New software suites specifically designed for use by business presenters offer quick and easy ways to add high-quality 3D titles, animations, video clips, and sound tracks to your shows. Presenter's Toolkit ($299) from Digital Juice includes more than 3,200 video clips covering a wide range of topics, and more than 10,000 useful backgrounds, photos, graphics, animations, and music tracks. An application called "The Juicer" lets you browse and preview this wealth of content, and add special effects such as drop shadows and character fill to your PC and Mac-based presentations.
Another easy way to enhance your PowerPoint presentations is to use PowerPlugs suites from CrystalGraphics. PowerPlugs SuperSaver Combo 8 ($399) includes many of the company's more popular tools, such as PowerPlugs 3D Titles, 280 cool transition effects with synchronized sounds, and 4,000 high-quality templates.
To add lively, interactive talking characters to your PowerPoint shows, take a look at Vox Proxy Version 3 ($249) from Right Seat Software. This powerful, easy to use scripting tool offers a choice of 27 enjoyable characters/narrators with realistic, human-sounding voices.
Video to Go
DVD "burners" are fast becoming an essential part of a presenter's toolbox. They are particularly useful if your presentations are too big to fit on a single CD, or if you want to add high-quality video to your presentations and distribute them to your audiences. DVDs are also great for distributing video clips, photos, and other resources to people in your organization.
LG's new 16X Super Multi DVD Rewriter model GSA-5160D ($139) www.lge.com works with virtually every current form of writable discs, including DVD-RAM and the new 8.5 GB Double Layer DVD+R. This versatile, powerful drive is available for use with Windows PCs in an external configuration equipped with both FireWire and USB 2.0 ports. The unit ships with a software bundle including the popular Nero Express CD/DVD burning application and PowerProducer Gold editing software from CyberLink. Top rated Double Layer DVD writers are also available from BenQ, HP , Pioneer, Iomega, Plextor, and LaCie (for both Windows and Mac).
Brilliant Shows
With high-quality, portable video-data projectors now selling for less than $1,000, there's no longer any excuse for delivering a business presentation on a laptop screen-or watching the big game on an ordinary TV set. Most major manufacturers, including NEC, Epson, InFocus, PLUS, Sony, BenQ, and Fujitsu, now offer versatile projectors at very competitive prices.
Hitachi has packed a lot of quality and performance into its new multi-purpose portable projector, the Performa CP-RS55 ($899). This 3-LCD unit weighs less than 5 lbs., and puts out a bright, quiet 1500 ANSI lumens of native SVGA (800 x 600) picture-more than enough for presentations in a large, well-lit meeting room. For entertainment use, this HDTV (1080i/720P) capable unit offers superior picture quality with component and S-Video inputs, progressive scan, and a cinema mode.
Upgrading your presentation capabilities with the latest multimedia tools can increase your productivity and enhance your enjoyment of a variety of content.
Bright Multimedia Projection
With a brightness of 1,500 ANSI lumens and weighing only 4.84 lbs., the new Hitachi Performa(tm) CP-RS55 projector features the high-end performance required for use in corporate and small business environments. An intuitive user interface makes it ideal for home use.
The Performa CP-RS55 model features Progressive Scan Technology, which allows users to enjoy realistically beautiful images with no flicker. Its Equalizing function (Gamma Correction and Color Balance) lets users make adjustments to achieve the desired picture quality. Three Picture Mode settings (Normal, Cinema, and Dynamic) enable users to choose the best mode to match the source.
The Performa also allows for a Whisper Mode option, which reduces fan noise to 32 dB. This provides quiet performance in a variety of applications, from living room to boardroom or classroom.
For more information, call 1-650-589-8300 or visit www.hitachi.us/digitalmedia .
