found blending very effective for most edits and the pencil useful for removing sharp clicks and spikes. If the only editing you ever do is removing the silent gaps between tracks, then any audio editor will do the job. But for seamless editing of speech or music, techniques like these are a major benefit.

Although the basic layout and operation of Peak LE 6 are little changed from the previous version, the windows have been smartened up a bit and are now "magnetic" so they'll arrange themselves more neatly.

Creating podcasts

The precision of the level meters has been improved and there's a new Voiceover Ducking option that will automatically reduce the level of existing tracks when any audio, such as a voiceover, is pasted onto it.

Also new is the ability to create and upload podcasts from within the application without the need for any additional software. But if you're not into publishing podcasts, you may be more interested in Peak LE's new ability to transfer tracks or playlists directly into iTunes.

Array of plug-ins

Plug-ins are an essential feature of all serious audio apps. With that in mind, Peak LE supports Audio Units and VST plug-ins and comes with over 50 to get you started. You can record through plug-ins or use them to tweak an existing recording and then bounce the result back.

Rival apps such as Sound Studio and the free Audacity program offer alternative approaches that work well, but can't match Peak LE's power. For the price, it offers good value and a sensibly cut-down version of the pro app.

Genius Eye 320

Christopher Phin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:12:00 +0000

Apple's laptops and iMacs might all include an iSight camera, but what if you want to add a webcam to a Mac that doesn't have one in the bezel?

The good news is Mac OS X 10.4.9 introduced support for the USB Video Class (UVC) standard for use with iChat, so as long as a webcam supports UVC it will work as an iChat camera without drivers.

And sure enough, plug the Genius Eye 320 in and it appears as a source for video in iChat or Skype. It has no built-in microphone; a boom mic headset is included, but it won't work with the Mac's line-level input port.

Picture quality isn't stellar - colours lack saturation and details are soft - but it's not appalling. Focusing is manual, using a ring around the lens, and the camera will sit on a flat surface or hook onto a monitor.

It's cheap and does the job, but the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks is still our choice of external webcam.

Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro

tech.co.uk staff — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:10:27 +0000

Proving a huge success around the world, adding video to instant messaging and internet telephony services is now easier than ever. While many modern laptops carry built-in webcams as standard, the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro (£80 inc. VAT) is a great option for older laptops that don't.

Easy to install and configure, the QuickCam can be clipped to your laptop screen or fixed to the included desktop stand. An audio headset is also supplied. Capturing images or video at a true 1.3-megapixel resolution, or up to 4-megapixels with software-enhancement, image quality is impressive.

RightLight technology adjusts lighting to ensure the best possible picture. You can even add video effects by changing your online personality into a cartoon character that imitates your exact movements and facial expressions. Easy to use and customisable, this is an excellent but expensive webcam, ideal for the frequent user.

Creative Live! Cam Optia

tech.co.uk staff — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:23:41 +0000

While the last decade has seen the rest of the digicam world undergo a frenetic patch of technical evolution, it seems webcam developers have been taking it easier. You can buy a basic digital snapper for around the same price as the Creative Live! Cam Optia, and you can expect resolutions far in advance of it.

The camera comes with a respectably hefty software stack of apps to help you snap pics, record WMVs and engage in live picture messaging, along with an editing suite to weave them all together. And while you can sharpen and re-colourise the feed with the bundled software, the image quality never really improves.

A sharper CCD would make this a more attractive prospect at this price, but bundled software and neat looks aside, the Optia offers no greater image quality than a webcam half its price.

Genius Look 316

tech.co.uk staff — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:49:27 +0000

Adding a webcam to your laptop is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family. Letting you take photos and add video to instant messaging software, the Genius Look 316 (£15 inc. VAT) is an accessible option.

Clipping on to your laptop screen, the camera moves in four directions for the perfect viewing angle. A button on the top of the unit allows photos to be taken with a single click.

Unfortunately, the included software isn't as usable, as a poor design makes it tricky to quickly access essential features. When taking photos or recording video, image quality isn't the best we've seen.

However, for such an affordable camera, it is more than adequate for basic online use, making this ideal for the whole family and suited to a life on the move.

Philips SPC 610NC

tech.co.uk staff — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:15:56 +0000

Designed specifically with the laptop user in mind, this handy little webcam comes with a flexible cord, so you can position it where you need it.

The camera is protected by a sliding cover, which if you pull further down reveals a bright beam spotlight, so you can get the most from the unit even in poor lighting conditions.

Powered by USB, you'll need to install the camera software, but this is quick and gives you access to the 640 x 480-pixel resolution camera. While this isn't as high as we would have expected, you can still take pictures at 800 x 600 pixels.

Increasingly, such cameras support video capture and, with a reasonable 30fps (frames per second), you'll only be limited by the speed of your Internet connection. It's a neat solution and the £40 price tag isn't too much to ask for the flexibility on offer.

MSI StarCam Genie

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:21:16 +0000

The MSI StarCam is a stylish webcam that's both modern and neat.

The oval-shaped camera has a magnetic attachment for connecting to the clip, which you can use to attach to the lid of your laptop or rest on a flat surface.

Cheap webcam

The 1.3-Megapixel sensor produces a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels. When capturing video, you'll get 30fps, but you'll be limited to 640 x 480 pixels, and image quality is reasonable but not outstanding.

The device is supplied with two tools for video capture that you'll find easy to use. One of these, MyGuard, allows you to use the StarCam as a CCTV camera, so you can keep an eye on your home wherever you are.

Overall, this is a great value camera that is ideal for the home user, but you won't want to use it for professional tasks.

Logitech Quickcam Deluxe

tech.co.uk staff — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:02:05 +0000

Apple introduced system-wide support for USB webcams in the Mac OS X 10.4.9 update.

So, even though on Logitech's site this camera and others don't appear to be Mac compatible, they are, and Logitech has either not picked up on this or just needs to update its web pages.

Either way, it produces good webcams and we know there are plenty of you out there without built-in iSights, judging by the emails we get about them.

This is a budget version of the QuickCam Deluxe. There's a Pro version with a Carl Zeiss lens, but we liked this one - it does the job and produces a clear picture.

No driver is necessary as it has OS-level support, and it just appears as an option in iChat, Skype and all the rest. Focusing is manual - you need to twist the lens - but it's sharp and easy to use.

The price is a little high for this specification but it was reliable throughout our testing.