Digital Video And Audio Production Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)First off this product is BOTH a 163 page spiral bound booklet WITH companion DVD. The DVD contains images and files used in the lessons in the booklet. It has an easy to follow format, is well written, and uses images when necessary. Even a first timer should find this booklet easy to use.
Cheers,
Greg

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Avid Media Composer Software Academic (Student/Educator ID Required For Purchase) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are serious about becoming a legit editor, this is the program to get, and if you don't have the money for say Avid Adrenaline or Avid Nitrous , this is perfect for you. I started off working with Final Cut Pro and soon switched over to Avid. The overall layout and editing style is more professional than Final Cut or any of the other cheaper programs (I started out on Sony Vegas). I am defiantly not trying to play favorites, but if you want to be a serious editor, you should know AS MANY editing programs as possible, and for the money, this is WORTH it.

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Adobe Premiere 6.0 Mac Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, the features of this product are amazing, and it's definitely a great solution to video editing. But this is only true once you learn how to use it! At first you have no idea what's what, and it's the typical Adobe product with windows all over the place. Sure, it's a great product, but it's only for those who have lots of time to sit down and learn how to use it.

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A powerful tool for professional, digital video editing, Adobe Premiere 6.0 for Macintosh comfortably closes the DV-to-Web gap. With new support for DV and cross-platform support for all of the leading Web video formats, Premiere aggressively integrates a variety of features and functions.
If you've worked with other Adobe applications, Premiere will look familiar, with the command menus at the top of the screen, windows to perform your assembling and editing, the toolbox, and the floating palettes. The Premiere toolbox contains tools for selecting, editing, and viewing your clips. The floating palettes contain additional features that help you monitor, modify, and enhance your work. You can hide and rearrange the palettes to organize your workspace, as needed. All of the clips that you import into your project--video, still image, sequence, and audio--are listed in the Project window. Every project has only one Project window; if you close this window, you close the project. The Project window is customizable, so that you can sort and view your clips by using the options that are more appropriate for your editing style.
Use the Monitor window to view individual clips, set In and Out points, set markers, add and remove clips from the Timeline, trim clips, and preview the Timeline. When you use the Single-Track Editing workspace, the Monitor window, by default, includes the Source view and the Program view. When you use the A/B Editing workspace, the Monitor window, by default, displays only the Program view and uses individual Clip windows, instead of the Source view. The Source view displays a single clip as it appears on your hard disk. Use the Source view to prepare a clip for inclusion in the Timeline. The Program view displays the current state of the Timeline--when you preview the Timeline, it plays in the Program view.

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Adobe Premiere Elements Review

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(More customer reviews)Adobe's new Premiere Elements is a great video editing program! I was amazed at how rock solid it is.
It is easy to capture your video directly to the timeline, gives you real time editing even after applying all kinds of effects, a live TV preview to see your edits & effects (like you would see in a TV studio) and a great method for automatically generating your DVD with custom scene index.
The product included a complete manual, a full tutorial as well as a DVD with cool training movies on Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements. I was really impressed that it was easy to learn, but didn't limit my creativity. Every drag & drop effect is completely customizable.
If you want to mix photos and video in your project you should definitely check out the bundle of Photoshop Elements 3 plus Premiere Elements. The integrations is great. You can organize and edit your stills in Photoshop Elements and send them directly to Premiere Elements as a slideshow where you can do all kinds of cool pans & zooms (ala Ken Burns effect). You can also use Photoshop Element's shape tool to add thought bubbles and other cool effects into your video (think 60's style Batman special effects).
I found Premiere Elements to be much more stable than other video editing applications that I bought and have now discarded. I think you will too!
Some reviews worth googling:
Premiere Elements, Bob Turner
Premiere Elements, Marc Peters
Premiere Elements, James Morris
Premiere Elements, John Virata
Premiere Elements, Joe Lavery
Premiere Elements, Mike Langberg


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Adobe After Effects Professional 7.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)Adobe After Effects 7 is the program to have if you want to create effects for film and video. In short, this program is amazing.
As the manager of the Seattle Flash User group, several times people have asked me what is "After Effects?" My response is: any of the effects in animation that you generally see in commercials, movie intros, or a Ken Burns special; chances are it was done in After Effects.
Now speaking from a Flash Designer perspective this is really exciting because with Flash 8 you can now effortlessly import video to your animations. This means blue screen effects, special effects, and text animations all done in After Effects. After Effects then easily exports .swf, .fla and all the major video and audio formats.
Adobe After Effects has a lot of canned text effects and they make it very simple to import them as a .swf file. Just keep the stage and frame rate the same as your Flash settings and amazing text animations are done in minutes.
I mentioned the blue screen effect. You can now place a live actor in front of a cartoon background just like Disney did in his Alice cartoons. This is possible because you can export them with the alpha channel.
A major difference between version 6.5 and 7 is in the interface itself. This is always a touchy area to change with veteran users of the program, but this time it makes sense. Now you have the pallet running across the top of the program like so many of the Macromedia products did. It has several preprogrammed desktop workspaces accessible from a drop down box and it is very easy to create and save your own configuration if you do not like any of the presets. Also, the whole interface scales together making it easy to drag open the one you are working in if you need more space and all the other pallets automatically adjust accordingly. This is a feature you really need to see to believe.
Ever work in a 3D program and you view your project from several angels all at once (the top, right side, left side, bottom)? Now you can do it in After Effects. A cool new feature to version 7.
What if your project has Photoshop CS2 images and you realize you want to make a change. No problem. You can now open Photoshop CS2 within After Effects. Open your .psd, make your changes, save it and your back to After Effects. It also features enhanced integration with Premier Pro 2.
After Effects is a very advance program with a steep learning curve, but Adobe does make is easy to jump right in and with a little knowledge you will be producing some impressive work.
Keith Johnson
[...]

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Adobe After Effects 7.0 Professional can be registered and upgraded. This is the full retail version not an Upgrade, Educational, NFR, or OEM version.
Adobe After Effects 7.0 is the industry standard for motion graphics and effects. You can animate your ideas and create compelling motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects with efficiency, precision, and infinite variety. Take advantage of unmatched integration with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software. Adobe After Effects 7.0 Pro gives you flexible 2D and 3D compositing, and hundreds of effects and Animation Presets to bring a new dimension to your film, video, DVD, and web productions. Part Number 22070216.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 8 Review

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(More customer reviews)After upgrading to Premiere Elements 8, I initially had problems similar to what other reviewers have reported. The application was crashing regularly, rendering it unusable. After I spent some time sleuthing (searching the web for forum posts where users were discussing this problem) and figured out how to fix it. Turns out, the problem was related to one of the NVIDIA drivers for my graphics card (see further below for possible fixes if you are experiencing similar issues and use a graphics card with an NVIDIA chipset). Now PRE8 works like a breeze, and I'm enjoying the new "smart" features and the integration with the Elements Organizer that another reviewer also commented on in her exhaustive review.
For those interested in my system's specs, I'm running PRE8 on a Windows 7 64-bit machine w/ an AMD Athlon Dual Core Processor at 2.50 GHz, 8 GB RAM and an ASUS EN8600GTTOP graphics card (which uses the NVIDIA 8600GT chipset) w/ 256 MB RAM.
Since fixing the compatibility problem w/ the NVIDIA driver, I have completed several short video projects (between 4 and 8 minutes long) for which I used various of the "special effects" in PRE8 and did some rotation and cropping, and have used a couple of different output formats (flv and wmv). Of course, I make sure that I close any other resource-hungry applications, such as Firefox and Outlook, before I start PRE8. I have really not experienced any further problems in terms of crashes or sluggishness (hence "works like a breeze"). I have not edited any HD projects using PRE8 since I don't shoot or view HD video.
If you are on the fence at all about this product and/or are wondering if your system specs are sufficient to run PRE8 without trouble, I definitely recommend installing the trial version first that can be downloaded from the Adobe website. I believe the trial runs 30 days, enough time to put the program through the wringer and see how it holds up on your particular system.
For those interested in giving Premiere Elements 8 a try but who experience the frequent crashes and use a graphics card with an NVIDIA GPU (graphics processing unit), here are the possible fixes that I found during my search:
1. If you don't use the NVIDIA 3D goggles (i.e., most people), uninstall the NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver (in Windows 7/Vista: Control Panel > Programs and Features; in XP: Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs). To reiterate, this will *only* uninstall the driver for the NVIDIA 3D goggles. (Amazon doesn't like people posting URLs for other web sites in their product reviews, but if you want to see the source, search for a thread called "Premiere Elements 8 keeps closing or crashing" in the Adobe Support Forums and scroll down to post #8). [This is the fix that worked for me.]
2. Another possible solution to some compatibility issues that has been reported (see post #39 in the thread "Cannot restart Premiere Elements 8" in the Adobe Support Forums) is turning off the "Threaded Optimization" feature for Premiere Elements in the NVIDIA Control Panel (right-click on empty space on your desktop, click on "NVIDIA Controp Panel"; in menu pane on left, select "Manage 3D Settings"; click on the "Program Settings" tab; browse to and select "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0\Adobe Premiere Elements.exe" (Note: do *not* select "Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0.exe" as this won't do the trick) and click "Open" [Note: for 32-bit systems, replace "Program Files (x86)" with just "Program Files"]; click "Apply" and exit NVIDIA Control Panel.)
3. Lastly, of course it's also always worth a making sure that the latest NVIDIA driver is installed on your computer. Check the NVIDIA website to see if there are any updates available.
Hope this will help someone who is experiencing compatibility issues w/ PRE8 and their NVIDIA drivers.
(Note: I've updated this review to add my system specs and provide some more detailed info on how PRE8 has performed for the video projects I've been working on.)

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With Adobe Premiere Elements 8, the newest version of the #1 selling video-editing software, making incredible movies is easier than ever. Bring all your video clips and photos together in one convenient place where you can easily find, view, and manage them; protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage; and then dive right into a full range of creative activities. Create your movies with smart, automated options that save you time and effort. Enhance your stories with professional effects and sound. And share movies with friends and family in interactive online experiences and on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, mobile devices, and YouTube.

Top reasons to buy Adobe Premiere Elements 8
Do it all with one powerful yet easy-to-use product Use Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software for all your video needs. Import and manage your video clips; edit them together yourself or choose automated options to effortlessly create incredible movies; enhance your movies with professional-quality effects, sound, titles, and Hollywood-style motion menus; share them on the web, on disc, and everywhere else; protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage--enough for up to 24 minutes of DVD-quality video or 1,500 photos; and view them anywhere you are.
Create a polished movie instantly Using creative techniques from Hollywood directors, InstantMovie automatically edits together your best clips with coordinated music, titles, effects, and transitions from your choice of movie theme. New customization options enable you to get just the results you envision. And all-new themes are included.
Quickly find the clips you're looking for Want to find your best video clips or clips that meet a particular set of criteria? The Auto-Analyzer automatically tags your footage and photos for quality and interest, and a variety of smart search options make it easy to zero in on just the media you need.
Make movies with drag-and-drop ease Create your story fast in the Sceneline, an easier alternative to the more traditional video-editing Timeline. Make your movie by simply dragging and dropping thumbnails of your clips, transitions, and effects.
Edit and preview in one convenient place Edit and view your movie in one convenient place--the large Monitor window--where you can easily trim and split clips, drop filters and effects right on a frame, create fun picture-in-picture effects, type titles and text right on the screen, and more.
Add professional-quality effects and transitions Add entertaining graphics that automatically follow the action in your movie. Easily combine elements from different scenes for entertaining results. And add visual appeal with hundreds of amazing special effects and TV-style transitions, including several all-new options.
Energize your movies with music Use SmartSound to add a variety of musical soundtracks that automatically adjust to perfectly match the length of your movie. Even synchronize scenes to the beat of your soundtrack.
Get creative inspiration Bring your ideas to life with relevant tutorials that appear just when you need them. New tutorials help you explore creative possibilities.
Conveniently share your movie and enjoy the latest technology Follow easy steps to create your movie once and then share it in many ways, including on disc, the web, or mobile devices. Share on high-quality HD or Blu-ray Disc, so you can enjoy your movie on virtually any screen, from your iPod to your HD flat screen TV.

Top new benefits of Adobe Premiere Elements 8
Experience the ultimate media management hub Bring all your video clips and photos together in the powerful, easy-to-use, fully featured new Organizer--the hub of yourvideo and photo experience. Easily find, view, manage, and protect your media, and then dive into a full range of creative activities and start enjoying your memories.
Save time with new automated options Make movies with less effort. Adobe Premiere Elements can automatically fix shaky footage and color and lighting problems, trim away all but your best footage, and balance audio elements to give you professional-quality sound throughout your movie.
Enliven the action with artwork and animations Add sparkle to your scenes thanks to an all-new library of artwork, including fun frames, objects, and animations.
See the same video clips and photos on every computer Forget trying to manually maintain your clips and photos across multiple computers. With automatic syncing, media added or edited on one computer will automatically be synced to another.
Share memories in fresh, exciting ways on the web Showcase your videos in one-of-a-kind Online Albums with your choice of dynamic, animated templates. Adobe Flash technology lets viewers interact with your videos for an entertaining experience. And share via public or private galleries--friends and family won't have to register to look.
Get the big picture See the full effect of your video clips and photos from within the Organizer with new full-screen previews.
Enjoy support for Windows 7 Take advantage of support for the new Windows 7 platform and the hands-on capabilities of Windows Touch technology.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)Premiere Elements 2.0 is pretty good and easy to use. While Pinnacle Studio 9 is a bit easier to use, Premiere 2.0 does seem much more reliable that Studio.
The good is that you can output both Windows and Mac in addition to DVD format video, whereas with the Apple packages, such as iMovie or even Final Cut Express you're limited to Quicktime and non-Windows formats.
Editing was relatively easy, yet still has a small learning curve; the should scale the items on the screen a bit better but if you have good eyes (and I don't!) you can find just about everything at your finger tips.
About the only complaint I have is that the output quality is not as good as Final Cut Express. For some reason the resulting DVD image I created was less resolution than the original/source video which was a VOB file of an old 8mm Wedding film. Not sure why that happened but it did.
Also the helptext gets an average rating from me. While some information is right there, easy to get at, other stuff isn't in the help or is worded a bit too obscure.
Titling is about the only thing that Pinnacle does better. Premiere's is okay, but many of the checkboxes seem to work backwards. For example the "Start off Screen" for a rolling title caused the title to start on screen and roll off screen, whereas Start On Screen had the opposite affect. So trial and error comes into play.
All in all, if you're a Windows User, I would recommend it, if you're a Mac user (I use both) I would use iMovie which normally comes with your Mac or iLife package.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software makes it easy to create home videos like a famous director. And it's brought to you by the makers of Adobe Photoshop, the #1 image-editing software in the world. Create and edit your masterpiece by telling your story with video, photos, and music. Harness the power of a Hollywood studio with special effects, titles, credits, and professional-quality Dolby Digital sound. Then show your movie to family and friends anywhere—on personalized DVDs, VHS, the Web, and more.

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PowerDirector 8 Deluxe Review

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(More customer reviews)I have edited a lot of photos, but had not tried to edit/burn videos before. I spent the last several days learning to do so, and, of the 4 programs I have tried, this is by far the best in my opinion. I have been converting from VHS to DVD, Hi8 to DVD, and Hi8 Digital to DVD, and now HD Mini-disc (the technology has changed at least 4 times in the last 20yrs. Hopefully DVD is around awhile, but if not, at least the quality does not degrade over time like tapes do).
I downloaded free trials for 4 programs. The cheaper "beginner" ones I won't even comment on. They were terrible. Then I tried Corel Video Studio X2 Pro. It worked but was very slow to compute, move screen to screen, and burn the disk. Burning to DVD took almost twice as long as the Powerdirector 8 Deluxe. But the worst part was it was not intuitive at all. You had what seemed to be two separate modules: The Wizards, and the Hard-Core Editing module. Heaven help you if you had to switch from one to the other. Totally confusing and non-intuitive. For instance, if you accidently added music by not UN-checking a box, and you saved your project, you couldn't go back. I'm sure there is a way to do it in the hard-core editing part, but I couldn't figure it out. The user guide was also pretty worthless.
Power Director 8, on the other hand, was very intuitive (at least as intuitive as video editing gets; there is still a steep learning curve for the first video or two). The manual was excellent, but I didn't even need to refer to it much. The program steps you from capture to burning the disk one step at a time, and you can skip around all you like without losing your work (unlike ny experience with Corel). It has some very nice templates for menus that are almost automatic, and make the finished product look great. The program is a great mix of "beginner" features, and professional editing capability. I was so impressed by it in comparison to other programs that I tried (I only tried 4), that I felt I should review it on here.
The best thing to do is to download these program's free trial and try them yourself. They are full-featured, and last for 30 days. Corel and Cyberlink both have this available. Then buy the one you like.
ALSO, make sure you have at LEAST 3GB of RAM, and a 100MB of hard drive, and 2GHz Dual Core CPU. That's what I had on my laptop, and it was marginal. I was running XP also. This program is Vista or Windows 7 compatible as well.

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Final Cut Express Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought a copy of Final Cut Express to edit a short film that I had shot on MiniDV. My previous experience was with Adobe's Premiere which I used without any formal training to my unfortunate frustration. These are some of my observations after finishing my first rough cut with Final Cut Express.
Final Cut Express 1.0.0 had a scary "unexpectedly quit" error that had me simultaneously sweating and squirming. There's a temporary work-around and it's fixable with a downloaded patch (1.0.1) from the Apple Support website.
Rendering clips happened quickly enough on my 700MHz G3 iBook.
I've found Final Cut Express to be very easy to use and control. The controls are simple to use and understand. The main thing is that, unlike with Premiere, I didn't become immediately frustrated with it. I'm positive that Premiere was simply "too professional" a package for me to handle. I'm sure that on the right system and with the right training it is an excellent product. For me right now, I just need a step up from iMovie.
According to the manual all the controls and instructions are applicable to the Final Cut Pro interface. Final Cut Express appears to be a good training ground for those who eventually will migrate to the Final Cut Pro. The documentation also says that Final Cut Express projects can be opened in Final Cut Pro, though Final Cut Express cannot open Final Cut Pro projects.
I still haven't scratched the surface of the capabilities of the package. The manual on the CD-ROM is a 600+ page .pdf file that covers not only the technical procedures for performing video and audio tasks, but also provides some advice and hints that you should keep in mind during shooting to make the post-production steps easier.

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Create video that looks like it was created in a Hollywood studio, on your desktop!

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CyberLink Media Suite 9 Ultra V.9 Review

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(More customer reviews)Other sites have mixed reviews. I purchased the CyberLink Media Suite 9 Ultra V.9 directly from the company site as I wanted to do a download. If you look at all the ads, you will see all these wonderful features with the suite version 9 being the newest. Well, yes and no. Cyberlink does not make any false claims that I have found, but unless you've bought the package you won't know you are NOT getting the newest and best even though the comparison tables show nothing newer because this is the newest version of the suite but the individual products the "newest menu" calls are anything but the newest. In many places this is referred to as the error of omission. I spent a couple of hours looking at reviews and site comparisons and never once saw anyone mention this shortcoming. The most critical pieces are not even close to the newest versions, you have to run a whole series of updates and that's when you may discover that you've gotten something different than you expected because that will be the first time you see considerably newer versions which you must purchase versus update. The software has performed better than the reviewers elsewhere who report frequent crashes, but that may be because I have a relatively high end system (W7, x64, 8gb ram, I5 750, 2.7 Ghz, quad) that converted a standard definition recording all the way to DVD with flexible disc space matching in about 20 minutes. The glitches seem to be that the interface and visual menus are poorly done and it's extremely difficult to back up to previous menus as well as screen objects overlaying other objects. Also, what was the last time you couldn't run a program in full screen mode when the product is all about video? From the best I can figure out so far, even though I bought the newest suite, I will still have to lay out about double again what I already paid just to get the most recent versions of what I just purchased. I may have opted for a high end product had I known that the company was going to charge you over and over to get what you really thought you were buying to start with. Does it work? Better than many of my not perfectly new Sony, Ulead, and Roxio video products. Was it a bargain? Hardly! Given that Amazon does a pretty good job of getting honest ads and helping customers with defective products, I'd certainly like to see Amazon mandate full disclosure on underlying versions in any suite type software. If money wasn't an issue, I'd buy this again. But since for most of us total price matters, I have serious doubts I would have made the purchase with full information.

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Adobe Premiere 6.5 Review

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(More customer reviews)Most people reviewing this product are reviewing it from an expert's viewpoint. I will review this product from someone with a little digital editing experience on lesser featured products, however a "newbie" to Adobe Premiere 6.5
First of all, this program is quite complex, and it is not intuitively obvious how to use this product or how to find a productive workflow. I tried using the supplied 6.0 userguide however I got frustrated pretty quickly.
I also ordered a SAMS Teach Yourself book for 6.5, and again became frustrated. It was obvious to me that the "drag and drop" interface can hardly be described by a book.
Luckily the product came with a video DVD called "Introduction to Adobe Premiere 6.5" by Total Training. I watched this video for an hour or two and shadowed some of the instruction on my own footage. I was able to produce a passable editing job on a five minute production after two hours (excluding time to capture footage), interleaving watching the Total Training video and trying some of the moves shown on the video on my own footage.
I bought the follow-up 16 hours of Total Training instruction for another $131 (including postage). If I get through this video instruction, I will have a pretty good handle on the product, but by no means an expert.
Premiere 6.5 is chock full of features, which means there's still plenty to learn six months or a year down the road. What is a little disconcerting about this product is all the "new features" that came with 6.5, however some of these features have already been available for some time in much cheaper software packages.
For example, I did not buy the bundle including DVDit, and Premiere 6.5 itself can't burn to DVD without having DVDit installed. Instead, I create the MPEG video and audio files using Premiere, then import files into a much cheaper video editing package that came with my DVD burner to complete the DVD burn. Hmmm. And now I'm supposed to fork out $300 for DVDit on top of paying for Premiere - I don't think so.
The bottom line is you can produce fairly professional results with Premiere 6.5. The big question is do you want to invest the 20 hours effort to learn the not so intuitive interface and working methods?
Well, I bought Premiere 6.5 with a firewire card for $200 so I'd say it's well worth it. And if another $130 worth of video training by Total Training and 20 hours effort to get me up to reasonable speed on most of the features I would ever use in Premiere, then $330 for software and training is a pretty good deal.
By the way, Adobe customer service seems to be pretty good. You can call them for up to 30 days after buying the product. After that, you have to pay for support. I never did like this pay for support idea, since basically your paying them because their manuals aren't so good or their software is not easy to use. And sometimes your paying them to report a bug in their software.

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Adobe Premiere 6.5 can be registered and upgraded. This is the full retail version not an Upgrade, Educational, NFR, or OEM version.
Adobe Premiere 6.5 is the essential tool for professional digital video editing.You get top-quality hardware support with this most adaptable DV-editing tool available. Take advantage of the new Adobe Title Designer, DVD authoring, MPEG-2 export, powerful audio tools, and much more to create remarkable video productions. Make your work more productive with real-time editing capabilities. Whether you want to work with multiple layers of analog footage on a professional, hardware-based system, or edit digital video on your laptop, Adobe Premiere is the best choice for video editing. Included in a 1 hour total training CD. Part Number 25500410.

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Video Pro X2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)We have been in the digital conversion/production business for as long as it's been in existence.
We have tried a lot of PC based editing software: Sony Vegas/Architect, Nero, Ulead, Roxio etc... and NOTHING compares to the ease of use that Magix Video Pro X 2 offers. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL to use this, you don't need classes or even manuals.
The all-in-one package of designing and producing videos WITH DVD authoring sets this software in a league of its' own. Custom menus with professional animated buttons are extremely easy to design and work flawlessly.
Like any new software it takes a little patience to figure out the navigation structure and how to get different effects to work properly but once you get the hang of it the results are amazing.
(For our purposes we have noticed in newer versions the titles are getting crisper and the AVi streaming is better, these are the only weaknesses we can see in VPX 2.)
We have used this software to create many Youtube clips in HD we just export to a .wmv file then upload.
We did this clip using Video Pro X 2 (We could have used more color saturation)
[...]


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PowerDirector 9 Ultra - 64 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've used a lot of consumer (20 to 120 dollar) video editors. Many of them have been buggy and difficult to use. I used to like the Ulead editor. It was decent and no frills, but very low end without many features. I tried upgrading to Corel VideoStudio (which seems to be what the Ulead product evolved into), but had trouble even installing it. Apple's video editor is great, but only if you use a Mac. Adobe's video editing software is good, but the interface is pretty complex and they seem to be lagging on some features. I ended up using CyberLink's video editor because a trial version came pre-installed on an HP computer I bought recently. I really liked the limited version. It has a good feature set, a clean interface, and automatically uploads videos to sites like YouTube. I liked the trial version enough to look into the full-blown product (PowerDirector) and found that the software got very strong reviews (e.g., see the cNet review). So, I coughed up a hundred bucks for the full new version (PowerDirector 9 Ultra). Installation was a breeze, and it seems to take advantage of the processing power of higher end systems (with 64-bit O/S and separate graphics card). It's very fast (rendering times are much shorter than what I'm used to), but still with a fairly simple interface. You can do reasonably advanced editing, or pop a simple video onto YouTube. At this time (early 2011), this is my favorite video editor -- it hits the sweet spot in terms of features, performance, stability, ease of use, and price.
Update 1/16/2011: As another reviewer noted, the legitimacy of some of the reviews for this product may be suspect. I'd encourage you to check out the reviewers as well as the reviews to help you make an informed decision.
Update 1/18/2011: As mentioned in the initial review, rendering is much faster with PowerDirector 9 Ultra than with other video editors I've used (including previous Cyberlink products). However, for reasons I still haven't figured out, YouTube uploads are noticeably slower. I'll post an update if I figure out a solution. If you do lots of YouTube uploads, you may want to try a trial version first to see if this is an issue on your system.

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PowerDirector Ultra64
Create Spectacular Videos at Blazing Speed
Turbo-charge HD video production speed with world's first native 64-bit consumer video editor
New TrueVelocity Technology speeds up entire video process
Professional productions with 100 video tracks and powerful editing tools
Instant video enhancement with TrueTheater Technology
Download free effects & templates on DirectorZone

The latest version of CyberLink's award-winning video-editing software, PowerDirector 9, is designed with high usability for consumers and powerful, pro-like features for prosumers. Unleash your full creative potential with performance-driven technologies including CyberLink's new TrueVelocity Engine.

Video Production at Blazing Speed
Maximizing System Memory -- TrueVelocity 64 takes advantage of PowerDirector's 64-bit OS support utilizing the entire system memory to process multiple HD video files efficiently.
Optimizing CPU Utilization -- TrueVelocity Parallel makes video processing smoother and faster by splitting tasks into smaller segments and simultaneously processing them across all available CPU threads.
Harnessing the Power of the CPU/GPU -- TrueVelocity Accelerator taps into the power of Intel, AMD and NVIDIA video processing technology for hardware-enhanced video decoding and encoding.

Powerful Editing Tools
Timeline Interface -- Up to 100 video and audio timeline tracks for a flexible workspace, easier media management, and more creative projects.
Video Enhancement Tools -- PowerDirector's suite of advanced TrueTheater technologies improves the video quality, offering SD-to-HD quality up-scaling, video noise removal, color and light adjustment, smooth slow-motion playback, and more.
Advanced Audio Editing -- New WaveEditor allows users to edit their audio tracks with effects and includes VST plug-in support for third party effects.
Full HD Previews -- Preview your video in real-time with full HD quality like never before

Maximized Creativity
MagicStyle Movie Wizard -- Select existing photos and videos; choose a built-in 3D template and audio track, and MagicStyle puts it all together into an amazing 3D movie in seconds.
Customized Particle Effects -- Unique Particle effects that are customizable for that special touch to your video creatives.

Sharing on all Media
100,000+ FREE Effects -- provided to you by the PowerDirector community on DirectorZone.com. Including customized effects, templates, tips, tutorials and DVD menus that grow in amount every day.
Publish to Social Networks -- Users can choose to upload to Facebook or YouTube in Full HD quality directly from PowerDirector.
On-the-Go Media -- Output videos directly to the iPad, iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry, PSP, Zune and many other mobile devices. Simply select your device type and PowerDirector does the rest.

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Adobe Premiere Elements 9 (Win/Mac) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'll start off by stating that I am just an everyday dad who wants to take the HD videos he shoots of family vacations, kids' birthdays, fishing trips, etc and transfer them to DVD without any loss in quality. I am not out to produce the next "Citizen Kane" nor am I out to challenge Steven Spielberg to a directorial throwdown.
I do not want to have to convert files, combine files, or compress files. I just want to transfer my family memories to disc for future viewing. If I can also chop out those moments when I forgot to turn the camcorder off and you get a good view of what footwear everyone was wearing that day, even better. If I can also include a title screen, with a neat little visual of what's on that disc, with an area where you click "play" to start the video, better still.
This sounds like a fairly simple request, no? Nevertheless, I have had trouble finding video editing software that will do this in a straightforward and simple fashion. I have bought Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus and Corel VideoStudio Express 2010. I have also tried Windows Movie Maker and have downloaded trials of PowerDirector 8 Ultra and Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum. They all either produced bad images, required video conversions, froze up, locked up, or spit up. As far as my hardware, my PC consists of a Quad Core i7 chip with six GB of RAM and with Windows 7 64-bit.
I was scanning Amazon one day and noticed that Adobe Premier had among the highest reviews when compared to the other options and was decently priced (with a rebate). After my other experiences, I decided to download their trial version before I made the purchase. I was elated with the results.
Finding the files (which were raw, .mts files that I had transferred from an SD card to my hard drive) and loading them into the workspace was simple. Arranging them was equally simple (oldest to newest, which I chose, or newest to oldest). Burning them to Blu-ray disc (I have both a Blu-ray disc burner and a standard disc burner on my PC) was also an easy process. In no time I had the disc produced and was watching video with stunning clarity on my 67-inch HD television.
Here are some things to note:
1. Processing time for 45 minutes of HD video took about two hours. The software has to process the files prior to burning, which takes a while. It seems like slow going sometimes, but just leave it alone and be patient.
2. When it actually starts burning the disc, for some reason the process bar for this activity stays at 1 percent. Just ignore this...it is actually making progress, although it doesn't show it on the screen.
3. If you load the trial version, the disc you make will have an ugly black bar across the middle of the entire video, indicating that it was made from a trial version of Adobe Premiere. I found this annoying, but understandable. The other trial versions I tried did not do this.
4. I saved my trial project, and then opened it with the Premiere version that I bought. The full-version software retrieved it and the black bar was gone. So, if you do a project with the trial version and later buy the software, save your project to avoid re-work.
5. On my second DVD, I managed to put in a title screen and insert captions (e.g. "On our way camping," "Arriving at our hotel in Naples) just by fumbling around. This software is especially easy to navigate.
6. I like the fact that Adobe Premier has so many resources...some online, that I have not yet explored, and some in book form, including this one that was just released. Adobe Premiere Elements 9 Classroom in a Book I may end up getting more involved in this as a hobby than I thought I ever would or could. I am optimistic about this since thus far the fundamentals have proven so user friendly.
In summary, I highly recommend this product against all others. It is great for the novice, the "point-and-shoot" user, and apparently will allow you to gain more expertise with practice. Time will tell.
Lastly, I apologize for the lengthy review, but after trying so many editing software choices out there I am really pleased I finally found one that works, works well, and is so user friendly. My only gripe at this point is that by the time I downloaded the trial version and tested it, the price had increased by $10 when I went to make the purchase! Even at that, though, I still consider it a good value.
If my opinion changes (for better or worse) as I continue to work my way through this software, I will update the review.


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Incredible movies, effortlessly! Adobe Premiere Elements 9--the newest version of the #1 selling video-editing software--delivers powerful, automated moviemaking options, professional-quality effects, and optimized HD and SD editing. Share quickly via convenient web DVD viewing experiences and on disc, mobile devices, Facebook, and YouTube. Automatically organize and help protect all your video clips and photos. And now enjoy a complete solution for videos whether you use Microsoft Windows or Mac OS.
Quickly find, view, and protect your clips and photos in a powerful media-management hub.

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Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)You can check some of my previous postings, even as crazy and memory hungry as Adobe Premier Elements has been I always thought it was the best user interface...just a great simple to understand interface to get things done. Having said that I was not confident in recommending it to countless friends who asked for my recommendation on editing software for their home video. Most of them simply did not have the computing power and memory to overcome Premier Elements memory hog headaches.
In addition to Adobe I have used Magix Movie Edit Pro, Corel VideoStudio Pro and Pinnacle Studio. Magix is a second to this new Sony release; however, NOT a close second...just second.
I am comfortable now in recommending Sony's Vegas Movie Studio HD. Yes you need some specific computer power and memory but from what I have thrown at it so far (1080P MTS and AVCHD files from my Canon, Samsung and Pentax Camcorders...it has performed flawlessly.
I have also enjoyed a stress-free, crash-free rendering and burning to DVD all types and lengths of video footage.
It appears that Sony got this right and we will all benefit from it.
If Adobe was ever to get off it's tail and actually add some real user value to a next release...as well as do something about it's memory appetite and unstableness I might go back, but for now I'm making Sony Movie Studio HD Platinum 10.0 my goto app for video.

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Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Suite Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)O.K.
So I wrote a review for the last incarnation of this software package (version 9) and a lot of people found it very helpful.
There was one BIG problem with Version 9 - it had bugs in the video rendering section, which were never fixed with the software updates. It appears that Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 has fixed the obvious encoding/rendering bugs which plagued Version 9.
You can now safely encode video to all major formats used worldwide, creating your own custom templates if you wish.
Version 10 now includes working templates for anyone who uploads HD or SD WIDESCREEN 16:9 Videos to YOUTUBE. The OLD version of Vegas Movie Studio only had a template for "old fashioned" 4:3 aspect ratio, which meant you had to create a custom template to make a 16:9 video.
What does Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Suite come with?
*Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 - the video editing program.
*DVD Architect Studio 5.0 - the DVD creation software.
*Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 - an audio recording studio.
Highlight Features for the above three programs:
*Vegas Movie Studio has so many features from the Vegas Pro version, it's not funny. That's what I love the most about this software package - it's full of professional grade tools and effects. If you can think it, then Sony Vegas can do it. Many other retail video editors come no where near Sony Vegas, they are like toys in comparison, seriously.
*Vegas can handle all the latest video formats (Input & Output files), especially HD (High Definition) video, which is becoming the standard now, provided your computer has plenty of RAM (2GB at least) and an independent video card driver with its own memory.
*Easy compression of your videos, ready for upload to YouTube in Widescreen format.
*Vegas comes with a large amount of NewBlue Transition effects and Video Effects, which you can tweek to your heart's delight.
*Your ability to edit video on the timeline is amazing - however this will take time to master. I taught myself over the last year and a half using the Help Index, How To Animations and just pure patient experimentation.
*The DVD Architect Studio works seamlessly with your Vegas projects, and is fairly easy to use.
*Sound Forge Studio 10 has heaps of effects you can filter your audio recordings with, to create amazing sounds.
*My favourite feature in Sound Forge is the "Recording your old vinyl or tape collection into Digital Format". This part of the program has been upgraded now and is much easier to use. One BIG tip: Click Options, Preferences, Audio and then change Audio Device to Windows Classic Wave Driver - this will make Vinyl to Digital Recording work without getting a headache.
Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 is not for the novice who gets easily exasperated. If this is you, then stick with Windows Movie Maker.
If you like to experiment, have patience in learning new things, and really enjoy using Professional Tools to create a Professional Look, then go with this software package. I have yet to come across a limitation with this software - "creatively speaking".
I highly recommend existing users of older versions of this software, to make the upgrade due to the additions and fixes.
The price of this package or the upgrade for existing users is unbelievable, compared to the Pro Version.
If you are worried about whether this program will do what it says, then do the smart thing and DOWNLOAD the FREE TRIAL at Sony Creative Software website, where you can try it out for a whole 30 days!
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
There is something that people should be aware of. High Definition Video Cameras are advancing technologically faster than the everyday home computer can deal with. HD Video made with the Super High Quality setting selected on your camera, produces a massive file. So if you expect Vegas to edit large High Definition files properly, then you are going to need a fast computer with plenty of memory. Intel i5 and i7 CPU's are a good choice, or any of the AMD Phenom II range CPU's.
If you are on an old computer, Vegas is not going to work. Rendering video, especially High Definition video, can suck every last brain cell out of your computer and ask it to travel beyond light speed, while pondering the creation of the Universe.
So buy a new computer and retire your dinosaur, before attempting to become a Video Enthusiast - this will prevent experiencing a "Meltdown".

FINAL NOTE:
The vast majority of people who are leaving 1 star reviews, are blaming Vegas for problems that they do not understand properly. All of the issues raised, had/have easy solutions. An example is this: If you can't install Vegas at all, log in as The Administrator and change some settings in your Virus Protector program - then it will install no problemo. I guess some people are very impatient and give up too easily. So don't be scared off by the one stars - they just didn't find the right doctor.
All the best with your creations.
Dex :)

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Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Production Suite takes HD video and audio production to the next level with tools for professional-level sound design and more video effects and transitions. Edit video in nearly any format including high-definition HDV and AVCHD. Use the included Sound Forge Audio Studio software for precise audio editing; then enhance your multimedia projects with 400 exclusive music soundtracks. To share, upload movies to YouTube or author DVDs and Blu-ray Discs using beautifully designed themes or create custom menus and graphics. Use the included tutorial DVD or the exclusive Sony "Show Me How" interactive tutorials to help you get started fast.

Product Highlights
Standard or High Definition Edit video in nearly any format including HDV and Sony AVCHD video. You can even work simultaneously with standard-definition and high-definition video and the same project.

Create Stunning HD Movies Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software has everything you need to produce movies in spectacular high definition. Editing HD is simple; just drop your clips on the timeline and go to work. Its high-performance engine is beyond fast--see your changes happen in real time. When you're done, export your movie in a variety of HD formats for easy sharing.

New--Zplane élastique Timestretching With élastique Pro technology, you can perform dramatic time stretches and pitch-shifts while retaining maximum sound quality.

New--Project and Make Movie Wizards The New Project wizard provides a simple approach to ensuring new projects are created correctly from the start. The new Make Movie wizard eliminates the guesswork for delivery and provides optimized for Web, DVD, e-mail, or for publishing movies to YouTube.

New--Image Stabilization Use image stabilization technology to reduce jitter and shaky video footage. Users with shaky video footage, commonly shot from handheld camcorders and inexpensive portable pocket devices, have the ability to quickly salvage this media using several optimized presets.

New--Slideshow Creator This new feature provides users with the ability to quickly create a dynamic slideshow from a set of images with a few simple clicks. It is designed to be simple, easy to use, and can quickly create pan/zoom effects and transitions across a collection of still images.

New--Device Explorer Use the new Device Explorer window to quickly browse the contents of AVCHD, Hard Disk and Memory Stick devices. Users can quickly view media on the device and import the files natively into the software, maximizing workflow speed by only importing the files they need without conversion.

New--Secondary Color Corrector The Secondary Color Corrector tool provides users with a detailed toolset for adjusting differences in video shot with different camera setups or lighting situations; enhance dull, washed-out footage; or make specific color ranges stand out.

New--White Balance White Balance provides users with the ability to quickly make video look great when originally shot with poor white levels. Users can use the eyedropper tool adjust the white levels within a video clip and the entire clip is automatically color adjusted.

New--Burn DVD From Timeline User can burn a DVD directly from the timeline.This is a fast method to create a single movie DVD and provides an alternate distribution option in addition to Blu-ray Discs and traditional file-based hard disk and streaming media formats.

Burn Blu-ray Disc From Timeline Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 software provides functionality to burn a single-title Blu-ray Disc directly from the timeline. These discs are burned in BDMV format to BD-R, BD-RE, and DVD recordable media. Projects can be encoded as either MPEG-2 or AVC utilizing Dolby or PCM audio in stereo or 5.1 modes. Blu-ray Discs provide an alternative to streaming and file-based distribution for high-definition content. Beyond support for 25GB and 50GB Blu-ray Discs, Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 supports burning BDMV on 4.7GB and 8.5GB standard DVD media, providing a low-cost opportunity for users to distribute high-definition content with traditional DVD burners and media

Upload Movies to YouTube Users can easily upload movies directly to YouTube for online sharing. The Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 publishing feature uses a high-quality encoding process for optimal YouTube quality.

400 Exclusive Music Soundtracks This professionally developed collection of royalty-free production music provides the perfect accent to your project.

Enhanced Sony AVCHD Support New functionality includes importing files directly from Sony AVCHD camcorders and most other brands. In addition, Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 supports editing all types of AVCHD camcorder files, including files from the latest generation of 1920 x1080 AVCHD camcorders. Support for 1920 x 1080 ensures that the footage from the latest 1920 cameras can be edited natively on the timeline.

Improved Native HDV .m2t Playback Improved memory and playback performance allows users to edit HDV footage natively without the time-consuming process of converting to an intermediate file type such as Cineform. Smart rendering provides faster encoding for cuts-only projects or projects with minimal changes while providing less generation loss because video frames pass through the engine unaltered.

Surround Sound Mixing and Encoding Import multichannel (5.1) source files from your camcorder including Sony DVD and AVCHD Handycam models. Use the surround sound mixing and panning tools to create surround DVD soundtracks. Encode AC-3 stereo or 5.1 mixes without leaving the software using the included Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding software.

Enhance Video and Audio Advanced color-correction tools enhance washed-out footage, make specific colors stand out, and balance differences in video due to camera setup or lighting.

Add Professional Effects Enhance your video with hundreds of professional 2D and 3D video effects, titles, and filters--including over 100 effects and transitions from NewBlue, maker of professional video effects plug-ins. Customize your soundtrack with over 20 real-time DirectX audio effects.

Create Hollywood-Style DVDs It's easy to produce your own professional-quality DVDs with multiple motion menus, buttons, and music beds. Includes 56 themes to get you started. Add your own behind-the-scenes features, director's cuts, outtakes, bloopers, and more.

Support for FLAC and LPEC Files The FLAC audio format is perfect for archiving and sharing audio at high quality, without consuming large amounts of storage space. Users with supported portable digital voice recorders can import LPEC files and edit the audio directly on the Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 timeline.

ATRAC .aa3 Format Support Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 software includes ATRAC (.aa3) and ATRAC lossless format editing and encoding, surround encoding and decoding support, and the ability to encode up to 512 Kbps, 48 kHz. This feature allows users of Sony devices including MP3 players, NET-MD players, and HI-MD players can natively edit and export ATRAC formats without needing another conversion tool.

Insert I-frames at Markers The MainConcept MPEG-2 encoder supports I-Frame insertion at timeline markers. (I-Frames are a representation of a complete frame that following frames are derived; more I-frames means a larger file) By providing I-Frames at timeline markers, a rendered file has precise chapter and navigation point placement for DVD Architect Studio software.

Envelope Brush Paint Tool Track envelopes such as audio volume and pan, and video composite levels are customized via points over time. The envelope brush tool provides user with the ability to paint an envelope curve over time by holding down the shift key. This provides a quick way to outline the general shape of the envelope without placing and modifying many distinct points.The auto-thinning feature provides a mathematical approximation of the drawn curve with as few points as possible.The resulting points can be further optimized independently.

Single-Monitor Full-Screen Preview: Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 enhances the preview experience by providing functionality to view the timeline on both the Preview window and an external device (or secondary display) simultaneously. Additional Preview window enhancements included new scaling options and "auto-fit" to maximize the preview experience with available window space. Simultaneous preview provides editors with the ability to setup a large scale viewing environment while preserving the editor's on-screen editing environment. In particular, laptop systems can easily switch between editing and full-screen preview modes.

View Media Marker Names in Events: Media used in the timeline may contain markers.This product can enable the display of these media markers directly on the timeline event. Individual media will have individual markers. By displaying the individual media markers on the explicit media event and editor can quickly focus on key points of interest without cluttering the entire timeline workspace.

Multithreaded Audio Engine The multithreaded audio engine is an optimized system that takes advantage of new multicore and hyperthreading computer systems to fully utilize available hardware resources. By leveraging the full capabilities of the hardware and reducing direct CPU load, users will benefit from a greater number of tracks and audio/video effects for real-time preview, improved performance at lower latencies, and faster audio render times.

Gracenote MusicID: The Gracenote MusicID media recognition service can be used when ripping content from CDs. Users can automatically view information about a CD track including, title, artist, and song name, and can also submit data.

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Features
Additional applications and tools for Product Suite
Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 Software Sound Forge Audio Studio software is the easiest way to record, edit, encode, and master audio on your home computer. Customize your creations with built-in effects such as EQ, reverb, delay, and chorus. Restore old vinyl and cassette recordings. To share, simply burn your own CDs or convert audio to formats ideal for Web streaming or portable music players including the PSP, iPod, and iPhone.

Vocal Eraser Plug-in Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 software includes the Vocal Eraser plug-in so you can easily remove vocals from most recordings. You can also use this plug-in to extract vocals from songs for remixing and to create custom karaoke tracks.

Video Tutorial DVD The included video Tutorial DVD provides a quick overview ofVegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10.This Tutorial DVD covers the essential workflows needed to quickly edit audio and video projects from start through final delivery. The tutorial topics also include several advanced sections on how to fine tune settings for that added professional touch.

NewBlueFX Audio and Video Effects The Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Production Suite includes the Cartoonr effects plug-in and a select group of essential audio and video effects by NewBlue, a leading manufacturer of audio and video plug-ins. Once installed, the tools are available directly from the Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 effects windows providing a seamless editing experience without leaving the application. Additional transitions and effects provide more options to enhance both audio and video projects with a professional look and feel.

DVD Architect Studio 5.0 Features
General

New--Microsoft Windows 7 certified
New--Burning to Blu-ray Disc
New--Enhanced window layout management--save, recall, and share custom window Built-in Show Me How interactive tutorials
End actions for menus and media
Project overview window
Customizable user interface
DVD theme export
Project playlists
Smart reprepare

DVD design and authoring

Menu-based and single-movie DVD creation
Picture slideshows and music compilations
Easy to use drag-and drop interface
Unlimited number of undo/redo
Media Explorer
Adjustable project and file optimization settings
Multimonitor support
Multiprocessor support
Fully customizable toolbars
Get Media from the Web
DVD editing and layout
Still and motion menu creation
Support for multiple video titles
Multiple menus with up to 36 buttons per menu
Menu object editing, alignment, and sizing tools
Text editing and shadow effects
Object snapping
Slide image rotation
Add, edit, and move chapter points
Title and Action safe grid area
Customizable themes
Menu looping

Video

Fit-to-disc compression
DVD movie creation
Picture slideshows
NTSC and PAL in standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) formats
Imports AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MOV, WMV, and a variety of still image formats

Audio

Music compilations
Attach audio files to menus
Media file previewing
Import WAV, MP3, WMA, PCA, AIF, MPEG audio

Testing and Burning

Dual-layer drive support
Real-time project previewing with virtual DVD remote control or to external monitor
DVD project verification and preparation
Supports a wide variety of DVD burners

Box Contents Application DVD includes Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 software, DVD Architect Studio 5.0 software, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 software with Vocal Eraser, NewBluFX Audio and Video Effects, 400 Music Soundtracks, Tutorial DVD, 44 DVD themes, 12 additional DVD Themes provided by Eye Scream Factory, Inc., and online help

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Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I don't get the bad reviews, unless these users are(no offense):
1. working for the competition
2. have hardware shortcomings
3. are not using the program correctly.
I used it right out of the box and was able to capture from my sony hdr-hc3 hd cam, even though it is not listed as compatible. I created a 5 minute flick in no time, had very good real time viewing of the unrendered product, and rendered it in about 20-30 minutes. I watched it on an 8' wide hd projection and it was perfect. All of the video correction I did was really an improvement to my cloudy day footage. This has been the easiest install, first-time use, hardware compatibility experience I have ever had.
Check the adobe Premiere user forumn and all of your questions will be answered. I posted today and got a response and an answer in about 5 minutes. I also have After Effects, Photoshop, and pagemaker and have been happy with all for years dating back to 1990.
I upgraded from Premiere 6.5, which I haven't used for years. The improvements are plentiful and very satisfying.
If you can swing it, spring for the productivity bundle. The programs really work well together.

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Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 software sets new standards for digital filmmaking so you can make every frame count. Providing the tightest integration with Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop, and native support for HDV, SD, and HD, Adobe Premiere Pro effortlessly fits into high-end effects and editing work flows. Its rich set of advanced editing and effects tools ensures that you can produce whatever you imagine, and new time- and space-saving features help make you more productive. If you work in post services, in-house post production, videography, or multimedia services, Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 delivers a rich feature set that enables you to tell your stories with the highest possible production values.Take a tour of Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0.
Edit Everything with Confidence With Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, you're ready for editing, no matter how demanding the project. HD, SD, HDV, and DV -- every major standard and high-definition video format (including DV, Digital Betacam, HDV, HDCAM, and D5) is within your reach, with no compromise on quality, features, or performance. That means you're free to work with whatever media best meets your requirements in terms of budget, creative expectations, and intended delivery medium.Using native support for the AJA Xena HS card for real-time HD encoding, Premiere Pro 2.0 captures from and lays off to any HD-SDI VTR or device. With six channels of AES and embedded audio I/O, plus full-resolution SD and HD playback, Premiere Pro 2.0 and AJA Xena HS combine to provide a complete, full-featured capture and delivery solution for all HD and SD formats. Whether capturing from or laying back to Digi-Beta or D5, Premiere Pro 2.0 and the AJA Xena HS card are the perfect combination to accommodate diverse post-production work flows.Putting HD resolution within reach of even the most modest budget, HDV has rapidly become a popular acquisition format. With Premiere Pro 2.0, you now have a full-featured editing environment for HDV with support for logging, batch capture, trimming, and editing in native HDV format so there is no conversion or quality loss. Plus, Premiere Pro 2.0 supports the most popular HDV-format cameras and VTRs, including the most popular Sony and JVC models. Premiere Pro 2.0 also streamlines the process of encoding video and audio for your Macromedia Flash projects with new Flash Video (FLV) export. This allows you to create compact, vector-based SWF animations that include sophisticated text animations and shape morphing.Expanding Your Creativity Premiere Pro 2.0 delivers a comprehensive and powerful set of professional editing tools, including new support for multi-cam editing, enhanced color support, and GPU-accelerated rendering. This leading application also opens a whole new level of professional production by supporting the editing of multiple-camera shoots. The new quad-view monitor provides simultaneous display of up to four synchronized source tracks, plus a real-time preview of the switched output. Drop into Record mode and you'll be able to switch between source tracks in real time to create a sequence containing the edited footage from each of the cameras. Making adjustments is easy. Simply record the desired changes, and Premiere Pro 2.0 updates your edited sequence automatically. The clips can then be edited as usual with any effects, titles, and other tools available in Premiere Pro 2.0.Premiere Pro 2.0 introduces numerous enhancements to ensure that color in your video productions is as true to life as possible. For starters, Premiere Pro 2.0 provides new color correction tools that are optimized for different tasks, such as luma correction and limiting. For fine adjustments, the three-way color corrector provides precise control over shadows, midtones, and highlights. Use primary and secondary color correction tools to match shots, change colors, correct exposure errors, and modify highlights, midtones, and shadows across clips, sequences, or entire projects. Whether working with 8-bit, 10-bit, or 16-bit source material, the powerful new color correction tools process your changes at 32-bit resolution for maximum color fidelity.Workflow Integration and Support Premiere Pro 2.0 offers excellent integration with your high-end work flows. Film and video may be in different formats, but they needn't exist in different dimensions. Built-in conversion capabilities help bridge the two worlds by providing optional Feet + Frames timecode display (in addition to video SMPTE) for captured footage. If you originate on or deliver to 16mm or 35mm film, Premiere Pro 2.0 lets you choose whichever time reference system makes editing and conforming easiest for you.With an open architecture, Premiere Pro 2.0 easily provides support for new formats and hardware as they become available. Choose from a wide range of capture cards and other hardware today to build the HD, SD, and DV editing system that meets your needs and budget. If you're familiar with other Adobe products, working with Premiere Pro 2.0 will be a breeze. The software features panels that dock and group work with a redesigned user interface that's fully customizable. Tools, palettes, and menus are familiar and consistent with those in other Adobe video applications, and keyboard shortcuts remain fully customizable. Arrange everything you need using workspace panels that dock and group within the main application window, saving valuable screen space and eliminating the need to constantly reposition and resize multiple windows and palettes one by one. The audio capabilities in Premiere Pro 2.0 -- unequaled by any other video editor -- now allow you to apply multiple effects to audio clips or tracks. Adobe Premiere Pro even includes a set of VST-format plug-ins that will get you started on audio enhancement right out of the box. Deliver with Ultimate Confidence Now that it's done, where can you play it? With Premiere Pro 2.0, the answer is "everywhere." Whether your delivery target is the Web, DVD, tape, film, or digital cinema, Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 helps you leverage your editing investment across more playback platforms. Plus, workflow innovations, such as automated review and approval, facilitate and streamline everyday tasks to keep your projects on the fast track without keeping you from your core mission. Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 also makes it easy to send both media and metadata to other video, film, and audio applications, making it more efficient to take a single project in multiple directions.And finally, getting fast, to-the-point feedback from clients is a crucial part of any successful production. Adobe Clip Notes streamlines the process with an elegant solution based on two easy, accessible technologies: email and the Adobe PDF file format. A sequence can be exported as a PDF file with embedded or streamed video in either Windows Media or QuickTime. The file is then sent to the reviewer, who plays it back with Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader software. Whenever the reviewer pauses the video, the current timecode is automatically entered into the comment box. Remarks can be entered at the exact point at which the video is paused. When the file containing these remarks is sent back and imported into the sequence, the comments appear as clip markers at the appropriate timecode locations in the timeline. Adobe Clip Notes facilitates collaboration, expedites the review and approval process, and takes the pain out of keeping everyone in the loop.

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