BIOS: Technology Means Business

VideoStudio 8 is a relatively easy-to-use video-editing application that should appeal to those who have little video editing experience and want to create DVD-Movies with menus. A new three-step MovieWizard makes it virtually impossible to mess things up, and a bundled Digital Video Basics paperback book helps you to get the best results from your camcorder. Version 8 of the software builds on its predecessor with some great features too, such as the ability to output in DivX and MPEG-4 formats, add pan and zoom effects to images, create multiple animated titles, and add Picture-in-Picture (PiP) effects. You can now import from video recorders (DVD±VR discs) too, a feature missing from most competing solutions. Thankfully, VideoStudio now supports widescreen video (16:9) - a feature long time coming. The software's good, but not quite as good overall as Pinnacle's excellent Studio 9.0.

Pros: New wizards; supports widescreen and DVD±VR discs
Cons: Doesn't support Dolby Digital encoding or four-channel sound

VideoStudio 8 is a low-end video-editing application that's ideal for those who know little about video editing, but provides a decent range of tools for you to grow into. Similar to Pinnacle's Studio 9.0, VideoStudio 8's strengths lie in its automated video-editing tools that allow you to quickly turn home videos into 'polished' movies which you can then burn onto CD or DVD.

Version 8 of the popular software offers a new three-step MovieWizard that offers a varied range of theme-based introduction and exit graphics, transitions, text effects and music. Other key improvements include an Auto Analysis tool that examines and removes poorly shot video clips and synchronises them to the beat of music, and a Music Generator utility that creates musical scores to match the exact duration and mood of a movie. Real-time audio mixing and a new rubber band timeline provide additional audio controls.

Also available with the boxed version of the software (which is available as a download too) is a paperback book entitled Digital Video Basics, which is an incredibly easy-to-understand guide for shooting quality video. The book covers topics such as the basics of digital video (including codecs and interfaces), setting up your camcorder (white balance and the like), lighting, and output, with images to highlight important areas and show practical results. There's also a 200-page User's Guide, should you not tire of reading, and a second CD-ROM packed full of royalty-free audio and video samples.

One of the most appealing features of VideoStudio 8 is that it lets you create a movie quickly without having to know the first thing about video editing. The software's intuitive three-step MovieWizard holds your hand through the entire video creation process, so it's virtually impossible to mess things up. The MovieWizard lets you choose theme-based introduction and exit graphics, text, transitions and music. You can also transfer video from a TV or DV camcorder to your computer, and the new shuttle control lets you navigate to the exact scenes of your source video to capture. To save time, a new batch feature lets you convert video, images and audio files to different formats.

More experienced uses can go directly into the Video Editor application. Maintaining VideoStudio's familiar seven-step workflow, which guides you through the complete process of creating a movie, Video Editor offers additional tools such as trimming, selecting and removing multiple video segments, transitions, effects, filters and overlays. There's also a new Album transition that simulates the act of leafing through a book, while a new pan and zoom effect adds motion to still images. Other new tools include Duotone and Diffuse Glow filters for creating scene flashbacks or dream-like appearances, and enhanced text tools that now make it possible to create several different text styles on the same video clip using various text animations and designs. Finally, the enhanced overlay track lets you add filters and effects to overlays, as well as resize video and image overlays directly on the preview screen.

Ulead's not forgotten about the audio side of movie creation, either. VideoStudio 8 offers more audio tools and the new Music Generator uses the company's SmartSound Technology to automatically generate music to match the exact duration and mood of a movie. For additional control, a new real-time Audio Mixer lets you blend music among four different audio tracks, while a rubber banding timeline lets you lower and raise audio levels anywhere on a music track. VideoStudio lacks Dolby Digital encoding tools though, so budding film directors will have to look elsewhere. In fact, it can't even create 4-channel sound that any Dolby Surround Pro Logic-compatible player (including virtually all DVD set-top boxes) can reproduce.

Once a movie is finished you can burn it to all the major DVD formats, including DVD+VR, DVD-VR, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/+RW and DVD-RAM, as well as CD-R/RW. The main benefit of supporting DVD±VR discs is that you can record TV broadcasts on your consumer DVD player and then edit them on your PC, allowing you to cut out advertisements. It also lacks support for third-party plug-ins, image stabilisation (reduces shaky video), the ability to detect where each scene starts and stops, analogue cleaning (restores old videotapes) or noise reduction tools (removes background noise), features found in our favourite sub-£100 video-editing suite, Pinnacle Systems' Studio 9.0.

Links:
VideoStudio 8 Web site
VideoStudio 8 30-day trial (138MB)