Video Editing on the Rack.

The canopus Complete Stand-Alone System Has Everything You Need

Everyone complains about the confusion of digital video editing. What kind of a computer do you need? What sort of software is best? How do you get the software to run with the computer?

Canopus Corp., a company that has a history of excellent products in the field, has come up with an answer that prosumers and hobbyists will love, and, that even beginners can appreciate. It's a turnkey system. In one package (which comes delivered by freight in a box about 4-feet square) you get everything you need. EVERYTHING!

It's called the StormRack.

StormRack is so named because it is uses Canopus' DVStorm video-editing card installed in a PC that is mounted in a standard 19-inch equipment rack, along with your VCRs, TBCs, amps, etc. It can also sit on a desktop or on the floor, although its horizontal orientation makes the removable drives a little hard to reach. The chassis is four rack units, or 7-inches high and 22.25-inches deep.

A handsome product, StormRack has a dark brown and gold fold-down front panel that gives access to the Toshiba CD-RW/DVD ROM drive, a floppy drive and the reset and power switches. An opening in the panel gives access to the familiar Canopus breakout panel with inputs and outputs for composite and Y/C analog video, two channels of unbalanced audio and a 4-pin DV connector for IEEE1394.

One nice feature of the satin gold-finished breakout panel is the inclusion of LED indicators that show the active input. The window is illuminated. by indirect red lights located at the top of the opening, a nice touch that will be welcome when you're trying to connect a video source or recorder in a dark edit bay. Fortunately, the panel is labeled since the intense red light makes reading the connectors' color-coding impossible.

The same connections are also accessible on the back of the StormRack for those who want to keep all of their cabling connected behind the rack.

When I …