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Reviews related to : Video editing software
Rather than increase the version number by one, Nero has added the word “Reloaded” to its recently enhanced flagship product.
Like the Matrix, and a previous version of its flagship product, Nero has added the word “Reloaded” to Nero 9. Not only has the title received an addition but Nero, that’s the company not the product, has added some new features and bundled another of its products with Nero 9 Reloaded. However before moving on to these new features and bundled title, lets have a quick recap on some of the functionality of the original version 9 before it became Reloaded.
While most will buy this latest version of PowerDVD for its ability to play Blu-ray movies (providing of course you have a Blu-ray drive) it can and does support other formats. I am not sure why Windows 7 does not nativity support Blu-ray.
Trips to the cinema can sometimes be spoilt by unnecessary noise from other members of the audience – so why not watch from home?
As a child, it was considered a great family treat to embark on an occasional trip to the local cinema with the possibility of being rewarded with a choc ice during the interval. There was also Saturday morning cinema with its diet of cartoons and Western films to look forward to for the princely sum of sixpence (old money of course).
With the number of portable devices capable of showing video clips, it can be confusing when trying to decide on the appropriate video format.
Adding to its range of video editing, DVD player and multimedia software solutions, CyberLink has released a new video conversion software application. This is entitled MediaShow Espresso which immediately reminded me of visits to a local coffee bar in my youth. But enough of nostalgia, lets stick with the present day and this new application from CyberLink.
The most recent incarnation of Roxio's highly functional multi-media authoring package
For the purpose of this review I've installed Roxio on my fairly new 'average' laptop - this machine is by no means top of the range and is probably one of the lowest spec machines on which I'd expect to sensibly edit video : Intel Core2 Duo with 4GB RAM. Installation was particularly slow - but as long as you're patient it will get there in the end. The total installation takes around 1.6GB of disk space.
In the six weeks between this being first shown and my boxed copy arriving I have made good use of the DVD given to me at the time. I installed it on my Windows 7 system and it was great all my photos and videos are now properly tagged.
However I never review other than boxed products and I reviewed it on a Vista system and it also ran well on that. It takes around 12 minutes to install and just over 1½GB of hard disc space. However I know someone who installed it on an XP system where it took a great deal longer to install. This was designed for Windows 7 and even takes full advantage of touch screens when they are actually around in the real world.
It seems like only yesterday that I took a look at Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 (actually it was around six months ago but who is counting) yet here I am sat watching version 15 install itself on my system.
Installation is not the quickest operation but at least it gives me the opportunity, as I wait for the procedure to complete, to tell you that currently this latest version of the product comes bundled with a copy of Photo & Videoshow Soundproof 6. This is on top of the various items, such as Photo Manager 8, Mufin Music Finder, Xtreme Photo Designer, Vasco da Gama 3Magix Edition and iClone 3 SE, that are supplied on the DVD media found in the Movie Edit Pro 15 Plus box.
There are a lot of web cams around and somewhat surprisingly few applications to let you make the most of them. Of course to take an image or a video you need little, however should you want to pep up the content then you need something extra such as CyberLink YouCam 3.
Increasingly applications come as downloads as this one did. The problem I find with that is that there is of course no box and no CD so burn one yourself (this download was just over 100MB) and do remember to include not only the downloaded files but also a text file with the all important serial number so if the worst happens and you need to reinstall the product at any time, you can.
Maybe, like me, when you were a young child you were told not to be grabby when treats came around. Now Terratec wants you to ignore this advice as you use the company’s product to convert your analogue VHS tapes into digital content stored on your hard disk or optical media. Appropriately enough this product is entitled Grabby.
Working in conjunction with Magix’s Movies on DVD software, the Terratec Grabby is a USB style flash stick device. The flash stick element measures 96 x 32 x 12mm. LED lights for power and recording feedback are provided along with a button to activate a quick record feature. Permanently attached to one end are leads for connecting to the audio left / right channels and Video In of your VHS player.
The proliferation of mobile devices using different video standards has created a market for companies to develop video conversion product such as the subject of this next review.
You may remember that a few months ago I took a look at a product that had been developed to aid the conversion and transfer of multimedia content from one format to another. Unfortunately I was less than impressed with the results I was able to achieve with this title which shall remain nameless. Now a competitive product, offering similar functionality, has appeared. This product, from Avanquest, is entitled TransferMy Video.
Like many others I have a collection of VHS tapes holding video content that I would hate to loose. Looking to safeguard this content, I decided to checkout a product from K-World.
As technology advances, so we tend to have reduced access to the previous generations of media-based content. You only have to visit a local boot fair to see numerous examples of people trying to sell off old technology and its content.
For a number of years Roxio and Nero seem to have been playing leapfrog as their burning/media creating software has fought for supremacy. I recently took a look at the latest Nero 9 product and now it is the turn of Roxio Creator 2009.
Released just before but arriving on my desktop just after Nero 9, Creator 2009 is the twelfth version of a product that used to be known as Easy Media Creator. This review is based on the Ultimate Edition of the software which adds a High-Def/Blu-ray Disc plug-in plus tools for audio and backup that are added to the basic package.
While you may not be able to call on the resources of a Spielberg or Lucas, your computer and appropriate software will give you the opportunity to wear a Director’s hat.
While the idea of Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned is a matter of conjecture; Nero, that is the company formerly known as Ahead, has certainly been busy working away at developing the latest version of its flagship product. This is Nero 9.
Starting primarily as a burning tool, Nero has gradually developed into a full-blown suite for the creation, burning and distribution of digital media. As a result of this multi-functionality, you should be prepared to allocate 1.5GB of hard disk space and be ready for a lengthy installation session as the various files are copied to your system. You will need to enter a 39-character serial number in order to start the installation.
It was just over a year ago when I last took a look at Corel’s VideoStudio product. That was version 11 Plus which introduced a number of new features. Since then the product has been further enhanced.
The top-of-the-range edition is entitled VideoStudio Pro X2 Ultimate and comes bundled with WinDVD 9 Plus, DVD Copy 6 Plus and WaveLab LE 6 that adds playback, copy & convert plus audio mastering facilities to the main package. The VideoStudio installation procedure lets you cherry-pick from the various applications and drivers that include Windows Media Encoded 9, Flash Player 9 and Quick Time.
Not to be confused with a 50-year old hit of Sir Cliff Richard, Move It is a new product from Nero, better known for its disk burning technology and software.
One of the common problems relating to media content is the variety of formats used for music, image and video files by manufacturers of mobile and personal media devices. Move It offers to help in this respect by offering a range of profiles designed to make the transfer of content between devices as simple and seamless as possible – or that is the claim made for the product.
From its early beginnings with flip-books, animation has developed into a skilled art form that can take full advantage of a computer’s processing power.
Animation was once the preserve of skilled artists with access to expensive equipment. Then computers came along and animation was made available to those who could afford powerful systems with top-of-the-range graphics capability and oodles of memory. Fortunately computer prices fell as performance improved and along came Reallusion. This company is responsible for a product entitled iClone which was priced within many users’ budget constraints.
Now up to version 12, Pinnacle’s video editing Studio software is available in three flavours. These are the basic Studio, Studio Plus and Studio Ultimate.
This review is based on Studio Plus 12 which consists of a DVD, 300+ page User Manual and a Getting Started Guide. The installation routine supplied with this product offers you the options to install the main Studio Plus software and select from additional titles that include Instant DVD Recorder, SureThing Labeler and Adobe Reader 8.1.2. As part of the Studio Plus installation you will need to enter a 25-character serial number.
This used to be called CD Creator and was one of the two main products in the field. Now of course the CD part is dropped mainly as most will use the DVD part as much if not more than the CD but it does a great deal more as well.
First the bad news it does take a long time to install (I installed it on a good speed notebook and on a desktop system) and the times were within a couple of minutes of each other at 48 and 50 minutes. A lot of the time was taken by installing yet another release of Net Framework. The total space taken was 2.8GB. After the install I was browsing though the items available directly and my eyes first descended upon an Audio setting that allows you to change various styles.
Like another graphics company who shall remain nameless, the latest offerings from Magix does seem to come with various items of extra software.
In the case of Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus, you not only get several additional items as standard but also a bundled copy of CrazyTalk 4 Media Studio from Reallusion. As a result of this extra software (excluding CrazyTalk 4 for the moment), the installation of Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus does eat up a fair amount of time even when you reject some of the additional items - with some items you are not even given the choice of accepting or rejecting their installation.
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