Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I researched movie editors for months, before buying Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack. Did I make the right choice? Yes, however this product is only usable if you have good general computer skills, and have the ability to learn through trial and error. I would not recommend this product if you expect to produce a masterpiece in one day.
What do you get in this package?
Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 - program to edit digital movie, add soundtracks, voice-overs, and fancy text, rolling credits, etc.
DVD Architect Studio - program to author DVD's, so you end up with professional quality DVD menus with all the bells and whistles
Sound Forge Audio Studio - a music editing program, with the added ability to convert all your L.P.'s and cassettes into digital format, so that you can then make CD's or load them onto your IPod.
Cinescore Studio 1.0 - free music of various genres, to add to your productions to give them a professional sound
There was one major problem with this software when I first loaded it, that I only managed to fix by pure luck. The problem was quite a major one. In the version which comes on CD-ROM, there is a bug which stops the soundtrack from MPEG2 files from loading into the editior program. This is incredible considering that almost every digital camcorder on the market uses the MPEG2 format, including Sony. However!!! Once you have loaded the program and registered, you need to go to the Sony update software web page. Here you will find a download that fixes many bugs in the program, including the MPEG2 problem.
There is another problem with the program if you are going to buying this to upload videos to You Tube. In the last couple of months You Tube has upgraded there video screen to Widescreen (16:9 ratio) format. There is no template in Vegas Movie Studio to handle this. So if you intend on uploading video to You Tube in 16:9, then you will need some advanced computer skills to create your own template. I'm sure Sony will work on this and provide an update to the program in time. At the moment, the program handles traditional 4:3 format for upload to the internet.
There are many cool features hidden within Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack. Only the basics are discussed in the instructional booklets that come with the program. If you explore all the alien like buttons and features, through trial and error, you will be more than happy with this software.
6/10 for ease of use
9.5/10 for cool features
All the best with your movie editing and DVD production.
Regards D.
UPDATE AS OF 28th JUNE 2010
GREAT NEWS!!!!
Sony Creative Software has just released a brand new version of the software featured in this review.
The NEW VERSION is called Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Production Suite.
All the bugs that I had reported in the above review have now been FIXED! Yeah!!
This is FIVE STAR Software Package now. I give no hesitation in recommending this.
Dex :)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack

Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Pro Pack takes HD video and audio production even further with tools for professional-level sound design and more video effects and transitions. Use the included Sound Forge Audio Studio software for precise audio editing and CinescoreStudio software for soundtrack creation. Upload movies to YouTube, burn to Blu-ray Disc, or author DVDs.

Click here for more information about Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack

Read More...

Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This video editor is able to read .VOB file from DVD's created from VCR tapes, making it great for editing the old family videos. The display is quite customizable and easy to spread over two monitors. There is a small learning curve, but the "Show Me How" help a lot. The only things that detract from this is (1) the lack of a comprehensive noise reduction facility (Sony has this as a pricey plug-in, but then, none of the other video editors in this price range has this feature), and (2) the DVD creation software is not integrated in with the editor (although it is included in the package). But don't buy this software just on our say-so, download the 30 day free trial from the Sony web site and make sure it works for you before you buy.
[...]

Click Here to see more reviews about: Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition

Vegas Movie Studio software is the easiest way to create captivating movies and slideshows to share with friends and family or online. Integrated DVD authoring.

Click here for more information about Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition

Read More...

Dazzle Multimedia DM-12000 MovieStar 5 Video Editing Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had nothing but trouble with this product. The XP version is very buggy and virtually unusable. Even with the latest patches, the software simply does not function. I cannot recommend this product to anyone.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Dazzle Multimedia DM-12000 MovieStar 5 Video Editing

Dazzle MovieStar 5 Easy ansd Powerful Video Editing Software.Easy "3 Click Editing"Cool 3D Transitions, Titles & Special EffectsFlexible Storyboard & Timeline ViewsPowerful Background Rendering TechnologyOutput to Video CDs, Video Tapes, Web and more...System RequirementsCPU: 500 MHz ProcessorHARD DISK DRIVE:5400 RPM Minimum7200 RPM Recommended50MB for software InstallationOPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 98SE, 2000,ME, XPRAM: 128 MB minimum, 256MB recommended

Click here for more information about Dazzle Multimedia DM-12000 MovieStar 5 Video Editing

Read More...

Vegas Pro 8 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been a long-time (and very frustrated) Roxio user who, after crash # 953, finally got fed up and decided to try the trial version of Sony Vegas Pro 8.
Vegas Pro 8, of course, is a much higher-end product than Roxio Easy Media Creator (version 8 referred to herein for comparative purposes), but here are some reasons why you may wish to reconsider:
1. First and foremost, if you're serious about video editing and wish to explore new and creative ways to create DVD's, this one is a must. Roxio will continue to place annoying limitations like 60 second menus.
2. The controls are far more intuitive. Creating a slow-motion shot in Vegas Pro 8 is as simple as ctrl+clicking and dragging a video clip to the desired length. Roxio is a frustrating experience of playing with film speeds until the shoe fits.
3. Playback while editing is no longer a processing problem with Vegas 8. Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 (on a Pentium 4 2.6 GHZ Hyper-thread, 1 GB of RAM, and a 256 MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 card) has an annoying tendency to choke and run home to mommy when another process happens to run at the same time. Vegas Pro 8 takes it all in stride.
4. RENDERING. OH, YES, RENDERING. Roxio seems to think that everything needs to be re-rendered even if the edited video was already an MPEG-2 to start with. VEGAS PRO 8 DOES NOT DO THIS - if it's already in the right format, it won't ruin the quality by recompressing.
5. RENDER QUALITY. Roxio offers constant bit rate encoding. Period. Vegas Pro 8 offers 2-pass variable bitrate encoding which allows longer videos to be placed on a DVD, while compressing it at a variable rate so that segments requiring higher quality get what they deserve and segments that are relatively static (i.e., pictures) can be compressed at a much lower rate. Also, a 9 MBPS video encode from Vegas Pro 8 looks better than a 9 MBPS from Roxio.
6. Capturing. Vegas will tell me if my mini DV tape had dropped frames (and so far it has not happened at all); Roxio will not (and it HAS). I'll make a DVD with Roxio and...surprise!! I need to recapture that portion of the video because it's shot!!
7. Bugs. Roxio is buggy...VERY buggy. Every time I try to make additional copies of a disc image that I put on my hard drive (because I don't want to live through another Roxio video encode), approximately 25-30 error messages (no, I'm not joking) will pop up that I have to repeatedly close out of before I can use the burn utility. Not to mention that the initial install of Roxio caused my computer to forget that I had a CD-ROM or a DVD drive. I had to edit my registry keys so that I could "find them" again. Vegas Pro 8 has had ZERO issues with me.
There's more, but why go further? If you're serious about video editing and production, don't settle for less. This program will do it all from video editing, importing, capturing, image effects, DVD creation (including menus), and Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding (INCLUDING 5.1!!). I have only scratched the surface of its full potential--there are plenty of tools to explore in there that can allow you to create very professional looking DVD's.
Buy and enjoy!!!! And NO, this software does NOT have bugs as mentioned by Dash's review.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Vegas Pro 8

The Vegas Pro collection combines Vegas Pro 8, DVD Architect Pro 4.5, and Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding software to offer an integrated environment for all phases of professional video, audio, DVD, and broadcast production. These tools let you edit and process DV, AVCHD, HDV, SD/HD-SDI, and all XDCAM formats in real time, fine-tune audio with precision, and author surround sound, dual-layer DVDs.

Click here for more information about Vegas Pro 8

Read More...

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.

Click Here to see more reviews about: PowerDirector 9 Ultra - 64


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.

Get 15% OFF

Click here for more information about PowerDirector 9 Ultra - 64

Read More...