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Developed by:
Paul Mitton, Creation Trek Productions
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Target
Audience: Current Liquid Edition users upgrading from 5.x to
6.x.
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Media: One DVD-ROM
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TRT: 5:30
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Interactivity:
Users are encouraged to practice at the end of each session
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Price:
$39.95
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Website
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As
we are coming to learn,
Liquid Edition 6.0 is loaded with dozens of enhancements and new
features. But if you're like me and you are upgrading from an earlier
version of Liquid, your only roadmap to What's New is the skinny
manual included in the 6.0 box. As you have probably already
found out, it is little more than a rehash of 5.x than 6.0.
So if you are a loyal Pinnacle Editor, you have but two paths from
which to choose. The hard way (not my first choice) is one of self
discovery. As for me, time is money so point me to the easy path.
That means spending a couple of bucks to acquire a commercially
produced tutorial.
Paul Mitton's tutorial "What's New In Liquid 6" is the first 6.0
tutorial I have had the privilege to review. Paul has a unique
style. Presented in the same vein as his previous LE incarnation,
Liquid Edition Mind Meld, WN6 comes across as a highly informative and
entertaining tool from which to learn Liquid Edition.
WN6 is delivered on a single DVD-ROM, covering 15 major topics (see
below). With more than five and a half hours of information at one's
fingertips, the user can freely navigate to any one of the 21
different video chapters contained on the disk. The presentation
quality of WN6 is a huge improvement over Paul's previous tutorial.
This new tutorial uses a sophisticated software application called
Camtasia, which captures and records each keystroke and mouse click
with highest degree of quality and resolution.
What's On The Disk...
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Computer Setup - Maximizing the performance of your
computer - This single segment was actually produced for a Studio 9
tutorial but included on this DVD-ROM. While most experienced
users may opt to speed through this section, new users, or those
whose basic PC skills need some reinforcement, will find this
section beneficial.
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What's New - A tour of the GUI - Graphic User
Interface - This was a clear explanation and presentation of the new
user interface. I particularly liked the quick comparison that was
made to the "classic" User Interface in this 16 minute segment.
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Media Management - A detailed look at LE6 file
structure - This is perhaps the single, best reason, to own this
DVD-ROM. This segment is an in-depth effort that explains and
demonstrates one of Liquid Edition's biggest mysteries... Media
Management. Spanning two different video clips, this topic is
expertly covered in about 65 minutes. This is one area
that you will want to revisit on multiple occasions.
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Audio Editor - LE6 sports major improvements in the
way it handles and manipulates sound. WN6 dedicates nearly one hour
to explaining not just "what's new" in audio but how to go about
using it. In my opinion, an entire tutorial can be dedicated to
just this section alone.
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Surround Sound Mixing - While this topic shares some
commonality with audio editing, this 32 minute segment stands on its
own. Like many of the other topics, this one explains the major
points of editing for 5.1 audio. But like many of the other
segments on this DVD-ROM, this can warrant its own tutorial.
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DVD Authoring
- This segment does not really belong in WN6, because, short of
Dolby Digital sound, there is virtually nothing new in DVD
authoring. However, with that said, I don't care if you are editing
in 5.5 or 6.0, this 38 minute segment will be hugely beneficial to
you. Having read all the comments on the Pinnacle forum where users
condemn LE's DVD authoring, going through this tutorial segment will
set many a (metaphorical) light bulb a glow! While you may not
come to love LE's DVD authoring, you certainly will understand it
much better.
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Multi-Cam -
My only real disappointment in this entire tutorial was the segment
dealing with multi-cam editing. With a total run time of only 4 1/2
minutes, this segment did not even begin scratch the surface on what
to do with this powerful tool. Too much of the process and workflow
was glossed over and never explained. In the tutorial's example, Paul
seems to rapidly synchronize two video clips which share a common
visual feature... a photographer's flash. But what if there is no
flash, how do we sync our clips?
Next, we are somehow "magically"
switching between camera 1 and 2 in a new, multi-cam source viewer.
OK... that was real cool but what is the result. I think a new clip
was created (as a result of Paul's switching between CAM1 and CAM2).
This tutorial never really showed what happens to the clip after
all the switching is completed. What does the clip look like? Can
the cuts between cameras be fine tuned?
I am aware that Paul is working on a major update to Mind Meld and
have been assured a much deeper examination of Multicam will be
included in the 6.1 update disk.
In Summary...
Even though I came down a little harsh on the multi-cam segment, WN6
is one hell of a good tutorial. It is a "must have" for all existing
Liquid users. New Liquid users will receive some benefit by viewing
it, however, because they lack a point of reference from which to
compare 5.x with 6.x, new users will best benefit from the a full
blown Liquid Tutorial.
Paul Mitton does a wonderful job communicating his expert knowledge of
Liquid Edition. It is quite clear he enjoys what he is doing. Paul
does make mistakes during his tutorials... sometimes on purpose and
sometimes, well... because he's Paul Mitton. I like the fact they
are left in because the mistakes he makes are the same kinds of
mistakes we all make. I feel, you can learn as much from seeing
an error made and co9rrected as you can from only seeing a correct
process.
There are two things which are sorely missed on this DVD-ROM. The first
is... TELL ME WHY YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING. Don't just do it. I'm
sure I'm not alone when I say this, but I need to know WHY you are
doing something before you actually do it. As a student, I want
to get inside your head. The second thing I miss
are Grandmother Mitton's Secret Tips!
And lastly... Paul... loose the joke on Iraq! We all know what "a
rack" is!
Recommendation:
Excellent
tutorial for experienced Liquid users.
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