!!! Consumer Video Editing !!!

(I will be adding info to this page on an ongoing basic. The "Last Modified Date" in the bottom left corner
of the page will always auto update itself whenever content has changed. So keep checking back.)

The top three consumer video editing programs in order of preference are: Cyberlink PowerDirector, Corel VideoStudio X4, and Adobe Premiere. This isn't just my order of preference, but pretty much that of anyone in the know. You hear a lot about Pinnacle, but its' interface isn't as easy and it lacks many features.

For professional level video editing be sure to check out the Sony Vegas Pro page

Be sure to also check out the video editing media page

Cyberlink PowerDirector Ultra

The worlds faster 64-bit consumer video editing program. I have many video tutorials that will get you started at Captain Ken on YouTube. PowerDirector has an online community called Director Zone where you can download thousands of custom DVD menus and audio/video effects created by the community!

Cyberlink PowerDirector Top Features

  • TrueVelocity. It’s not a single feature, but rather a group of hardware and software acceleration techniques designed to provide the fastest and most responsive video editing available with current technology. CyberLink PowerDirector Deluxe incorporates five of the six techniques that make up TrueVelocity. The final, and likely most significant speed factor, native 64-bit processing, is available with the upgraded Cyberlink PowerDirector 9 Ultra. All other aspects of TrueVelocity are incorporated into both versions of CyberLink PowerDirector 9. The TrueVelocity Parallel Engine makes it so all cores and threads of dual and quad core processors are being fully exploited simultaneously for fast video production. This includes a process called general-purpose computation on graphics processing units, GPGPU, which utilizes the computing power of high-end GPUs for purposes other than creating graphics. TrueVelocity Accelerator augments production speed further by allowing for hardware acceleration of video decoding and encoding. Using Direct Memory Access, DMA, content can be moved from video memory to system memory far more efficiently, essentially bypassing the CPU, making it available to accomplish other production chores. Another facet of TrueVelocity is called FastRender, which saves time by allowing video production without re-encoding an entire video. With it, portions of a video that haven’t been changed don’t have to be decoded then rendered again, the most time-intensive part of the video creation process. An added benefit is that there’s no loss of quality because the result is identical to the source material. UltraSeek further speeds the overall process by using parallel processing to locate and index frames very quickly. It also provides full HD video previewing in real time. Finally, RapidEffect exploits the computing power of the GPU to increase the speed of computer- intensive processes like effects rendering.
  • Standard and high-definition input file types, from the most common to cutting-edge new formats, include HD MPEG-2, DVR-MS, DV-AVI, DAT, DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VOB, VRO, ASF, WMV, WMV HD, MOV, MOD, TOD AVCHD, MPEG-4, AVC (H.264), TS, MTS, M2TS and WTV (single channel). New to this version of PowerDirector is the ability to capture flash video, or FLV format and MKV, the format that has become preferred for high definition for the internet.
  • Capture scenes from a webcam, a DVD or even a TV signal
  • Full HD video can be captured from an AVCHD or HDV camcorder directly to CyberLink PowerDirector. The fully digital format does not require conversion before use on the computer.
  • The Magic Fix function can remove shakiness from footage, remove red-eye or enhance the focus of photos. Magic Motion will apply panning and zooming to your videos. It can even be used to animate still photos to make remarkably creative slideshows. You can also use this feature's Magic Motion Designer to manually customize motion.
  • TrueTheater video enhancements are available to perform a number of impressive editing tasks. The ability to upscale standard-definition video content to HD quality is among our favorites. You can also enhance image details, naturalize colors and automatically adjust chroma and luminance using the TrueTheater Lighting function. Video noise can be removed from grainy clips and shaky images can be stabilized in real time.
  • A group of functions called Power Tools is also included as part of this video editing software. They include the ability to play a selected clip in reverse, crop and zoom in on selected portions of a clip, adjust the video speed freeze frame and even rotate the clip within the video.
  • YouTube or Facebook is available at the click of a button with this video editing software. Loading your videos to portable devices like the iPad, iPod or iPhone is also a snap. So too is transferring them to a BlackBerry or many other mobile phones, PSP, Zune or most similar devices.
  • Particle Effect function. With it you can be remarkably creative by using a huge selection of dazzling images to trail across your video.
  • Import video footage or still images from many DSLR cameras. This includes importing still photos in RAW file format.
  • You can edit audio, including 5.1 surround sound, using the integrated WaveEditor. It allows you to adjust volume and pitch, change speed and reduce noise effectively. Audio content can be separated from video for greater flexibility and reative control. - DirectorZone - download more than 100,000 effects, templates and tutorials. Users can upload their completed projects to the site allowing others to see them. Learning from the successes, as well as the shortcomings, of others is facilitated in that viewers can see not only the completed movie but also the project timeline to see exactly what others have done.

Cyberlink PowerDirector Hot Links

Corel VideoStudio X4

Nice program with an interface similar to PowerDirector. The coolest feature is the "Painting Creator", which allows you to create those cool travel video where a line, plane, or car traces your route on a map!

Corel VideoStudio Top Features

  • Real-time effects, including NewBlue®FX filters with key framing
  • Multi-track filters that let you add effects to each of your tracks
  • KPT® plug-in filters
  • Painting Creator - Tracing your route on a map - draw or write freehand on your videos making it easy to add thought balloons or draw your travel route on a map.
  • New to this version are the RotoSketch and Auto Stroke editing effects. With RotoSketch, you can trace over live-action film movement to create animation. The end result would be a realistic animated clip. Auto Stroke does the same thing for video frames and photos.
  • Users have access to a number of different titles, templates, transitions and audio. You can replace a template with something of your own with the click of a button.
  • Smart Proxy editing
  • Corel implemented NVIDIA CUDA and GPU acceleration and Intel Core i7 optimization to ensure everything involving this program ran quicker and smoother.
  • DVD Factory Pro 2010 and DVD MovieFactory 7 SE
  • You no longer have to apply the same edits to a series of photos or videos individually. You can select one of the series and apply its attributes to the rest of the series.
  • Replacing clips already in a timeline is easy. You just have to press the Ctrl key while dragging a clip onto the timeline. The new clip is modified to be the same length as the old one.
  • Upload to Vimeo, Facebook, Flicker and YouTube. You can even upload HD clips to YouTube
  • Export standard formats including FLV files for YouTube, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, AVCHD, WMV HD, RealMedia, Windows Media, and QuickTime. The newest version gives you the option of saving HD MP4 files with H.264 compression.
  • SmartSound Quicktracks allows you to create high-quality soundtracks from royalty-free music. Once you're done figuring out what audio clips you want, you can adjust their volume, trim and cut their lengths, stretch their duration, make them fade in or out, use the surround sound mixer, adjust their stereo channels or apply audio filters to them. Corel enhanced their audio tracks and filters for this version, giving the user a lot more flexibility. Plus, they added five NewBlue audio filters to help users achieve the right sound.
  • They have a thorough knowledgebase and telephone support until 7 PM EST.
  • You can add a text overlay to any image and extract them from a number of different videos.

Corel VideoStudio Hot Links

Adobe Premiere Elements v9

What makes this program stand out is the ability to "create a virtual, interactive DVD complete with menus, scene indexes and chapters that you can upload to PhotoShop.com or your web site."

Adobe Elements Plus Version: It includes everything in the award-winning software product; 20GB of online storage; exclusive access to libraries of how-tos, movie themes, and effects; and ongoing deliveries of creative extras direct to your desktop. And a single Plus upgrade gives you benefits for both Adobe Premiere Elements 9 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 software.

Adobe Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements Bundle: The dual-app bundle represents a notable value: At $150 (price as of September 21, 2010), the Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements package knocks $50 off the cost of buying the two apps individually. The odds are good that you'll need both apps at some point--and if you do, you'll be glad you bought them as a bundled duo.

Adobe Premiere Elements Top Features

  • Share in an exciting new way on the web: Debut your movie with a convenient, interactive web DVD viewing experience. Easily share your movie complete with a scene index and chapter menus — on Photoshop.com or your own website. Create menus and add soundtracks to uploaded videos just like on a physical DVD. Even better though, these videos can be created and uploaded in full HD while a DVD is limited to standard definition video. Perhaps the best way to share a video online is to create a web DVD and upload it to Photoshop.com or your own website. In this way, you can create a virtual, interactive DVD complete with menus, scene indexes and chapters. It’s a great way to share, and you can do it in full 1080p HD.
  • Cartoon mode which can instantly make your live action video appear as an animated cartoon. Various filters can be applied to create the cartoon look that suits your specific desires.
  • Synchronize scenes to the beat of your soundtrack.
  • Customizable InstantMovie Wizard results
  • Import directly from a number of new sources including the Flip compact video camera from Cisco as well as many other ultra-portable camcorders. Video footage and still photos can also be transferred from DSLR and other digital cameras, webcams and even cell phones.
  • Motion Tracking allows you to attach images and effects to specific portions of a clip. For example, you can highlight the area surrounding a person’s head and insert an animated butterfly. The software will then track the highlighted area throughout the clip making it appear as though the animated butterfly is following the person in your video. This can also be used to insert thought clouds, blurred objects and other fun effects.
  • Though blue and green backgrounds are most commonly used, any solid color background can be used as long as it isn’t close to flesh tone or the color of the subject's clothing.
  • Six new functions for fixing audio problems. They include audio polish, auto mute, cleaner, hum remover, noise fader and noise reducer. We found the audio polish option to make the greatest improvements, and while there are default settings for each, we seemed to have better luck by tweaking the setting to obtain the best results. Track mixing, trimming, cross-fading and even 5.1 surround sound support are also available.
  • Support for Adobe Premiere Elements 9 is available by telephone or email. The manufacturer’s website features several helpful tutorials on a variety of subjects like getting started, importing and exporting files, customizing themes and capturing video. There’s also a searchable FAQs section for this video editing software.
  • Variety of editing tools including split/trim, text tools, video stabilization and color correction.

Adobe Premiere Elements Hot Links

DVD Editing and Creation

  • Sony DVD Architect Pro: Nothing beats DVD Architect Pro software for professional disc authoring. Its clean, drag-and-drop interface and powerful layout and authoring tools make it easy to develop dynamic menu-based Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD projects. Create multimenu projects with movies, picture slideshows, and music compilations. Author menu-based and single-title DVDs and Blu-ray Discs using backgrounds, motion menus, buttons, text, and effects. Set content to loop, hold, or timeout at the end of a scene. Import layered Photoshop (PSD) files for use as backgrounds, buttons, masks, and graphics.
  • Corel DVD MovieFactory 7 SE: All-in-one solution for HD video and slideshows on disc! Corel DVD MovieFactory™ Pro 7 is all-in-one HD disc creation and burning software for quickly turning photos and home videos into professional-quality DVD, AVCHD and Blu-ray discs. Design stunning Hollywood-style motion menus with state-of-the-art effects using professionally-designed templates. Record direct to disc, create music discs, back up data and play DVDs and AVCHD discs. (Also included in Corel VideStudio X3)
  • Adobe Premiere Encore: Create DVDs; deliver Blu-ray Disc projects with pop-up menus, dual-layer burning, and subtitles; and output interactive web DVDs with Adobe Encore CS5 software.
  • Adobe Encore
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