BoinxTV

BoinxTV: First look

I received a beta copy of BoinxTV a few months ago and have been putting it through its paces and it really is pretty amazing. Many of things that video editors typically do in post-production can be achieved live using BoinxTV. OK enough of the PR, let’s talk about the product.

BoinxTV works very quickly to allow you to use layers to add say product or company scrolls, chroma-key effects, split screens for interviews, multiple cameras for quick cut-aways and a lot more. To do many of these things you’ll need a very powerful Mac. BoinxTV is a Universal application, but I wouldn’t want to try some of these effects with anything less Core2Duo iMac or MacBook Pro.

Then there is the problem of having multiple video sources into some of the Macs that this software can run on. Since I don’t have a Mac Pro or the ATI video card that Boinx recommends for using multiple video sources, I can’t speak on how well that works, but one thing it does very well is the exact thing that they claim this is a replacement for, post-production.

Adding scrolls or lower third titles as separate layers is a snap to do and much easier than other solutions like Apple’s Motion, LiveType, or some of Adobe’s solutions. Consider this to be the ultimate add on for easy to use editors like iMovie or in some cases even as an add-on for the typical editor for doing screencasts. Doing blue-screen work in iMovie can be a pain and in most cases bleed over can ruin the effect of what your attempting. Use BoinxTV with a blue or green screen backdrop and record as usual into the program. Add your background layer live and immediately see the effect. This can save you many hours of reshooting if it doesn’t work that well the first time. If your screencast switches between live presenters and screenshots (fixed or live demonstrations), BoinxTV makes it very easy to add one with another or even have both on at the same time, though screen limitations might make that look very odd. Now add other layers of your choosing after the main shooting is done. Tweak them to your heart’s content, BoinxTV makes it a snap.

BoinxTV is not for the faint of heart. At $500 (or $200 for the version that adds a little commercial for the product) and with the need for a pretty powerful Mac to use it at its best, it isn’t going to replace your typical consumer video editing application. For those that have been looking for a layered approach to editing production video with an extremely easy to use interface, BoinxTV just may be the solution for you.

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