MGI VideoWaveís Unique ""StoryLine"" Powerful Features Popular Among PC Users
Home photos and videos share something in common. Once taken, they are rarely used the second time. For instance, 80 billion pictures are taken worldwide annually, but only 2 or 3 percent are re-used, mainly for reprints. Similarly, more than 20 million homemade videocassettes gather dust near the family TV set, seldom played again. Computer and camera makers have recognized an immense business opportunity in changing this all-too familiar pattern. Once digitized, photos and videos can be brought to life in many new and entertaining forms, bringing more people in touch with the new experience, thereby driving demand for more digital products and services. Consumers have been quick to engage, first with PC photography. In just three years, more than 30 million photos can now be found circulating on the Internet via personal Web sites and e-mail. Consumer digital video, although a nascent market, is now showing similar signs of development. Manufacturers have recognized that consumers want to do to video what they are doing to photos and the push is on to make the experience as easy and magical as possible. MGI Software, the company that pioneered photo-editing software for consumers, was the first to identify a new software approach, which promises to knock down the obstacles to mass market acceptance of PC video. By allowing consumers to work with video like they do now with text and graphics in a word processor, MGI VideoWave II has unleashed newfound excitement among PC users of all ages without prior video production experience. For example, Dan C. of Englewood, Colorado expressed an interest in how TV shows were pieced together, and received a video capture device bundled with VideoWave for his birthday. ""At first, I thought the program could do nothing. For a while VideoWave sat in my start menu. Then something wonderful happened,"" said Dan. ""My teacher assigned an interview with a War Veteran. I choose my grandfather. In the living room I set up a ístudio.í There were two lights, from my desk. Two video cameras and a cheap switching box I got at Radio Shack. All of the video and audio was connected into a 9-inch TV/VCR unit. I sat in one chair and my grandfather in another. With the TVís remote, I pressed record. I finished the interview. ""A few days later, I started up VideoWave. I created 10 seconds of credits for the beginning and 10 more for the end. Then I put it all on videotape ñ my first video! I got an A+ for this video. I was the only one that had a videotape, everyone else had written scripts."" Dan, who is now 11 years old, continues to use the software for school projects, and making family movies. ""My favorite thing about VideoWave is the editing control panel theme and advanced features. Next comes the StoryLine. I think it is the best idea in video production. I can see what is going on in my head."" Every workday from 6:30am to 1:00pm Mike Day Sr. of San Jose, California boots his PC and day-trades stocks through the Internet. But once he has finished, Mike spends time on his true passion - a fledgling music production company and promoting his group - The J. Michael Day Band. Realizing the promotional impact a demo video would have, Day saw MGI VideoWave II in a store and bought it. ""Demo tapes have always been a necessary part of the music business, but the MTV generation thrives on video,"" said Day, who utilized MGI VideoWave II to create a video demo of the band that he has now posted on the Internet at http://www.accesscom.com/~jmdband. ""MGI VideoWave II is the first editor that I have used, and I knocked out my first video in a few hours. The second video took me less time than the first. This is all new to me but I love it, and the StoryLine approach in VideoWave made it very easy for me to get started."" Rick Mogil of Studio City, California, began using an OEM version of VideoWave that came bundled with his video capture hardware. When Rick decided he would like more features he tried another video editor, but ultimately decided on upgrading to VideoWave II. Mogil ambitiously produced a 70-minute family video that he created from films taken between 1949 and 1970, which he then saved on CD and distributed to family members. ""It was a great way for my family to see the beginnings of our family and remember past get-togethers,"" said Mogil. ""I love the StoryLine approach in VideoWave, as it let me work with smaller clips then string them together to create my movie. It took me about an hour to create my first video ñ Iím not the kind of guy that reads the manual, so I found the online tutorial extremely useful. The color correction capabilities in the VideoWave II ëdarkroomí was really cool, especially when you have film that is 50 years old and shot with the wrong lighting. I also like all the extra effects and title samples."" The MPEG features in MGI VideoWave II were also important for Mogil. ""MPEG lets me reduce the size of the video files and it plays on both Mac and PCs."" About MGI VideoWave II MGI VideoWave II gives users the power to create wonder. Its revolutionary StoryLine makes PC video editing easy, letting users intuitively combine video clips, animation, graphics, photos, sound, music and narration to easily ""tell a story"" in video. MGI VideoWave II is packed with powerful features that allows users to easily create business presentations, training materials, content for the Web or spice up home movies. The software, which sells for about US$99 in stores, is the # 1 selling consumer PC video editing software for Windows with more than 50 percent retail market share. About MGI Software MGI Software is one of the worldís leading digital media companies. The companyís early focus on delivering digital media editing technology to the mass market has led to leadership in the PC photo and video editing market, with more than 19 million units of its PhotoSuite and VideoWave products shipped in retail and OEM channels spanning 25 countries. The company has recently expanded its technological leadership to encompass all digital entertainment media, including television, movies, and music, with its DVD MAX, and PURE DIVA products. Through its ever growing network of partnerships with major consumer electronics manufacturers, computer hardware and software vendors, photo retailers and the entertainment industry, MGI is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the revolution shaping our digital lifestyles. For more information, visit www.mgisoft.com.