Mass Microsystems Inc of Sunnyvale, California has unveiled Zorro!, its Macintosh-based video editing and archiving software. This QuickTime-based product provides non-linear, off-line editing capabilities, primarily for analogue video tape. Zorro!’s picture-editing method, a storyboard of digital sequences, is used to create an edit decision list as well as the finished analogue master tape. User-selectable levels of video compression and motion quality are also included. Real-time video is displayed in a window via a QuickTime-compatible board – either Mass Micro’s own QuickImage 24 board or products such as VideoSpigot from Supermac Technology Inc and the RasterOps Inc 364 board. For Mac users that alr-eady have a video capture board, a special version of Zorro! including only the software and media controllers will also be available. Zorro! allows use of the Macintosh computer’s built-in sound recorder, and is also compatible with many other third-party audio capture devices. A key feature is the integrated database for logging and retrieving video footage. Simple search criteria on single or multiple fields can be used to locate single clips or groups of clips. Fields include graphic depiction of in and out frames; timecode information; camera, reel and shot information; and flexible text areas for clip descriptions and transcripts. The system also incorporates the use of SIR media con-trollers developed by Advanced Remote Technologies Inc of Campbell, California, to faci-litate the use of videotape recorders, video cassette recorders, laser disk players and camcorders. Zorro! and the SIR devices provide machine control for video equipment with Control-L, Control-M and Control-S ports via on-screen buttons. Up to 16 video devices can be controlled from a single Mac-intosh by daisy-chaining one SIR attached to each device. An optional SMPTE control interface making Zorro!’s Edit Decision List frame-accurate is available. The software and two media controllers will cost around $2,000; they are planned to ship in the autumn.
