maker

Back in the late 1980s when Jane's Addiction was in its prime, I saw an interview where front man Perry Farrell was asked about sales figures for their albums. His response: "If I wanted to sell records, I'd work in a record store." He knew that the key to success was touring, which the band did almost incessantly for about three years.

Flash forward 20 years, and it's harder than ever for artists to make a living selling CDs. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, a speaker at the Future of Music Coalition … Read more

Genius Maker Free Edition provides more than 30 calculators and tools for various physics, chemistry, and math problems. By giving an alternative to figuring problems out with a paper and pencil, this program ensures accuracy and saves time.

We completely skipped the instructional Help file because the program's interface was very intuitive. With great onscreen direction and a simple layout, high schoolers and adults will have no trouble navigating things. The various tools were broken into categories of Physics, Chemistry, and Math, with the bulk of the 38 tools in Math and Physics. Ranging from PH Calculators, to Graph … Read more

The Euro-Pro Ninja Master Prep is like having a blender, a food processor, and a drink maker all in one set. By attaching it to its accompanying 48-ounce pitcher, you can blend up a batch of milkshakes, smoothies or margaritas--it uses a QuadBlade system that even makes it easy to make snow cones in the pitcher. The Ninja Master Prep also comes with a two-cup container, which is just the right size for whipping up a quick batch of salsa. The set also includes a storage lid that makes it easy to stick leftover appetizers and drinks in the refrigerator … Read more

A recent review of Corel Digital Studio 2010 got me close and personal with the consumer-oriented multimedia suite. Corel's studio excelled at providing a consistent, unified look, navigation, and toolset across its applications for editing photos and videos, making movies, burning content, and playing videos. It also copies photos, videos, and music to your mobile device, and can create photo projects like photo books and cards.

All good stuff, but it doesn't come cheap. Multimedia suites like this will put you out about $100. They're worth the price if you frequently use the tools, or if you vastly prefer the convenience and accessibility of a consumer-friendly setup. However, if you don't mind being scrappy, you can cobble together a spread of multimedia tools--your own "suite"--for next to nothing.

Edit and create

Photo editing, video editing, and making movies are the three largest focal points of multimedia suites like Corel Digital Studio 2010 and Roxio Creator 2010 (unfortunately, no download trial is available for the latter). Google's Picasa is one of my favorite freeware tools for casual users, and one of the closest direct matches to what's offered in a multimedia suite. Its uses are multifarious: organizing your photos and videos into albums, editing images and videos, sharing online, creating projects like collages and movies, and ordering prints.

The image-editing tools are serviceable, with red-eye removal, one-click lighting fixes, cropping and straightening, and finer tools for addressing blemishes and lighting. There are also 12 effects, like sepia tones and soft focus. This contrasts with Picasa's low-grade video editor, which can at least rotate videos and trim them. The movie maker has many more controls, but is basic; it doesn't build in the polished templates of a premium program. Picasa does, however, offer to sell you prints from a choice of providers (choice is good), and can help create a collage.

For standalone photo editing, the freeware applications FastStone Image Viewer, IrfanView, Paint.NET, and GIMP range in features from the accessible to the powerful. Read more about them in this resource guide.

Vista and Windows 7 users can try out Microsft's new Windows Live Movie Maker (review), freeware that can slap photos and video clips into a new movie in seconds. Deeper controls let you tweak transitions, captions, and effects after the automation. Editing tools include splitting, trimming, and applying fade points. As a point of comparison, video editors in these consumer-focused multimedia suites are better-equipped, perhaps with audio-tuning tools and features to adjust video lighting.

Creating calendars and photo books are a DIY project within your reach if you have an excellent photo printer and a home bookbinding kit. Otherwise, you can spend your energy on the editing and captioning and get a project printed somewhere else. Retail shops, like FedEx Office in the U.S., will print projects. Online photo albums and services like Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Zazzle will also gladly accept your business. The 12-month calendars run from $15 to $20; large photo books are often in the mid-$30 range (online services often charge for shipping). Corel Digital Studio is similarly priced.… Read more

ArcSoft Panorama Maker Pro is a simple and elegant way for users to convert multiple images into one panoramic image. Its sleek design and ease of use place it among the best programs we've seen.

The program's interface is quite sleek and attractive. The first screen that users encounter upon opening the program contains information about how to shoot photos that make good panoramic images, including information about camera settings, tripod use, and photo overlap. Past that, to the left is a tree-structured view of the computer, allowing users to quickly locate the images that they want to … Read more

Those seeking a basic multimedia editing and production suite will find a solid, attractive studio in Corel Digital Studio 2010. The four main applications include the photo studio, video studio, DVD-burning app, and WinDVD 2010, Corel's video player. With these apps, you can open media from just about anywhere, edit videos and photos, and fashion a whole lot of photo and video projects, like collages, cards, calendars, and photo books. The video studio has a built-in movie maker that looks good and is approachable for novices looking to get their feet wet. There are a few templates (but a … Read more

Microsoft recently released Windows Live Movie Maker for Vista. Those acquainted with Windows Movie Maker for XP or Vista may be scratching their heads right now--is this an update? Actually, Microsoft intended for it to be a distinct new product for Vista and Windows 7, though you may not guess it based on the almost-identical naming convention.

At any rate, a few points set Windows Live Movie Maker apart from its cousins. Its audience, for a start. While the free application was always intended for the average Windows user (as opposed to a prosumer or professional), this edition strives even … Read more

Frame Maker Pro lets users customize their digital photos with a variety of frames. With simple execution and excellent results, users will love adding these to a picture.

The program's interface is organized so that users will not need the Help file. With all of the commands laid along the right side, users are always only a few clicks from creating a frame. First, users select a photo from their collections. Do this pastes a large image of the picture on the screen, and then users work through the menu to customize their frame. Frame designs run from cartoonish … Read more

If you're looking for an easy-to-use digital scrapbook, Photo Collage Maker may be for you. You can use it to create attractive photo collages for your PC, e-mail, or Web site, too, and print out your creations as actual scrapbooks with ease. It comes with a wide range of backgrounds, clip art, borders, and effects that make it easy to put images of different sizes and even formats together.

Its clean, attractive interface keeps things simple. Simplicity is the program's biggest advantage, since most new PCs already come with at least one image-editing tool, often a "lite&… Read more