DVD Architect Studio 4.5 Review

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(More customer reviews)This program does not come with a fancy video editor nor is it a suite of tools. That's why you get more bang for the buck. If you already have other tools, such as Sonic EMC or Premiere Elements you get video editors and other tools, but neither of those create the DVD as well as DVD Architect.
For example, Premiere Elements allows you to create automatically chaptered movies by allowing you to but chapter marks in the movie editor, but it does not allow you to create a DVD with more than one movie. It has a nice video editor, but a very weak DVD authoring tool. Sonic EMC allows multiple movies and slide shows, but does not create chapter marked movies.
DVD Architect allows both and a lot more. You add setups for sound tracks and easily create a tree of menus of practically any structure you want.
You can access DVD virtual commands in a limited way through the scripting tool. It could be better in that area.
If you buy Vegas Pro 8, you get DVD Architect with it and you have a great deal more power than any of the lowest price Video/DVD authoring combos.
I chose Vegas Pro 8 with DVD Architect because I was looking for a mid-priced tool (half the price of Premiere Pro), which is far more versatile than the low end packages. Although it may not be as powerful as Premiere Pro or Mac's Final Cut, it does a great job and you don't have to pay $800 for Premiere Pro.
I would have liked Premier Pro, but it was too expensive for me PLUS it does not yet support AVCHD files from my camcorder.
Sonic advertises support for AVCHD in Roxio Creator 2009, but what they really did was add a converter, which converts all the clips from your camera to mpg files, since the video editor "VideoWave" has not been changed to handle native AVCHD. Each step of conversion is a loss in quality. Sonic EMC also does a very sloppy job of batch processing the files so you can't walk away and just let it convert everything. You must select a folder every time it finishes a clip. Having 30 years of programming experience, that could have been done better by simply modifying the batch loop.
I still like the Sonic suite because it has a lot of useful tools that are not included with these other programs.
If you have an earlier Sonic Video Wave or EMC 8 or 9 and don't want to spend the money, you might find an AVCHD converter online for free or very cheap, which essentially accomplishes the same thing.
Bottom line: You get what you pay for and when you hold your budget, you have to compromise one thing for another.

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PowerDirector 7 Deluxe Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the third version of my review of this product. It originally received a 2 star rating from me because of software problems, but there was an undocumented fix, and the issue has been solved. But a stern warning to those who are considering the purchase of this program. Do not base your final decision to buy PD7 based upon the trial version. The trial works fine, but the full retail version has issues and bugs that may cause the program to be either severely disabled or run erratically.
Now for the review:
PD7 has a very well rounded suite of special effects, titling routines, automatic color balance, photo adjustments, and a series of "magic" effects that will help you to assemble a slide show, add music to your videos, correct for defects and a host of other things with just a few clicks of your mouse.
The layout for the editing screen is non-cluttered and well designed. For those who are familiar with video editing, it will only take you a day to get used to the operation of how to perform all the tasks. For those who are new to the world of video editing, it will take a little longer, but since the software is easy to learn, you'll have a minimum of problems.
Rendering of your videos for DVD, YouTube, and other devices is lightning quick, depending on the power of your PC's processor. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo running at 3.0GHz and rendering a one minute test video complete with sound track, 23 special effects, scrolling titles, and many graphic transitions took 64 seconds to render. Truly amazing. Burning a DVD is a snap as the menu system takes you through the steps quickly and efficiently. PowerDirector also provides an assortment of pre-made menus for your videos, if you can make them work.
PowerDirector also has an extensive online community where you can get free downloadable member created templates for your video productions.
The primary reason why this otherwise excellent video editing software doesn't score a higher rating is due to some of the serious bugs found in this program. One glaring one has to do with burning DVD menus with your production. The module is broken and will crash the program. Users have been complaining about this problem and others for many months without a fix. Although the incidents are well documented, Cyberlink has not fixed the issues and usually sends out a form email asking users to do horrendously complicated things with their PCs to try to solve the problem. If you are not PC savvy, you can literally damage your PC until it won't run at all.
The bottom line is that even if you are a PC whiz, the advice from customer support does nothing to fix the problem. Other customers report other bugs and are left in the lurch with no solution.
Hopefully, these issues will be fixed in the very near future, but if you are looking for a solid video editing program, you'll be taking your chances with Power Director 7 because you'll never know if you are one of the lucky where PD7 might be compatible with your PC.
If not for the broken modules, this would be an easy five-star program. As it is now, it seems to be a software program in progress and there is still a way to go before Power Director 7 can be considered fully functional.
Power Director 7 is a very powerful program, but the lack of bug fixes, modules that don't work, compatibility problems, and a customer support department that only sends out boiler plate emails to their customers instead of addressing the problems they are having is a major drawback for those who are contemplating the purchase of this program.
At the moment, I will keep the software in the hopes that CyberLink will fix the bugs, but so far, it doesn't look too promising.
UPDATE: PD7 is not compatible with all DVD burners it would seem, according to their members. But the issue of not being able to burn their final DVD projects has a temporary solution.
The forums, which serve as a means to help users out of their problems, is filled with old timers whose only solution to your problems is to "reinstall the software." There is rarely any sympathy for anyone who says they have a problem. You'll get an earful of "Well, this never happened to me," or the more frequent, "It's not the program, it's YOUR fault," or words to this effect.
Customer service, while quick to answer, will give you loads of advice that usually boils down to, "reinstall the program." The senior members of these forums really need to take a step back and realize that new comers and people who experience problems with their software are a result of the software bugs that are in the program and that the idiotic mantra that they all spew..."reinstall the program," is as much help as a rock falling on your head.
PD7 is extremely powerful but also, it would seem, very sensitive to what is on your computer as well as the type of hardware you have on your computer. If it works, it gets a solid 5. But because of the unresponsive forum help and customer service which is fast, but not very helpful with solutions, I would not recommend this program to anyone who isn't already extremely computer literate. If you don't know how to clear your registry, update your drivers, or swap out a DVD drive, you may be in for some serious headaches if you start to encounter problems with PD7.


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Roxio Creator 2011 Special Edition With Vhs To DVD Adapter Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought Roxio Creator because I wanted to be able to transfer my old hi8 video movies across to DVD. Attaching the USB adaptor and the cords was easy enough, but when I attached the cables 9single audio and composite video) from my old video camera, the software was unable to detect the video signal from the video camera and instead only recognised the inbuilt webcam. No instructions on how to change the source, so now i don't know whether there is something wrong with the adapter or the cables that came with it. I did test the camera cables by plugging in to the TV and had no problems viewing the video.

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Corel DVD MovieFactory 6.0 Plus Review

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(More customer reviews)I used this product for a month on the recommendations of a video forum group. It was for the specific purpose of burning HD-DVD compliant videos onto standard 4.7GB DVD's using a standard DVD burner.
The biggest problem with this product is that importing files take a long, long, long time. Whether you choose your desired file from a dialog box, or drag and drop it onto the open Ulead DVD Movie Factory window, the program basically locks your computer up for the next hour. Note that this is BEFORE you do anything with the file.
It's not just with high definition videos either. Standard definition files also take a long time to load.
Technical support from the Corel website is basically non-existent save for some FAQ's and a users forum. Even if you click on the so-called "Technical Support" link it takes you directly to the FAQ's. You can't even get email support. I at least got that with Microsoft.
Looking through those forums I realize that others who use this product with Windows Vista have the same issues. The label on the box says "Works with Windows Vista", just not how well.
Hopefully I'll have better luck with Nero.

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Corel DVD MovieFactory 6 PLUS Windows

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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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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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Corel Digital Studio 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)Corel has for years been the coulda shoulda also ran in multiple areas. Their CorelDraw/PhotoPaint graphics package is arguably as good as Adobe's Illustrator/Photoshop, and at times and for versions was perhaps better. Their WordPerfect was a true contender to Microsoft's Word, before MS's Word became the de facto standard. Their Ventura publishing program was considered by many to be the best desktop publishing program available...until Corel seemingly stopped promoting it and allowed Adobe and others to overtake it in that arena.
Unfortunately, bad management, bad decision and bad marketing have all but doomed Corel to second (or third) banana status over the years. That doesn't mean their software isn't good (and sometimes outstanding), but it means they don't have the market presence of Adobe, Apple and Microsoft.
At any rate, I came to this software package with some hopes, based on the software in Corel's library.
This package essentially ties together multiple multi-media apps into one convenient, moderately priced package. You get Corel PaintShop Photo Express (photo editing software), Corel VideoStudio Express (video editing software), Corel DVD Factory (CD/DVD burning software) and Corel WinDVD (DVD viewing software). Most people already have some sort of DVD burning software and DVD viewing software (in many cases an OEM version of WinDVD), so the big hooks here are the photo and video software.
So far, so good.
Unfortunately, it turns out that all the software is limited and dumbed down. If all you need to do is change the size of your photos, or "auto fix" them, or play with a limited number of goofy effects, then this program will work fine. But try to get under the hood, and there's really not a lot of "there" there...OK for Grandma--and maybe even great for Grandma because lack of options means lack of possibilities to get confused--but not so great for anyone used to, say, Photoshop Elements.
The video editor is similarly lacking. I came at this with experience with both Apple's iMovie and Adobe's Premier Elements. Both of those programs are superficially easy to use but allow a lot of serious editing to those who want to get more involved. The video editor in this suite seems to offer something similar to the glossy high level stuff in those two programs, but not much in the way of deeper options. Again, this might be great for Grandma (if you have a Grandma who would actually attempt to edit a video, which would make her the most unusual Grandma I know), but isn't going to satisfy someone more interested in producing cool videos...
One nice feature of the photo and video editing programs is that they can automatically upload stuff to places like FaceBook. I tried this feature, and it worked fine. But again, similar features are offered by Adobe and others.
As for the CD/DVD writing software...I tried it once for the purposes of this review, and it worked fine. But again, it has very limited options compared to something like Nero or Roxio, and most people interested in serious burning have one of those already installed.
The WinDVD video viewing program is very good. It is also widely distributed for "free" in OEM form with DVD drives, new computers, etc. There are only two widely used commercial (not for free) video viewing programs: WinDVD and PowerDVD, and they both have their strengths, but either would be acceptable. When I first got this software, I hoped that the WinDVD included would be the higher end package, which supports playback of HD/BlueRay format DVDs. Unfortunately, no. This is just the standard version that (as noted) you probably already have.
On the whole, you get a lot of software in this bundle, but element of the package has shortcomings.
The photo editor is inferior to the popular Adobe Photoshop Elements.
The video editor is significantly inferior to the popular Adobe Premier Elements or Apple's iMovie.
The CD/DVD writing software is inferior to offerings by Nero and Roxio.
The WinDVD software is excellent, but many (if not most) will already have either the similar OEM version of WinDVD or else the competing PowerDVD. The included version does NOT support HD or Blueray, so it offers no real advantage to the DVD viewing software you already have.
If the idea of simplicity and all-in-one-box appeals to you, this may be your best selection. Admittedly, this box of software is appreciably cheaper than buying all four pieces of software from any vendor(s). But if you plan to get beyond the basics of photo and video editing, you may regret this choice in the end.

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Do you take photos and videos with a point-and-shoot digital camera? Then Corel Digital Studio 2010 is perfect for you. This fast and simple digital media suite is designed to let you edit photos fast, and turn video clips into movies in minutes. Plus, you get everything you need to create stunning photo books, slideshows and DVDs.

Corel Digital Studio 2010 is the easiest photo, video and DVD burning software you'll ever use.
Organize Automatically capture digital media from virtually any device to get started quickly. Then view all your photos, videos and music in one easy place. Organize by folder, album, date, rating or keyword tag to find files fast.
Edit Fix it fast with one-click photo-editing and video-editing tools. Quickly crop, rotate, sharpen, remove red-eye and more to bring out the best in your digital photos. Trim, combine and enhance video clips in seconds. You can even edit, burn and share your HD videos.
Create Get creative with professionally designed templates that help you capture your memories in style. Create stunning photo books, slideshows, calendars, cards and more. Make a polished movie in just minutes with easy movie making tools. Or, bring your favorite photos, videos and music together in one amazing piece.
Share Give friends and family the front seat to the show of your life! Upload photos and videos to Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. Copy videos and movies to iPod, iPhone, PSP and other mobile devices. Print photos at home or order from our online printing service. Then burn DVDs and CDs for easy sharing and safekeeping.

Organize videos and photos together When it comes to software for making movies and photos, nothing beats Digital Studio 2010. Look how easy it is to get started!
Automatic Importing Quickly copy all your videos, photos and music from your device to your computer. Digital Studio detects digital cameras, camcorders and mobile phones, so you can easily send all your files to the Media Organizer for quick viewing.
One Common Workspace For the first time on the PC, Digital Studio combines photo editing and movie making software with DVD and AVCHD burning, creative projects and easy sharing, all with a visual workspace that makes your experience simple and fun. Now you can organize, edit, create, share and preserve all your memories in one place--faster, easier and with truly amazing results.
Simple Media Organizer Organize photos, videos and music all in one place and keep your memorable moments together. Digital Studio's Media Organizer is the starting point for all your projects across the suite, making it easy to move from one application to another. Know one, know them all!

Edit photos and videos the easy way Whether you're photo editing, movie making or both, Digital Studio helps you create as fast as you can click!
Express Edit Enhance photos and videos in minutes in Express Edit mode. Digital Studio lets you preview images and make your most common edits within a single viewing window. Crop, rotate and sharpen photos, remove red-eye, adjust brightness and more with just a few clicks. Use the QuickCut timeline to view and trim your video for fast results.
Movie Making Software Made Easy. Seriously Easy. Corel Digital Studio 2010 offers a groundbreaking new, visual approach to video-editing projects. Now movie making is something anyone can do! Use professional movie templates to instantly turn your video clips into a great-looking movie, complete with openings, titles and transitions. Or quickly personalize your video with your own voiceover, music and more. Trim unwanted content, make fast edits like reducing camera shake, and add titles, soundtracks and captions--all using the same simple workspace.
HD Video Edit, burn and share your AVCHD video clips.

Create photo and video projects Only Digital Studio combines photo editing and movie making software, giving you one simple place to create all your photo and video projects.
Digital Photo and Video Templates Make your stories unforgettable with professional-looking photo books, calendars, photo slideshows and movies that take only minutes to create. Just choose a photo or video style and add your personal touch. Order projects online or print from the suite with just a few clicks.
Windows 7 Touch Capabilities Get hands-on with your photos and videos in ways that were never possible before. Corel Digital Studio 2010 takes full advantage of Windows 7 touch-screen capabilities, moving beyond traditional menus and mouse clicks to a more natural and exciting creative experience.

Share and preserve your memories At home, on the go, online or off, Digital Studio 2010 lets you easily share your memories with family and friends.
Easy Sharing in any Format Burn DVDs, upload photos and videos to Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, attach them to email with automatic resizing, print right from your PC or order prints online. You can also copy files to iPod, iPhone, PSP or other mobile devices faster than ever.
DVD Playback with Hollywood Flair Watch your videos and movies in cinematic quality from DVD, movie files or straight from your digital camera with Corel WinDVD 2010, the world's #1 DVD player software. Then burn to DVD with Hollywood-style menus that make it easy to browse and watch your favorite scenes.
CD and DVD Burning Burn DVD or AVCHD movies, and burn music to disc in just a few clicks. Digital Studio lets you watch, share and back up your creations in no time.

What's Included Making movies, photos and DVDs is easy with Corel Digital Studio 2010. Find everything you need right here.
Corel PaintShop Photo Express 2010
Corel VideoStudio Express 2010
Corel DVD Factory 2010
Corel WinDVD 2010
Corel Quick Start Guide
Corel Guide (in product)

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Adobe Premiere 7.0 Professional Review

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(More customer reviews)Adobe Premiere Pro is as sophisticated and advanced software package as any other Adobe project, designed for professional and "prosumer"-level users. You have to go through a certain learning curve, invest hours in learning, but once you are through, you will be fully rewarded by the flexibility of the program and its nearly endless possibilities. A good way to learn is to buy Adobe's book "Premiere Pro classroom in a book", which is essentially a sequence of hands-on lessons which walk you through different features of the program using an extensive set of tutorial movies which come on a disk enclosed with the book.
I've been using this program for a couple of months, and had very positive experience. The program is very stable, has a logical and convenient interface, can render edits in real time, and allows to make as sophisticated edits as one can imagine. In fact, I cannot think about a single feature which is not included in Premiere. One can capture videos from a DV camcorder from Premiere, edit them in any way, add transitions, analyze the color balance of the movie, correct contrast, brightness, color balance, mix or record sound (5.1 surround can be edited, but a plugin to encode it in dolby digital format is included as a demo version only, one has to buy a full version for extra money; with regular stereo sound there are no problems), and export the edited footage in a variety of formats for DVD or internet. There is an extensive selection of audio and video filters and plugins, a title generator, and a means to generate effects such as split screen, moving logos, etc.
Adobe has a 30-day trial version of Premiere on its web site. The difference between the full and the trial version is that the trial version does not include Media Encoder (i.e., the edited file can be saved only as AVI or exported back to a DV tape) and, I think, has some limitations in audio editing. I highly recommend everyone shopping for a video editor to download the trial version, get a good book on Premiere, and make an educated decision on how good this program is.
I also tried several other products, such as Sony Vegas and Ulead Video Studio. Vegas, in my opinion, has less capabilities (e.g., does not support multiple/embedded timelines (sequences)), has somewhat counterintuitive interface (which for instance applies to what happens when you left-click or right-click somewhere in the timeline - although at first glance its user interface appears to be more friendly), and is much slower on the rendering/encoding stage. Ulead is infamous for its instability (see Amazon reviews); in my case, it crashed 15 seconds after I started the program, after which I decided that I better try something else. In contrast, Premiere has been very stable and did not crash a single time on me.
In my opinion, it is the best product on the consumer market in the price range under a thousand dollars, and I can highly recommend it to those who look for a high-end video editor with a wide range of capabilities. (Of course, a very basic editing can be done even with Windows Movie Maker, which comes free with Windows XP).
Note that Adobe Video Collection, which includes Premiere, Encore, Audition, and After Effects, is a full video editing suite which offers much more for almost the same money than the Premiere alone.
Premiere Pro is available only for Windows, Mac is no longer supported.

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Adobe Premiere 7.0 Professional can be registered and upgraded . This is the full retail version not an Educational, NFR, Upgrade or OEM version.
Adobe Premiere 7.0 Professional is a revolutionary nonlinear video editing applications. Powerful real-time video and audio editing tools give you precise control over virtually every aspect of your production. From advanced color correction to 5.1 surround sound mixing, you have the tools you need at your fingertips. Plus, flexible import and export options reduce format constraints. Built for the exceptional performance of Microsoft Windows XP systems, Adobe Premiere Pro takes video production to an entirely new level. Part Number 25520004.

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Roxio Creator 2011 Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay, up front, I am a VERY EXPERIENCED Computer Technician and have used ROXIO since Version 5, thus, I am an experienced ROXIO user and know what I am talking about; this version however is a little disappointing. Currently I have a HIGH-POWERED Workstation, AMD 955 64-Bit CPU, 8 GB of RAM, LG Blu-Ray Burner, Plextor Burner, Windows 7 Ultimate, lots of "Goodies" installed, system is tweaked to perfection and has been running flawlessly since March of 2010. I installed ROXIO 2011 and immediately started having problems with my system ... and I NEVER have problems with it! The program loaded fine, but then it would absolutely NOT recognize my "LG Blu-Ray" Internal Burner. Then sporatically it would, then would not, recognize my PLEXTOR Burner. Then I started getting all kind of Windows 7 Operating System ERROR messages. Had to UNINSTALL the product and now everything is back to normal. By the way, I used "REVO Uninstaller" to remove ALL REMNANTS of ROXIO on my machine in the System Registry ... I recommend that all folks on PC's have that product to completely remove any non-functioning software systems (it's a GREAT REGISTRY Clean-Up Tool). Finally, if you are bound and determined to have ROXIO, then I would highly recommend setting a RESTORE POINT prior to loading it. Look, I am NOT against ROXIO products, as I've said initially, I have used their products since Creator Version 5.0, but something has gone wrong here, either they are NOT TESTING their products better prior to releasing them into the market, or just plain BAD DESIGN in their coding, either way, this release needs serious HELP; the product itself promises great features, but if you can't access DVD/CD Drives, it's pretty much useless. The SUPPORT situation with ROXIO is another situation, sometimes difficult to reach and followup via their Email System and it needs help as well; they send you an Email asking you if things were resolved, you enter your support ticket number, you see what has transpired, then you can't REPLY and send them any followup issues, it just keeps repeating the same previous support information, it's just like endless Email "Jail", I sinceley hope that they RE-REVIEW their product and get it back on track.

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Easily enhance, preserve, and share your digital media with Roxio Creator 2011. Turn your standard videos and photos into 3D masterpieces, and playback 3D movies on your PC--includes free 3D glasses.
User-friendly home page. View larger.

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Corel VideoStudio Express 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been searching and searching for a replacement for Windows Movie Maker since I now have a camera (Canon SX200IS) that shoots HD video. WMM doesn't support HD. Windows Live Movie Maker does, but you need Vista or 7.
Anyway, I have yet to find a decent video editor. I have tried MANY. Sony Vegas, Corel X2, Pinnacle, you name it. I want to trim video, insert video transitions, have multiple audio tracks, but most importantly, I want to be in control of the quality, file format and codec and I want the output to look as good as my original. But I digress...
Back to this software. Download the free trial. Be patient as it takes forever to download and install. You'll need that patience because the program appears to be a pig. It took like 30+ minutes to produce a 1280x720P video that was less than 2 minutes long. I can't imagine waiting for a 10-minute video. Even clicking on buttons makes you wonder if you clicked them.. There's a huge delay sometimes. And the PC I used is no slouch (Intel Dual-Core, 3 gHz, 2 gigs of RAM). This program appears to be 80% 'pretty interface' and 20% 'functionality'.
Also, if your accustomed to menus like file, tools, edit, view, etc., that will be no help in this program. By trying to make this program easy to use for computer newbies, they've made it hard to use if you already know how to use a computer and are looking for these familiar items.
By the way, the output file it created for me was garbage. First of all, it was MPEG and I wanted MOV. So I couldn't play it in Quicktime. When I used Windows Media Player, it only played the audio. I checked the file with another video program (AVS4YOU Video Editor, which is almost what I need) and the file was only encoded at 7500 kbps. My original was 23000 kbps!!! You have almost ZERO control over the output. You can't pick the codec, file format, bitrate, audio codec, ANYTHING. You can only pick file, DVD, email, YouTube, etc. Once you make a choice, the program selects everything else for you.
Back to AVS4YOU. Neat program. Really reminds me of Windows Movie Maker (great program in its day, and FREE). My only trouble so far is gettting a consistent output that is not jumpy. If anyone else knows of a great video editor, please comment. Money is no object at this point!!
Again, please download the program from Corel's website before you pay for this. If this software is for anyone, it's the person who's not particular about quality and is far from technical.

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Corel VideoStudio Express 2010 is the easiest way to turn video clips into professional-looking movies you can share. Organize, tag and view your videos by event. Edit with ease using the QuickCut timeline to view and cut your video. Fix common problems, like brightness or camera shake. Create polished movies instantly with templates that automatically create openings, soundtracks and credits. Share movies on DVD, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, or take them to go on your iPod, iPhone, PSP or other mobile device. HD--edit, burn and share your AVCHD video clips. Enjoy support for Windows 7, including new touch capabilities.


Movie Making Made Easy
Organize Browse all your videos, photos and music in one place to find what you're looking for fast. You can even keep track of videos and photos by album, date, rating or tag.
Create Make amazing movies in minutes! Simply select a movie style, complete with fun openings, titles, transitions and music. Drop in your videos and photos, and watch your movie instantly come to life.
Edit VideoStudio Express is hands-down the easiest video-editing software you'll ever use. Whether you want to tweak some flaws with a single click or fine-tune every detail, it helps you create a movie to remember.
Share Burn DVDs, upload videos directly to your YouTube account or create files to share on portable devices, including iPod, iPhone and PSP.

Organize videos and photos together
Automatic Importing Quickly move all your videos and photos from your device to your computer. VideoStudio Express 2010 automatically detects digital cameras, camcorders and mobile phones, so you can easily capture video and send all your files to the Media Organizer for quick viewing.
Media Organizer Keep videos, photos and music together in one place to find files fast. The Media Organizer lets you view thumbnail images and save them by folder, album, date or rating. To further organize your files, you can create keyword tags, names or captions that help you search and find what you need quickly.
Instant Preview Quickly decide which clips to keep by previewing your video directly from your camera or camcorder.

Edit fast with simple video-editing software
Express Edit The all-new Express Edit mode makes basic video editing a snap, even if you're a beginner. Double-clicking a video clip at any time launches Express Edit, where you can quickly delete the video clips you don't want and improve the ones you do. In just seconds, you can use the QuickCut timeline to cut sections, separate clips and enhance your videos in one simple screen.
Edit HD Video VideoStudio Express 2010 is movie making made simple, even in HD. Edit, burn and share your AVCHD video clips in no time.
More Tools The More Tools menu simplifies advanced video-editing tasks like correcting shaky video and adjusting brightness. Enhance the quality of your video with just a few clicks, then turn it into a movie you'll be proud to share.
Windows 7 Touch Capabilities Get hands-on with your photos and videos in ways that were never possible before. Corel Digital Studio 2010 takes full advantage of Windows 7 touch-screen capabilities, moving beyond traditional menus and mouse clicks to a more natural and exciting creative experience.

Create movies in minutes
One-Step Movie Projects VideoStudio Express is full-featured video-editing software, giving you a variety of professionally designed movie templates for all occasions. Just choose a movie style and watch as VideoStudio Express automatically adds Hollywood-style openings, transitions, music and credits to your video.
Movie Titles, Music and Effects Personalize your movie by adding titles and text, background music or voiceover--all within the same screen. Customize your movie even more by making quick changes to title duration, position and font styles. It's easy to create the perfect look and feel with drag-and-drop tools and fun effects.

Share and preserve your videos
Express Burn to DVD Burn video to DVD faster than ever with pre-defined menu styles that help you get professional-looking results instantly. First step: click once to burn a DVD. Next step: showtime!
Upload Video Directly to YouTube Easily share your video clips, slideshows, pictures and movies online by uploading to your YouTube account right from VideoStudio Express 2010--your full video-editing software solution.
Make Your Video Mobile Convert to iPod, iPhone, PSP or other mobile devices so you're ready to share videos wherever you go.

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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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Corel VideoStudio Express Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Save your money, I bought one of these and it's been nothing but a headache. First of all, it only "sees" a few of my video files-- naturally, it sees none of those I want to edit.
The help menu? Forget about it. If you can even find it, you are a genius. They seem to hide their support telephone number well too, but you can get that at "getaperson" dot net.


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Make movies in minutes with Corel VideoStudio Express! This fast video-editing software lets you organize video clips by album, folder, date or name to find files fast. Use the QuickCut timeline to trim your standard or AVCHD video with just a few clicks. Or quickly fix common problems like bad lighting or camera shake with the press of a button. Then, choose a creative template to add Hollywood-style openings, transitions, music and credits to transform your video into a polished movie. When you're done, copy to CD or DVD, upload directly to Facebook, Flickr or your YouTube account, or save in a format compatible with your iPod, iPhone, PSP or other mobile device, to share your movie.
VideoStudio Express is the easiest way to turn your video clips into professional-looking movies you can share.

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Speedy Video Converter Pro (Download+CD): Converts videos of all popular formats such as AVI, FLV, MPEG, WMV, MP4, MOV, VOB & DVD, VCD, SVCD, RM, SWF, RMVB, and 3GP; includes iPhone video converter, iPad video converter, iPod converter, AVI converter, FLV converter, MP4 converter, MOV converter, MPEG converter, and DVD converter. Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This product did not convert my swf file as indicated in their advertisement. Although their customeer service does not have a phone number so you can talk with someone, they did respond in a timely manner by email. When I asked why I could not convert my file, they had me send the file to them, but they could not figure out why it didn't work. In other words, don't buy this product if you intend to use it to convert swf. It may be ok for other conversions, but I didn't try others. Their customer service was accomodating and ease of product return.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Speedy Video Converter Pro (Download+CD): Converts videos of all popular formats such as AVI, FLV, MPEG, WMV, MP4, MOV, VOB & DVD, VCD, SVCD, RM, SWF, RMVB, and 3GP; includes iPhone video converter, iPad video converter, iPod converter, AVI converter, FLV converter, MP4 converter, MOV converter, MPEG converter, and DVD converter.

Click here for more information about Speedy Video Converter Pro (Download+CD): Converts videos of all popular formats such as AVI, FLV, MPEG, WMV, MP4, MOV, VOB & DVD, VCD, SVCD, RM, SWF, RMVB, and 3GP; includes iPhone video converter, iPad video converter, iPod converter, AVI converter, FLV converter, MP4 converter, MOV converter, MPEG converter, and DVD converter.

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Movie Edit Pro 16 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm surprised this product only has one review. I looked through the reviews for a variety of products -- Adobe's Primier Elements, Pinnacle, Movie Maker, Corel, etc and was shocked by the extensive negative reviews in most if not all of them. Now I'm not a power user -- just a photographer needing to expand capability with some video but I didnt want to get bogged down with crashes and generally malfunctioning software. I rolled the dice on this software and was surprised to find it had all the features I needed and worked just fine. I do have a high powered machine with a good 6 gigs of RAM and a hot graphics card so your mileage may not be as good if you dont, but this software definitely lives up to expectations and was purchased at Best Buy for a cheap $50. Great value! Thumbs up!

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Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This entire video was made in Video Studio Pro X2. I purposely did it as fast as I could to show the power of the product (matter of fact this writeup took longer). Besides the obvious time line oriented video editing, there are a ton of video outputs that can be utilized whatever your ability. You can export directly to You Tube, or record it in HD for watching in 1080. Direct to DVD authoring is another really nice addition.
I have used Final Cut Pro Studio costing $1300. While this is NOT as powerful at all, it does allow for a good deal of professional editing. It has a very low learning curve and if you just need to make excellent quality videos and not spend a very long time learning then this is the product for you.
You can import your own clips very easily, just drag and drop. It will even import your entire audio library. I tried to do a voice over for this video but my mic is really poor quality so it sounded very digitized. It allows you to add a voice over with 1 click though and I may redo this review if I can get a better mic. It is very refreshing the amount of video outputs this program has. If your a novice and want to make a video that is high quality for You Tube it is just a few clicks and you are done. The menus are easy to navigate and very intuitive.
About this video: Because I did not want to wait 3 hours to upload it. I rendered it at 30fps mpg. I am not sure how Amazon codec will re-render so I hope it looks nice when it is finally converted.
Thank you for watching!

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Videostudio X2 PRO

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Corel VideoStudio Pro X4 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Corel Visual Studio Pro x4
The new release of Visual Studio Pro, x4, fixes most of the bugs from earlier versions as well as offering new features such as 3-D, time-lapse and stop-action effects, and the option to zip projects. I have little use for the new features but the bug-fixes are a huge improvement in the program.
VSP x3 seemed to work better with high-end systems. I have an 1-7 930 processor overclocked to 4 GHz with a GTX460 video card, blu-ray burner, and 12 GB of RAM and have experienced none of the crashes that others using older equipment report. Pro x3 occasionally would freeze up during rendering, but VSP Pro x4 has yet to crash or freeze on my system.
The biggest drawback to Pro x3 was that it came packaged with DVD Movie Factory 2010: a separate, highly-defective program necessary for creating and burning DVDs that almost never worked without freezing. Not completely oblivious to this disaster, Corel responded by offering DVD Movie Factory 7 SE for free and DVD Movie Factory 7 (full version) for sale on their web site. Neither of these programs imports the chapters you set up in Visual Studio, so you have to set your chapter points all over again when you create your DVD--which rather obviates the purpose of setting up chapter points in VSP, what? The full version of DVD Movie Factory 7, while offering more menu and theme options, produced AVCHD DVDs with little slips in them. (The SE version produced them without the slips.)
Pro x4 has addressed these issues by incorporating the DVD factory into the Visual Studio program itself (as they had done with earlier versions.) Your chapter points are now retained, AVCHDs don't slip, and you don't freeze up when creating DVDs. However, there are a few less menu options available than with the full version of DVD Movie Factory 7 and the screens you work with are no longer full-screen, so you can't see as clearly. On the pro side, comparable blu-ray disks consume less disk space in Pro x4.
Visual Studio Pro offers flexibility with libraries that is missing from the other video editing programs I've seen. In particular, the program allows you drag a clip from the library to the timeline (or storyboard), edit it, and then drag the edited version back into the library for later use. You can then access both the original and the edited clip in this or another project. As I find this feature essential and have not seen it elsewhere, VSP is the only editor that works for me. Others who have tested VSP against the competition find that rendering times are fastest with VSP. Generally the interfaces are user-friendly, although some customizing of the filters is neither intuitive or adequately explained. You learn by experimenting. One tip: when you are trimming a clip, click on the digital time display (either the frames or seconds--they call it the timecode) and then use the up and down arrows on the keyboard to advance or reverse the clip. This moves you through the clip as fast as you can click, whereas the right and left arrow buttons produce a delayed response unless you click them slowly. The scrubber is imprecise and best used for obtaining a general location.
Earlier versions of VSP would occasionally mishandle very short clips: reduce them to microsecond flashes that were overlayed. I have tested Pro x4 and found that this problem, too, has been fixed. I also noticed that in earlier versions if you chose higher rendering settings than those native to your clips, the resulting video file would appear with extra noise. With Pro x4, the quality of the clips actually improves when you render with a higher resolution: definition is slightly sharper with noise reduced and colors look cleaner. The improvement isn't enough to mistake them for HD, but it's noticeable nonetheless. In addition, the "take a snapshot" bug (where the snapshot is distorted) has been fixed.
I don't have a 3-D TV, nor do I have use for time-lapse or stop-action so obviously I can't report on the these new features. However, Pro x4 has exterminated many of the bugs from previous versions and now earns recommendation without reservation especially for those using high-end systems.


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