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Want to make amazing music with your Mac? GarageBand gives you a great start—and M-Audio gear transforms it into a complete,
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NOVEMBER2004 CO) iN i s iN 1S
NO.99-VOLUME9*ISSUETI
. of the Mac: 2005
Next year, you'll grow a year older, tell a lie, and eat
something bad for you—but what will happen in your Mac
life? We bring you the expertise of product manufacturers,
industry analysts, and MacAddict editors in a special report
on the best next year will bring.
by the MacAddict staff and contributors
26 Plug In to Power
Why settle for the off-the-shelf forms of Photoshop,
Logic, After Effects, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro, and
other creative apps when you can get more features,
better effects, and increased performance by fueling
them with powerful plug-ins? Check out our must-have
plug-ins to fill the creative void of every graphics,
audio, and video artist. by David Biedny
how to
52 Ask Us 58 Sync Your Stuff Remotely
Bend Classic to your will, put cron to Like death and taxes, hardware failure
work, spelunk the Console for log-file isn’t a question of if, but of when.
CO errors,.rule eBay, and phone home via Protect yourself by syncing your data to
your Mac. Plus, we descramble the another Mac, and flex your geek muscles
acronyms RGB, PDF, and CMYK, by doing it remotely—and securely—
using simple Unix commands.
54 Skin QuickTime Player by Alex Handy
Ever notice how QuickTime Player’s
austere brushed-aluminum interface
can scour the artistic vision right out of
your movies? Don’t hate the Player—skin
it with a custom marquee to match your
flick. by Johnathon Williams
November 2004 MacAddict 03
04
CONTENTS
4 a better machine. a better magazine.
every month
08 Editor's Page
Editor in Chief Rik Myslewski’s hacks into virus-writing hackers.
10 Get Info
In its quest to abolish clutter, Apple packs a computer into its
Cinema Display—get an inside look at the new iMac G5.
Plus, Olympus introduces a fruit-colored camera,
Compex proves that even a router can be sexy,
MacAddict editor and pro musician Kris Fong shares
her recording secrets, Aspyr puts Snoop Dogg in your
Mac, and more.
35 Reviews
39 20- and 23-inch Cinema Displays displays
38 Dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 G5 tower
44 Coolpix 4200 camera
48 Deita Force: Black Hawk Down shooter game
40 Guitar Rig software and stomp box
46 19900 Photo Printer inkjet printer
47 Indi DVD 12x-+/8x- Multiformat External Burner DVD burner
50 iPal iPod-compatible radio and speaker
36 Motion motion graphics software
41 Peak 4.1 sound editor
44 PowerShot $410 camera
47 REV 35GB removable hard drive
42 V-Pro Series TD-208-BK drum set
50 Wireless-G Broadband Router (GWA502) wireless router
51 The Hot List
We'd spend our own hard-earned money
onthese products.
QUICK TIPS
FROM THIS MONTH’S ISSUE
> KEEP THE NOISE DOWN
wr If you’re going to upsize
fi wy a photo, get rid of
image noise first. If you
don’t, you’ll have a bigger noise problem
than you did when you started—literally.
From “Plug In to Power,” p26.
> BEAT TO A DIFFERENT DRUMMER
Ifyou geta chance to bang around on a
Roland V-Pro Series drum kit, practice
to some ofits presets. Playing along
with different beats, such as salsa and
samba, will sharpen your rhythm skills.
From Reviews, p42.
> BE A WINNER
eBay is full of strategic bidders who lurk
forever and suddenly snipe the winning
bid out from under you at the very
last second. If you want to win at this
game, use the free JbidWatcher (www
.jbidwatcher.com). From Ask Us, p52.
> SIZE THINGS PERFECTLY
When drawing a selection with
Photoshop’s marquee tool, use the
options palette to lock your selection
into a fixed aspect ratio or size—perfect
for cropping photos to print-size.
From “Skin QuickTime Player,” p54.
@_ Photoshop file Edn image La
04 MacAddict November 2004
78 Log Out
78 Letters
George Bush uses an iMac? Yep.
Also, we bring you one man’s theory
about Tiger’s lineage, umpteen iTunes
Visualizer customization tricks,
Calculator’s fuzzy logic, and a reader
who tries to put the make on Editor in
Chief Rik Myslewski’s daughter.
79 Contest
Win a swanky Roku SoundBridge M1000
Network Music Player and pipe your digital
music to your stereo.
80 Shut Down
MacAddict talks trash.
SAVE EVERYTHI
Save
THE IOMEGA’ EY DRIVE
You've got the ideas. Now you have the
space to match. The lomega REV drive stores
a whopping 35cB on each removable, rewritable
and durable disk. That's 7x the capacity of a
DVD. Plus, you can work right off the disk,
making it even easier to organize,
share and save everything:
“Based on single-layer OVD. omega, REV, SAVE EVERYTHING and the stylized ‘Tare trademarks or registered trademarks of lomega
In the US. andlor other counitios, FireWire isa registered tradomark of Apple Computers, Inc. and may be Fegtred nfo Uniad Stas
‘and other courses. Copyright @ 2004 fornega Corporation. All rights reserved,
CONTENTS
a better machine, a better magazine.
ythe cisc
Potent plug-ins pack plenty of punch.
In this month’s “Plug In to Power!”
(p26), we show you some of the best
app enhancers—and a ton of ’em (plus
other great apps and utilities) are on
this month’s Disc for you to try out!
Peak 4.1 trial
Check out our review
on page 41, then
Photo/Graphic
Edges demo
z You'll want to add
use this pro app to these elegant borders
clean up and master and edges to your
your audio. photos.
Budget 4.4.2
Would you believe that
financial management
can be both easy and
fun? It can.
PLUG IN TO
AUDIO & MUSIC Knoll Light Factory 2.0
ite
‘SuperBladePro 1.4 demo
UTILITIES:
‘Albino 2.0 demo ‘Texture Anarchy 1.01 ABetter Finder Attribute
Magic Bullet Editors 1.0 | demo 3.5
demo Tinderbox21.2v1demo Chaos Antidote X 1.0.1
Auto-Tune 4.12 demo Magic Bullet Suite 1.5 Twixtor 3.2.2 demo DiskTracker (Classic) 2.3
‘Cameleon 5000 1.3 demo) | demo Useful Things 1.6 demo _DiskTracker (OS X) 2.3
CronoX 2.4 demo Melancholytron 1.1 demo | Xenofex2 demo DiskWrangler 2.0.2
(CS-B0V 1.1 trial Mystical Lighting 1.17 Informator 1.8.6
daOrgan 2.1 demo lemo INTERNET & Macintosh Explorer 4.1
© Peak 4.1 trial Photo/Graphic Edges 6.0, COMMUNICATION RadicalSqueeze 2.0 demo
Power Suite 4.0.5demo demo JiWire Portable Hotspot theConcept 1.0.1
Reaktor Session 1.0.4 pone Chromakey 2.0 Locator 1.0 You Synchronize 2.1 trial
demo mo PRODU
BAIN OES Gene so Suumrtecale 10:2 aed Gaceeine Hotspot
‘SampleTank 2.0 Budget 4.4.2 Locator 1.0
Sapphire 1.03 demo
ScatterLight Lenses demo
Series 3 Screens demo
‘Sharpener Pro 1.03 demo
SV-315 Compressor
1.2 evaluation
GRAPHICS & Process 1.0
SOHO Labels &
‘MULTIMEDIA Splat! demo Envelopes 1.2
3D Invigorator Pro 4.0.1
demo
Anarchy Toolbox 1.01 H
demo
Cinetook 1.5 demo
Color Efex Pro 2.0 demo The new Guy
Color Mechanic Pro Our reviews editor,
‘ta trial .
Beinn ene Roman Loyola, bears
Dine 10 dre a strange resemblance
ream sue Series nia to the sledgehammer-
DVDxDV 1.0931 hurling athlete in
Euphoria 1.7 demo ole’ i
eecanay Menges Apple’s original
Flood 1.1 demo Macintosh commercial,
Image Doctor demo “49842
Indla Ink 1.9 demo
UPGRADE
DoThisNow 1.3 demo
JBidWatcher 0.9.3.1
If you don’t receive the Disc with your copy of MacAddict, you might want to consider upgrading. Each monthly disc
contains cool demos, useful shareware and freeware, and the Inimitable MacAddict Staff Video. To get 12 issues of
‘MacAddict that include this value-packed disc with your subscription (prorated if necessary) for just $1 more per
Issue, call 888-771-6222—the operator will take care of everything.
06 MacAddict November 2004
MacAddict
PUBLISHER Chris Coetho
EDITORIN CHIEF Rik Myslewski
EDITORIAL,
MANAGING EDITOR Jenifer Mc
FEATURES EDITOR Kris Fong
HOW-TO EDITOR Niko Coucouvanis
REVIEWS EDITOR Roman Loyola
INTERN Noah Tsutsul
WEB MONKEY Nick Muerdter
EPONYMEDITOR Max
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS David Biedny, Joseph O. Holmes,
Helmut Kobler, Cathy Lu, lan Sammis, Deborah Shadovitz,
Andrew Tokuda, Buz Zoller
ART
ART DIRECTOR Mark Rosenthal
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Peter Marshutz
PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Madeo
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Samantha Berg
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richard Lesovoy
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Larry Briseno
ADVERTISING
PeSOGe Ont ER
212-768-2966 x4001
EASTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER
Anthony Danzl, 646-723-5453
WESTERN ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Dave Lynn, 949-360-4443
WESTERN ADVERTISING MANAGER
Stacey Levy, 925-964-1205
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Nate Hunt, 415-656-8536
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Ana Epstein, 415-656-8416
AD COORDINATOR Jose Urrutla, 415-656-8313
MARKETING MANAGER Kathleen Rellly
CIRCULATION
GROUP CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Amy Leder
NEWSSTAND MARKETING MANAGER Bill Shewey
BILLING AND RENEWAL MANAGER Mike Hill
FULFILLMENT MANAGER Peggy Mores
DIRECT MARKETING SPECIALIST Robin Connell
uti FUTURE NETWORK USA
150 North Hil Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005
oem Ww fulufenetworkusa.com
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VICE PRESIDENT/CFO Tom Valentino
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VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION Holly Klingel
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR (GAMES) Simon Whitcombe
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR (TECHNOLOGY) Chris Coelho
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR (MUSIC) Steve Aaron
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR (TECHNOLOGY) Jon Phillips
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR (MUSIC) Brad Tollnski
RECTOR OF CENTRAL SERVICES Nancy Durlester
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Richie Lesovoy
Future Network USA Is part of The Future Network plc.
The Future Network produces careful targeted specia interest magazines
for people who share a passion. We aim to satisy that passion by creating
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Volume 9, Issue 11
‘MacAddict (SSN 1088-548X) is published monthly by Future Network
USA, 150 North Hil Dr, Brisbane, CA 94005, USA. Periodical-class
postage paid at Brisbane, CA, and at additional maling offices. Newsstand
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Box 5126, Harlan, IA 61593-0826, Future Natwork USA also publishes
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Copyright 2004, Future Network USA. Alrights reserved. Reproduction in
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‘companies or products covered in MacAdidct, Ride-Along enclosure in
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STATES OF AMERICA. Publcations Mall Agreement #4004363}. Fetuns:
4900-2 Walker Road, Windsor ON NOA 613
E
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Progess lglefrode ne Powe 3G GS Pet 4 el alge: A pros do et ual aden sar estes ny acl ven aus may ry fe $25 $10 a products ms be in gpd wing
ian and have ase ae cl you COW acer marae fx des Cte undestonds Wt COW fn he maniac oe posass pate by store eeu: ond eo warns ole re hse he manors rot
iva meal sneo dang COW eas ho male re pa, ds nd ewes eas pcg bd rte i, Sg rn ond dt Seah, od ay manages kg
rg co arenas Are ne Seo pou amy lo, COW caret garrett lel aon de, hems an on ale ae io ae aes ere ony CD
‘teat €OAcom ote of ejection to and tection of ny adn or ee tems any om dered by csione eteby gen. © 2008 COW Corman NANW 108
EDITORS’ PAGE
a note from the kernel
When Viruses Attack!
Kyle LeBoeuf, the most Mac-savvy member
of our IT department, is not in a good mood
these days. Kyle and his fellow IT megageeks
have the often unpleasant task of keeping the
many magazines of our parent company, Future
Network USA, up and running. | say “often
unpleasant” not merely because the majority of
our company’s computers—as is true in most
American businesses—are Windows machines.
No, what’s driving Kyle to distraction is not that
he has to spend so much time working on peecees, it’s that our company’s
entire Windows fleet—again, as is also true in most American businesses—
is under persistent attack from viruses.
Viruses, worms, Trojan horses, malicious Word and Excel macros,
whatever—let’s just call ’em all viruses, and let’s call the demented twerps
who write and distribute them...well...hmm...! guess I’d better not print what
I'm thinking, at least not here in a respectable magazine.
It’s reprehensible that the bottom-feeders in this substrata of ethical silt
create havoc simply because they can. Hell, | could easily wade into a third-
grade class and kick some serious
Avirus writer attacks _ butt—but there’s something called a
with little chance of _ sense of decency that keeps me from
getting caught. Wimp. doing so. To be frank, it'd take more
guts for me to run amok at Our Lady
of Perpetual Responsibility Elementary School, as !’d at least run the risk of
some spunky seven-year-old bringing me down with a well-aimed swing of
the classroom crucifix. A virus writer, on the other hand, attacks from a safe
distance with little chance of getting caught. Wimp.
| bring this up not merely to vent my anger at testicularly challenged
coding weenies. Actually, what started this train of thought was what Kyle
said to me before we started talking viruses. “Rik,” he sighed, “I don’t
understand why we all don’t just switch to Macs.”
He then went on to describe a raft of technical reasons why Windows
machines are so susceptible to viral attacks and why Macs are relatively
immune—but to be frank, | wasn’t listening too closely. | was, instead,
pondering all the time and money lost to virus attacks, the productivity
drain, the morale deflation—and | couldn’t think of an answer to Kyle’s
question.
Why don’t we all, indeed?
Enjoy,
ae
comingsoon:december2004
Here's what our editors are preparing for the next issue of MacAddict.
Niko Coucouvanis PsycHo BABBLER
What motivates someone to write a virus?
Good question. What makes a man start fires?
(Which is a great album by the Minutemen, by the
way). Anyway, I'm pretty sure that, ike arsonists,
jators have lingering issues with social ineptitude and
fectation.
Jenifer Morgan Pie FACE
What motivates someone to write a virus?
Misery loves company. Virus developers are those
sorry folks who can't get a date on Saturday night
so decide to take revenge on the world by sending
‘an ebomb to blow up Grandma Josephine'’s recipe database just
before the pie-eating contest at the Wyoming state fair.
Noah Tsutsui OCCUPATIONAL FRAGOLOGIST
What motivates someone to write a virus?
Since 95 percent of viruses are written to affect
Windows environments, | would say self-hatred for
not using Mac OS Xis what keeps them hacking
away. That or the frustration of getting beat at UT2K4 by Niko.
Roman Loyola TROJAN MAN
What motivates someone to write a virus?
‘The yearning for street cred in the cracker
community. The truth, however, is that virus writing
~ is child's play. Nothing says “My coding skills are
mediocre” louder than a virus.
Peter Marshutz THE LAST HONEST MAN
What motivates someone to write a virus?
'mnot one to gossip, but last weekend I sawa.
certain MacAddict editor—one who has been
gaining weight recently—at CompUSA purchasing
a PC, microwave oven, and popcorn maker. I don't want to imply
that he or she is using the PC to write viruses, but what's going
‘on here?
Kris Fong NEW FEATURE-FASHIONER
What motivates someone to write a virus?
Being subjected to Windows 24-7 causes many
people to do really stupid stuff. Windows also
induces anger with its constant crashing, and angry
peecee punks want others to share their misery.
Mark Rosenthal w. 7. FELLOW
What motivates someone to write a virus?
Personally, my main motivation in writing viruses
is definitely to please my wite. When she finds me,
late at night, coding away at the computer in my
‘study—well, I can see that look in her eyes that says, “This bad
‘boy is just driving me wild!”
Max ENGENDERED SPECIES
What motivates someone to write a virus?
t's probably the same sicko compulsion to inflict
fees pain and damage that makes little boys pull the
wings off of flies—which reminds me: Have you ever
noticed that virus writers are always male?
Next month will mark MacAddict’s 100th issue! Join us as we take a trip down RAM lane—and bring back a boatload of
‘surprises. Also, we'll show you how to take better and more creative pictures by mastering your
| camera’s manual
controls, how to grace your folders with superpowered Folder Actions, and how to use special characters like 4, 6, i, 6,
and ti—as in tibergeek. Finally, we'll give you the MacAddict verdict on products such as Quicken 2005, the Nikon Coolpix
8400, Spider-Man 2, Marware’s WiFi Spy, and the new iMac G5.
08 MacAddict November 2004
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* Resolution is listed as vertical by horizontal All registered tralemarks herein belong to their respective companies. For more information please visit our Web site at www.brother.com
cS E | | N | oO news of the month in bite-size chunks
iNiac
GS
“Where did the computer go?” /
—Phil Schiller, Apple Senior VP
of Worldwide Product Marketing
s widely expected,
Apple enlivened its Paris
Expo soiree with the
announcement of the iMac /
G5, a 2-inch-thick slab of /
engineering excellence. With the iMac G4 /
having been unavailable for months, the }
timing of this announcement can best be
described as “better late than never.”
A lot is riding on the iMac G5. The
“sunflower” iMac G4 was never the
runaway success Apple had hoped it }
would be. Sure, we liked it and you liked
it, but its eccentric industrial design was /
simply too off-the-wall for mass-market /
acceptance. If you own one, rest assured
that you have a collectible not unlike the /
late, lamented Power Mac G4 Cube—also
a fine machine that never hit the big time. /
We predict that the iMac G5 will have
a happier fate. First of all, the slim, slot- /
loading SuperDrive in the 1.8GHz 17-inch f
and 20-inch models makes its compact
display-as-computer design possible—
the iMac Gé’s tray-loading SuperDrive
was one of the reasons Apple engineers
made the base of that Mac look like an
oversize Hostess Snowball. Also, the
iMac G5’s easy-open case provides
quick access to all of its upgradable
innards, thus answering one of the major
complaints about the iMac G4.
And then there’s the simple fact
that the new iMac is exquisitely cool
and markedly more powerful than its
G4 predecessor. It’s also reasonably
priced, starting at $1,299 forthe
IMAGES COURTESY OF APPLE
10 MacAddict November 2004
47-inch, 1.6GHz, Combo
Drive-equipped model, then
moving up to $1,499 for the
17-inch, 1.8GHz model with
a SuperDrive, and topping
out at $1,899 for the 20-inch,
1.8GHz, SuperDrive version.
Mere months ago, a 20-inch iMac
with a 1.25GHz G4 commanded
a whopping $2,199—and it had
half the storage of the new top-of-
the-line iMac G5, which comes with
a 160GB Serial ATA drive (the other
two models have 80GB Serial ATA
drives). Build-to-order options on all
three models include Bluetooth ($50),
AirPort Extreme ($79), a 250GB hard
drive ($200), and an iSight camera
($149) that mounts magnetically on
top of the display,
The most striking aspect of the new
iMac G5 is, of course, the fact that itis
essentially a display with a Mac hidden
inside. The case—slightly thicker in
the 20-inch version—houses not only
the CPU, GPU (an nVidia GeForce FX
5200 Ultra with AGP 8X support and
64MB of DDR VRAM), two DIMM slots,
and optical and hard drives, but also
stereo speakers that bounce sound
down off your desk, a combination
stereo-headphone and optical
audio-out port that can handle 5.1
surround sound, three variable-
speed fans to keep things cool and
\ quiet, and even an internal power
supply—no bulky external power
brick for this baby. The whole
shebang is balanced on an
GET INFO
INSIDE THE IMAC G5
The new iMac G5s pack an impressive array of technical wizardry, including a trio of quiet
fans, inside their sleek, white, easy-to-open cases.
Fans suck cool air in from bottom grill;
heat exits from slit in case-back cover.
Optical drive
(Combo Drive or
SuperDrive)
Headphone and Ee
optical-digital output (Sy a
80GB or 16068
7,200-rpm Serial
ATA hard drive
1.6GHz or
1.8GHz PowerPC
G5 processor
ftom geil: |
Cool air enters
through here.
aluminum foot similar—identical?—to
those used on the new aluminum-bezel
Cinema Displays (@®@@v p39) and
can swivel from 25 to -5 degrees.
What’s more, the foot attachment is
VESA compliant, meaning you can use
Apple’s optional VESA Mount Adapter
Kit ($29, www.apple.com) to hang your
new iMac G5 on your wall or attach it to
an industry-standard articulating arm,
should you be so inclined.
But don’t let the G5 in the new iMac’s
name fool you into lumping it in with the
Power Mac G5 in terms of performance
or expandability. Most obviously,
each member of the Power Mac GS
line has two microprocessors—the
iMac G5 has one. Also, the iMac G5’s
VITAL STATISTICS
frontside bus—the channel that speeds
data between the CPU and the iMac’s
system controller—runs at one-third
the processor speed; the Power Mac’s
faster frontside bus runs at one-half
the processor speed. The ports on the
back of the iMac G5 include USB 2.0
and FireWire 400, but not FireWire 800,
as on the Power Mac G5. Ethernet is
10/100Base-T, not the Power Mac G5’s
10/100/1,000Base-T. The iMac G5 has
no PCI or PCI-X slots, its two DIMM slots
max out at 2GB of DDR SDRAM (the top
two Power Mac G5s can handle 8GB) and
there’s no extra hard drive bay, as in the
Power Mac G5. The iMac G5 is decidedly
a consumer-level machine—but a kick-
ass one.—Rik Myslewski
Although the new iMac G5s come stocked with impressive computing power,
we recommend upgrading their meager 256MB of DDR SDRAM to a minimum of
512MB—and going for a gig wouldn't be a b:
17-INCH (1.6GHZ)
ad idea.
17-INCH (1.8GHZ) 20-INCH
Price $1,299)
$1,499
Processor speed
Viewing angle, vertical 90 degrees
4,440 by 900 pixels
90 degrees
170 degrees
NEW STUFF
> PAINTER GETS ITS GROOVE BACK
Corel Painter IX
$429 (expected), www.corel.com.
Available: September
After a lackluster version 8,
Corel’s Painter IX promises
snappier performance and
smart Brush Control palettes
that make it easy to tweak
Mix colors ona
your tools.
painterly palette.
> ELEMENTS, MY DEAR
WATSON
Photoshop Elements 3
$89 (expected), www.adobe.com
Available: September
Elements 3.0 brings support for RAW
files from digital cameras, as well as
a Spot Healing brush, one-click red-
eye relief, Quick Fix and Smart Fix for
easy image fixing, and even advanced
features such as a Histogram Palette
and 16-bit image support.
> GRAPHICS TABLETS REFINED
Wacom Intuos3
$199.99 (4 by 5 inches),
$329.99 (6 by 8 inches),
$449.99 (9 by 12 inches),
www.awacom.com
Available: September The Intuos3 adds
Wacom’s latest graphics handy scroll, zoom,
tablets pack double the and keystroke-
resolution (5,080 lines _ triggering buttons.
per inch), redesigned
mouse and pen tools, and handy
onboard buttons for zooming,
scrolling, and keystroke combos.
v
5GB MP3 PLAYER
Rio Carbon 5GB
$249, www.rioaudio.com
Available: Now
Rio’s 5GB hard
drive—equipped digital
music player boasts a
20-hour battery and
audio recording, but
gets nolove—oreven The Carbonhas
acknowledgment— 25 percent more
from iTunes. capacity than the
iPod mini.
November 2004 MacAddict 11
GET INFO
t
is of
DROOLWORTHY
IMAGE COURTESY OF OLYMPUS
IMAGE COURTESY OF COMPEX
Sexy Stuff We Can't Walt to Get Our Mitts On
CGLYMPUS
‘sas iiiimeaninieinebieieemeune ee ”
4 Racy 4-Megapixel Camera
Olympus’s new Stylus Verve ($349, www.olympusamerica
.com) camera line takes slick design to a new level. These
PictBridge-enabled digicams are available in orange, blue,
black, white, and silver, and feature 10 shooting modes
(including movie with audio), 2x optical zoom, and a
semi-transmissive LCD for better viewing in sunlight.
Futuristic
Wireless
Router >
Compex’s WPE54G ($149.95, www.cpx
.com) is a wireless router you won’t want
to hide in your closet with your DSL
or cable modem. Compex claims its
Prism Nitro Technology boosts the
router’s performance to make itup
to 50 percent faster than standard
‘wireless access points in all-802.11g
environments, and 300 percent
faster in mixed 802.11b and
802.11g environments.
| es
12 MacAddict November 2004
avid Stark
introduced Chaos
Antidote X ($10, www
-zarkonnen.com),
a virtual maid that
automatically sorts
desktop files and
folders. Real Software
announced Office
Power Pack Volume 1
($49.95, www
.tealsoftware.com),
which lets you export
data from Address
Book, load Quicken
files into Excel, and
more. PandaWate
debuted DiskWrangler
($30 per user, www
.pandaware.com), a
new file-launching and
browsing app for OS X,
and Publicspace updated A Better Finder
Attributes ($9.95, www.publicspace
snet) to 3.5, so that it timestamps digicam
photo files based on when they were
created, not imported.
BlueWorks unveiled Powerbacks.
($29.95, www.powerbacks.com),
mammoth collection of 3,000
presentation templates for PowerPoint
and Keynote. Chronos released SOHO
Labels and Envelopes ($29, www
-chronosnet.com), and Jumsoft released
Process 1.0 ($25, www.jumsoft.com),
which links schedules with project-related
resources such as Web sites. Yenco
updated its Agenda 3.1.0 scheduling
shareware ($20, www-yenco.com) to
send reminder alerts so that you can
stop tying strings around your finger.
PocketMac unleashed PocketMac
Blackberry Edition ($29.95, www
.pocketmac.net), enabling users to sync
PIM data to Blackberry handhelds. Mark/
Space’s The Missing Sync for Palm OS
version 4 ($39.95 download, www
-markspace.com) added network syncing
over AirPort and support for Bluetooth,
and You Software’s You Synchronize
(version 2.1; $49.95, www.yousoftware
.com) added support for iDisk.
Finally, Radical Breeze updated
RadicalSqueeze 2.0 ($15, www.
-tadicalbreeze.com) to edit or extract files
from archives, and
KKXKK
ONS JEU
SaLLITLLN 8 ALIALLONGOHa
@ ONTHE
eC" DISC | DoThisNow 1.3 ($19)
agdties dase added custom hot
apps. ‘onthe Diss: keys.—Jenifer Morgan
GET INFO
‘ake the law into your own hands as hard-boiled cop Nick
Kang in True Crime: Streets of LA. Your mission Is to bust
crime syndicates while freely roaming a 400-square-mile area
of busy Los Angeles. Action is similar to Rockstar’s popular
Grand Theft Auto series, and includes “police acquisition” of
civilian vehicles. True Crime also
features slo-mo “bullet-time” Nes Sethe ests oh LS
‘ Price | TBA
shoot-outs, martial-arts battles, ‘Available | 4
and a cameo appearance by Aspyr Media
Snoop Dogg.—Matt Osborn MevenaspyL coms
EPIC INDIE RPG WITH BIG-BUDGET FEEL
> Minions of Mirth is the latest game from independent game
developer Prairie Games. Minions is a first-person, single-player
fantasy RPG with vast landscapes,
interactive nonplayer characters, and Minions of Mirth
ic battles. The code i Price | $25.
a tl Gane Za SO Pivaiiabie| Feb 2005
you can roll your own content, and future Prairie Games
multiplayer support is planned.—_MO www.prairlegames.com
ONLINE ORTHOPEDICS
> Are you looking for some edutainment with a scalpel or about
to go under the knife yourself? Try the free online Virtual Knee
Surgery game. Using Flash animation, Virtual Knee Surgery
VKS walks you through every step of Price Free
performing a knee operation. You learn Available | Now
it all, including how to dress wounds and EdHeads
wwiredheads org
the proper way to handle a scalpel_—_MO
SUPERHEROES SPRING BACK INTO ACTION
» In Pixar’s soon-to-be-released film, The Incredibles, a
family of semiretired superheroes gets back into action to
save the world. In THQ’s The Incredibles
game, you don the tights of justice
as four separate characters fighting,
racing, and adventuring through
twenty levels.—MO.
The Incredibles
Price | TBD
Available | Fall 2004
a
www.tha.com
FINALLY, AN ENTIRELY NEW SIMS
> Your Sims have been rock stars and magicians in The Sims
expansions packs, but The Sims 2 is the first completely new
standalone version of this megasuccessful game in four years.
The Sims 2 challenges you to direct your Sims over a lifetime and
mix their genes from one generation to the next. You set your
Sims’ goals—fame, fortune, family, romance, or knowledge—
and create your very own Sim movies with the new in-game
movie camera. Watch
your Sims age, and see
their genetic traits and
personalities emerge
in their family’s next
generation.—MO
The Sims 2
Price | TBD (PC version
willbe $49.99)
‘Available |TBD
Electronic Arts
www.ea.com
SPIDER-MAN 2 TIPS & TRICKS
Are you a Spider-Man or an Aunt May? Use these tips to
find out in Spider-Man 2 ($29.99, www.aspyr.com).—MO
Master the jump. If you can get behind your opponent,
tanding the first blow can make all the difference.
Hit villains with your web to disable them or yank guns
from their hands (aim until you see Pull on the cursor).
Swing into action and land in
the middle of a group of thugs,
then jump-kick to hit them all.
‘Once you defeat Doc Ock and
sit through the credits, you
can then reload your game
and have free reign over New
York City. Play minigames, and
hunt down exotic spiders and
escaped inmates.
Jump behind the baddie
to take advantage.
November 2004 MacAddict 13
Microsoft
Your potential, Our passion.”
Focus on coming up with t
boss, the client, and legal. Mi
ingenious tools that let you st
others, the way you and your alter ego
to work. A smarter Office. Go to officefor
User
KRIS FONG
Expert
Home Recording
nyone can create professional-sounding recordings—with or
without musical instruments, a band, or money to burn. With
the success of GarageBand ($49 as part of iLife’04, www.apple Kris Fong mixed
.com), pro-recording manufacturers are now looking to Joe and music at home
Judy Consumer as viable customers. Example: Avid Technology’s long before it
Digidesign division (Pro Tools, www.digidesign.com) recently became so easy
snapped up M-Audio (www.m-audio.com) to bolster its consumer- todo so.
audio recording division. But good recording techniques and an ear
for sound-balancing are more important than pro gear for getting great sound.
Like most newbies, my first recordings were all about big sound. | never met a reverb
I didn’t like, and it showed—my band sounded like it was playing in a hangar-sized
bathroom. Go easy on the effects; give your music a chance to breathe. And no, reverb
does not mask bad singing; if you can’t sing, don’t. Good recordings depend on how
strong and clean you can get sounds into your Mac, and how well you fine-tune each
instrument’s sound and integrate it with other instruments across the stereo field.
Ifyou’re new to audio recording, The GarageDoor (www.thegaragedoor.com)
has good info on gear and recording techniques for GarageBanders. For more-advanced
tips and tricks, check out Home Recording Connection (www.homerecordingconnection
.com)—the miking and do-it-yourself
sections are gold. OS X Audio (www
.osxaudio.com) and Mac Music (www (3) sites for gear and audio software
-Macmusic.org) are great for recording at www.macaddict.com/users.
tips and info about products.
BUG OFTHEMONTH @iMacEiyit
MACOS X UPGRADE HASSLES
pplying an incremental Mac OS X update—or even a major upgrade like next
year’s Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger)—can be a precarious task. Depending on your Mac
model, system configuration, and third-party devices, what generally should be a
smooth process can turn into a major hassle.
Fortunately, a few quick procedures can prevent many of the most common.
problems. When you upgrade, follow these steps to greatly reduce your chances of
encountering trouble during installation.
@ Make sure your hard drive is in good shape: Boot from your most recent OS
X Install CD, then choose Installer » Open Disk Utility. Select your startup drive,
and then click the Repair Disk button. When that operation is complete, quit Disk
Utility, and then quit the Installer.
@ Restart, then launch Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility), choose
the volume that contains Mac OS X, and click the Repair Disk Permissions button.
© When that operation completes, install the update.
© When the upgrade installation finishes, launch Disk Utility again, choose your
Mac OS X volume, and click the Repair Disk Permissions button.
Ifyou continue to have issues with an incremental Mac OS X update (10.3.4,
10.3.5, and so on), try downloading and installing the combo updaters Apple
offers with each release. They take a bit longer to download but can eliminate a
multitude of mishaps that occur with delta (release-to-release) updaters. You can
find these update packages at Apple’s Mac OS X download page (www.apple
.com/downloads/macosx/apple).—MacFixit.com
wy Find links to Kris's favorite Web
Your
face
here
Sour EXPERTS REVEAL THE
IECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS
AAT WILL MAKE 2005 THE
GREATEST IN MAC HISTORY.
BY THE Macappict STAFF AND ConreisuroRs ;
ILLUSTRATIONS BY OLIVER Wor
The last time we peered into the future (“The Future of the Mac,” May/02, p22),
we anticipated the G5’s arrival, predicted Apple’s use of DDR-SDRAM and FireWire
800, and foresaw the advent of PCI-X and a 64-bit Mac OS X. In the two-and-a-half
years since, OS X has spawned a couple of catty revs, the iPod became a runaway
success, Apple defied Apple Corps and opened up shop as a music distributor, the
Cinema Display got monstrously huge, and Anna Nicole Smith got skinny.
Stranger things have happened—and more will happen in 2005.
With a new year looming around the corner, it’s prime time to pull out our
crystal ball and take a look at what the future holds for the Mac and for the many products and
industries that influence our everyday Mac lives. To predict the best of 2005, we spent weeks
picking the minds of product insiders and industry analysts. We now offer their—and our own—
insights on what will be all the rage, what will change, and what will remain pure hype in 2005.
One thing’s certain: Innovation will be running at full throttle.
November 2004 MacAddict 17
THE WAC:
FASTER, FASTER, AND FASTER
This one’s a no-brainer—after all, Apple has a habit of bumping up processor speeds every year. However,
Apple rarely if ever announces a product until it’s good and ready, so Steve Jobs surprised all in attendance
at Apple’s 2003 World Wide Developers Conference when he declared that the PowerPC 970, the chip that
powered the original Power Mac G5 (which he introduced that day), would reach 3GHz in a year. To those
in the audience familiar with the challenges involved, Steve’s promise sounded at best bold and at worst
unachievable—and it turned out to be the latter.
CHUNKIER CHIPS
The original PowerPC 970 was constructed using a 130-nanometer process—a manufacturing
technique in which the basic building blocks are 130 nanometers in size (a nanometer is one
billionth of a meter—-a meter is the rest of the world’s way of saying 3 feet, 3.37 inches). Moving to
a 90-nanometer process may not sound like a big deal—hey, what's 40 billionths of a meter among The Internet wilt
friends?—but for chip-making heavyweights such as IBM, Intel, and AMD, it’s proven to bea bear. implode, coll
IBM has managed to create a 90-nanometer PowerPC microprocessor—the 970FX that powers the u
latest generation of Power Mac G5s—but so far it hasn’t been able to supply Apple with a 3GHz
970FX. In the meantime, Apple is looking into new solutions—the most promising being a rumored
dual-core PowerPC microprocessor called the 970MP.
Dual-core technology is pretty much what its name implies: It’s essentially two microprocessors
on the same chip. AMD and Intel have announced their dual-core intentions; IBM is being more coy, though
well-placed sources claim that the company has made great progress toward releasing the 970MP, reportedly
bearing the code name of Antares. Each of the two PowerPC 970 processor cores in Antares is said to have a
MB L2 cache (the 970FX has only a single 512KB L2 cache) and an AltiVec (Velocity Engine) unit. In a dual-
Antares Power Mac, you’d essentially have four PowerPCs working for you—great for computation-intensive
applications such as pro-level content creation. The same rumor mill says Antares is scheduled to debut at
over 2.5GHz—but we'll believe that when we see it.
The downside of a dual-core Antares is that the grapevine says it’s one big puppy—we’re talking 154
square millimeters, which is significantly larger than the PowerPC 970FX’s 66.2 square millimeters. At that
size, running at a high clock speed, Antares will resemble its red supergiant star’s namesake—humongous
and hot—so expect the water-cooling scheme introduced in the current Dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 to have a
place in any Antares-based Power Mac.
At press time, we also heard rumors that early 970MPs were about to be delivered by BM to locked
chambers deep in the bowels of Cupertino, and that production quantities would be rolling out of IBM’s
chip-fabrication plants (aka fabs) in early 2005. If so, the next big leap in Power Mac power might hit your
desktop sometime in 2005.
POWER-PACKED POWERBOOKS
Compared to a Dual 2.5GHz Power Mac G5, today’s top-of-the-line PowerBook G4, poking along at 1.5GHz,
is about as thrilling as a Hyundai Accent. The word on the street, however, is that help may be coming from
two different and competing directions.
The PowerBook’s most obvious white knight is the PowerPC 970FX microprocessor that powers the
most recent Power Mac G5s. Nestled inside the chip’s silicon is a power-management technology called
PowerTune, which could help Apple engineers make the 970FX ’Bookable. A PowerTune-equipped 970FX
can switch power states much faster than the original PowerPC 970—as fast as a single clock cycle.
The 970FX can downshift to half speed, quarter speed, and so on, all the way down to a speed of 1/64 -
of the 970FX’s rated clock speed—a power state called deep nap. High-speed power-state shifting can,
for example, downshift the processor during keyboard pauses, thus saving power and—perhaps more
important—allowing your PowerBook to remain cool enough so it won’t roast your thighs. Don’t expect a
_ 2.5GHz PowerPC 970FX in your PowerBook anytime soon, though—that’s the beastie that requires liquid
"cooling even when luxuriating in the wide-open spaces of the Power Mac G5’s cabinet. A 970FX in
"a PowerBook would most likely run ata decidedly more languid pace.
_ ‘The ee candidate is a dual-core PowerPC G4, said to be in development by Motorola and designed
BEATA. the microprocessor currently powering today’s best Books. Like the rumored
48 MacAddict November 2004
Could a tablet Mac be far off in Apple’s future? Hmm...Third-part
touch-sensitive screens have been used with Macs for years; all
Apple would need to do is pry off the new iMac G5’s stand,
and voila—Apple’s Ink handwriting-recognition:
technology could finally be put to use.
dual-core PowerPC 970MP, this
pumped-up G4 would have two
microprocessor cores, each.
with its own AltiVec unit. One
interesting story making the
rounds is that this microprocessot
would include its own on-chip
memory controller supporting DDR-2 SDRAM
(synchronous dynamic RAM), a DDR (double data rate)
memory technology that’s the follow-up to the DDR SDRAM
found in every Mac and ’Book Apple makes today. DDR technology
maxes out at 400MHz (the speed of the PC3200 SDRAM found in today’s Power
Mac G5), which provides a maximum bandwidth of 6.4 GBps. DDR-2 technology’s spec
reaches up to 800MHz—12.8 GBps—and it does so while using less power, hence running cooler.
Expect to see DDR-2 SDRAM in upcoming Power Mac G5s as well.
PUMPED-UP PCI
When PCI slots ’n’ cards appeared in 1992 (and came to the Mac in 1995), the computing world ran at a
more leisurely pace than it does today. But now that video and audio production have put heavy demands
on throughput, 10Gb Ethernet is making its first inroads into the Mac universe, and 10Gb FibreChannel
storage connections are looming on the distant horizon, PCI will be hard-pressed to keep up.
Apple made its first steps to overcome the limitations of PCI back in 1999 when it introduced the AGP
(accelerated graphics port) graphics card slot, and moved to the much faster PCI-X (extended) 1.0 standard
in the Power Mac G5. However, graphics card manufacturers today, such as nVidia and ATI, are set to leapfrog
AGP; even top-speed PCI-X 133 is showing its age.
There are two competing standards for the next generation of PCI: PCI-X 2.0 and PCI Express—and bear
with us now, as we're about to plumb the intricacies of deep geek. PCI-X 2.0 uses DDR (double data rate)
and QDR (quad data rate) technology to double (PCI-X 266) and quadruple (PCI-X 533) current PCI-X 133
bandwidth, and has the advantage of backward-compatibility with many older PCI cards. However, PCI
Express is emerging as the winner in this horse race—it’s currently the standard of choice for top-flight
graphics cards, and as Apple offloads more and more video processing from the Mac’s microprocessor February 16,
(its CPU) to the graphics processor (its GPU), we predict that PCI Express will appear in an upcoming 2005
Power Mac G5. Afleet of bandits
One of the main advantages of PCI Express is that, unlike the PCI-X implementation in the Power Mac will pirate Apple software
G5, it’s not a bus—that is, it doesn’t require all its connected cards to share the same data path and fight under the name
it out amongst themselves as to who gets to use the bus’s bandwidth at any given moment. Instead, PCI ayeLife.
Express acts more like a mini network, with each card connected to a chipset that acts like a network
switch. Each card has an unobstructed point-to-point path to that switch...uh, chipset. In PCI Express
parlance, that path is called a link, A link can have 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 lanes. Each lane has one up and
one down channel, each capable of transferring 2.5 Gbps simultaneously to and from the Mac’s system
controller. A 16-lane link—the one that graphics card manufactures are focusing on—can therefore maintain
two simultaneous 5-GBps channels (although real-world performance maxes out closer to 4 GBps); plenty
fast enough for the graphics card’s GPU to do some serious heavy lifting.
Upcoming PowerBooks may also benefit from PCI Express through its notebook counterpart, ExpressCard,
which is designed to replace the existing PC Card—CardBus standard. In addition to faster performance,
ExpressCard includes a USB 2.0 component and is hot-swappable.—Rik Myslewski
November 2004 MacAddict 19
Fabio will
finally be convinced
MAC OS Xs TIGER GOES TO 64 wate
Apple’s marketing gurus have made sure you know that the Power Mac G5’s brain—
the IBM PowerPC 970FX—is a 64-bit microprocessor and that Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger),
scheduled for release in the first half of 2005, will be the first 64-bit desktop operating system.
What they’ve been less successful in getting across is
exactly what that means.
When used to describe a microprocessor such as the
Tiger will pounce in 2005, causing Power Mac G5’s 970FX, 64-bit refers to the width of the
wild fervor among Mac creative processor’s registers and some of its execution units.
pros and number crunchers— Registers are the silicon slots that store data before
and insane jealousy among the processor’s execution units manipulate it;
Microsoft's Longhorn these units are where the microprocessor’s work is
anticipators. done. The term 64-bit code means code designed
to manipulate 64-bit data—the code’s not 64 bits
wide, but the data it’s working on can be. Such
data can contain enormous numbers—up to
18,446,744,073,709,551,616, if you want to
impress your friends. While such numbers
won’t appear in your Quicken accounts,
manipulating them with precision is important
for scientific number-crunching and for pro-level
audio and video work.
Equally important for high-end computing is the fact that the
ys Zi uy 64-bit 970FX can work with ludicrously large amounts of memory—up to 4.4
ay wis Z terabytes of physical memory (RAM) and 18 billion terabytes of virtual memory.
Ava \ 7 Again, unless you’re working with massive data sets such as the human genome, and
WW) Z manipulating that data through OS X’s command-line interface, such mind-boggling
KV} M capacity won't affect you—but, then again, we once thought 1984’s 512KB Fat Mac had a
}
MY VV, KY, whopping load-o-RAM.—Rik Myslewski
Weel
y,
M7
Ne
GITAL MUSIC:
MORE INNOVATION, Thaaeral ays
MORE AVENUES preretletay
will notice.
With Apple’s leap into the digital music pool, in both music creation (Logic Pro, Logic Express, and
GarageBand) and distribution (iPod, iTunes Music Store), we expect Apple to explore other avenues
of music creation and delivery.
Could an audio studio for mobile Macs be in Apple’s future? Not unless Apple upgrades the hard
drives in its ’Books. Current PowerBooks have drives that spin at a slow 4,200 rpm, though you can
get a PowerBook equipped with a 5,400-rpm drive from Apple as a build-to-order option. For audio
recording—consumer or pro—you need a hard drive with platters that spin at speeds of at least 7,200
rpm to play back multiple tracks of recorded audio efficiently. Hitachi has the ’Book-compatible
Travelstar 7K60 7,200-rpm drive (www.hitachigst.com), which you can pop into your PowerBook, but
it remains to be seen if Apple will offer a 7,200-rpm drive in its notebooks. The possible thorns in the
rosebush include heat, noise, and battery toll.
|
| _ THE RISE OF AUDIO UNITS
Core Audio is the new king of digital-audio innovation, and Apple’s Audio Units (AU) plug-in format is
picking up major steam in its pursuit of the long-established plug-in fave, VST (Steinberg’s Virtual Studio
Téchnology). Though many major commercial audio plug-in packages currently include AU support (see
20 MacAddict November 2004
PORTABLE PLAYERS:
THE iPOD STAYS ON TOP
MP3 may have sired the era of digital music and Napster may have carried it to term, but it was the While the iPod continues ©
iPod’s effortless grace and popularity that made digital music what it is today: a legitimate to lead portable player
form of music distribution. It’s ironic that Sony, the parent of portable audio, has an marketshare, a video
actually reinforced the iPod’s position as the top digital music player of the jion is most
present and the future with the release of its disappointing NW-HD1, a hard
drive—based digital player that can’t play MP3 or AAC tunes.
The iPod inspires passion, innovation, and ingenuity, so clever folks
are using third-party hacks and apps to transform their players into
personal digital assistants—accessing contacts, news feeds, drink
recipes, and eBooks—in addition to enjoying music. We predict that
Apple will release a few firmware upgrades that will integrate even more ’Pod
powers in the future. If Apple sticks an AirPort card in the iPod, perhaps email and
Web browsing aren’t too far off.
A POSSIBLE EYEPOD?
It’s tempting to assume that Apple has a video iPod in the works, but two
things need to happen before the company joins that nascent soiree. First,
broadband needs to become more ubiquitous. Second, movie industry fat cats
need to put some serious effort behind a digital rights management (DRM) scheme for
video, something that’s equivalent to audio’s FairPlay. Today’s biggest movie industry-backed service,
CinemaNow, offers an anemic selection of titles that only play for a day or two at prices higher than those
of most video-rental joints. That will change as broadband (including cheap fiber-optic connections) takes
greater hold and digital downloads become more practical and convenient than renting. In the meantime,
expect to see more full-featured and smaller-size audio and video devices with recording and playback
features, as well as digital camera and DV camera capabilities, arriving on the market.—Logan Decker
“Plug In to Power,” p26), it’s the small developers who will be the ones to watch in the future. VST may
have seniority and a dominating popularity, but AU is technologically more advanced and its SDK (software
development kit) offers a wealth of resources, making plug-in creation easy. VST won’t go away, though—
it’s too dominant a format to ignore. Manufacturers won’t abandon their current proprietary formats for AU
anytime soon—instead, AU will cohabitate with existing formats.
MUSIC ON THE MOVE
If your digital music player isn’t an iPod, you already know that the iTunes Music Store isn’t a good
place to buy tunes—its copy-protected AAC files, created using the FairPlay DRM, don’t play nice with
any portable player except for the iPod (although there is a hack that unlocks them). Apple has chosen
not to license FairPlay to other consumer electronics manufacturers, which prevents them from building
support for iTunes Music Store downloads into their products. Will Apple relent in the future? Nah—this
is a golden marketing advantage for iPod sales.
But Apple will partner up in another sector. The company recently united with Motorola and will be
bringing music to your ears next year via mobile phones, Motorola told us that it will build iTunes music
support into a line of cell phones to appear in the first half of 2005. You’ll be able to copy music you buy
ori deol course wearing from the iTunes Music Store to a supported phone via wire or wireless. Also, Apple will create a mobile
argyle socks and version of iTunes. Nokia will introduce new phones that support aacPlus, a modified version of AAC, to
corduroy knickers. allow music downloads on its future phones. Of course, Apple wouldn’t comment on what other phone
manufacturers it plans to partner with—but expect polygamy soon.—Kris Fong
Aman will be spotted
November 2004 MacAddict 21
THE FUTURE OF THE MAC: «7
DIGITAL CAMERAS:
SIZE WILL MATTER
Unlike most high-tech gizmos, which continuously evolve to give you more bang for the same buck, digital
cameras continue to pack in more features as their bodies and price tags shrink. The reason: Companies are
duking it out for market share, and you're the beneficiary. Competing chip manufacturers and a burgeoning
market have also helped reduce the cost of CCD image sensors. With prices plummeting, most folks
will forget film and buy digitai cameras—we predict that funky photos from
family and friends will increasingly clog our email in-boxes.
MEGA MEGAPIXELS, (° \, Al
PUNY PRICES 2 Sw
While 5-megapixel cameras are currently all the rage, and
6- and 7-megapixel consumer cameras should be on store —_——
shelves in the $500 to $600 range by the time you read this,
8-megapixel point-and-shoots will hit the market in 2005
for even less—and most likely 10-megapixel models as well.
Digital SLRs will split into three categories: consumer SLRs,
midprice models, and high-end pro jobs. Olympus’s product
manager tells us that more SLR manufacturers will create
consumer-oriented digital SLRs in 2005—Olympus included.
The consumer end will generally fall in the 8-megapixel range,
midprice SLRs will have a median 10-megapixel resolution, while
high-end SLRs will pack 16 megapixels or more. Unlike those of
point-and-shoots, SLR prices will remain the same—or go higher.
a Ifyou're not ina hurry
to buy, 2005 will offer big
features and big LCDs in smaller
so digital cameras at smaller prices.
May 19, FUTURE FEATURES
2005 Some of the main improvements we'll see next year in point-and-shoot cameras are bigger LCD screens
The new Star Wars (over 2 inches) with wider viewing angles, faster operation, USB 2.0 connectivity, and more manual
movie, Episode Ii: controls (Olympus refers to this upcoming breed of camera as a “hybrid manual”). Look for more-colorful
Revenge of the Sith, bodies as well. High-end features will trickle down into the prosumer lines, which will benefit from
will suck. larger LCDs, faster operation, better shot-to-shot times, and longer zoom ranges. Digital SLRs will see
improvements in shutter lag and recycling (what the pros call shot-to-shot times). Don’t expect CMOS
image sensors to gain momentum next year. Though Canon proved that CMOS can be successfully
integrated into digital SLR cameras (CMOS offers lower power consumption and considerable noise
reduction, and costs less than CCD), camera manufacturers are invested in CCD—although Olympus
told us it will continue to look at CMOS as an option.
STORAGE
SECURITY AND STABILITY
Though storage capacity has grown at a furious pace in recent years, * More manufacturers will ship external RAID 0 arrays.
it won’t do so in 2005—expect hard-drive manufacturers to turn their * Affordable RAID 5 arrays will appear on desktops, providing both
attention to improvements in reliability and power consumption increased performance and better security than RAID 0.
instead. Here are 10 predictions for what’s in store for storage for © High-performance and high-capacity external SATA drives will
2005.—Rik Myslewski appear—but they're likely to require proprietary controller cards.
© SATA II (serial ATA) drives will increase performance over the Power
* Peak capacities of mainstream 3.5-inch drives will top out at Mac’s current SATA drives due to NCQ (native command queuing)
around 500GB, technology, which enables drives to make smart decisions about
* External FireWire 400 and 800 drives will become ubiquitous for the order in which to access data from a drive.
bootable backup. * CD-R/RW drive performance will peak at 52X, DVD-R at 16X.
* FireWire 1600 won’t appear—either on controller cards or on the * CD-R/RW drives will fade from the scene, replaced by low-cost
Mac’s motherboard. DVD-R/RW burners.
22 MacAddict November 2004
June 21,
2005
Attorney General
Alec Baldwin will
declare spam:
Mobile phone vendors will offer 3- and 4-megapixel camera phones in 2005. These phones won't replace :
digital cameras—even though they'll have competing pixel resolutions, their notoriously inferior image quality
and lack of comprehensive controls won’t take a bite out of anything except the bottom-tier camera lines.
—Kris Fong
DIGITAL IMAGING:
POWER IN ISOLATION
During his keynote speech at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs touted several new q
features in Tiger. High on his list of cool new stuff was Core Image, the younger sibling of Core Audio, which
Mac OS 10.2 (Jaguar) introduced. Core Image takes advantage of the Mac’s GPU and enables developers |
to build superfast graphics effects and transitions quickly. It also gives software developers access to a
boatload (62 at press time) of built-in filters, transitions, and effects called Image Units, including Gaussian |
blur, edge sharpening, twirl and vortex distortion, and linear and radial gradients.
MORE PLUG-IN EFFECTS
So what does all this mean to Mac designers? If accessing Image Units and creating new ones are as
easy as Apple says, software developers large and small will start churning out special effects by the
hundreds. And because Image Units work at the system level, they can be shared across heterogeneous
applications. Imagine the possibilities. In Mail, add a Gaussian blur to an email message and make
Grandma think her cataracts are acting up. Or, more practically, open up Word, add drop shadows to a
headline, and color-correct your imported pics.
iPhoto will become Photoshop-Lite—or perhaps even UberPhotoshop—and be warmly embraced by the
many digital-camera owners who don’t want to fork over big bucks just to fix their blurry pictures. With the
speed of Core Image, iPhoto’s effects processing could be noticeably speedier than Photoshop's. If Core
Image catches on like its predecessor, Core Audio, it could mean the democratization and commoditization
of special effects. Lower prices. Increased power. Fierce margins. Happy designers. On the other hand...
DEVELOPER DILEMMAS
Core Image is a Mac-only technology, which makes it problematic for developers who release both Mac and
July 13, Windows versions of their software. If developers can only implement Mac features, why bother with Image
2005 Units, no matter how cool the technology? Plus, the blazing speed of Image Units depends on the availability
of a proper GPU, with support for the new shader technology—something older graphics chips lack. Although
Core Image will work with older computers that lack a decent GPU, the CPU will have to do all the work and
performance will no doubt pale in comparison. A Mac-only technology that doesn’t play particularly well with
older computers has two strikes against it from the get-go.—/ohn Cruise
Discovery Channel
launch American
Geek. It’
* Millions of Mac users will scream and curse when their drives
die because they neglected to back up hundreds of gigabytes of
irreplaceable files.
In addition, keep an eye on the following developing technologies:
* Blu-Ray—a major competitor in the race to be the next-generation
optical disc standard (www.blu-ray.com).
* HD-DVD—another leading candidate for a high-capacity optical-
disc standard (www.hddvd.org).
* LightScribe—a way-cool, laser-etched, foolproof, high-quality disc-
labeling technology from HP (www.lightscribe.com).
* Toshiba’s 0.85-inch HDD—just when you thought multigigabyte
drives couldn't get smaller (http://sdd.toshiba.com).
* Holographic Versatile Disc—store 1
terabyte of data on a DVD-size disc Storage won’t experience any major
(www.optware.co.jp/english/top.htm). growing pains, butit will become more reliable.
November 2004 MacAddict 23
THE FUTURE OF THE MAC: 20)
After exclaiming “Bam!”
DIGITAL VIDEOs Ses
A BREAKOUT YEAR rolode
Tiger will also introduce Apple’s new video technology, Core Video, along with Core Image. Like Core Image,
Core Video takes advantage of the Mac’s GPU, in this case to process video. This technology will drive a new
wave of innovation in video special effects. And with Core Video’s easy-to-use implementation, developers
won't have to do much work to take advantage of Tiger’s built-in filters—even Apple’s Motion might finda
shareware competitor nipping at its heels.
We should see a major iMovie upgrade once Apple adds Core Video and Image Unit support. iMovie
will become the darling of home videographers everywhere who want to add ripple effects and fancy
transitions to their family vacation movies. The next revs of Motion, Final Cut Pro, and Final Cut Express
will also integrate Image Units.
CHEAP CHIPS AND FILMLIKE DV
As with digital cameras, prices for consumer DV cameras will drop in 2005 while the devices get some
upgrades. Expect to see more three-chip DV cameras for under a grand (most on the market today ring
up at around $1,500). Unlike most consumer miniDV cameras, which feature one CCD chip to capture
images, a three-chip CCD camcorder can offer significantly better color and image quality because it
captures each color—red, green, and blue—on a separate chip. A one-chip camera captures all three
colors on the same chip.
On the higher end (in the $3,000 to $5,000 range), many cameras will adopt filmlike features such as
the ability to capture video at film’s 24-fps (frames per second) rate. The Panasonic AG-DVX100A ($3,995,
www.panasonic.com) set the standard for this new format, and the new Canon X12 ($4,995, www.canon
.com) and Sony DSR-PD170 ($3,940, www.sony.com) also offer 24-fps shooting.
VIDEO FLOODS THE WEB
Web-based video content consumption has arrived, in both downloadable and
streaming forms. What’s still missing is a well-funded company to create timely
video content meant specifically for Webcasts—if that happens, we may finally see
a valid alternative to cable TV. We’re not talking porn—that already exists. We’re
talking round-the-clock bona fide shows and possibly syndicated reruns coming to
the screen of a Mac near you. Now that Web advertising revenues across the board
have reached new highs in 2004—and we're convinced this trend will continue in
2005—there should be enough Web boodle to finance a legitimate content provider.
But Web video won’t be just about entertainment. As server-space fees continue
to nosedive, we think it’s only a matter of time before Web personals introduce
video dating. While Match.com and a slew of other personals sites have flooded the
Internet, you still only get to sell yourself to potential mates with a picture or two,
along with important info like your
Video cameras will shrink in size and in price; drinking habits and tattoo placement.
plastic surgeons will be inundated with finger- The year 2005 will be the year of
shrinking requests from avid tech-toy junkies. _ video dating, and heaven help us all.
I1GH DEFINITION, LOW EXPECTATIONS
Although there’s a lot of buzz around high definition (HD) video, the reality for most of us is that we'll still
"be studying the many flavors of HD standards currently debated by manufacturers and videographers
worldwide. Some of them look promising, but we have yet to hear about Apple’s future plans (beyond
building apps that support the format, such as Final Cut Pro HD).
While many of us technology geeks drool at the possibilities for insane video and audio resolution,
most of America has been slow to adopt even standard digital televisions (we doubt that the 2006
-analog-to-digital TV conversion deadline will stick). Until manufacturers create affordable HD TVs, film
“studios release content on some form of HD DVD (whatever flavor that may be) at competitive prices, and
"consumers buy into the new technology, HD won’t have much of an impact—and all of that won’t happen
ne ar.—David Biedn}
24 MacAddict November 2004
For the ultimate multitasker,
this Cinema/Work Display
provides a widescreen with
plenty of work space.
In teat estate, it’s location, location, location. In computing, it’s
connections, connections, connections. Here are our lucky seven
predictions for the top hookups of 2005.—Niko Coucouvanis
* The Bluetooth 1.2 spec will add frequency hopping to reduce
competition with 802.11x wireless networks,
* Some MP3 players (but not likely iPods) will give Bluetooth
headphones.a shot.
* Wireless networking hardware based on the 180-Mbps 802.14
protocol will trickle out in 2005, and although we wouldn’t be surprised
to see Apple pioneer 11n, the company has made no official comment.
* InfiniBand—a high-speed, low-latency networking technology, will
GAMES:
IMPROVE
If you’ve seen Apple’s mongo 30-inch Cinema Display, you've seen the future
of displays as far as Apple’s concerned. The freakin’ thing isn’t even shipping
as of press time, so we'd be foolish—as well as greedy—to expect an upgrade
next year. LCD technology in general, however, is just coming into its prime
and has plenty of room to grow. The Cinema Display’s 400:1 contrast ratio,
for example, pales in comparison to the 1,000:1 contrast ratio we'll see on
displays next year. Also look for maximum viewing angles on even less-
expensive displays to match Apple’s current top-of-the-line 170 degrees.
The promising OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display technology is still
in the works as a successor to LCD. OLED displays are exceptionally sharp, and
because they emit their own light rather than requiring a backlight, they make
extremely thin panels possible. OLED will crop up in cell phones and other
portable devices next year, but they won’t make it to the desktop for another
few years.—Niko Coucouvanis
grab headlines but will not appear on the Mac.
« FireWire-based 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems, based on Oxford
Semiconductor’s OXFW970 streaming audio FireWire controller,
will appear.
© IP over FireWire will remain a cool yet obscure endeavor dueto the
relative cost of the hardware compared to standard Ethernet gear.
© Some marketing genius will promote a FireWire 800 printer or
scanner and will be mocked mercilessly in the pages of MacAdaict.
The following are not making it into 2005's predictions, but worth
watching anyway:
* Intel’s WiMax, based on the 802.16 wireless long-range high-speed
MAN (metropolitan arealnetwork) protocol, will remain pie-in-the-
sky until 2006 at least.
* Intel and Motorol’s Uitra Wideband)high-speed connectivity
technology won’t appear until 2006.
© 10Gb Ethernet will remain out of reach for most of us well past 2005.
FASTER PORTING, BLOATIER BLOAT
Our trigger fingers are already sweaty in anti
pation. Not just for the next adrenaline-pounding game,
but also in amazement at how fast game titles are getting into our hot little hands these days compared
to the major game-porting lag times of yesteryear. Once developers get acquainted with Tiger’s advanced
GarageBand, every loop
stringer in the world wiil
put “DJ” in front of his
or her name.
tools, expect even quicker Mac porting times.
The bad news is that new games will demand major CPU and GPU power—high-end G4s and G5s will
be essential team members. Oh, and expect to continue paying a prettier penny per plasma-gun-touting
shooter compared to the PC version—Mac games won’t be coming down in price.
We'll also see a rise in fan-developed games and fan modifications of commercially released games.
Macology Group (www.macology.org) and iDevGames (www.idevgames.com) say they’re committed to porting
more mods to the Mac and releasing more games fram the Mac development community than ever in 2005,
If you're a console-game fan and a Mac-head, take note: 2005 could see the first Mac-to-game console
connectivity. While Nintendo’s DS (Dual Screens) and Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable) duke it out
for portable-gaming dominance, we Mac folk may find ways to take advantage of those consoles’ Wi-Fi
functionality, possibly aliowing us to network our Macs with the game system and the Internet. This
connectivity could be the key for transferring media files such as video, music, or game saves to your
portable gaming system. The possibilities are endless—and so Is our optimism.—Matt Osborn
November 2004 MacAddict 25
SG 0 ya
\e NN PH‘
PLUGIN
TO POWER
The best imaging, audio, and video
plug-ins to help you fill creative voids
by David Biedny
ON THE
DISC
Find most ofthe
plugins mentioned in
this article onthe Disc.
on’t throw a fit if your favorite creative app can’t do something;
check out its plug-in options instead. Just about anything that an
imaging, audio, or video application lacks is covered by a plug-in—
a piece of software you can add to a compatible host application to
provide enhancements and/or extra functions. If your creative bag-o’-tricks
is in a rut, we’ve got the goods to fill your creative void.
We rounded up, plugged in, prodded, and played with a passel of plug-ins,
and culled a list of our favorites. Check out what each of our recommended
plug-ins has to offer and what they can do for your projects, and then take a
26 Macc) November 2004
few for a test drive—most are on this month’s Disc.
hether you want to create visual effects or correct
problems in photos, third-party plug-ins can
offer better tools than what Adobe Photoshop
($649, www.adobe.com) stocks. But you don’t need
Photoshop to use these plug-ins—other graphics apps such
as Photoshop Elements ($99), Corel Photo-Paint ($299, as
part of CorelDraw Graphics Suite, www.corel.com), and even
GraphicConverter ($30, www.lemkesoft.com), play nice
with many plug-ins—though not all. (We list manufacturer-
approved host apps, but many plug-ins work with unlisted
hosts; test a demo to check compatibility.) If you’re looking
to punch up your graphics toolbox, here are our 10 favorites.
ANDROMEDA SOFTWARE
SCATTERLIGHT LENSES
$98, www.andromeda.com, Mac OS 9.1 to 9.x or X
Hosts: Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop Elements 2
Alongtime Photoshop plug-in developer, Andromeda has
many compelling plug-ins in its stable—as well as some real
dogs. ScatterLight Lenses isn’t one of the latter. In fact, it’s
the ace up our sleeve when we want to fake the look of pro
lens photography on photos taken with a point-and-shoot
camera. The package contains four filters, including the ethereal
DreamOptics, which plays up image highlights to produce a
soft-focus effect that mimics professional haze and diffusion
filters, and the serenely beautiful SoftFocus, which makes
casual snapshots of friends look like stunning portraits.
ALIEN SKIN SOFTWARE EYE CANDY 4000
$169, www.alienskin.com, Mac OS 9.x or 10.1 or later
Hosts: Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop Elements 2, Fireworks 4
Those wacky folks at Alien Skin Software have been having
fun with Photoshop for years, and this 23—plug-in collection
contains a cornucopia of effects, ranging from usefully powerful
to delightfully goofy, for photo and text manipulation. You
can create realistic paint drip effects (one of our favorites),
add metallic finishes to objects,
style fur and hair textures, make
complex cutouts, give objects a
glassy appearance, add motion
trails, create wood grain textures,
and more.
ANDROMEDA SOFTWARE SCREENS FILTER
$109, www.andromeda.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts: Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop Elements 2, Color It 3,2
We tend to stay away from sketchy, but we really dig this plug-in.
The Screens Filter is a marvelous halftone conversion tool that
can produce unique line-art screens, mezzotints, and other
etch-type sketches from digital photos. No longer must you
sweat it out in Illustrator only to create what would feebly pass
fora Pictionary sketch attempt. If you need illustrations based
on real-life objects, this plug-in makes the job a piece of cake.
DIGITAL LIGHT & COLOR COLOR
MECHANIC PRO
$49.99, www.di-c.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts: Photoshop 4, Photoshop Elements, Canvas 8
If you’re a die-hard Photoshop guru, you can fix and replace
colors with Photoshop and some mental muscle. For the rest of
us, Color Mechanic makes the feat less treacherous and time-
consuming. The plug-in allows you to change one or more colors
in an image without affecting any other colors in the process.
The interface provides side-by-side before-and-after previews
and a unique hexagon color-picking interface for altering color.
It works wonders for removing
colorcast weirdness and easily
lets you change the color of
objects lickety-split.
Color |
COREL KNOCKOUT
$99, www.corel.com, Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x or X
Hosts: Photoshop 5, Photoshop Elements 2
This indispensable plug-in allows you to cleanly extract a
subject from its background with great detail and precision—
you can mask even fine, wispy items such as hair and smoke.
Photoshop’s Extract has similar features, but KnockOut does
a much better job, particularly in cases that involve extracting
near-transparent objects with fine details. It does a great job
minimizing edge artifacts and delivering smooth results.
November 2004 MacAddict 27
EXTENSIS PXL SMARTSCALE
$199.95, www.extensis.com, Mac OS 9.2.2 or 10.2.5 or later
Hosts: Photoshop 6, Photoshop Elements 2
Extensis has a decent array of utilitarian plug-ins, but this
one’s uniquely useful. If your work demands that you create
big image files, and all you've got are smaller source pictures,
pxl SmartScale is a smokin’ way to scale up graphics with
surprisingly smooth results. It can’t perform miracles, but it’s
definitely no slouch. The plug-in lets you control sharpness and
edge detail as you upsize images with hardly any noticeable
image degradation—unless you're shooting for the impossible.
NIK MULTIMEDIA COLOR EFEX PRO
$99.95 (Standard Edition), www.nikmultimedia.com,
Mac OS 9.2.x or 10.1.5 or later
Hosts: Photoshop 5.5, Photoshop Elements 2, Photo-Paint 8
Color Efex Pro is a bucketful of one-click colorization, tinting,
and special effects designed to make photo enhancements a
heckuva lot easier than doing the deed in Photoshop alone. The
Standard Edition plug-in package comes packed with 19 preset
effects divided between traditional (lighting, colorcast removal,
tinting, and others) and stylizing (old photo, monochrome,
solarizing, and more) filters, The traditional tinting and coloring
[sien a effects produce
3 mma ers especially attractive
results.
NIK MULTIMEDIA DFINE
$99.95, www.nikmultimedia.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts:Photoshop 4, Photoshop Elements 2
We absolutely love this one—and if you’re into digital
photography, you will too. Dfine is a combination digital-
noise and JPEG-artifact reducer, colorcast remover, and tonal
optimizer all rolled into a single plug-in. The best part: Itdoes
everything extremely well. Dfine comes with a generic camera-
noise profile to remove obnoxious bad-boy pixels, but Nik also
offers additional camera-specific profiles (from about $30 to
$40 each) if you want to tailor the noise-reduction algorithms
to your particular camera; our Nikon Coolpix 990 shots looked
great after a few clicks. Cool stuff.
NIK MULTIMEDIA SHARPENER PRO
$79.95 (Home Edition), $169.95 (Inkjet Edition), $329.95
(Complete Edition), www.nikmultimedia.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts: Photoshop 4, Photoshop Elements 2, Photo-Paint 8
While we rely on Photoshop's Unsharp Mask for critical image
sharpening, Nik’s Sharpener Pro takes a lot of the guesswork out
of determining the best sharpening settings for printing photos.
It helps prevent over-sharpening while optimizing picture clarity.
The plug-in comes in three flavors: Home is optimized to work
with inkjet prints up to 8.5 by 11 inches, Inkjet works with any
inkjet at any print size, and Complete optimizes sharpening for
any printer output, including laser and dye-sub. Ali packages
Sharpener Pro! __ also offer optimized
nee sharpening for Web display.
@ HOW TO PRINT PHOTOS FROM SMALL IMAGES
Between our friends emailing us snapshots and finding funny photos on the Web, we’ve got plenty of pics we'd like to print that are
way too small to print satisfactorily. By engaging the help of Extensis pxl SmartScale and Nik Dfine plug-ins, however, you can make
a respectable print. Here’s how to optimize a low-res image for 4-by-6-inch printing (we used Photoshop as our host).—Kris Fong
Banish Artifacts Before enlarging your pic, get rid of JPEG
artifacts. Launch your image in Photoshop and select Filter >
Dfine 1.0 > Dfine 1.0. in the interface that appears, click the
pius sign (+) in the top and bottom preview panes to zoom in the details.
If your photo has grain-like noise (tiny black or white specks in broad,
nondetailed areas), click the Method menu under Luminance Noise and
try different options from the pop-up menu until you get good noise
reduction; use the sliders to
alter the reduction strength
and detail preservation. To get
rid of colorful noise and JPEG
artifacts, click the Chrominance
Noise & Artifacts button, select
JPG Reprocessing from the
Method pop-up, and fine-tune
the sliders. When satisfied,
omy click OK.
28 MacAddict November 2004
Supersize It To scale up the image, select Extensis >
@ px! SmartScale 1.0 > Scale Current Image. In the
resulting SmartScale interface under Document Size,
type 6 in either the Width (landscape orientation) or Height (portrait
orientation) field, depending on your pic's orientation (make sure
that Inches is selected as the active measurement). Check the
9 mo o Resample Image
box, type 200 in the
Resolution field, and
select Pixels/Inch
from the Resolution
pop-up. Then click
Apply. From there,
fine-tune sharpness
until you're ready
to print.
) MORE GREAT IMAGING PLUG-INS |
IMAGE DREAMSUITE = $199» KPT COLLECTION $99 PRIMATTE FLOOD $20 PHOTOFX2.0 $160
Dacor $129 MYSTICAL This collection of 24 CHROMAKEY2.0 $299 INDIAINK $15 PLUGINGALAXY $50
SPLAT $09 LIGHTING $179 plug-ins has everything ‘TEXTURE MELANCHOLYTRON $20 Photo FX 2.0 bundles
Image Doctor removes PHOTO/GRAPHIC from cool to freaky effe ANARCHY $129 SUPERBLADEPRO £30 some of Panopticum's
impertections from EDGES $179 including drips, lightning, Pri rings blue/green From the shareware ins, including
Dream Suite features screen compositing front, Fiaming Pear offe Digitalizer, and
visual effects, Mystical to Photoshop. Texture some ofthe coolest, most Lens Pro. Plugin
textures, fils, andedges. Lighting has light fiters, www.corel.com ‘Anarchy is @ powerful affordable plug-ins. These _ offers over 120 effects
Alien Skin and Photo/Graphic Edge: texture generator. are our faves. minimal cash
wwwaalienskin.com Provides edges. Digital Anarchy Flaming Pear Panopticum
Auto F/X www.digitalanarchy.com —_ www.flamingpear.com www.panopticum.com
‘worw.autotx.com
ANTARES AUTO-TUNE
$399, www.antarestech.com,
Mac OS 9.x or OS 10.2 or later
Format: MAS, RTAS, VST
Auto-Tune has done wonders to
make off-pitch singers hit notes
they’d never consistently hit in
real life. Now who in their right
mind would sign some god-awfut
singer who can’t keep a tune
to a recording contract? just
about every major label touting the next genetically enhanced
pop star, that’s who. What they don’t tell you is that record
producers keep this plug-in up their sleeves so that Miss Pop
Tart 2005 will sound like she’s singing effortlessly on pitch.
Powerful stuff—and a must-have plug-in if you record vocals.
ARTURIA CS-80V
$249, www.arturia.com, Mac OS 9.x or OS 10.2 or later
Format: AU, RTAS, VST, standalone
Why comb eBay for vintage synthesizers when you can get their
virtual likenesses in plug-in form? Arturia has done a fantastic
job of emulating many classic synths with sounds that are warm,
audio-mixing abilities of the host application or full, and damn precise. The CS-80V is a software emulation of
ive (even Counce cndinmuments. Yamaha’s CS-80 polyphonic synthesizer, and the virtual version
just kills—it’s our favorite soft synth, hands down. At a mere
fraction of the cost of the original, the CS-80V comes with more
effects and increased
polyphony. This should be
at the core of any electronic
recording studio.
ompared to Photoshop plug-ins, audio plug-ins
are significantly more complex and can extend the
Audio plug-ins come in an assortment of file formats (see
“Meet Your Hosts and Their Plug-ins,” p30) that require a
compatible host app, such as Apple GarageBand ($49, as
part of iLife 04, www.apple.com), Logic Pro ($999) and
Express ($299), and MOTU Digital Performer ($795, www
-motu.com). If your audio toolbox needs a sound makeover,
here are our 10 favorite audio plug-ins,
CYCLING ’74 PLUGGO
LINPLUG ALBINO 2 $199, www.cycling74.com, Mac OS 10.2 or later
$199, www.linplug.com, Mac OS 10.2.6 or iater Format: AU, RTAS, VST
Format: AU, VST Pluggo wins the biggest-bang-for-the-buck award. You get over
LinPlug makes some of the most exciting synths today, including 100 different plug-ins, including percussion devices, additive
the unique Albino 2, which can pump out some of the juiciest synthesizers, echo and delay effects, fuzz boxes, pitch shifters,
analog sounds going. It’s capable of creating sounds unlike synthesis toys, reverbs, step sequencers, and much more.
anything else we've heard and will help fill out a mix quite Ifyou can imagine a bizarre effect, chances are you can find
nicely. You get three oscillators, two filters modules, two something darn close in this toy chest of wonders. Some of the
envelope modules, and eight effects modules to dial up and go interface work is crude, some of it is quite nice, but the overall
crazy. If you’re not keen on digital sounds, this is the one that'll audio quality is excellent—and heck, at around two bucks per
have you thinking differently. plug-in, this is simply the best bargain in the audio galaxy. >
November 2004 MacAddict 29
© Meet Your Hosts and
Their Plug-ins
ike a high-school clique, audio host applications
such as Cubase SX ($799.99, www.steinberg.net),
Pro Tools (free with Digidesign hardware, www
digidesign.com), and Live ($499, www.ableton
.com) snub their noses at plug-ins that don’t share a common
interest—specifically, a compatible file format. Audio plug-
ins come in five major formats: AU, MAS, RTAS, TDM, and
VST. This is because recording-software developers created
their own plug-in formats for use specifically with their host
apps, though many hosts do support more than their one
initial format. Most plug-ins support AU, RTAS, and VST,
though many support all five.
One of the most popular formats is VST (Virtual Studio
Technology), which was created by Steinberg for use with
Cubase. Because of its extreme popularity with plug-in
developers, VST is widely supported by many other host
apps too, including Live, Sagan Technology Metro ($319.99,
www.sagantech.biz), and BIAS Deck ($399, www.bias-inc
.com), and by most sequencing apps. VST is also the flavor
of choice for many freeware and shareware developers.
Apple created AU (Audio Units) forits line of audio apps,
including Logic (which no longer supports VST since Apple
bought Emagic) and GarageBand. Most plug-in developers
and some host apps have adopted AU support in their
current packages, and we expect this trend to grow, being
that AU support is built into Mac OS X. However, like a
snobby kid, Apple’s audio products support only its own AU
format, though you can bring VST support into Apple’s apps
by way of FXpansion’s VST to Audio Unit Adapter ($99, www
.fxpansion.com). Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) created MAS
(MOTU Audio System) for its line of audio apps (including
Digital Performer); though many plug-in developers support
MAS, no other host app does. But you can bring VST into
MOTU apps via VSTWrapper ($69.95. www.audioease.com).
Digidesign’s RTAS (Real Time AudioSuite) format is
primarily used in its consumer Pro Tools LE hardware/
software products, while TDM (time division multiplexing)
and its new offspring HTDM (Host TDM) work with its high-
end Pro Tools software on TDM hardware. RTAS uses the
host computer’s CPU for sustenance, while TDM plug-ins
absolutely require that you use the higher-end Pro Tools
hardware (which can cost upward of $7,500 or more), so
we're not covering TDM in this article. Pro Tools software
does not support any other plug-in format but its own, but
FXpansion’s VST to RTAS Adapter ($99) aliows you to sneak
VST plug-ins into Pro Tools LE.
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GUITAR RIG
$499, www.native-instruments.com, Mac OS 10.2.6 or later
Format: AU, RTAS, VST, standalone
If you're recording guitar tracks, Guitar Rig lets you dial up
practically any guitar tone—from clean, smooth jazz tones to
heavy, grinding metallica. No real amp required. The package
includes a huge amount of excellent presets to get you started,
or you can configure your rig anyway you want, including
choosing an amp head (Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Vox, or Fender),
a cabinet (or multiple cabs), a mic, a
miking technique, and all the effects
you can load up. It comes with a foot
controller, and works as a standalone
beast too, Truly amazing.
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPAKT
$449, www.native-instruments.com,
Mac OS 9.2.x or 10.2.6 or later
Format: AU, RTAS, VST 2
A boxful of beautiful sounds, Kompakt is a scaled-back version
of Native Instrument’s Kontakt sampling instrument—but it’s no
slouch in the aural arena. It contains over 200 instruments with
256-voice polyphony, and includes industrial-strength filtering
and special effects to build your own sounds. You get practically
everything you need to create acoustic and electric drums,
guitars, synths, pianos, strings, orchestral sounds, and more,
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS REAKTOR SESSION
$289, www.native-instruments.com,
Mac OS 9.2.2 or OS 10.2.6 or later
Format: AU, RTAS, VST 2, standalone
If you're a true audiophile and sound-synthesis geek, Reaktor
is the ultimate tech toy for designing and building your own
effects, instruments, samplers, and other sound design tools.
But if you can’t tell an oscillator from an envelope, Reaktor
Session gives you Reaktor’s great instruments and effects
without having to actually build the modules. This remarkable
plug-in provides nine wild synthesizers, bizarre granular-
synthesis processors, real-time performance samplers,
tricked-out drum and sequence
machines, and some really great
reverb, echo, and filters.
$49.95 ALPHA $59 CRONOX S59
DAORGAN $49 RMIV $149
e and great-sounding Format: AU,
chine with lots of LinPlug makes some of the b
mp sounding
Glaresott
www.glaresoft.com
This full-feat
offers ext
and drum:
LinPlug
www.linplug.com
__@ MORE GREAT AUDIO PLUG-INS @ @ @ }
‘Addict November 2004
‘mapping and fi
‘Mark of the Unicorn
www.motu.com
NI KOMPLETE 2
B4 & BAD BUNDLE
$1,149
$559
Metric Halo www.mhlabs.com
Native Instruments
www.native-instruments.com
BLUE TUBES BUNDLE $399
Format: RTAS, V
wonder,
Nomad Factory
www.nomadtactory.com
PSP VINTAGEWARMER
$149, www.pspaudioware.com,
Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x or X
Format: AU, MAS, RTAS, VST
There’s one thing we hate about digital recording: No matter
how much we tweak our tracks, our guitar tones and acoustic
instruments always sound cold. That’s why we love this plug-in.
When it comes to warming up clean and precise digital audio,
works better
than VintageWarmer, a
wonderful analog-sounding
| masterpiece that works
great when applied to overall
mixes and individual tracks.
WAVE ARTS POWER SUITE
$499.95, www.wavearts.com, Mac OS 9.x or OS X
Format: AU, MAS, RTAS, VST
Five hundred simoleans may seem like a lot of money, but this
five—plug-in bundle offers the best overall value in its league.
The bundle includes MasterVerb, an excellent high-quality
reverb and delay; TrackPlug, a 10-band equalizer, compressor,
and gate with excellent controls; MultiDynamics and FinalPlug,
which allow you to master a top-notch final product; and the
addictive WaveSurround, which lets you move and place sounds
around a virtual 3D sound space. Overall performance (in terms
of audio quality and highly efficient
CPU usage) is outstanding—it’s our
desert-island pick.
WAVES MUSICIANS BUNDLE
$200, www.waves.com, Mac OS 10.2.8 or later
Format: AU, MAS, RTAS, VST
If you’re aiming for those big, punchy, sonic sounds you hear
in rock and pop songs today, this bundle provides the tools
you need to make recordings sizzle, The package includes
Super Tap, featuring six multitap delays that you can modulate;
Renaissance Axe, which adds power to guitar sounds and
solos; MetaFlanger, which provides classic wah-wah goodness;
Renaissance Vox, which pumps up vocal clarity and presence;
and Doubler, which thickens up vocals and guitartracks by
doubling them. Good stuff for bands.
SYNTH PACK PRO $139
Format: V:
(One of the best bundle
recommend
‘Synapse Audio
www-synapse-audio.com
Inds without any effort.
Spectrasonics
www.spectrasonics.net
here are proprietary video plug-in flavors, such as
Final Cut ($299 Express, $999 Pro) and Discreet
Combustion, ($995, www.discreet.com), but the realm
of video plug-ins is dominated by one app—Adobe After
Effects ($699 Standard, $999 Pro). Its plug-ins also work in
Final Cut Pro and Combustion, though you might not get full
functionality outside of After Effects. Video plug-ins bring
special effects or sets of editing tools into your host app. If
you want eye candy, here are our favorite 10 video plug-ins.
BORIS FX CONTINUUM COMPLETE 3.0
$795, www.borisfx.com, Mac OS 10.2.6 or later
Hosts: After Effects 5.5, Final Cut Pro 4.1
The best value of any video plug-in pack. You get 160 plug-ins
(and not a dog in the bunch) that cover almost every base, from
keying and color correction to high-end texture, particle, and
lighting. We especially like its light-ray effects—and its smoke,
fire, rain, and snow effects look convincing and render quickly.
its sheer level of control goes
miles beyond any other video
plug-in we’ve seen—another
desert-island pick.
DIGITAL ANARCHY ANARCHY TOOLBOX
$149, www.digitalanarchy.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts: After Effects 5
if you don’t have the cash to spend on Continuum, Anarchy
Toolbox also offers nine great tools at a puny price. The pack
contains tools to add effects such as blurs, warps, distortions,
glows, gradients, and noise, as well as nifty utilities to scale
and tile images, and to sample color. Its way-cool Designer Blur
and Advanced Displacement Map filters are great for creating
wild distortion effects. We really like the extremely useful
Resizer, a wonderful scaling
tool, and Path Distort, which
lets you distort video in the
shape of a path.
November 2004 MacAddict 31
F
THE FOUNDRY TINDERBOX 2
$635, www.thefoundry.co.uk, Mac OS X
Host: After Effects 6
The Tinderbox series (three in all) has an extensive selection
of attractive special effects. We especially like the goods in
Tinderbox 2, which features some awesome plug-ins (the pack
contains 21) to enhance your project’s cinematic scope. It
contains an eclectic assortment of tools to create blurs, lens
effects, distortions, glows, camera shake, grain, starry skies,
and more. We’re especially fond of LensBlur, which simulates
a focus pull (a shot that starts in-focus and then goes way out
of focus), adding realistic light-blooming effects. And the Paint
filter, which makes footage look like animated painted artwork,
is beautifully stunning.
Yes, it’s pricey. Yes, it’s
worth it.
GENARTS SAPPHIRE PLUG-INS
$1,699, www.genarts.com, Mac OS 10.2 or later
Hosts: After Effects 5, Combustion 2, Final Cut Pro 3, Motion
If you’ve got money to burn and want a comprehensive
collection of special effects and utilitarian tools, this one’s got
Hollywood clout—it’s been used in many big-budget flicks,
including the Lord of the Rings series and Spider-Man. The
package contains four bundles ($599 each) and a total of 175
plug-ins that cover almost every imaginable category, including
compositing tools, light and lens effects, paint tools, film
effects, adjustment tools, blurs and distortions, transitions,
tendered effects, and much more. Some of the time-based
trail effects are really slick,
and we like being able to
create blurs that affect only
certain aspects of color or
brightness.
RE:VISION FX TWIXTOR
$329.99 (Regular), $595 (Pro), www.revisionfx.com,
Mac OS X
Hosts: After Effects 5, Avid Xpress DV 4, Combustion 2.0.1,
Final Cut Pro 3.0.4
One of the most complex tasks facing digital videographers
is slowing down footage—it may sound trivial, but it’s quite
complicated when you're trying to achieve smooth results.
Twixtor and Twixtor Pro have astounding slow-mo abilities, and
both plug-ins provide far superior results to using After Effects’
built-in time remapping. Of course, you can speed things up
and change the framerate of your footage as well. The Pro
version allows you to add different amounts of blur to as many
as four layers, and the results are smooth even when the layers
| overlap. Twixtor’s
output is superb—and
it’s a must-have if
speed changes are on
your project horizon.
RED GIANT SOFTWARE KNOLL LIGHT FACTORY
$345, www.redgiantsoftware.com, Mac OS 9.x or X
Hosts: After Effects 5, Final Cut Pro 3
Knoll Light Factory, created by special effects guru and
Photoshop cocreator John Knoll, is the ultimate light effects
and lens flare generator package. Period. It can generate the
most realistic light and lens effects we’ve seen—from simple
stage-light flares to reflective lens flares as seen through
a 300mm zoom lens—and you get full control over angle,
colors, Prise: motion tracking, and more. It’s also great
I for creating photon
torpedoes and
luminous, colorful
explosions.
DIGITAL ANARCHY
PLUG-INS
Hosts: Aft
Combustion 3, Final Cut Pro 3
Plug-in packs for generating
special effects and providing
comprehensive editing tools.
Digital Anarchy
‘www.digitalanarchy.com
CINEMOTION $295
DELIRIUM $695
Host: After Effects 5.5,
Delirium is a dynamic particle
system. CineMotion makes
your digital video look like
24-4ps film,
DigiEffects
www.digieffects.com
RE:VISION PLUG-INS
Hosts: After Effects 5, Avid
Xpress DV.4, Combustion 2,
Final Cut Pro 3
Plug-ins that make video look
like film, add motion blurs,
create painterly effects,
and more.
RE:Vision Effects
www.revisiontx.com
RED GIANT PLUG-INS aD INVIGORATOR
Hosts: After Effects 5.5, Classic $495, Pro $895
Final Cut Pro 4.1 Host: After Effects 5.5,
Red Giant offers plenty of Ifyou want to work with real
professional, powerful tools 3D in After Effects, Invigorator
for higher-end editors. is the way to go.
Red Giant Software www. ZaxWerks
redgiantsoftware.com www.zaxwerks.com
32 MacAddict November 2004
You can create some of the most eye-catching effects by pushing a plug-in to the extreme. One such effect is the lens flare. In its
most vanilla use, you can use a lens flare effect to simulate stage lighting or sun glare. Pushed to the extreme, you can create a
combustive-like effect that works great as a transition—here’s how. (We used After Effects’ built-in Lens Flare filter.)
Flare It Up Select Filter > Render > Lens Flare, move
the flare's center to your ideal location, and then move
Create an Adjustment Layer In After Effects,
create a new composition and drag your source and
destination images into the Composition window to
place them in the timeline. Move the elements so that there is
a slight overlap with the source clip’s end and the destination
clip's beginning (this forms the transition time). Then select
Layer > New > Adjustment Layer, and move this layer so that it
overlaps the transition time between the two clip layers.
PROFOUND EFFECTS USEFUL THINGS
$395, www.profoundeffects.com, Mac OS 10.2 or later
Host: After Effects 5.5
Talk about appropriate naming. Useful Things, without a
doubt, lives up to its name. Essentially, it’s a set of over 140
effects that you can hot-rod, making it a virtual plug-in factory
that will delight and amaze hard-core tweakers. This limitless
package lets you make plug-ins to create motion graphics,
particle effects, subtitle effects, visual elements, and more.
We found plenty of useful things to
mimic camcorder LCD displays, particle
systems for type effects, audio-based
v
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