2005 Standing Ovation Awards

We've weighed the opinions of our columnists and network of industry experts. The results are in, and you're holding them in your hands - the winners of our annual Standing Ovation Awards for best presentation products of the year. As usual, this year's crop of winners set the standard of excellence much higher than the year before, or the year before, or the year before that. Indeed, the technical innovations and design improvements demonstrated by this year's top products were impressive. We can't thank everyone who deserves it, but our congratulations go out to everyone who helped make these products what they are today - winners.



Software
In software, upgrades were the big theme of the year, along with mergers and acquisitions.

The adage, "Intel giveth, and Microsoft taketh away," is a light-hearted reference to that fact that as our computers grow in power and capabilities, so does our software. Which is a good thing, because without software, computers wouldn't have much to do.

This ongoing cycle of improvement has given birth to another inescapable facet of computing life – the perpetual upgrade. Few of the software products in this year's Standing Ovation Awards are actually new, first-generation releases. Almost all land somewhere between version 5 and version 10 in their ongoing evolution. As new computing capabilities become available and user feedback is processed, features are tweaked, added or dropped as the march of the programmers continues, progressing forward as it does to the counterpoint drumbeats of Moore's Law and Silicon Valley capitalism.

Mergers and buyouts
Another feature of Silicon Valley capitalism that made headlines throughout the year was a flurry of mergers and buyouts. At times it seemed as if the biggest competition was between companies trying to buy other companies and companies that were desperately trying to be bought.

Avid Systems, known for its high-end video-editing programs, purchased Pinnacle, known for its pro-sumer and consumer video-editing lines. The spunky little Jasc software is no more; its "can do things as well as Photoshop" applications are now a part of Corel's growing product line. And by far the biggest news of the year was Adobe's brash purchase of Macromedia, defying many an analyst's prediction that it would never happen – or, if it did, it might work the other way around. The deal itself took place so quietly that on the day it was announced, some publicists for Adobe and Macromedia didn't even know it had happened.

The year in software
Bets on how all this market activity is going to play itself out will have to wait until 2006.

For now, let's look at what 2005 brought us. The plug-in field for PowerPoint had a very good year, with several new offerings to give presenters a little extra oomph on those PowerPoint slides. The field of digital imaging saw some key releases, and was one of the few areas that saw some actual innovation, not just upgrades of existing products. Microsoft and Apple showed they do more than just platforms, with Apple releasing a slew of new applications in between iPod announcements, and Microsoft offering sneak peeks of a whole new Office suite, slated to hit desktops in early 2006. This was also a year when cross-platform applications truly worked, making Mac and Windows more compatible than ever.

Our choices for best software releases of the year grow out of this creative tension between markets and machines. And yes, some of the choices might surprise you — but we all know that deep down, you really like surprises.

Our choices for best software releases of the year grow out of this creative tension between markets and machines. And yes, some of the choices might surprise you — but we all know that deep down, you really like surprises.

Digital Asset Management: Media Marketing SlideManager for PowerPoint
Tailored for the presentation crowd, SlideManager creates a database of presentations accessible to users either through a network or via the Web. You can search by individual slide, template, updated presentation and other categories. It's available either as a service or as an enterprise setup.
Price: hosted service, $39 per month per user for up to 10 users; in-house, one-time $489 fee per user. Contact: Media Marketing Inc., 303.531.4799, www.slidemanager.biz.

Runner up: FileMaker Pro 8 Price: $299 to $2,499, depending on version; upgrade pricing available. Contact: FileMaker Inc., 800.325.2747, www.filemaker.com.

Digital Imaging: Adobe Photoshop CS2
How can you deny a program that lets you put a supermodel's head on the body of a llama — and, ahem, make it look real? Photoshop again wowed the digital-imaging world with its CS2 release, particularly with its vanishing-point feature, image warp and additional video-image options. A clear-cut winner if ever there ever was one.
Price: $599; Creative Suite 2, $1,199; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc., 800.833.6687, www.adobe.com.

Runner up: Corel Paint Shop Pro X Price: $129; upgrade, $59. Contact: Corel Corp., 800.772.6735, www.corel.com.

Digital Video Editing, Prosumer: Apple Final Cut Express HD
As the presentation world grows more comfortable with video production, there's a call for more broadcast-quality features, and Apple's Final Cut Express HD has them. An intuitive interface gives you access to HD support, powerful transitions, filters, color-correction and multistream composites. Oh, and your sound-editing (Soundtrack) and type effects (LiveType) applications are included. A full package for the video novice turned enthusiast.
Price: $299; upgrade, $99. Contact: Apple Computer Inc., 800.692.7753, www.apple.com

Runner up: Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8 Price: $399; upgrade, $249. Contact: Ulead Systems Inc., 800.858.5323, www.ulead.com.

Document Sharing: Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0
The Portable Document Format (PDF) is well established as the electronic form of paper, but that doesn't mean those who create them are content with just making and distributing PDFs. The latest version of the original PDF-creation software offers dual-window display of the same document, a new Organizer tool, revamped review and comment features, and an optical character recognition (OCR) function. It's still the top-notch program for document-sharing, by far.
Price: $449; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc. 888.724.4508, www.adobe.com.

Runner up: Macromedia FlashPaper 2 Price: single user, $79; 10-user license, $699. Contact: Macromedia Inc., 800.457.1774, www.macromedia.com.

DVD Creation, Professional: Sonic Solutions DVDit Pro 6
Few companies have their finger on the pulse of DVD-authoring the way Sonic Solutions does. The company offers a wide array of products for DVD-creation, and DVDit Pro 6 is the cream of the crop. The latest version sports OpenDVD and dual-monitor support, as well as a multiwindow workspace; hue, saturation, brightness and contrast controls; ability to import subtitle script files; and Professional Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo encoding.
Price: $399; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Sonic Solutions Inc., 866.280.7694, www.sonic.com.

Runner up: Apple DVD Studio Pro 4 Price: $499; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Apple Computer Inc., 800.692.7753, www.apple.com.

DVD Creation, Consumer: Roxio Easy Media Creator 8
Think of it as DVD-authoring for the little guy. This packed multimedia program offers tools for video-editing, photo-slideshow-creation, photo-editing, archiving and, of course, DVD-authoring. It's a full multimedia package with easy-to-use features, making it our top pick.
Price: $100. Contact: Roxio, 408.367.3100, www.roxio.com.

Runner up: Apple iLife 05 Price: $80. Contact: Apple Computer Inc., 800.692.7753, www.apple.com.

Illustration, Professional: ACD Systems Canvas X
Besides supporting more than 100 file formats, ACD Systems Canvas X fills an important niche for technical and scientific illustrations. If you need a program that can manipulate up to 2 billion objects per document, this is it. New features include PDF-encryption, Active X support for Windows machines, DXF/DWG file support, and enhanced markup and red-lining tools for collaborative projects.
Price: $400; upgrade pricing available. Contact: ACD Systems Inc., 250.544.6700, www.acdsystems.com.

Runner up: Adobe Illustrator CS2 Price: $499; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc., 800.833.6687, www.adobe.com.

Illustration, Presenter: SmartDraw 7 Suite Edition
Need an org chart? A floor plan? A flow chart for your next presentation? SmartDraw 7 comes with 60,000 ready-made graphics and plenty of wizards, so you can create common business illustrations with ease. It can import several different file formats and has many support features for the graphics novice.
Price: $297. Contact: SmartDraw.com Inc., 858.225.3300, www.smartdraw.com.

Runner up: Proof Software Graphicae Price: download, $80; box, $90. Contact: Proof Software LLC, 781.575.1001, www.graphicae.com.

PDA Application for Presenting: Macromedia Flash Professional 8
Yes, you can use Flash for just about anything these days — namely any time you need animation, but with small file sizes. And although Flash thrives on the Web, the latest version offers emulation to prep files for mobile devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. So if you need show your flashy Web presentation over your mobile phone, you could. Other new features include the FlashType text engine, enhanced features for Flash Video, and designer effects, such as drop-shadow and blur.
Price: $699; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Macromedia Inc., 800.457.1774, www.macromedia.com.

Runner up: Smart Technologies LinQ Mobile Price: $49. Contact: Smart Technologies Inc., 888.427.6278, www.smartech.com.

PowerPoint Plug-in: Instant Effects OfficeFX 2.0
Want PowerPoint to look less like, umm, PowerPoint? Instant Effects plugs directly into Microsoft PowerPoint, but offers such impressive multimedia extras as moving logos and backgrounds, 21 additional transitions, and professional themes and backgrounds. It can also handle streaming and live video.
Price: $150; professional, $650. Contact: Instant Effects Inc., 805.565.4737, www.instanteffects.com.

Runner up: Articulate Presenter Price: $600. Contact: Articulate Global Inc., 800.861.4880, www.articulate.com.

Presentation Creation: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 and 2004
By default, PowerPoint takes the trophy. Its competitors are few and far between, and the latest releases (2003 for Windows and 2004 for Macintosh) offer presenters advanced-animation features, a private presenter's screen for speaking notes, and plenty more.
Price: $149 to $499, depending on suite version; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Microsoft Corp., 800.642.7676, www.microsoft.com.

Runner up: Apple Keynote 2 Price: $79 (bundled in Apple's iWork). Contact: Apple Computer Inc., 800.692.7753, www.apple.com.

Screen capture: TechSmith Camtasia Studio 3.0
TechSmith's Camtasia captures screen motion into movies, which can then be edited and narrated. In addition, you can add quizzes, zooms and pans, callouts and transitions. It's an easy-to-use program with lots of fun features, including picture-in-picture. A helpful tool for presenters, trainers and instructional designers alike.
Price: $299. Contact: TechSmith Corp., 517.381.2300, www.techsmith.com.

Runner up: Macromedia Captivate Price: $499; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Macromedia Inc., 800.457.1774, www.macromedia.com.

Stock Footage: Digital Juice Presenter's Toolkit
A full stock library that can juice up any presentation, this collection contains more than 40GB of images, illustrations, templates, video and music clips. Search software is included to help you find just the right graphic. This six-DVD set is compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint (Mac and Windows) as well as Apple's Keynote and MediaComplete's MediaShout.
Price: $299. Contact: Digital Juice Inc., 800.525.2203, www.digitaljuice.com.

Runner up: Adobe Stock Photo service Price: Varies according to graphic and resolution. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc., 800.833.6687, www.adobe.com.

Suite Package: Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium
For the presenter, Adobe's impressive Creative Suite 2 has all the tools necessary for print layout (InDesign), graphics (Illustrator), digital-imaging (Photoshop), Web design (GoLive) and PDF-creation (Acrobat). Add Version Cue, for keeping track of collaborative work, Adobe Bridge, for searching files, and the Stock Photo Service, and you'll feel as though you can create just about anything.
Price: $1,199; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc., 800.833.6687, www.adobe.com.

Runner up: Macromedia Studio 8. Consider it Macromedia's final bow before its acquisition by Adobe. This suite is aimed at Web-creation with Dreamweaver, Contribute, Flash, Fireworks and FlashPaper 2. Price: $999; upgrade pricing available. Contact: Macromedia Inc., 800.457.1774, www.macromedia.com.


Other Standing Ovation Award Categories: Projection and display, Delivery and Digital imaging.