Review: NewTek TriCaster

Capturing Video
In addition to live production, the TriCaster can serve as a capture station. In Capture Media mode, the upper half of the screen is used to control the video source, and the bottom half is used to determine where the captured clip is stored. Video clips are recorded either from Camera 1 Input (in the case of analog video) or via FireWire (for DV input). When capturing via FireWire, the TriCaster also gives you control over the DV camera, similar to a typical nonlinear editor.

To start capturing, press the Start Capture button. To stop the capture, press the Stop Capture button, and a nice thumbnail appears, which will come in handy later. The TriCaster captures video using a DV codec, which is acceptable for most situations, and uncompressed WAV format for audio. Once you have all the clips you want for your production, you can either add them to your VCR clips on the Live Production tab, or edit them via the Edit Media mode.

Editing
The TriCaster also functions as a video editor via the Edit Media tab. This screen is divided into a timeline along the bottom, and a preview window and media bin along the top. The editor offers all the functionality you’d expect from a video editor, with some surprising features.

The first feature of note is the timeline, which offers two different editing modes, Timeline and Storyboard. Timeline editing is similar to any nonlinear video editing system, where clips can be positioned, edited, and overlaid with effects. Storyboard editing is similar, but each clip is represented by a thumbnail. You can adjust the in and out points of each clip by holding down the Alt key and scrubbing. Transitions can be dragged from the transitions folder right onto the timeline. Because the clip representations and transitions are small thumbnails, they can be rearranged quickly and easily. Storyboard editing is a fantastic way to get a rough cut together in a matter of seconds—finessing, if necessary, can be done in Timeline mode.

The TriCaster also offers a number of titling and video effects in the editing mode. Effects are dragged onto the timeline just as clips and transitions are. You can also do zooming and cropping via the Controls tab. That’s not all—you also can do drop shadows, rotation, colored borders, feathered edges, color correction, and a host of other effects.

Finally, the editing mode offers the Toolshed, where some truly crazy effects are hidden. Some of these are useful, others . . . well, anyone who has seen one of my workshops knows how I feel about effects. Streaming media and crazy effects just don’t mix, and they’re not much better on DVD or tape. When was the last time you saw a crazy effect used on anything other than America’s Dumbest Videos?