letters to the editor - Letter to the Editor

Emedia Professional, April, 2000

CD-R Gets Smarter

In your February Letters section you printed a letter from Bill Brierly, who was inquiring about copy protection schemes for CD-R media. While C-dilla and Macrovision offer great products for copy protection, there is now another option available that allows for CD-R copy protection, and the best part is that it's free. With the release of our SmartDRIVE 2 12X drive, MediaFORM now offers the ability to produce copy-protected CD-Rs on two of our units: the CD-3703 and cdDIRECTOR. These units allow for the option of introducing a copy protection scheme during mastering of the CD. Only a MediaFORM SmartDRIVE 2-equipped duplicator will be able to reproduce that copy-protected CD. While this doesn't approach the sophistication of Macrovision's products, consider the price: you pay nothing extra to gain this feature. It is a standard feature found with MediaFORM and the SmartDRIVE 2. CD production systems featuring SmartDRIVE 2 are MediaFORM's CD-3703 series (starting at $9,999 MSRP), and cdDIRECTOR, which lists for $32,500. For further information regarding Media FORM's products, please call 800/220-1215 or email info@mediaform.

Paul Bohmahn MediaFORM Exton, PA

Where's Primera's Signature III?

In your Buyer's Guide 2000 issue, our company was not included in the CD-R printers feature table on page 72. Primera's Signature III CD Color Printer is a major contender in this market. I hope that there might still be some way to let your readers know that we should have been listed.

Mark D. Strobel, VP Primera Technology, Inc. Plymouth, MN

Primera's Editor's Choice-winning Signature III is indeed a key player in the CD printer market, and EMedia regrets its omission in the Buyer's Guide. For the full story on the Signature III, see Hugh Bennett's review in February 2000, pp. 54-56; or on the Web at http://www.emedialive.com/ awards/award30.html.

A Column Worth Copying

I have to say that after reading Dana Parker's STANDARD DEVIATIONS column in February EMedia (p. 72), I feel that I've heard the definitive, rational last word on the whole DeCSS fiasco! Nice work!

Adam Ian Ganz Digital Harmony Technologies

Does Media Cleaner Pro Really Do Windows?

I was somewhat disappointed in the review on Terran's Media Cleaner Pro that was presented in the December issue of EMedia (Review by Jeff Sauer, pp. 60-63). While I wholeheartedly agree that the Windows platform is sadly lacking such a tool, and that something in many respects may be better than nothing, the typical windows user may find a good deal more than "first-version bugs" and "interface annoyances" in the current incarnation of this program.

First, the program currently offers no export module for Premiere. This is a feature found on the Mac version, but not on the current Windows version. Terran has promised to fix this in a future release, but no timetable was given. With the 2GB-file size limitation inherent to AVI, a severe restriction is placed on what can easily be compressed.

Second, none of the Windows codecs were very well supported. After compressing a file, it is very difficult--if not impossible--to view the file on a frame-by-frame basis along with the data rate. The process of adding keyframes and comparing the resultant video to the original was also difficult to manage. In my opinion, this is the area where this product should really shine, and it simply misses the mark. I was able to perform this task in Premiere without any special plug-ins.

Third, there is no support for MPEG-1 in Windows in the basic package. The only support for MPEG comes from Heuris' MPEG Power Professional, which is priced out of the range of users targeted by Media Cleaner Pro.

Future releases may correct these shortcomings, but for now I am on the sidelines still waiting for a product that can properly fill this gap on the Windows platform.

Jim Dancer

What A Load of Rubbish!

I was just reading the "Get a DAW" article in the February 2000 issue (Mark Fritz, pp. 36-49), and take exception with the section on the Yamaha DSP Factory. At the bottom of page 40, Fritz writes, "So far, there are only four audio software tools that work with the DSP Factory, and three of them are merely MIDI sequencers." He then goes on to say, "The DSP Factory's only compatible digital audio recording, mixing, and editing product comes from Minnetonka Audio Software."

What a load of rubbish. First of all, Cakewalk, Logic, and Cubase are far from being "merely MIDI sequencers." All three feature extensive digital audio capabilities. In fact, many people use those applications strictly for their audio capabilities, and never use the MIDI aspects at all. While MxTrax does have the most integrated DSP Factory support, that tight integration is also its biggest limitation, in my opinion. Cakewalk, Cubase, and Logic have no limits on the number of audio tracks you can play back at once (MxTrax is limited to 16), and they offer more processing options (via native, DirectX, and/or VST plug-ins) than MxTrax. The bottom line is that all four packages offer extensive audio capabilities and DSP Factory support. Choose the one that fits your needs and working style best.