Commercial Video Editing Software

Commercial video editing software typically has more “accessible power” than the free software. It’s not that you can’t do what you want with free software because you probably can, but it’s often easier to do the same thing with the commercial software.

Pinnacle Studio

Pinnacle Studio is the brand name for entry level video editing, and it was one of the first in the entry level market. Studio 10 is the latest version, adding wider format support and real-time effects. Studio 10 Plus adds Keyframeable real-time effects, High Definition video support, and Chroma-keying/Picture-in-Picture. The only other <$100 software with those three features are Wax and Magix Movie Edit Pro.

Unfortunately Studio 10 hasn’t received favorable user response. It seems to have been very rushed with several patches already released, even though the software is only a couple months old, and problems still persist. The discussion links below describe the problems. If you are brave or have faith in Pinnacle to eventually fix the problems, you can pick up Studio 10 Plus on eBay for about $50. If not, Studio 9 (or non-Pinnacle software) is the better choice.

Studio 10 Discussion
http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/read_forums.asp?WebboardID=1&SectionID=273
Waiting for Studio 10.2 - http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/read_messages.asp?ThreadID=262444
Buy Studio 10 now or later? - http://webboard.pinnaclesys.com/read_messages.asp?ThreadID=263865

Pinnacle Studio is very easy to use, on par with Windows Movie Maker and Cyberlink PowerDirector. The cheapest way to get Pinnacle Studio is to get a Dazzle DV Clip Firewire card that bundles Pinnacle Studio Quickstart (based on Studio for about $25 on Pricegrabber or eBay. That also makes you elegible for upgrade discounts.

Cyberlink PowerDirector

Using Cyberlink PowerDirector feels just like using Pinnacle Studio. The interface isn’t quite identical, but it is surprisingly similar. I toyed with a version included with my DVD-RW drive. While I was able to create a video with it, I had repeated problems with crashing, and it didn’t have some of the features and transitions of Pinnacle Studio, especially Title transition control.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/products/main_4_ENU.html

Sony Vegas Movie Studio

Vegas Movie Studio caught me by surprise. After trying all the other softwares and seeing its screenshots, I was expecting another limited program. But it has the most complete keyframing features, allowing keyframing of transitions, and it offers 8 total tracks, 4 for video/pictures/titles and 4 for audio. With keyframing control of transitions, there is a tremendous amount that can be done there, and it has good title effects control. It even offers Flash animation to be incorporated into the video, which is a feature only Ulead VideoStudio has.

The main downside is that rendering was noticeably slower than the others. A 5 minute video took 15-25 minutes of rendering where the others took only about 4-6 minutes to render with the same settings. The more effects and video in use, the slower the preview window gets, too. I never was able to export DivX with audio, but that’s the only stability issue I encountered. My workaround was to export the audio separately from the video and then merge the two with virtualdub.

Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum 6.0 adds 400 more effects and transitions as well as HD support and ACID XMC and a seriously cool SpiceMaster 2.5 TFX (unlike anything else offered for this price).

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/showproduct.asp?pid=977

Magix Movie Edit Pro

Magix is the maker of the very popular pro audio program, Samplitude. Their consumer software isn’t on the same level, but Movie Edit Pro 10 is surprisingly good. Very good, in fact. It’s the only commercial application less than $200 to allow for 16 general tracks that can have multiple video, pictures, and audio on them. It also supports keyframing (called object curves in some versions) and chromakeying. Audio mixing is extremely easy to work with. All that for only $50.

Movie Edit Pro’s interface is a bit dark and can be more daunting than the other commercial products. It’s not bad, but it won’t be quite as easy to get up to speed with as Pinnacle Studio.

Unfortunately, there is a catch. Magix develops Movie Edit Pro 10 in the USA separately from Movie Edit Pro 10 in the UK. Movie Edit Pro 10 in the USA has a number of known limitations and serious crasher bugs that are fixed in the UK version, and the UK version has some more features. There is also an even better version in the UK called Movie Edit Pro 10 Plus with a much improved keyframe utility, 16 extra tracks, high definition video, split-screen templates, and more.

A demo of Movie Edit Pro can be downloaded here:
http://Download.magix.net/movie_edit_pro10_100_57mb_us.exe?lang=US&theme=crslive
For $40, you can purchase an e-Version license to fully unlock the demo. The downside is that you can only change your hardware 3 times before the license becomes invalid. However, some of the USA crasher bugs are rumored to have been fixed with this version.

The good news is that a new sealed copy of Movie Edit Pro 10 Plus can be purchased on ebay from UK sellers for approximately $65 shipped.

Movie Edit Pro user review and info - http://www.aaproductions.net/mep/index.htm

Ulead VideoStudio

Ulead VideoStudio is a challenger that many have been turning to. It has solid features, and Ulead is known for turning out good software. The most striking thing about VideoStudio are the sheer number of effects and transitions. VideoStudio also supports chromakeying and overlay video opacity. It lacks the ability to display more than 2 videos/pictures at any one time. It does offer a very interesting Flash Animation overlay mode.

My first impression was to notice that VideoStudio can only run full screen. There is no window option, unlike all the other software. It seems to always default to Storyboard view, requiring an extra click to get to Timeline view from the Capture section. It also felt less responsive than the other software.

http://www.ulead.com/vs/

Video Editing Tips and Tutorials

Learn how to be comfortable with the Timeline view in your editor. Storyboard mode is fine to add videos to a project, but once you’ve added them, switch to timeline view to fine-tune how the movie plays.

Crashing will happen. Save often. Hopefully, with some searching or with tech support, you’ll be able to find a workaround. Pinnacle Studio loves to crash on render if the video is slightly shorter than the length in the timeline. If you are having that problem, remove videos until you can determine the problem.

Keyframing is incredibly powerful for creating custom interactions with your video. For mix clips, it isn’t really necessary, but if you are trying to do something artistic, you will find it to be invaluable for articulating your artistic vision.

Magix-based tutorial, but can be useful for other editors: http://www.newdogdigital.com/tutorials/index.htm

Conclusions

The table below is a rough estimate for what to expect from each piece of software. Price is probably weighted too heavily in the total score, but it is on a scale of 1-10 of $100 to free for rough street price. If you are patient and watch the ads, you can find each of these software for $50 or less after rebate at Best Buy, Circuit City, or CompUSA. For instance, Sony Vegas Movie Studio is currently $30 after rebate at Best Buy, which is a tremendous deal.

Basic Features: Trimming, titles, transitions, effects, HD support
Advanced Features: Multiple tracks of video/pictures, chromakeying, keyframing, precise transition control

I highly recommend Magix Movie Edit Pro if you are willing to spend a little more time adjusting to the way it works. It has more features than any other entry-level commercial software except Vegas Movie Studio, and it’s only $40-65, depending on the version. It’s worth dealing with eBay to get the UK version of Movie Edit Pro 10 Plus rather than buying the Movie Edit Pro 10 USA version.

If you want to spend as little as possible, an OEM version of Cyberlink PowerDirector is your best bet. You’ll be able to find it for $10-20. It is like Windows Movie Maker but without the annoyances. Windows Movie Maker is a sweet application, considering the fact that it is free, but you’ll spend a lot of time doing things that are trivial to do in commercial applications.

If you want something more powerful than Pinnacle Studio Quickstart but don’t want Movie Edit Pro, then look at Sony Vegas Movie Studio and Ulead VideoStudio, depending on whether you want more power or more usability.

Here is a rather indepth feature/usability comparison of video editing features between Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0, Magix Movie Edit Pro 10 (USA), Pinnacle Studio 9, and Ulead VideoStudio 9. Also, check out VideoHelp’s user reviews to see what the users are saying about their video editors.