eu Macworld 1999 08 INT OCR

| Hl | Il THE ESSENTIAL MACINTOSH® RESOURCE www.macworld.com OS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT Mac OS 8.6 + SONATA, THE NEXT OS RELEASE * VOICE RECOGNITION + Mac OS X AND OS X SERVER, PAGE 64 | $6.99 international i 08> onhrogge"06g924i isi | www.lacie.com [b Gio loge are tratdemorks of la Cie, Lid. «1998 td. All right SECURE. Keep your ideas safe from harm in a La Cie d2™ encased hard drive. Made with a rugged metal shell, it comes in a range of sizes and speeds to meet your specifications. WN@= Made for ideas. 64 74 82 2 August 1999 Features Cover Story The Millennium Mac BY STEPHAN sOMOGyY! Where is the Mac going in the next millen- nium? Macworld takes an inside look at what the future holds for the Mac OS, from OS 8 to OS X and beyond. Essential Mac Tools BY FRANKLIN TeESSLER If you want to keep your Mac—and your- self—working at peak efficiency, heed our recommendations for the 15 indispensable utilities every Mac user should own. Generation Gap BY KRISTINA DE NIKE AND JONATHAN serF Having trouble bringing your new Mac and old peripherals together? Macworld Lab tested 16 SCSI cards to help you bridge the gap and unite your devices in harmony. \ Don't compute without these 15 must-have Mac tools, page 74. MACWORLD AUGUST GWOr AS: S19 104 107 Create Print QuarkXPress Advanced Type Workshop BY DAVID BLATNER Whip your text into shape with the power of XPress Tags. Graphics Merge Art and Life BY MIKE WOOLDRIDGE Intro- duce intimate elements into your artistic creations. Web Elegant Web Pages with Dreamweaver 2 BY LYNDA WEINMAN Attain pre- cision Web-page alignment with Dreamweaver 2. Incorporating MacUser ‘ON THE COVER Image manipulation by Jobn Farnsworth What's in store for the ‘Mac OS as we move into the new millennium? page 64, Weaving personal elements into your art, page 104, 27 28 28 29 30 Sweet sequels: games just keep getting better, page 61. News Developers Tackle Workflow Adobe Systems and Quark take on the frontier of electronic publish- ing: workflow management. OpenGL Inspires Game Developers Apple’s recent decision to embrace the OpenGL graphics standard has led toa flurry of new Mac games. Faster, Skinnier PowerBooks Apple’s latest PowerBook G3 fea- tures a speedier processor and a slimmer design. Product Watch New products for your Mac, including a FileMaker import plug- in for Microsoft Office 98 and a $99 USB video digitizer from XLR8. Multiple-Personality Peripherals Canon’s MultiPass C635, combin- ing a scanner, printer, copier, and fax machine, is the first multifunc- tion peripheral for the Mac. 17 23 61 176 10 Opinion Letters The Vision Thing BY ANDREW Gore Why does Apple want to bid farewell to the Finder? The Game Room BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN The beauty of sequels. The Desktop Critic BY DAVID pocue Why are Mac user groups dying off? How to Contact Macworld 91 93 Boxy but good: an Internet server that delivers, page 55. Secrets Unmask Your Mac's Hidden Problems BY TED LANDAU Conquer your Mac’ invisible miscreants. Quick Tips BY LON PooLe Tips, tricks, and shortcuts. Expose your Mac's invisible mischief-makers, page 91. 36 37 38 42 47 49 51 52 56 58 Reviews 998% Acrobat 4.0 Portable-document software $889 Final Cut Pro 1.0 Video-editing software 866% Amorphium 3-D sculpting software 86% Canoma 1.0 3-D scene-building tool $9%% RealProducer Plus G2; $%% RealPlayer Plus G2 Streaming-media tools 886% G3 Power Booster; 888% Mach Speed G3z; 988% Maxpowr G3-G3 466; 888% PowerForce G3 ZIF 466/233 466MHz G3 upgrade cards $¢%%» FileWave Enterprise Edition 3.2; 88% netOctopus 3.0 Network-management software $8¢% VST FireWire Hard Drive High-speed external hard drive $8%% Avid Cinema for Macintosh with USB Hobbyist video-editing tool $86 Funnel Web 3.1; 880% Summary 1.2.3 Web-server log-analysis tools 98% Suitcase 8 Font manager 6% Digital Creations of Kansas MacAirkey Cordless keyboard $844 Microtest DiscPortVT-28 Thin server for CD and DVD sharing $8¢¢% Cobalt Networks Qube 2 Plug-and-play Internet server #499 Vizion 1.0 Data-visualization software $86% CelView 1.3 Terminal-emulation software wwwemacworld.com August 1999 3 THE VIRTUAL PRINTER STORE vs. BRICKS, MORTAR, AND MIDDLEMEN. hat’s a Virtual Printer Store? It’s everything a store isn’t — the most direct, convenient, and affordable way to get the printer you need. Here’s why: You buy it right from your office or home — anyplace there’s a phone or a computer that knows its way around the internet. What’s more, if anything goes wrong, you have direct access to people who can fix it. We offer technical support coverage that includes Saturday and Sunday as well as 24-hour service Monday through Friday. And if you run up against a problem we can’t solve, our Platinum Exchange Warranty Program even guarantees you a replacement printer by the next business day. (All our printers come with a thirty-day, money-back guarantee as well.) Finally, you end up with a printer good enough to sell itself — because it has to. One that turns out vivid halftones, poster-sized graphics, printshop- quality text, and performs other various noteworthy feats noted below. The Virtual Printer Store. Contrary to popular belief, there is something more important than location, location, location. Namely, no location at all. ELITE 12/600 uss 12 pages per minute 600 x 600 dpi resolution Maximum Print Area 8.5" x 14" Letter, legal, envelope 250-sheet Universal Tray PostScript Level 2 compatible, PCL 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 45 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange USB (cable included), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder! (incdes $00-sheet Univers Tay) Ach $299 2nd year Platinum Exchange? Aaiss9 $699 osr@s UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS ELITE XL 20 Series 20 pages per minute 600 x 600 dpi resolution Maximum Print Area 12.6" x 35.1" Letter, tabloid, legal, envelope, poster 500-sheet Universal Tray PostScript Level 2 compatible, PCL S 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 250 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange Ether Talk’ LocalTalk’, TCP/P, NetWare* Ethernet (10 BaseT, AAUD, irectional Parallel 2nd or 3rd Paper Feeder* Goctudes $00-sheet Univeral Tay) nas s299 2nd year Platinum Exchange” aass 179 $1599 Lease $56 Month/36 months* $1899 800 dpi version Lease $67 Month/36 months* $2199 1200 dpi version Lease $77 Month/36 months* ELITE 12 Series 12 pages per minute 600 x 600 dpi resolution Maximum Print Area 8.5" x 14" Letter, legal, envelope 250-sheet Universal Tray PostScript Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 45 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange EtherTalk, Local Talk, TCP/IP Ethernet (10 BaseT), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder! (inches $00-sheet Univers ray) Add $209 2nd year Platinum Exchange” Asis $849 $949 1200 dpi version ELITE XL8 Series 8 pages per minute (600 x 600 dpi resolution Maximum Print Area 11" x 17" Letter, tabloid, legal, envelope 250-sheet Universal Tray PostScript Level 2 compatible, PCLS 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 45 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange EtherTalk, LocafTalk, TCP/AP Ethernet (10 BaseT, 10 Base2), Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder’ (inclodes 280-sheet Univers Tray) Add $319 (incl S00-shet Ler Tray ‘aad $419 2nd year Platinum Exchange’ add $129 $999 Lease $50 Month/24 months* —GCC = TECHNOLOGIES THE VIRTUAL PRINTER STORE. Bg Take Control of Your Space! (c) Configure your AnthroCart to fit your space and hardware. We'll be happy to work with you so you have just the right solution. Call us! LIFETIME WARRANTY ¢ DOZENS OF SHAPES AND SIZES « OVER 75 ACCESSORIES * TOUGH AS NAILS CALL FOR A FREE CATALOG! 800-325-3841 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST, M-F ANTHRO CORPORATION® TECHNOLOGY FURNITURE® A TUALATIN, OR 97062 a FAX: 800-325-0045 ANTHRO JAPAN: 03 (TOKYO)-3947-2735 www.anthro.com Lifetime Warranty. Dozens of shapes and sizes, over 75 accessories Since 1984, Prices from $299. GSA contract. Available for OEM applications. ANTHROCAR 6 August 1999 MACWORLD Macworl DITOR IN CHier Andrew Gore CxECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE OITORIW CHIEF Savraj Benedict EDITORIAL corror Michael Penwarden SENIOR EOITOR/NEWS ANO REVIEWS Stephen Beale SeNIOR EDITOR/DEPARTHMENTS Naney Peterson SENIOR eDITOR/FEATURES Jason Snell SENIOR ASSOCIATE fOITORS Allyson Bates, Linda Comer, Scholle Sawyer ASSOCIATE EoITOR Brooke C. Wheeler ASSISTANT EDITORS Michael Gowan, Jonathan Seff CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Henry Boru Ted Landau, Deke MeCl christopher Breen, Bruce Fras |, Rik Myslewski, ‘Tom Ni David Pogue, Lon Poole, Stephan Somogyi, Franklin N. ‘Tessler INTERNATIONAL EDITORS Steven Noble, Australis; Bernard Le Du, France; Andreas Rorchert, Germany; Yoshio Moriya, Japs Tomasz Bitner, Daniel de Blas, Spain; Lennart Makansson, Swede lJ Simon Jary, United Kingdom "Taiwan; Bahattin Apak, Turkey; fy TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Jeff Pittetkan an pinecton Kristina De Nike SEMMON LAB ANALYSTS Jeffy K. Milstead, Kevin Mitchell ASSOCIATE LAB ANALYST Gil Loyola INVENTORY COORDINATOR Ulyssis Bravo copy EDIT MANAGING FoITOR Claire HL. Breen ASSISTANT MANAGING EOITOR cory cuter Jon Zobeniea ART AND DESIGN DESIGN DIRECTOR Eleanor Leishman ‘ART DIRECTOR Sylvia Chevrier ASSOCIATE OFSIONERS Martha Katt, Michaet Rattary DESIGN ASSOCIATES Jackie Goodinan, Jonathan Woolson ONLINE VICE PRESIDENT, SALES, & PUBLISHER Matt Sweeney bintcton OF CONTENT Matthew Rothenberg SENIOR ONLINE EOITOR Philip W. Dyer conrenr ewmeen Jeff Cheney ASSISTANT CONTENT ENGINEER Jessica Graves DIRECTOR, usINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR ONLINE Nicholas Harvey (ONLINE A PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Spingola Edit Page View Utilities Help %) rn New > With GlobalFax’ Open... #80 ae you get all of these Close ew cool features: Save 385 3 save O8 ae NSS sily as printing, evert to Save: ire from any application Receive, view, print Bpcerie RREA and ae faxes Save Page as EPS... #S0S On- =n call-status display Collect for output. n Seesneal status display Document Setup... #°SOP is Ss ee #NSP ei #P Multiple, versatile personal address books. 3#Q GlobalFax is made exclusively for the Oihy Gil t) balFax Fax PS) = internal modems in... as Easy as Printing from Any Program e a on Your iMac or G3. ee GlobalFax- the G3 desktop... and the G3 PowerBook. Haen = Global meee inner of tun Macworld Hairs hoje aul MacHome — Guy Kawasaki, CEO, garage.com globalvillage.com Renders’ Choice Awards. author of Rules for Revolutionaries and The Macintosh Way (800) 336-2009 “T've been a happy GlobalFax user for years. It's been indispensable for me.” Novaikble GOMPUSA MacConnection Zone Mai ouse Ail at Mac dealers nationwide. (800) 800-0009 (888) 211-5032 (800) 397-8508 (800) 328-2790 ‘Choose 106 at www.macworld.com/getinfo PE aee i rasttoack Project Scheduling Made Easy! I'm not a project management expert, but everyone thinks | am. Most of my time is spent completing tasks, so | need a scheduling tool that’s easy, fast, and flexible, FastTrack Schedule 6.02 fills the bill. It keeps me organized and in contol displaying all my project detals in rch, colorful timelines. 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Sharon Sanderson (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Stephen Daniels usiness MANAGER Eos de Feminis ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR Ronda Bittner Ir AssisTaNT Christian Semmel DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES ‘Sue Murphy HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER Marisa Chow DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES VICE PRESIOENT, SALES, & PUBLISHER Mate Sweeney ASSOCIATE PUMLISHER Steve Plevin (415/243-3509) SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Karla Kyrias (415/278-8542) Jennifer Russell (415/243-3577) Jessica Ross (415/243-3583) Saves assstan NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Account execute Coretta Weight (415/243-3615) NATIOWALAccoUNTS ManActR Sara Culley (970/327-4499) ‘Account extcurive Margaret Level Gire (415/245-3582) ‘astenw aovenrising ommector Cynthia Ramsey (973/248-1197) NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Paul Bonarrigo (508/533-4020) Jo Zotarelli (516/277-4134) Niki Siranz. (415/243-3664) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE SHOPPER ACCOUNT MANAGER snorren account manager Carol Johnstone (415/243-3691) SHOPPER ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Alissa Mach (415/243-3628) RESEARCH SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST Phillip Hibbert MARKETING MARKETING MANAGER Francesca Koe (ONLINE MARKETING MANAGER Kelvin Gee TRADE SHOW/IVENTS MANAGER ‘Nancy Galanty MACWORLD GLOBAL PRODUCT SUPPORT CENTER COORDINATOR Sharon PRODUCTION VICE PRESIOENT OF MANUFACTURING Anne Foley PRODUCTION DIRECTOR 6 Neustadt MANUFACTURING TECHNICAL OIRECTOR yyton Haberman DIGITAL AD COORDINATORS Russ Nord ‘Mac Scott [AD SALES COORDINATOR Rick Sandoval ‘Macys «publican of Mac Pubiohing, LLC. Macwortd ‘am independent journal not affliated with Apple Computer, te MW, MW Lab, MW Shopper, The Desktop Critic. Exp ch Tp, Star Ratings, Buyer’ Tool, Streetwise ‘anspicuous Consume ae registered taderarh of hing, LLC. Appl, the Appl logo a, and Macintond re veistered Uademats, and Macketter and PowerBook are ark, ot Apple Compute. Ine. 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Use reprints as: Trade show handouts Direct mail pieces Sales tools Presentation materials HTML / PDF files To order electronic or printed reprints contact Reprint Services 651.582.3800 info @reprintservices.com 10 August 1999 MACWORLD Macworld HOW TO CONTACT MACWORLD Subscription Services Phone 800/627-2247 or 303/665-8930, North America only 303/604-7445, outside North America US. Mall ‘Macworld Subscription Services PO. Box 54529, Boulder, CO 80322-4529 World Wide Web wow zdnet.con/adsubs/macworld/service Subscription Rates The one-year (12-ssue) subscription rate $34.97 nthe United States and $54.97 for all other counties (send $104.97 for air mai. 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To order reprints of your company’s editorial coverage, call Repnt Services at 800/217-7874 0F 651/582-3800, fax 651/633-1862 Malling Lists We periodically make lists of our customers available to mailers of goods and services that may interest you. if you do not wish to receive such eave write tous and include a copy of your maling label, ‘Macworld on Microfilm (Macworld is avaiable on enicrofilm and microfiche trom UM, 300 N. Zeeb Rd, Ann Arbor, Mi 48106-1346; 734/761-4700, Macworld Editorial The ealitors of Macworld weleome yout tps, compliments, oF complaints st and product reviews from past isues can be located at www macworld.com. We are unfortunately unable to look up stories from past fssues; recommend products: or dlagnose your Macintosh problems by phone, e-mal of fax. Contact Apple tol-te at 800/538-9696, ext. 500, for information on user groups in your area, (Our offices are located at 301 Howard St, 16th Fl, San Francisco, CA 94105; 415/243-0500, fax 415/442-0766. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Direct all comments and suggestions regarding any aspect ofthe magazine to letters@macworld.com. Due to the high volume of mall received, we can't respond personally to each letter, We reserve the right to edt all submisons, All letters published in ‘Macivorld or Macworld Online become the property of Macworld, ‘auicx T1Ps Send your questions or tips on how to use Mac comput cs, peripherals, oF software to Macworld, Quick Tips, 301 Howard St 16th F, San Francixco, CA 94105; fax 415/442-0766; e-mall quictips@ ‘macworel com, Please include your name, addtess, and telephone number. ‘VBPA. tast ie Pvebsites with Dreamweaver and Fireworks. Dreamweaver creates sweet code that goes great with anything on the web. Close integration between Fireworks and Dreamweaver lets you create, optimize and integrate great web graphics and code on your site. It’s the smoothest combination for professional site design and production. Try them together and you'll wonder how you ever used them separately. www.macromedia.com add life to the web macromedia DIRECTOR SHOCKWAVE (OREAMWEAVER) (FIREWORKS) FLASH FREEHAND GENERATOR uel. Now that you've got that hot, new computer, wanna really make it go? Get Microsofts Office 98 Macintosh Edition. Office 98 is the productivity suite that's right for everyone. With it, you'll zip through tasks, dash through data, and create stunning documents, presentations, and spreadsheets faster than you can say, “fasten your seatbelt.” That's because Office 98 includes the kinds of features that make getting off the ground easy. Like drag-and-drop installation. Automatic spelling and grammar checking. An interactive Office Assistant that offers suggestions as you work and stands at the ready to answer any question. And—get this—a self-repair feature that automatically replaces necessary files if they accidentally get deleted. Best of all, Office 98 was built from the ground up for the Mac. From the interface, to the icons, to the sophisticated ease of use, even the experts agree we finally got it right. Which means with Office 98 you can make good on all the reasons you bought that powerful new iMac in the first place. To really go places. Faster and more easily than ever before. Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition. Prepare for take-off. “This software suite demonstrates that, for the frst time in its history, Microsoft truly understands what ‘Macintosh elegance’ means.” —David Pogue, Macworld 1998 Eddy Where do you want to go today? WINNER a on Microsoft vores for Software Product ofthe Year www.microsoft.com/mac INNOVATIVE. / Introducing Adobe® InDesign™ software. It’s the all new page layout and design application built around an advanced architecture unlike any other. Thanks to its remarkable graphics and typography engines, InDesign accomplishes what other layout programs struggle to do. For example, advanced type composition and kerning let you create the most beautiful type ever. ctetuer Adipise Elegant bézier curves, on text and graphic frames. Outstanding control, with zooming from 5 up to 4,000 percent. All with incredible precision. InDesign uses the same familiar interface you know from Adobe Illustrator® and Photoshop® and offers unparalleled support for Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) standard. InDesign can even open and work with your existing QuarkXPress® files. Now that’s miraculous. This is more than just a clever collection of new features. InDesign is truly revolutionary. To catch a glimpse of the future of professional publishing,call JF Wy 1-800-562-3623, ext. 57800 : or come visit our Web site © at wwwaadobe.com/indesign99 Adobe Flash helps millions of hearts When the world met the sleek new TT at Audiusa.com, ys reserved. Mactomedi. the Macromedia logo, Fash and Freshand are tredernaths or ther trademarks or tegotered trademarks ae the property of ther respactve OwnesS F d 7 } Flash made the introductions. i al y. Engaging. Responsive. a Performance-driven. | And, of course, so is the TT. If you want your website to quicken millions of pulses, take Flash for a spin. www.macromedia.com add life to the web macromedia DIRECTOR SHOCKWAVE DREAMWEAVER FIREWORKS (FREEHAND) GENERATOR AVE CUTLER cats Lelters Almost Perfect HEN DID MACWORLD BECOME a mind reader (“Your Perfect Mac,” May 1999)? Recently I, an avid Mac enthu- siast, was looking to buy a new system. ‘Then you come out with an article describ- ing the ideal system for an enthusiast, and the specs were almost identical to the one I bought. Ata total cost of just over $3,000 for the entire system, I think I got a good deal despite not making price my primary reason for selecting a model. The new Power Macintosh G3 is a great deal, no matter which configuration you buy. RICH ATKINSON Philadelphia, Pennsylvania HY DOES MACWORLD CONTINUE W to push Microsoft Office? The reviews Office 98 has received since its introduction puzzle me. True, it’s better than its immediate predecessor— but that’s like saying a rotting pile of garbage smells better than an open sep- tic tank. “Your Perfect Mac” continues this trend, recommending Office for three of five otherwise excellent Macs. There’s nary a mention of the competi- tion, not even AppleWorks. Many features in Office are still too hard to get to or, like the auto-underlin- ing for misspelled words, too hard to get rid of. As a professional Web designer, I really hate cleaning up the lousy HTML created by the Save As HTML feature. ‘The interface is still cluttered, and that stupid dancing Mac is an insult. Christopher Breen even claims, “Everyone who’s anyone in business uses Word and Excel.” Well, I like to think I’m someone, and I get most of my busi- ness done using a program that beats Word for functionality, ease of use, secu- rity, and stability, despite its not having had a major upgrade in four years: WordPerfect. I hope your other readers also have the brains to think for them- selves when it comes to choosing pro- ductivity software. DANIEL DVORKIN Denver, Colorado N “YOUR PERFECT MAC,” CHRISTO- pher Breen suggests that enthusiasts purchase a Micro Conversions’ Game- Wizard 12MB Voodoo 2 card. From what I’ve heard, the ATI Rage 128 card included with the Power Macintosh G3/350 is faster than the Voodoo 2. Why would you want to buy a slower card? Davip Lecart Rice, Minnesota The Rage 128 will be a tremendous card for gamers as soon as games supporting the OpenGL 3-D hardware acceleration standard are released. Until then, we'll continue to use the Voodoo 2-based Micro Conversions card with Unreal, Quake, and Myth I and I—Ed. InDesign Anticipation READ DAVID BLATNER’S ARTICLE “Adobe Answers XPress” (May 1999) with glee. I have long told my colleagues and clients that QuarkXPress, the appli- cation, is the best page-layout program available, but Quark, the company, is a different story. Quark’s business practices have caused me to yearn for a competitive publishing program to unseat its domi- nance and the stingy attitude that comes along with it. Upgrades are expensive. Support packages are typically less gen- erous than those of other companies. Adobe’s InDesign sounds like it might give Quark a run for its money. I took delight in Macworld’s report that Quark was rushing to offer a sneak pre- view of QuarkXPress 5—the company must be a little nervous, as it should be. I doubt I’m the only one who hopes Adobe can deliver a page-layout program that plays Iomega to Quark’s SyQuest! Davip Lyncu Asheville, North Carolina ACWORLD'S PREVIEW OF ADOBE'S InDesign did not say anything about the future of that other Adobe page-layout program: Adobe FrameMaker. I find this omission strange, though not entirely sur- prising. FrameMaker isn’t mentioned much anywhere even though many people use it. Are FrameMaker users expected to upgrade to InDesign, or will there be yet another upgrade of FrameMaker itself? As far as I’m concerned, FrameMaker still leaves QuarkXPress (and PageMaker) in the dust for preparing long, standardized- format documents. Tom RoGers Reston, Virginia continues www.macworld.com August 1999 17 Add — FireWire To Your Mac! HotLink For beige G3s and Power Macs with PCI slots, For PowerBooks with PC Card slot FireWire Series & The ideal FireWire interface for home or professional DV editing. % Adobe Premiere” LE video editing software included, * Compatible with Hot Swap portable hard disks for rapid cross platform data exchange: & IEEE-1394 compliant ports; 2 external 6 pin (one internal 6 pin on PCI card only) Home Video Editing and beyond ‘The HotLink™, along with Adobe Premiere” LE is the perfect combination for home video editing. Add a Digital Video (DV) camcorder, | and you're all set to make home-grown movies for internet uploads, or VHS tape archive. Or, we'll facilitate the upgrade to full Adobe Premiere® if you choose to enter the world of professional video editing. Hotlink is compatible with all DV cameras such as ING, Canon, ete FireWire is easy to use Imagine automatic configuration, no device IDs or terminators. No need to power down or restart, oreven use a power cord! Ahot pluggable, portable VST° disk drive, for example, can move whole databases around your office workgroup. Or, when work is over, pop it in your shirt pocket and hot plug it to your home computer. Other HotLink Products | Orange Micro offers an optional 15 ft cable, 8 port Hotlink Hub, and HotLink Repeater (15 {); Orange Micro oad Years of Innovation and Excell Hs e” 1400 N. Lakeview Ave. Anaheim, CA 92807 (714) 779-2772 * www.orangemicro,com oer. Peele ar ademas of Apple and Adobe epotivy ‘© Orange Mico Ine. 1099 Choose 60 at www.macworld.com/getinfo 18 August 1999 MACWORLD LETTERS Adobe FrameMaker will not be phased out, according to Adobe. The company says it will sup- port FrameMaker for the technical publisher, InDesign for the professional publisher, and PageMaker for the business user —Ed. Much Ado about Modems TP\HE ARTICLE ABOUT ALTERNA- tives to traditional dial-up Internet ss, “Modems’ Last Stand” (May 1999), provided a comprehensive overview of newer, faster connection technology. However, a significant fact about Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology bears further comment. Readers should be aware that there are significant differences between DSL intended for business-class use and v sions intended for residential use. Provid- ers that have chosen to focus on the small- to-medium and large enterprise business markets offer DSL access with symmetric, reliable upload and download rates—an important factor for businesses that are heavy users and that handle very large files. While residential-quality service may offer lower price points in some markets, the bandwidth available frequently depends on the number of subscribers utilizing the service at any given moment. Therefore, business users would be well advised to sign on with a provider focused on dedicated s DSL Internet access. ace Josern BartLert Marketing Director, HarvardNet Boston, Massachusetts 'D LIKE TO POINT OUT A VERY | important factor in online perfor- mance that Mel Beckman overlooked in “Modems’ Last Stand.” The only number that usually gets talked about is bandwidth, but latency (the amount of time it takes for a single bit to travel from one end of the connection to the other) is very important s well. Modems typically have a one~ latency of 100ms or more. When you con- sider that up to half the time you spend waiting for a Web page with moderate graphics to download is actually latency, you realize how important it really is. Latency has the largest effect on highly interactive applications, such as videoconferencing, Internet telephony, and video games, and on multiple trans- actions of small amounts of data, such as loading Web pages. As these are widely used services on the Internet, latency is an issue people should be aware of. Thankfully, all the new technologies mentioned in the article have much bet- ter latency than modems, usually 25ms or less. But unless magazines such as Mac- world report these numbers and discuss their significance, manufacturers won't have the incentive to keep latency low. Scorr Arwoop Redwood City, California Essential XTensions NDREW SHALAT’S REVIEW OF L \ QuarkX Tensions (Reviews, May 1999) completely misses the point of X Tension In a professional studio, time is money Shalat complains because Markzware Software’s Markztools III costs $199, Recently I used that XTension to recover a complex QuarkXPress document that would have taken hours to rebuild. With that first job Markztools III paid for itself. Many XTensions, including the others alat reviewed, are intended to assist the designer by performing a repetitive, time- consuming task. If Shalat’sjob required him to perform these repetitive tasks, he would be wasting his time (and hi employ money) by not buying these XTensions. Not all QuarkX’Tensions are intended for everyone to own. If you can justify the cost, buy the XTension. If not, don’t buy it. But don’t complain that an XTension costs too much for a task you don’t need to perform regularly. In- stead, ask an XTension user how it saves time and money. Jay NELSON Boulder, Colorado Easy DV | READ DAVID POGUE'S REVIEW OF Digital Origin’s EditDV 1.5 with great interest (Reviews, May 1999), but found the review sadly lacking praise for what I consider an excellent product. When I first became involved with digital video, I had to choose between Adobe Premiere and EditDV. At the time, Premiere cost $600 without a FireWire card, and the EditDV system cost $700 including software and a PCI DV Fire- Wire capture card. I chose EditDV. Setup was a snap, and the product worked perfectly with my Canon XL-I continues Without the disappearing act. You find a great performer. Tops in the field. Amazing feats follow. You call for an encore.When suddenly—poof. The performer's nowhere to be found. Time to make our entrance. Aquent Partners.™ Not another staffing company. A specialized talent agency. Focused on creating the best, custom-tailored matches between you and the outstanding creative experts you need. Not just once, but time after time. How? Introducing The Partner Program. A handpicked, highly screened group of top Creative and Design professionals—from Graphic Designers to Creative Directors to Web Designers. They work exclusively with us. And, they stay with us. Five times as long as the industry average. Which means our great performers are far more likely to materialize whenever you need them. Portfolio,® MacTemps,® and WebStaff® are now Aquent Partners. The best of three specialty agencies, in one. Creating the strongest Creative, Web, and Technical matches for you. For contract and permanent work. Just in time.On demand. No smoke and mirrors. > a The Creative, A Q UENT Web, and Technical partners’ Talent Agency Amsterdam, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Brisbane, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, London, Long Island, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Minneapolis, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Northern Virginia, Orange County, Paris, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Schaumburg, Seattle, Singapore, Stamford, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, D.C Choose 42 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Introducing the VST Product Line for the New 1999 Version Macintosh? PowerBook’ G3 Series “"7pt00 Dive SuperDisk” Drive 6,8 & 10GB Hard Drives supply Battery Charger AC Adapter Auto Adapter Li-lon Battery TECHNOLOGIES 4 incorporated| | Mac www.vsttech.com Park, Acton, MA 01720 (978) 263-9700 tol Nl Cana, he. 0 8 apse a HD Choose 73 at www.macworld.com/getinfo MaACWORLD.COM Is GROWING! MACCENTRAL www.maccentral.com Tay Py wa. Macworld welcomes MacCentral: Breaking News and Resources for the Macintosh Community online MacBuyécom MaciVEEX.com 20 August 1999 MACWORLD LETTERS camera right off the bat. I found EditDV 1.5 easy to learn, robust, and an excellent product overall. It does lack many fea- tures that the newest version of Premiere offers, such as support for third-party fil- ters. Still, I created my first professional video project in about a week working with a brand-new product. I would highly recommend EditDV 1.5 to anyone who wishes to dive into the world of nonlinear digital-video editing. BEN Levi The Right to Choose F ONE WERE TO IDENTIFY THE flaw that has caused Apple more problems than any other, it would have to be stubbornness. Apple’s inflexibility is particularly frustrating when it comes to trying te to use rather than a computer Apple ssemble computer I want wants to sell me. When I bought my Power Mac G3 last fall, L opted to pick up an inexpensive two-button mouse, which I have found very nice to work with. Just why Apple refuses to let go of the inefficient one- button mouse is beyond me. I wouldn't mind nearly so much if could buy a new Mac without having to buy two mice, one of which sits in a desk drawer unused. What's wrong with offering the option to buy another kind of keyboard and mouse, along with letting the user decide how much RAM to install or whether to get a built-in Zip dri Mart KUHNS Ames, lowa Letters should be sent to Letters, Macworld, 301 Howard St., 16th Fl,, San Francisco, CA 94105: fax, 415/ 0766; or electronically, to letters@ maeworld.com. Include a return address and day- of mail time phone number. Due to the high vol received, we can't respond personally to each letter, We reserve the right to edit all letters, All published letters become the property of Macworld Contrary to what w Po shot AS ct ve reported, Canon’s s $500, Umax’s PowerLook 3000 sells for $7,295, and upgrading a Power Macintosh G3/400 to 1GB of RAM costs $3,320 (“Your Perfect Mac,” May 1999). m Do you Yahoo!? Have you seen the difference with... ViewSonic on top! When you're navigating Yahoo! you want the biggest, brightest images you can get. Which is exactly why you should Yahoo!. with the new ViewSonic PS790 19" (18.0° viewable) monitor. The PS790 Short Depth monitor, it performs like a 21" (various viewable) monitor while taking up barely more space than a typical 15" (various viewable) CRT monitor. But while its footprint is small, it's big on screen quality. Consider an ultra fine 0.25mm dot pitch and 1,600 x 1,200 maximum resolution at a flicker-free 76Hz refresh Tate. Add to that ViewSonic’s SuperClear™ technology for 30% brighter colors than conventional CRTs and you've got the perfect solution for graphic arts and desktop publishing applications, as well as the Internet. At ViewSonic, we offer the #1 best selling monitors and flat panel displays in the U.S.A’ Buy with confidence from the company that's won over 500 industry awards. TCO ‘95 Certification. Warranty: 3 years on CRT, parts and labor. Express Exchange® service option available. Plus 24-hour Customer Service, 7 days a week. For very big performance in a very small space, you can't top the ViewSonic PS790. For more information on the company that's won over 500 industry awards, visit ViewSonic at: www.ViewSonic.com/mac (Mac Sold Separately) a Vie onic ‘Specicatons subject to change without roce. # Copyright © 1999, ViewSonic Compraon © Al ights reserved. on Pp ‘Sod Renae ay Mena pt 8 Dy Sev ary Sq Omar LDHews OFS eer ee www. ViewSonic.com {Gatlos Cohen, C. Cohen Design ine, Toronto, Canada Rendered with Render Works VectorWorks (Charles can, Pry Ld Choose 46 at www.macworld.com/getinfo VectorWorks’ state of the art Object Technology helps streamline the design process by making it easy to create common design elements, Now, Objects like doors, windows, nuts and bolts, can be created and edited with a click of the mouse, mn i making it easy to explore design ( alternatives, consider "what if” scenarios, and handle last- Int minute client changes. " ‘ ‘ — : = \\ IF c \\\ | ‘ \| — VectorWorks offers a solid \\\ [Lt ee : \| f _—< foundation based on proven CAD |} | — \ ee) technology—giving you the power Li and flexibility to tackle any design problem. — New features such as Workgroup Referencing, = DWG (v.14), Round Walls, Multiple Undo/Redo language, strengthen Vector Works and an improved scripting core CAD capabilities. And, with RenderWorks, VectorWorks’ new photo-realistic rendering plug-in, you can bring your designs to life with textures, shadows and dramatic lighting, With VectorWorks, you get it all—the flexibility and control of proven CAD technology and the productivity benefits of Object- ‘lutions for Architecture, Based design, Vector Works ships FRE Landscape Design, DTM and HVAC you aren't limited to the solutions we provide. VectorWor mong others. Best of all, is completely customizable, allowing you to c ‘ate your own custom business solu Save $279 by purchasing VectorWorks with N,. photorealistic rendering direct for $820 or, without rendering for only $595. Includes FREE ‘Tech Support and a 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Diehl Graphsoft Inc Software for Today's Professional ooo aomau JOHN airteR Face Off The Vision Thing by Andrew Gore WHEN IT COMES TO THE MAC OS X FINDER, APPLE SHOULD GIVE ITS CUSTOMERS A CHOICE ews Item: When Mac OS X arrives early next year, the venerable and ‘familiar Finder will be replaced with a new file-management inter- face derived from the Next OS's file browser. (See “The Millenni- um Mac,” elsewhere in this issue.) When I first sat down to write this column, I fully expected to flame Apple for this decision, The Finder is the result of over 15 years of careful evolu- tion. Cycle after cycle of customer input and resulting refinement have created a user experience that is inextricably linked with the Macintosh. But just as I began to write a careful- ly worded critique of the strategy, I asked myself: “What if J was faced with the task of improving a user interface that was invented before there was networking?” ‘Faced with a Dilemma Tuse a Mac not because I feel a sense of loyalty toward Apple or have some pow- erful religious fervor about the Macin- tosh. I use a Mac because I believe the Mac OS provides the best way for people to interact with their computers. I started using a Mac back in 1984 because I rec- ognized what a leap forward the Mac interface was, and I continue to use it to this day for the very same reason. And I like to think that if someone other than Apple came along with a better way for me to interact with a computer, that I would stop using a Mac and start using this amazing new computer and its amaz- ing new interface. A computer is just a tool—incredibly adaptable and powerful, but a tool none- theless. We must always be open to the possibility that no matter how accus- tomed we are to a particular tool, there might be a superior tool for performing the same tasks. So I’m open to the idea that there might be a better way to manipulate files and work with resources on a network than the Finder. In May, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that better way is a side- scrolling File Viewer that allows users to follow a hierarchical path to whatever files they're looking for. The advantage to this approach is clear: a single window can display all the folders and files at each level, without interceding windows obscuring the user’s view. I can see this approach being especially helpful for new users, who constantly misplace files behind windows or lose track of where they are in the hierarchy of their hard drive while using the Finder. But more sophisticated users, who might want to work with files in differ- ent branches of the hierarchy, would need to open multiple windows in order to perform tasks. The clean, straight-line approach of the scrolling viewer would quickly lose its clarity, as users struggled with multiple views displaying directo- ries that might overlap in some places but not in others. Two 'Faced While a Next-style viewer would be simpler and offer more flexibility, it could also confuse and complicate aspects of the user experience, com- pared to what the Finder offers. My solution? Offer both. Just as the Finder today offers several ways to view files— sorted lists, big icons, little icons, single- clickable buttons—the new Finder could offer both viewer windows and old- style Finder windows. Users could choose either the new interface or the classic one, and might even mix both, A viewer window could be open for viewing files on a remote server, while application icons are dis- played in a Finder-like window, allowing users to drag-and-drop between the two. More than offering users choice, the two views could work together in an interface that’s more pow- erful and more flexible than the sum of its parts. Apple has had a lot of suc- cess lately in limiting user choice. Replacing standard serial and ADB with USB proved to be the only way to get USB accepted by the mainstream, Some would argue that the only way to get users to change is to remove all other options. But I think you’re just as likely to alienate users as you are to enlighten them by forcing a new metaphor on them. Others would no doubt observe that mixing metaphors is never a good thing to do, whether you’re a writer or an interface designer. To them, I say: “Fine—then give the people both and let the user decide which is better.” Thave no doubt that by changing the Finder, Apple is trying to develop a bet- ter way for users to interact with their computer. So why not provide both and let Mac users decide over time which view works best for them? m Questions? Comments? E-mail them to Andy at visionthing@macworld.com. www.macworld.com August 1999 23 Cua e1U P1010 PT0101112 dt 0101001014 i 7100101010 WEB GEEK €0101010010 ype 00100101019 0101010010010 0000101010019 010010000101010 001001001000010 0100010010100004Q 010011111011101100 101010011111011101 0100101010011111011 00101001010100111110 1010010100101010011114 1101010010100101010011 10111010100101001010100% )0101011101010010100101010 D10010010000101010010010101%8 10001001001000010101001001010 01010001001001000010101001001010 10001010001001001000010101001001010° 0000001010001001010010101001111101: 1010010101110101001010010101001111: 0101010010101110101001010010101001: )100101010010101110101001010010101( 010100101010010101110101001010010: 901010100101010010101110101001010( 01001010100101010010101110101001( ARTISTE 0110000001010001001001000010 011101100000010100010010010000 £11011101100000010100010010010 £1111011101100000010100010010 b011111011101110101001010010 00101010010101110101001010 9100101010010101110101001( 0100101010010101110101( 010100101010010101110: 010100101010010101: 0 10100101010010 07101001010 01010 00010) 00111) 10100 0101 Every Web designer has two distinct sides to their personality. The artistic design side and the esoteric HTML side. And now you are the master of both with Adobe® GoLive” GoLive lets you create stunning and highly functional Web designs without having to write one line of HTML. Because GoLive generates code automatically. Just start designing and let GoLive do the coding. GoLive gives you the creative freedom you need to push your designs to a new level of artistry and interactivity. No matter how outrageous your ideas, GoLive ensures they not only look exquis- ite, but all work together when posted. GoLive even gives you instant interactivity capabilities with JavaScript™ features to bring your ideas to life like never before. Best of all, GoLive is available for both Mac® and Windows® platforms. So you can design and develop wherever you're most comfortable. Prepare to master a whole new side of your personality. To download a free trial version of Adobe JF r A GoLive, visit our Web site at J “"Q ¥ www.adobe.com/golivess Adobe If this is Norton”... This is TechTool® Pro: When your Macintosh computer is not operating But just because TechTool Pro is the most advanced correctly, having the right tool to find and fix the Macintosh troubleshooting utility available doesn't problem is important. And as any technician will tell | mean that it's difficult to use. In fact, we've added you, you can never have too many tools, TechTool —_ an easy-to-use interface that makes checking and Pro 2 checks more aspects of your Macintosh than fixing your Macintosh a snap. For the advanced user, any other utility available. Besides repairing and our expert mode allows you to control and configure recovering damaged drives (including those with the — TechTool Pro in almost any way you wish. new HFS+ format), you can also test all those other critical parts of your system that our famous competitor ignores like RAM, CPU, floppy drives, scanners, modems, Internet connections, CD-ROM drives and much, much more. So if your Macintosh troubles are getting you down, check out TechTool Pro. After all, you have the most powerful computer in the world. Shouldn't you be using the most powerful utility? re ‘~ [) > ‘MicroMat Ine. Sy 800-829-6227 707-837-8012 FAX: 707-837-0209 info@micromat.com www.micromat.com Fix different: (©1999 MicroMat Computer System, Ine. All rights reserved. Tech'Too! is a registered trademark of MicroMat Computer Systems, Inc, Fix Different is a trademark of MicroMat Computer Systems, inc: Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Compute, Ine. Nonon ia trademark of Symantec, Ine Choose 46 at www.macworld.com/getinfo AUGUST 1999 publishing QUARK, ADOBE SEEK TO INTEGRATE WEB AND PRINT PRODUCTION by Stephen Beale hatever you call it —workflow man- agement, digital- asset management, media-indepen- dent production—it’s the final frontier of electronic publish- ing and a hot topic at industry trade shows: the ability to integrate print and Web pro- duction seamlessly into auto- mated workflows. Two factors are driving the interest in workflow man- agement: growing business opportunities and the emer- gence of the Web as a new publishing medium. A mere 15 years after Apple and Adobe launched the desktop publishing revolution, soft- ware and hardware developers have addressed almost every individual need of graphics professionals. We have great tools for vector illustration, image editing, page layout, and print and Web produc- tion. However, the technolo- gies that allow us to use these tools within an integrated production environment are still in their infancy. Meanwhile, publishers are learning that efficient produc- tion systems are crucial if they want to take full advantage of the Web, and this means shar- ing print and online resources in a logical manner. However, few publishers have truly pro- ductive setups: most are still using separate workflows for print and online media, or implement Web production as an afterthought to print. A handful of developers have addressed these prob- Developers Tackle Workflow Issues lems by introducing workflow systems built around a flexible media database. All media ele- ments—drawings, photos, page layouts, HTML docu- ments, animations, audio and video clips—are stored in the database; from there users can quickly deploy them in print or online. These systems also incorporate project-manage- ment functions, allowing you to track each item’s status. Unique Challenges Un- fortunately, workflow man- agement does not lend itself to “one size fits all” products. Each publishing operation is unique, and implementing a productive workflow system is both expensive and time- consuming, often requiring outside assistance. In some cases, these systems must incorporate information from continues www.macworld.com August 1999 27 areas of a company not associ- ated with graphics produc- tion. For example, catalog producers might want to link their publishing software with inventory-tracking systems. Most currently available workflow products target big corporations, which typically have substantial information- management needs along with the resources required to implement customized systems. The developers often function as system integrators, coming into a company and config- uring their software to meet that customer's particular needs. Even then, the sys- tems have limitations. For example, many pub- lishers make last-minute changes directly in a Quark- XPress page layout—but without a lot of custom pro- gramming, there’s no easy way to make the central database reflect those changes. Enter the Titans Now that Quark and Adobe Sys- APPLE'S RECENT DECISION TO embrace the OpenGL 3-D graphics standard is paying div- idends in the form of new game titles for the Mac. Several devel- opers have announced that they will offer Mac versions of popu- lar games largely as a result of Apple's support for OpenGL. Forthcoming titles include the most popular PC role-playing game of 1999, Sierra's Half-Life, along with Interplay's Descent 3 and Id Software's Quake II and Quake Arena. OpenGL is already a stan- dard on the PC, so Apple's sup- port makes it easier for develop- ers to port their games to the Mac. Apple recently released its OpenGL software, available for download at www.apple.com. | Mews tems are throwing their ener- gies behind the issue, it’s more likely that we'll see workable solutions for these print- related bottlenecks. Of the two, Quark has had the most to say on the subject. Last year, the com- pany announced the Quark Digital Media System (Quark- DMS), which uses an Oracle database text, to manage graphics, and other design elements. Quark plans to release the software within the next several months. By the end of the year, the com- pany plans to offer a product that integrates QuarkDMS with the Quark Publishing In addition to these Open- GL-inspired releases, some ven- dors are stepping up their Mac development efforts simply in response to Apple's resurgence. For example, Aspyr Media expects to ship Madden NFL 2000, the first major Mac-based team sports game in recent memory, and Humongous Entertainment plans an October release for its new Backyard Football title. Other new or forthcoming Mac games include Simon & Schuster Interactive's The Fallen, Deer Avenger Il, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch Il; Gathering of Developers’ Fly; Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo ll; and Bungie Software's Oni.—PHILIP DYER 28 August 1999 MACWORLD System, an editorial manage- ment system based on QuarkXPress. Adobe has offered few details about its own work- flow-management system, code-named Stilton. How- ever, the company’s new In- Design software, with its flexible plug-in architecture, is ideally suited for integra- tion with custom publishing systems. Several developers of magazine and newspaper systems have already announced plans to incor- porate InDesign. Adobe is also continuing work on the GoLive Web Publishing § which it acquired early this year part of its GoLive purchase, The workflow systems from Quark and Adobe won't necessarily be appropriate for smaller businesses. However, given the extensibility of QuarkXPress and InDesign, plus the current plethora of inexpensive media databases, there should be plenty of opportunities for developers to step in with scaled-down applications. Mac Impact Within large corporations, the move to automated workflows could have ominous implications for the Mac. Even now, Mac- based designers in many com- panies feel pressure to switch to the Wintel platform. As they implement integrated publishing systems, IT man- agers might think they have even greater incentive to force a switch, On the other hand, many of the current workflow- management _ sys do use platform-agni browsers as their primary client interface, and the Mac retains its advantage as the preferred computer choice for design and publishing. During a conference session at the recent Seybold Boston show, Kevin Hannon of Sotheby’s recalled that he tried to implement a “PC only” policy when he took over the auctioneer’s publish- ing operations, only to reverse his position when he discov- ered how difficult it was to attract PC-sawvy designers. Apple Puts PowerBook on a Diet NEW MODEL OFFERS EXTENDED BATTERY LIFE by Michael Gowan ddressing the con- cerns of many Power- Book users, Apple Computer (800/795- 1000, — www.apple .com) has introduced a slim- mer version of its laptop that 's faster performance and extended battery life. Apple’s new PowerBook weighs just 5.9 pounds with CD drive and battery— almost 2 pounds lighter than earlier models. You can reduce the weight even fur- ther by removing the drive and inserting a “weight-sav- ing module”—a small plastic device that ships with the lap- top. Just as important to mobile professionals, the portables are 20 percent thin- ner than previous models, with a depth of 1.7 inches. Because of the slimmer ign, the new PowerBook’s expansion bay won’t accept batteries or storage devices that work with earlier G3 PowerBooks. Brawny Chips While cut- ting bulk, Apple added more brawn in the form of faster PowerPC G3 chips. The 400MHz PowerBook ($3,499) ships with a 6GB hard drive, a BRYAN WiGciNs DVD-ROM drive, and a IMB L2 cache. The 333MHz PowerBook ($2,499) includes a 4GB hard drive, a 24x CD- ROM drive, and a 512K L2 cache. Both include a 14.1- inch screen, 64MB of RAM, dual USB ports, an internal 56-Kbps modem, and a 10/100BaseT Ethernet con- nection. You can opt for larger storage—up to 10GB—and a maximum of 384MB of RAM. You can also order the 333MHz PowerBook with a DVD-ROM drive, but if you buy one without the DVD- ROM installed, you cannot upgrade to DVD-ROM later. However, Apple says it is possible that other companies might eventually offer a DVD-ROM upgrade kit that works with the 333MHz model. Apple says that a single battery in the new PowerBook can last up to 5 hours, compared with 3.5 hours in the previous models. Apple credits the extended battery life to the lower power consumption in the new G3 chips, as well as improved power-management features in Mac OS 8.6, which ships with the new laptop. The new PowerBooks also feature built-in dual- display capability without the need for an extra adapter. You can connect to an external monitor or multimedia pro- jector without losing the image on the laptop’ LCD screen. When the Power- Book is using dual displays, the external monitor shows millions of colors, while the laptop itself is limited to thousands of colors. (In single-display mode, the lap- top shows millions of colors.) VST Technologies (978/ 263-9700, www.vsttech.com) is offering Zip and SuperDisk drives that work with the slimmer media bay. If you want to use FireWire periph- erals such as digital cam- corders or hard drives, you can add the $249 FireWire 2 Go Cardbus card, from Newer Technology (316/943- 0222, www.newertech.com). Available in June, the card transfers data at a speed of 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps, or 400 Mbps, depending on the maximum speed of the con- nected peripheral. The card works only with self-powered FireWire devices. Macromedia Bets the Store on Flash 4 ANIMATION TOOL GETS E-COMMERCE FEATURES by Stephen Beale lash animations could be coming to a store near you—an online store, that is. Macro- media (800/326-2128, www.macromedia.com) has announced Flash 4, an up- grade of its vector-animation software with new electronic- commerce capabilities. The Flash format lets you create compact Web- based vector animations that download much more quick- ly than the equivalent bit- mapped animations. You can produce Flash animations using Macromedia’s Flash software or other applica- tions that support the for- mat. Apple’s QuickTime 4 software supports Flash, making it possible to include Flash animations in Quick- Time movies (see “Quick- Time 4 Moves Upstream,” News, July 1999). Text Entry The new e-commerce capabilities are made possible by a feature that lets you set up data-entry fields within Flash anima- tions. You can thus create eye-catching, animated forms that bear little resemblance to conventional data-entry screens. You can set up pass- word fields, restrict text length, and define borders and background for the fields. Entered data can pass on to a CGI script for inte- gration with database or other server software. Flash 4 also adds support for audio compression using the increasingly-popular MP3 format, allowing you to set up Flash movies in which pressing a button or launch- ing an animation triggers an MP3 audio stream. A new Actions feature makes it easi- er to create customized inter- faces, menus, and buttons for Web sites. A Publish com- mand places updated Flash animations on the Web in a single step. In addition to these new Web publishing features, Flash 4 includes numerous interface enhancements, some borrowed from Macro- media FreeHand. These additions include FreeHand- style inspector palettes that provide control over objects, transformations, frames, and scenes. An edit-in-place continues Product WATCH Amateur Auteurs You don't need a high-end digital-video sys- tem to make movies. XLR8's (316/636-5544, www.xlr8.com) $99 InterView captures video from a camcorder, VCR, or digital camera and sends it to a Power ‘Mac through the USB port. Disappearing Act Micro Conversions, developer of the Game Wizard game accelerator, has closed its doors after 14 years as a Mac hardware vendor. A new company called iWonder (817/633-4011, www.iwonderinc .com), headed by Micro Conversions founder Greg Smith, will continue offering the Game Wizard as well as future iMac products. iWonder will also handle technical support for Micro Conversions hardware. ‘Software Shuffle Some popu- lar apps have found new homes, Digital-video-system producer Media 100 (508/460-1600, www. smedia100.com) bought Terran Interactive, developer of Media Cleaner Pro. Terran will still focus on software for video encoding and streaming. Smith Micro Soft- ware (800/964-7674, www -Smithmicro.com) acquired STF Technologies and plans to keep producing the latter's Faxstf fax software for the Mac. Smith Micro also plans to develop a Mac client for conexs.com, a Web site that lets you place Internet phone calls, have real-time chats, and partici- pate in videoconferences. No release date was announced. continues Product WATCH Y2K Fix The Mac isn't entirely free of Y2K problems, Intuit (800/ 446-8848, www.intuit.com) has released a free update of Quick- Books and QuickBooks Pro that brings both versions into compli- ance with the company’s Year 2000 Compliant Standard. Intuit also announced that it will no longer support payroll functionality jin QuickBooks for Mac and that it is discontinuing the Tax Table Service for Mac. Instead, users will receive a subscription to Aatrix’s Mac-based tax-table service. Lasers to Go Xerox (800/275- 9376, www.xerox.com) intro- duced its first. Mac-compatible personal laser printer, the $700, 1200-dpi, USB-equipped Docu- Print P1202. LocalTalk and Ethernet connections are options. HP (800/752-0900, www.hp .com) unveiled the LaserJet 4050 series, a family of 17-ppm print- ers ranging from $1,100 to $1,600. Each printer includes a built-in 10/100BaseTX Ethernet print server. NEC Technologies (800/632-4636, www.nectech .com) announced the SuperScript 1800, a 1,200-dpi laser printer that sells for $1,198, including an Ethernet card required for Mac connectivity. Office Synergy Make the most of your business tools. Microsoft (800/426-9400, www -microsoft.com) has released a free Office 98 plug-in that imports FileMaker Pro databases into Word or Excel. Download it from www.microsoft.com/mac/. —EDITED BY MICHAEL GOWAN feature lets you modify objects in relation to other artwork on screen. The re- vamped Timeline makes it easier to create keyframes and tweening effects. Broad Support Macro- media has made a big effort to build support for its Flash technology, and versions of Flash Player—needed to view Flash animations—are bun- dled with the Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, and Net- scape Navigator. As part of its campaign to promote the Flash format, Macromedia has announced that it will make Flash Player available as free source code, permitting devel- opers to incorporate it into their applications more easily. The company cites survey research indicating that about 77 percent of Web browsers have the ability to view Flash content. You'll need an upgraded version of the Flash Player to view Flash 4 anima- tions, but it is a small down- load—tess than 400K. Flash 4 is scheduled to ship by the time you read this for an estimated price of $299 ($269 if downloaded from Macromedia’s Web site). Cur- rent users can upgrade for $129 if they have the boxed version or $99 if they have a downloaded version. Shockwave.com Along with the new software, Macromedia has announced a Web site, Shockwave.com, devoted to showcasing Flash and Shockwave content. Building on Macrome previous Shockrave Web site, Shockwave.com will feature cartoons, music, and games, including content from Comedy Central, Fox Inter- active, and Marvel.com. When you download the Shockwave Flash Player, you'll receive Shockwave Remote—complete with re- wind and fast-forward con- trols—which you can use to | News access Shockwave or Flash movies on the new Web site or the sites of other compa- nies. By paying a $20 upgrade fee, you can turn Shockwave Remote into Shockmachine, an enhanced controller that lets you scale content up to full-screen size as well as store an unlimited number of Shockwave movies or links in virtual carousels. Shockwave.com will be run by a new Macromedia business unit of the same name. Heading the division is Stephen Fields, who was pre- viously general manager of Disney Software. Multifunction Peripherals Arrive for Mac CANON ANNOUNCES FIRST MAC-BASED MFP by Macworld Staff ultifunction periph- erals (MFPs), a growing presence in the PC market, are about to arrive for the Mac. Canon (800/652- 2666, www.ccsi.canon.com), the second-leading vendor of MEPs, after Hewlett- Packard, has announced the MultiPass C635, the first Mac-based MFP. Others are likely to follow. MFPs combine a scanner and printer in a single low- cost unit that also works as a digital copier and plain-paper fax machine. The MultiPass C635, with an estimated street price of $379, features a 720-by-360-dpi color ink- jet printer based on Canon’s BJC-4400, as well as a 24-bit color sheetfed scanner that offers 300-dpi optical resolu- tion (600 dpi with software enhancement). Developed specifically for the Mac, the MultiPass C635 features a USB interface and is bundled with Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0, for image editing, and ScanSoft’s ‘Text- Bridge Professional, for text recognition. You can use it as a stand-alone fax machine or copier when it’s not con- nected to a comput- er, he copier can produce one black- \d-white page in 45 seconds and addi- tional copies at up to three pages per minute. It produces color copies at up to three minutes per page. SOHO Revival MFPs typically target SOHO users who want a cost-effective means of scanning and print- ing but don’t need the higher quality that _ stand-alone imaging devices generally offer. Apple’s recent resur- profile making Macintosh-b MFPs mong these use: ed a more viable busin« proposition. Canon says ‘Apple has been encouraging manufacturers to offer MFPs for the Mac, so it’s probable that other companies will fol- low suit. One likely player is HP, which has closely allied itself with Apple and current- ly has the largest share of the MFP market. The award-winning Diamond Pro 900u (19-inch CRI/18.0-inch DVI*) is truly distortion-free with a perfectly flat screen surface. See the difference at: ae or Eity a LAMAN ay lianas] Sooe 5 Diamond 10900 Diamond Pro. 9001 lama Pro. So0u Diamond Prov —_—lnond Pro 2am Sena aa” SaL iY ase He 98 February 1988 "he 198 If you’re using a conventional CRT monitor, your eyes and brain are working overtime to correct for the curvature. Now, however, with its DIAMONDTRON NE” (Natural Flat) family, DIAMONDTRON Mitsubishi has completely revolutionized monitor h! technology. With a perfectly flat screen from edge to edge and truly distortion-free imagery, you’ll experience an unprecedented improvement in viewing pleasure. Not to mention the dazzling brightness, razor-sharp clarity and stunning color accuracy which puts Mitsubishi in a class by itself. With no curvature, reflections and glare are also eliminated. The result is remarkably realistic, natural-looking flat images. Your energy can now be spent being more creative and more productive. For added versatility, Soreneeiagtcial — DIAMONDTRON NEF monitors feature a unique a self-powered USB hub which allows you to switch all connected USB peripherals between two com- puters automatically. With DIAMONDTRON NF monitors, Mitsubishi will forever change your view of the world. The difference is right before your eyes. For more information on the award-winning Diamond Pro 900u (19-inch CRT/ 18.0-inch DVI*) and new Diamond Pro 2020u (22-inch CRT/20-inch DVI*) models, contact Mitsubishi Electronics today. a. MITSUBISHI DISPLAY PRODUCTS Innovation On Display, USA: 800-843-2515 * Canada: 800-387-9630 + QWIKEAX: 800-937-2094 * www.naturalflat.com/pb/mwd/nf ‘©1999 Mitsubishi Electronies America, Inc. “DVI: Diagonal Viewable Image Choose 261 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Acrobat 4.0 A RAFT OF SMALL ENHANCEMENTS ADDS UP TO A DECENT UPGRADE FTER SLOGGING several years, Adobe Acrobat is A now the undisputed standard for electronic document production, whether on the Web, v ROM, or in print publishing. Ver 4.0's new interface masks a variety of small and moderate improvements. Few of the changes will make you say “Wow!” but some will make your life a little easier. AWAY FOR A Few Big Changes ‘The biggest change is under the skin: Acro- bat 4.0 uses a new version of the Portable Document Format (PDF) that’s t the PostScript 3 language. This will little effect on most users, but it should be a boon in prepress operations as PostScript 3 output devices come to be used more widely. PostScript 3 makes color output more predictable, speeds printing of some graphics formats, and offers better han- dling of gradients than previous versions. The most visible effect of the new PostScript 3 engine is the new Prepress Options dialog box, which lets you imple- ment color trapping when producing film. You can also preserve the original CMYK values in a PDF file, bypassing any modi- fications made by color-management soft- ware installed in your system. Experienced users will also see a revised interface that alters most menus and keyboard shortcuts, part of Adobe's long-standing effort to impose a similar look-and-feel in each of its programs. Expect to lose time getting used to the new design, although you'll adapt quickly if you frequently use other Adobe soft- ware. To this reviewer, the new interface reflects an Adobe conceit more than a user need. It makes sense for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to have similar interfaces, but this is less true of products such as PageMaker, Acrobat, and the forthcoming InDesign; the conventions that make sense in graphics programs don’t always work well in these latter packages. Fortunately, Acrobat’s revised inter- face doesn’t usually get in the way. Our biggest problem was figuring out how to create thumbnail previews of images, which in Acrobat 3 was an option in the main menu. In version 4.0, you access the feature through an easily overlooked palette menu in the Thumbnails pane or by control-clicking on the same pane. Control-clicking is an action few Mac users have adopted, unlike right-click— savvy Windows users. Some features have been renamed but are otherwise the same: Notes are now Annotations, and the Scan OCR function, DUCTS REAL RATINGS Reviews you can trust: Macworld rates only final shipping products, not prototypes. What we review is what you can actually buy. OUTSTANDING: $4988 VERY GOOD: $$$ Goon: $4% UNACCEPTABLE: § FLAWED: $9 34 August 1999 MACWORLD for converting scanned documents to editable text files, is now Paper Capture. Acrobat Exchange, the core application in the package, is now simply Acrobat. The other key applications are Acrobat Distiller, for converting PostScript files to PDF, and Acrobat Reader, for viewing PDF files. Added Touches Beyond these changes, Acrobat 4.0 feels like a minor upgrade. Sure, there are many nice touches, but you won't find any “Wow, T’'ve gotta have it” additions. However, sev- eral moderate enhancements stand out. One of the most powerful features of Acrobat technology is its ability to simu- late the appearance of fonts that are not installed in your system. If the PDF doc- ument includes Gill Sans but that font is not on your Mac, Acrobat can still display a reasonably good approximation. The new Use Local Fonts command lets you choose whether Acrobat 4.0 displays a document with the fonts installed in your system or with the simulations that others will see. In previous versions of Acrobat, you had to open the PDF file on a system without the original fonts to see how the simulations would look. Acrobat Distiller 4.0 also makes it eas- ier to create PDF files for specific pur- poses by adding canned settings optimized for screen display, printer output, and pre- press output. You simply pick the setting from a pop-up menu, and the program generates a PDF file with the appropriate options. You can also create your own set- tings and associate them with a folder so any documents dropped in automatically convert to PDF files. That’s handy. When editing text, you can now change the font and type size, although you're still limited to working on one line of text ata time. You can also edit embed- ded bitmap and EPS files by double-click- ing on them; Acrobat launches an appro- priate program such as Photoshop or Illustrator if you have it on your Mac. Also handy is the new Filter Manager, which finds all annotations and editing marks from one or more selected users. It’s a great tool if you have many people anno- tating your PDF files. The new version also lets you print annotations through an option in the Print dialog box, a function we've long wished for. If you want to place your PDF files on the Web, Acrobat 4.0 lets you set a base URL, a useful feature if most of your links from a document are to a single site. For example, if you use www.macworld.com as your base URL, then you can enter /1999/08/reviews/ for a link to August 1999 reviews, rather than the whole URL, www.macworld.com/1999/08/reviews/. Ifyou create a lot of forms, a new forms grid helps you align the various fields to make data entry easier. The new Go Back Doc and Go Forward Doc commands are nice touches, letting plug-ins, most likely beginning with the Web-capture utility. The same thing hap- pened with Acrobat 3.0, and it took a year in some cases for Mac users to get feature parity. The Mac is still the preferred envi- ronment for creative work, so it should be the preeminent platform for Acrobat. Fortunately, if you use the PC-only digital-signature feature—the only one that you move among doc- uments in the same way you move from Page to page. A Few Flaws Despite the improve- ments, there are some flaws. For example, the ability to renum- ber pages would seem handy when you're merging several PDF documents. Unfortu- nately, these page numbers display only within the Thumb- nails view, not on the actual pages, so they’re not very useful for the recipient. You can also use non-Arabic numer- , and iii—to number pages in the table of contents or in other front or back material. However, you cannot print pages numbered in this manner unless you print the entire document. For example, if the document begins with page i, fol- lowed by page 1, you cannot print just the first page. If you use the Print dialog box to print page 1, Acrobat prints the page numbered 1, not the first page of the doc- ument. This is a serious oversight. Acrobat’s Fit Text To Selection option, a good idea introduced in Acrobat 3.0, still works awkwardly. This feature squeezes or stretches revised text to fill the space the original text occupied. But you must select this option before entering text—there’s no way to use it once you've started typing, even if you're replacing an entire line. The Windows Advantage The biggest flaw in Acrobat 4.0 is what's lacking: the Windows version includes sev- eral useful features that aren’t currently available for the Mac, including the ability to import Web pages, add secure digital signatures, and extract formatted text and tables. Adobe says it will eventually offer these features to Mac users as free el a = It’s the Little Things Acrobat 4 has a revised interface featuring page thumb- nails, but its core features remain the same, affects PDF files internally—you won't lose the signature if you later modify the PDF file with the Mac version of Acrobat. You'll even get a note added to the Signatures pane that an unidentified person (the Mac user) has modified the file. Macworld’s Buying Advice Acrobat is priced to sell: $249 for a new copy and $99 for an upgrade. That will make it easy for most users to consider an upgrade, even given the moderate enhance- ments. If you're a Web, CD-ROM, or print publisher using Acrobat files, there’s no compelling reason not to upgrade. But if you're happy with Acrobat 3.0, there's little reason to jump quickly to version 4.0, at least not until the Mac version adds what Windows users are getting. Take your time, since the gratification in making the switch is not tremendous.—caten GRUMAN the Mac; numbering feature prevents print COMPANY: Adobe Systems www.adobe.com). LIST PRICE: $249. www.macworld.com August 1999 35 Final Cut Pro [Reviews VIDEO-PRODUCTION PROGRAM IS VERSATILE, ELEGANT HE SAGA OF APPLE'S FINAL CUT Pro reads like that of a Holly- wood epic: Years in the making. An all-star cast. Bounced from one studio to another. Finally released to rave reviews . . . more or less. Final Cut Pro 1.0 is a video-production titan that combines the video-capture and -editing features of Adobe Premiere and Digital Origin’s EditDV with many of Adobe After Effects’ animation and ing tools, all within a beautiful, 1) Effective Editing Final Cut Pro's well-designed interface combines Video editing with motion-graphics effects. Cut Pro’s versatility is its stiff hardware requirements. Moreover, Final Cut Pro’s new-kid-on-the-block status means that it lacks the broad hardware support the competition offers. And despite its sophistication, the program handles some tasks awkwardly. The Big Picture Apple’s hardware specs call for a 266MHz or faster Power Mac G3 with at least 128MB of RAM. (Apple doesn’t warrant that Final Cut Pro will run on Macs containing G3 upgrade cards.) I used a shiny new 400MHz G3 for my testing, but just for laughs, I also installed Final Cut Pro on a gray-haired Power Mac 7600/132 with 160MB of RAM. To my pleasant surprise, Final Cut Pro ran—or at least walked. The 7600 was often too slow to capture and play video without dropping frames, and cob- webs occasionally formed when I moved 36 August 1999 MACWORLD Outdoor Life or resized windows, but I was able to per- form basic editing and compositing. Final Cut Pro makes a great first impression. It sports an elegant 3-D look, and windows snap to each other as you move them; when you drag and resize them, Final Cut Pro redraws their con- tents on the fly. Many of Final Cut Pro’s windows will feel familiar to video veterans. A Bin win- dow holds media that you import or cap- ture, while a Timeline window displays the sequence of edits and transitions. For com- plex productions, a Browser window helps you manage media and a Find command lets you search on numerous criteria. And a Final Cut Pro project can contain multiple timelines—something you won't find in Premiere. Final Cut Pro’s Canv: window displays edited mate! ial and lets you set in- and out- points. It also lets you edit clips: Drag.a clip to the Canvas window, and Final Cut Pro superimposes a set of editing options on the window. Point to the desired option and release the mouse button, and the program makes the edit. This approach is slick and easy to learn, Manipulating Me Final Cut Pro can import QuickTime movies as well as all Quick Time-support- ed image and audio formats. You can also import Photoshop images that retain their layers. Unlike Premiere and After Effects, however, Final Cut Pro can’t import Adobe Illustrator or EPS files—a potentially serious drawback if your work involves animating vector-based art. Final Cut’s video-capture features work particularly well with FireWire-based DV devices. You can control such a device directly from Final Cut’s Log and Capture window, setting in- and out-points for var- ious scenes and then batch-capturing the scenes. Alas, at this writing, Final Cut sup- ports a relatively small number of DV cam- corders and decks. As for non-DV capture hardware, Apple has currently certified only Pinnacle Systems’ Targa 1000- and 2000-series cards. Visit Final Cut Pro’s Web site (www.apple.com/finalcutpro) to verify compatibility with your gear. Packing a full arsenal of video transi- tions and filters, Final Cut Pro is unique in supporting QuickTime 4% built-in filters. Tts audio filters are ideal for sweetening and equalizing soundtracks, but it lacks equiva- lents to Premiere 5’s terrific reverb and mul- titap delay. Nor can Final Cut use Pre- miere-format audio-filter plug-ins; indeed, itcan’tuse any Premiere- or Photoshop-for- mat plug-ins. And the program’ titling fea- tures are surprisingly weak, lacking a Pre- miere-style WYSIWYG titling window; you can’t even mix fonts and type sizes with- in a title or use Type 1 PostScript fonts. Going After After Effects Where Final Cut Pro pulls away from the pack is in compositing and motion graph- ics. Click on an option in Final Cut’s Can- vas window, and you can animate and layer clips and still images much as in After Effects. You won't find all of After Effects’ keyframe controls, but Final Cut Pro comes close enough for many jobs. ‘The program also offers basic keying fea- tures. And advanced users will love FXBuilder, a built-in scripting language that lets you create custom filters. When you're rendering effects, you can choose from a variety of resolution settings and apply motion blur for added realism. Final Cut Pro’s render- ing performance seems a bit slow at times, and no third-party rendering- acceleration cards are available yet. Macworld's Buying Advice If you’re already using Premiere and After Effects, there’s little reason to switch to Final Cut Pro. But Final Cut’s extensive capabilities and refined inter- face make it a first-rate foundation for a professional video-editing system— particularly if you’re putting together a new system and can choose your hard- ware based on what Final Cut Pro sup- ports. Version 1.0 is a stunning effort, and we expect even better things from the sequels.—im HeID RATING: $$$ PROS: Elegant interface; broad capabilities. CONS: Stiff hardware requirements; limited third-party hardware support; poor titing features. COMPANY: Apple Computer (800/795- 1000, www.apple.com). LIST PRICE: $999, Amorphium 3-D SCULPTING SOFTWARE TRADES FUNCTION FOR FUN MORPHIUM’S PACKAGING tells you everything you need to know about the software. The blurb describes it as “Real Time 3D Sculpting and Painting,” and sure enough, you can poke and prod fully rendered 3-D forms, paint on their sur- faces, and view the changes instanta- neously. The artwork on the box appears molded out of plastic, and rounded, rub- bery figures are precisely the kind of images at which Amorphium excels. Even the name of the vendor, Play, is appropri- Extra Dimensional To combine multiple objects in Amorphium, you visit the Composer window, which lets you position wire-frame objects and render them as an image or movie ate. The same company sells the high-end Electriclmage Animation System, but Play fits Amorphium like a latex glove. You'll have a ball experimenting with the program, but its emphasis on brush con- trols in lieu of construction tools makes creating predictable artwork difficult. Push, Pull, and Smear Amorphium provides several ways to cre- ate 3-D forms. For starters, the program invites you to mold a shape as if it were a lump of putty. After loading a primitive— such as a sphere, a cylinder, or a dough- nut—you can use different brush tips to bore holes, draw spikes, and carve grooves. The object reacts immediately, but it’s often hard to gauge the effects of your edits because you're brushing direct- ly into the shape. A long protrusion can look like a small pimple when viewed straight on. And if you bore too deeply, Amorphium will create a spike on the opposite side. The problem is magnified by Amor- phium’s single-level undo. If you make a series of bad edits, you can cancel only the last one. As a result, it’s a good idea to rotate the shape frequently so you can judge your edits from multiple angles. The program offers an optional second view—for observing edits from the side, for example—but it’s awfully small. ‘To make painting easier, Amorphium offers a set of sophisticated symmetry controls, which are useful for shaping faces and other regu- lar images. You can also choose from an assortment of distor- tion effects that stretch, twirl, and reshape the object. To apply an effect, you drag on a command name as if it were an invisible slider bar. The process is intuitive, but old- fashioned numerical fields that remember your last settings would be more useful. You can also reshape objects by applying a height map—a gray-scale image that molds the object inward and outward according to shadows and highlights. The best creation tool, though, is biospheres, magnetic balls that fuse into one another. These are great for shaping fingers, arms, necks, and other ap- pendages. It would be nice if you could use biocones, biocubes, and other con- necting shapes, but Amorphium gener- ously lets you adjust the roundness of each ball to avoid the knuckle-like rib- bing that would otherwise appear. Paint and Morph If you've ever used a 3-D rendering pro- gram, you know how difficult it is to assign multiple colors to a model. Amor- phium makes it easy. At any time in the sculpting phase, you can switch to the Paint&Optics mode and paint colors directly onto the object. You see exactly where the colors go and how they reflect and refract light. ‘The program also offers straightfor- ward morphing and animation controls. Creating a 3-D movie is as simple as mod- ifying an object, repositioning it in the Composer view, and clicking on a key- frame icon. Amorphium automatically generates the intermediate shapes between the keyframes to create the effect of continuous motion. You can then ren- der your composition as an animated GIF file or QuickTime movie. Although you can modify paint, shape, and distortion attributes from one keyframe to the next, you can animate just one object per movie. Sadly, this single- object constraint holds true throughout the program. When editing an object, you see that single shape and no other. To view how multiple objects interact, you have to switch to the Composer view, which lets you adjust the placement of objects in a wire-frame mode and then preview the rendered shapes in a separate step (see “Extra Dimensional”). If you don’t like what you see, it’s back to the wire-frame mode or single-object view for additional editing. Amorphium takes over your screen and hides all other applications, includ- ing the Finder. A button lets you switch to the Finder and hide the Amorphium window, but there’s no way to switch directly to some other application. If this sounds reminiscent of Kai’s Power Tools, that’s because Amorphium owes much of its implementation to various MetaCreations programs. Play even goes so far as to tout its own ready-made guru, the slinky Kiki. Macworld's Buying Advice If you liked Kai’s Power Tools, you'll think Amorphium is the cat’s polymer pajamas. But if you found that KPT did more to impair your productivity than enhance it, Amorphium will likewise get in your face. I come down somewhere in between. Although its approach is too whimsical to make it much use to profes- sionals, Amorphium is a wonderfully addictive recess tool.—peKe mcCLeLLAND RATING: $$$1/ PROS: Highly responsive; offers fully rendered preview mode; has intuitive painting and animation controls. CONS: Single- level undo; interface takes over screen; can edit and animate just one object at a time. COM- PANY: Play (916/851-0800, www.play.com). LIST PRICE: $149.95. www.macworld.com August 1999 37 Canoma TURN 2-D INTO 3-D ET READY TO START SEEING more of 3-D. Just as PageMaker brought drop shadows and mul- tiple fonts to the masses, Meta- Creations’ Canoma 1.0 brings effective, high-quality 3-D stills and ani- mations to anyone with a Power Mac and $499. Although it won’t help you model organic shapes or finely detailed geome- try, Canoma does let you create stunning 3-D architecture, interior scenes, and simple geometric renderings and output them as stills or animations. Best of all, you'll do most of the work with a still camera or paintbrush rather than complex 3-D-modeling tools. Working Geometrically Even though it sports an interface inspired by Kai’s Power ‘Tools, Canoma is fairly unique among MetaCreations prod- ucts in that it’s easy to use. None of the tools are hidden, and you probably won't have to return to the poorly written man- ual after the first read. ‘To begin working in Canoma, you import a bitmapped image—a scanned photo or painting—of the scene you want to render. Canoma displays the image in its single window and presents you with a simple palette of 3-D primitives, such as cubes, pyramids, cropped pyramids, and planes, containing tools for constructing your scene’s geometry. ‘To model the scene, you pick out a shape in your image and then select a 3-D primitive of similar geometry, Using a simple pointer tool, you drag the corners of the primitive to “pin” them to the cor- ners of the object in your image. Canoma uses the primitive’s geometry to calculate focal length, perspective, camera angle, and interobject relationships and then maps your image onto the object. When you switch from Edit to View mode, you can rotate and move your object with its texture-mapped surfaces (a technolo- gy known as camera mapping). Although the results are startlingly effective, if you rotate your image too far from its original location you'll notice artifacts. The image looks like what it is: an object with pictures pasted to its sides. And anything that protrudes from 38 August 1999 MACWORLD [ Reviews the model—balconies on a building, for example—won't rotate or scale with the proper perspective. To improve your model and give the rest of your scene more detail, you must add more geometry. Behind the Scenes Fortunately, MetaCreations has included some excellent features and tools to streamline modeling. By default, you create primitives on the ground plane, but it’s easy to stack a new primitive on top of the previously selected one. You can also duplicate primitives with or without the same orientation as the pre- vious object. But Canom: can’t see. best tool is one you As soon as you begin placing objects, Canoma starts calculating focal length, perspective, vanishing points, and ‘Adding Dimension To create a scene in Canoma, you pin the corners of geometric primitives to the corners of objects in your source image. camera angle and applies these calcula- tions to new objects. And the program is amazingly accurate: after you pin just one or two corners of an object, you'll find the program has already calculated the other corners correctly. Still, we'd like to see a few more prim- itives (especially curvy ones; trying to model domes or turrets is a tricky process). And because it can be hard to understand Canoma’s 3-D space, the addition of multiple views would ease approximate placement of objects. Adding Texture Since a photo typically shows only one or two sides of an object, when you spin the rendered object around the other sides are blank. Fortunately, Canoma’s powerful texturing tools can duplicate textures symmetrically onto blank faces. You can add more photos to fill in missing detail; you tell Canoma how to use them by pin- ning your existing model to the new image. The program can also interpolate missing pixels to fill in blank spaces. Though these areas appear smeared and washed out, the overall effect is fine. To alter or paint on your source image, click on a textured surface; Canoma opens that texture in your image-editing application with all per- spective removed. After you finish paint- ing and editing and return to Canoma, the new image is applied automatically. In addition to touching up your image, you can define an alpha channel to mask out unwanted objects, such as power lines or telephone poles. When Canoma renders the scene, it fills in the masked section with detail from another shot (one in which the telephone pole isn’t visible, for example). Canoma can output still images; QuickTime movies; and using MetaCreations’ MetaStream format, stream- ing 3-D objects. The pro- gram can also export geome- try in OBJ, DXF, TrueSpace, and VRML 2 format and tex- tures as a series of JPEG file You may have to do some work in a 3-D application to figure out where the textures go on your model, but for complex scenes this method is still faster than starting from scratch, Canoma is a great tool for serious 3-D users who need a camera-mapping (or an easier- to-use camera-mapping) tool. Macworld's Buying Advice Canoma 1.0 is simply breathtaking soft- ware. Although the camera-mapping effect is nothing new, it’s astonishingly easy to Even without a full comple- ment of modeling primitives and naviga- tion tools, Canoma is a fun, powerful, capable program for anyone who wants to delve into 3-D.—sen tone RATING: $88 PROS: Fast, easy scene bulld- ing; great texture-editing tools. CONS: No cylin- ders or curvy primitives; limited navigation tools. COMPANY: MetaCreations (800/472-9025, www -metacreations.com). LIST PRICE: $499. Go ahead, upgrade to that new G3 without sacrificing the SCSI peripherals you depend on, And in case you didn’t know, Adaptec® SCSI cards support Apple’s old SCSI Manager and newer $ Manager 4.3 de so you can connect to whatever SCSI peripheral you might be using. But it gets even better. Adaptec SCSI significantly outperforms Apple’s previous built-in SCSI, enabling your Jaz, scanner, and other peripherals to operate at peak performance. So if you want to upgrade to a new blue G3 without sacrificing anything, get an Adaptec SCSI card. For more information visit www.adaptec.com/mac. [ Reviews RealProducer Plus 62 STREAMING-MEDIA CONTENT-PRODUCTION TOOL TREAMING MEDIA MAKES THE Web come alive with audio, video, and animation. Unlike download-oriented technologies such as MP3, streaming gives near-immediate gratification: click on a link, and you’re listening or watching within seconds. RealNetworks’ Real- System, which incorporates the compa- ny’s RealAudio and RealVideo tech- nologies, has long been the most popular streaming platform; RealSys- tem G2, introduced last year, improves playback quality and authoring options. Encoding for G2 RealProducer Plus G2 makes sup- port for multiple bandwidths a matter of clicking in check boxes, During encoding, a preview of the final clip appears alongside the original ‘To create RealSystem G2 content, you need RealNetworks’ new Real- Producer Plus G2; to tune in to RealSys- tem G2 or 5.0 content, there’s RealPlayer Plus G2. (Both are available in free ver- sions as well.) Unfortunately, Real- Producer falls short of its Windows coun- terpart in key areas, while RealPlayer is buggy and has stiff hardware require- ments (see the accompanying review). ‘To encode QuickTime movies and audio files in RealSystem G2 format, you simply drag a source file into Real- Producer Plus G2’s window and specify your encoding settings. RealProducer Plus G2 supports RealSystem G2’s Sure- Stream technology, which dynamically adjusts a clip’s playback quality based on network conditions and enables a single RealSystem G2 file to accommodate mul- tiple connection speeds. RealProducer’s cropping feature removes extraneous portions of a video 40 August 1999 MACWORLD clip. The program can also create a bare- bones HTML page containing the tags necessary to call up a clip and, if you have an FTP program, can transfer an encoded clip to your ISP. These basics aside, Real- Producer Plus G2 can’t match the broad array of quality-optimizing options in Media 100’s $499 Media Cleaner Pro 4. A key feature missing from Real- Producer Plus G2 is support for live encod- ing—the ability to encode a RealAudio or RealVideo clip in real time from audio and video devices connected to a Mac. RealNetworks says add live encod- ing to a future version; for now, produc- ers needing to produce or archive live Webcasts must use the company’s Win- dows- or Unix-based tools. RealSystem G2 supports Synchro- nized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL), which combines audio, video, images, and text into time-synchronized presentations with Web links, scrolling text, and visual effects. Like its Windows counterpart, RealProducer Plus G2 lacks features for creating SMIL presentations. The $500, Windows-only RealProducer Pro G2 offe ic SMIL authoring, but for now the best way to write sophisti cated SMIL is to hand-peck its tags into text editor. RealProducer Pro C 0 lets you encode an entire collection of files in one fell swoop; RealProducer Plus G2 lacks batch-encoding features. Macworld’s Buying Advice RealProducer Plus G2 is an ideal encod- ing tool for anyone who occasionally produces RealSystem G2 content. But the program’s lack of live- and batch- encoding features make it a second-best choice for streaming professionals. For batch encoding, Media Cleaner Pro 4 and the Windows-based RealProducer Pro G2 are better options; for live encoding, turn to RealNetworks’ Windows- or Unix-based tools.—im Hein RATING: §$§¥2 PROS: Easy to use; very good results, CONS: No live encoding or batch pro- cessing. COMPANY: RealNetworks (800/632- 8920, www.real.com). LIST PRICE: $150. RealPlayer Plus G2 A PLAYER WITH REAL PROBLEMS © WATCH AND LISTEN TO RealSystem G2 content, you need the free RealPlayer G2 or the $30 RealPlayer Plus G2, Both com- prise a player application (used by most streaming sites) and a browser plug- in (used by sites that embed content in Web pages); both can play RealAudio and RealVideo content as well as SMIL pre- sentations; and both have a Channels area that offers one-click access to content from media outlets and a Presets menu for bookmarking your favorite streams. Both also require much more hard- ware iron than their Windows counter- parts. While the Windows versions of RealPlayer G2 can run on a 90MHz Pen- tium box, the Mac versions require at least a 200MHz 604 system. We success- fully played streaming audio on a Power Mac 7600/132, but content encoded for very fast connections didn’t play well. Even on a 400MHz Power Mac G3, we encountered frequent playback glitches. RealPlayer Plus G2 can record a stream to your hard drive for later play- back, but only if the content provider encodes it to allow recording (most don’t). It also features an audio equalizer that enhances playback quality, and TV- like picture controls that make Web video just a bit less hideous. A bookmark feature lets you not only bookmark a favorite streaming site but also save your current place in a specific stream. Macworld's Buying Advice If you wade into streams only occasionally, use the free RealPlayer G2. If you're a streaming junkie, consider RealPlayer Plus G2; although none of its goodies are earth- shattering, they do enhance the streaming: experience. If you have an older Mac—or you'd prefer to wait until RealNetworks swats the bugs in its G2 players—stick with RealPlayer 5.0; RealNetworks continues to make it available for downloading at www.real.com/products/player/SOplayer /50download.html.—im HeIo RATING: $$% PROS: Inexpensive; many con- venience features. CONS: Buggy; unreasonable hardware requirements compared to Windows version. COMPANY: RealNetworks (800/632- 8920, www.real.com). LIST PRICE: $30. —=——rlc( ie, CFS Just because you bought a new Mac doesn't mean you have to end the relationship with your old PC-printer. H AVE 10 BE INSTEAD, GET POWERPRINT. ° PowerPrint is award-winning software that connects serial and USB port Mac users to virtually any PC-compatible printer on the market. Inkjets, laser printers, specialty printers — including the printer you already own. PowerPrint’s unique cable and software solution allows you to use any printer, anywhere. PowerPrint. Because a good printer is a terrible thing to waste. ae og ah To pick up PowerPrint, visit major retailers in the U.S. and Canada, or call 800.817.8755. www.infowave.com NETWORK VERSION ALSO AVAILABLE Choose 32 at www.macworld.com/getinfo [ Reviews 466MHz G3 Upgrade Cards MORE POWER ... 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