Video Editing

Ratings and Reviews of Video Editing and DVD Burning Software

Video Editing and DVD Burning Software

You've purchased a new digital video camera (see our reviews at Home Office Reports Review of Digital Video Cameras ) or a still digital still camera that can also produce short digital videos (see our reviews at Home Office Reports Review of Digital Still Cameras ) but you'd like to do "something" with the video. Add titles or captions, edit out some bad frames, add clips from it to another video, a presentation, your web site.... And maybe you'd like to "burn" some DVDs for distribution to your customers and business partners.

You're in the right place. The software on this page is designed to help you make "magic" with your digital videos. Add titles, special effects - become your own movie or streaming video producer and director. This software will make it happen (with your help of course!). Getting the video results you want or need however, means taking the time to make sure that you get the "right" software for your purposes and checking to ensure that your compute infrastructure can meet the demands of that software. So, what do you need to "watch out" for when choosing and implementing digital video editing and DVD burning software?

Your System: Digital video editing and DVD burning software is tough on your system. Make sure that your PC more than meets the minimum manufacturer's system requirements. If your system can't keep up, you'll be unhappy - and waste valuable time (and your money upgrading after you've experienced a good deal of frustration). Special points of interest - CPU speed, memory (lots!), hard drive capacity (bigger is better), graphics/video card (faster, more memory, better!), monitor (bigger is better here too of course - especially for those of us who have reached the point in life where reading glasses are a must!) and the audio card (faster more memory again!).
You: Know how much time you are willing to dedicate to learning and using the capabilities the software provides. If you aren't willing to spend the time, don't buy the most powerful, complex package!
Compatibility: It's important to ensure that your audio editing software is compatible with your operating system, DVD R/W drive and supports the file formats you'll use on your Web site (publishing software) or as it integrates with other software programs like your presentation graphics software (i.e. PowerPoint) or streaming video or "flash" technology.
Ease of Use/Training: Is the software easy to use? If the software requires time to understand and use professionally, does the manufacturer provide training (included on the software CD, Web based or partner-based)?

Web Home Office Reports
Support: The more complex the software, the more important it is for the manufacturer to stand behind it and help you if you run into trouble. Make sure that the software manufacturer has a robust customer support site and process before you buy!
Features and Functions: If you need it now, make sure it's there. If you think you might need it later, make sure it will BE there if it already isn't!
Upgrade Costs: Once you've invested in software, you'll have to keep investing in the upgrades. Make sure you look into the costs of upgrades (historically) for your software, or if it's brand new product, the track record of the company producing the software.

Ready to choose your video editing or DVD burning software? Let's get going!

Some vendors offer more than one package in this category. We'll review them in table format within that vendor's detailed review.

Video Editing and DVD Burning Software

Video Editing and DVD Burning Software*

(Rankings - best, 5 symbols, worst, 1 symbol)

Company	Best For*	Simple Start-Up	Cost	Time Savings	Ease of Use	Works With	Support	Features	Overall Rating
Adobe	RP	¹¹¹1/2+	$$$1/2+	¹¹¹¹	@@@1/2+	YYYY	pppp	iiii1/2	%%%%+
Apple	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp1/2	iiii1/2	%%%%
ArcSoft	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
ArKaos	RP	¹¹¹1/2	$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@1/2	YYYY	ppp+	iiii+	%%%%
Ashampoo	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
Broderbund	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	pp1/2	iii	%%%
Canopus	RP	¹¹¹1/2	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@1/2	YYY	ppp+	iiii1/2	%%%%
CE Soft	AR	¹¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	pppp	iii	%%%+
Cosmi	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iii	%%%+
CyberLink	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp+	iiii	%%%%
Digital Juice	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYYY	ppp1/2	iiii	%%%%
Ezonics	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	pp1/2	iii	%%%
InterVideo	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iiii	%%%%
Magix	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp1/2	iiii	%%%1/2+
muvee	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
NewSoft	AR	¹¹¹¹	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp1/2	iii1/2	%%%1/2
Pinnacle Systems	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY+	ppp+	iiii+	%%%%
Pixela	ARP	¹¹¹¹	Inc.	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iii	Inc.
Roxio	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	pppp	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
Serif	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp+	iii1/2	%%%1/2
Sonic	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	pppp	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
Sony	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$$	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp1/2	iii1/2	%%%1/2+
ULEAD	ARP	¹¹¹¹	$$$1/2	¹¹¹¹	@@@@	YYY	ppp	iiii	%%%1/2

* A = Amateur, R = Rookie, P = Pro

Adobe

Simple Start-Up - ¹¹¹1/2+

Adobe's video editing software offerings are robust, powerful and feature rich. That means they are also more complex in their implementation and will, therefore, take some time for you to become comfortable with. Expect to take the time and spend the money on online or local training classes. Adobe's Premier Elements is designed for the home users, has less functionality but is much simpler to install and use.

Cost - $$$1/2+

Adobe offers a variety of video products. Pricing for individual products is detailed in the table below. If you want a "complete" Adobe solution you can purchase one of their four bundles.

Adobe Video Bundle - includes After Effects 7.0 Professional, Premiere Pro, Photoshop CS2, Audition 2.0, Encore DVD 2.0, Illustrator CS2, Dynamic Link, Bridge, Stock Photos and Macromedia Flash Pro 8 for $2,099.00, $1,199.00 for the upgrade.
Adobe Production Studio Professional - includes After Effects 7.0 Professional, Premiere Pro 2.0, Photoshop CS2, Audition 2.0, Encore DVD 2.0, Illustrator CS2, Dynamic Link and Bridge for $1,699.00, $649.00 for the upgrade.
Adobe Production Studio Standard - includes After Effects 7.0 Standard, Premiere Pro 2.0, Photoshop CS2, Dynamic Link and Bridge for $1,199.00, $499.00 for the upgrade.
Photoshop Elements 5.0 + Premiere Elements 3.0 - just what it says - $149.99, $119.99 for the upgrade.

Software	Price	O/S Supported	Overview	Features	Compatibility
After Effects 7.0 Standard	$699.00, upgrade $199.00	Windows XP Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or higher	Develop Motion Graphics and Visual Effects for Film, Video, Multi-Media and the Web	2D and 3D compositing environment Text animation tools including text animation presets Animation and keyframing including Graph Editor and professional designed animation and behavior presets Visual effects plug-ins to enhance, stylize and manipulate the appearance of any later, including new Blur effects Vector paint support based on Adobe Photoshop technology for cleaning footage Output for film, video, DVD, Macromedia Flash, streaming media formats for the web Masking tools for control of layer visibility	Macromedia Flash support URLs embedded in web output Audio compression - QuickTime and MP3 QuickTime Streaming
After Effects 7.0 Professional	$999.00, upgrade $199.00	Windows XP Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or higher	Develop Motion Graphics and Visual Effects for Film, Video, Multi-Media and the Web	2D and 3D compositing environment Text animation tools including text animation presets Animation and keyframing including Graph Editor and professional designed animation and behavior presets Visual effects plug-ins to enhance, stylize and manipulate the appearance of any later, including new Blur effects Vector paint support based on Adobe Photoshop technology for cleaning footage Output for film, video, DVD, Macromedia Flash, streaming media formats for the web Masking tools for control of layer visibility Keying and matte tools for compositing, including Keylight, Matte Choker, Spill Suppressor as well as Smart Mask Interpolation keyframe assistant for animating complex masks 32-bit HDR and 16-bit color support Timewarp slow motion Motion tracking and stabilization tools including color stabilization 3D compositing support including the ability to import camera data from Maya and 3Ds Max, auxiliary channel support Wiggler for adding random movement Network rendering, render automation Audio tools Advanced authoring Format (AAF) support	Macromedia Flash support URLs embedded in web output Audio compression - QuickTime and MP3 QuickTime Streaming
Premiere Pro 2.0	$849.00, upgrade $199.00	Windows XP	Professional Digital Video Editing	Create broadcast quality video productions including real-time titles, transitions and effects Title sequences with Adobe Title Designer - typographical controls include outlined text, leading, kerning, baseline shift. 300 pre-designed templates that include still layouts, rolls and crawls. Map textures onto text, apply multi-color gradients, emboss or bevel text edges, apply shadows and control transparency. Soundtracks with SmartSound Quicktracks - 27 royalty-free tracks. Edit audio. Windows - DirectX plug-ins from TC Works. TC Reverb adds ambience to audio tracks by simulating the acoustics of different environments; TC EQ manipulates frequencies to highlight sounds or minimize noise; TC Dynamics boosts sound quality with compression and expansion. Macintosh - TC Works SparkLE, industry-standard VST audio plug-in and ASIO hardware support. Sample-level editing, VST filters, track-based effects, 5.1 surround sound. MPEG encoder (Windows only) DVD authoring (Windows only) 90 Adobe fonts Real-time editing Keyframeable effect parameters Real time motion paths HD support Panasonic 24P and 24PA camera format support Bezier keyframe controls AfterEffects plug-in compatibility Multi-cam editing Client review and approval DVD authoring from the timeline Native HDV editing Native SD and HD support 10-bit and 16-bit color resolution 32-bit internal color processing GPU-accelerated rendering Adobe Bridge	MPEG 1, MPEG 2, VCD, SVCD, DVD, WAV, AIFF, SDI, QuickTime, MP3
Encore DVD 2.0	$349.00, $149.00 upgrade	Windows XP	DVD Authoring	Author using timeline optimized for combining video, audio and subtitles. 8 audio tracks and 32 subtitle tracks at one time. Integrated video and audio transcoding, automatically converts video and audio source files. Integrated text design and editing tools Customizable library palette Layout tools Image control DVD Mastering - DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM Project preview Replication and copy protection Check project Background transcoding Slideshow Editor Flowchart Adobe Bridge Automated chapter menus Chapter playlists Royalty-free templates Multiple clips on a timeline XMP metadata support DTS audio support	AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Adobe Encore, Photoshop
Premiere Elements 3.0	$99.99, upgrade $69.99	Windows XP	Video Editing, DVD Burning	Video editing with live TV preview, rewind and fast forward, wide screen support Video capture with guided workflow, scene detect, timecode bridging, capture to timeline Graphic and title effects with professional quality presets, video and audio effects, audio, video and GPU-accelerated transitions, ability to make titles and graphics grow, shrink, spin and move anywhere on screen, custom effects, slow and fast motion, templates, broadcast quality title engine, 30 Adobe fonts Audio editing with beat matching, up to 99 audio tracks, crossfade and overlay audio, view waveform of sound track, includes audio filters, effects and transitions, pitch control DVD creation with scene indexes, templates, DVD preview Export to DVD, VHS, WMV and QuickTime Burn DVDs Transfer DVD footage directly to timeline Construct DVD menus Effects preview Special effects Dolby Digital Sound Assemble video clips in Sceneline (alternative to timeline) Monitor window for edit and preview HD import support Share video on any handheld device - mobile phones, iPod, PSP Stop motion animation Add voice narration	WAV, WMA, MP3, AIFF, AVI, QuickTime, DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Windows Media 9, PSD, JPEG, TIFF BMP

Time Savings - ¹¹¹¹

If you want professional results in creating, editing, adding titles and animated graphics and authoring DVD's, Adobe's solutions are strong and will, after you are comfortable with their features and functions, improve the quality and the efficiency of your digital video productions. Adobe's Premiere Elements will help the home user to quickly capture, edit and burn to DVD more simple videos and projects.

Ease of Use - @@@1/2

Get some training, spend some time - then we'll talk about usability. Remember, powerful, feature-rich software takes time to get used to. Premiere Elements in contrast to the other Adobe Video software is straight forward to use and designed for the home user. You'll be a video "expert" much faster using this simpler and more user friendly software.

Works With - YYY1/2

Adobe's software, with the exception of After Effects, is designed for the Windows environment. After Effects is available in a Macintosh version as well.

Support - pppp

The Adobe support site is comprehensive and well designed. Adobe offers a multitude of training classes to help you get started and improve your utilization of their software. Additionally, Adobe provides a forum for users and experts to discuss problems, solutions and even interesting new ways to use the software to solve business problems. If you need more help, Adobe offers phone support plans - $39.00 per incident or $159.00 for unlimited support for one year.

Features - iiii1/2

If you want to do it, you probably can with some combination of the Adobe software. Additionally, Adobe has relationships with third party companies providing "plug-ins" to their software to "plug" feature or functionality "holes" in their solutions. Of course, the downside of that is that you'll have to spend $$'s to acquire them. But heck, you've already spent $2,099 for the Production Studio Professional Bundle anyway, right?

Overall Rating - %%%%+

Adobe makes tools for the professional, and home user in this case - in every category they market to. If you are a professional web designer, video producer, graphics artist or desktop publisher including video clips or streams into your business - Adobe's software applications are an investment in your business - not a "nice to have", a "must have". For the home user, Adobe's Premier Elements is a good starting point to get acquainted with video capture, editing and DVD burning.

Apple

Simple Start-Up - ¹¹¹¹

Apple makes video editing software for both the beginner and the pro. Applications install easily, however, the "simplicity" of the implementation is based on the level of user experience and expertise. If you purchase Final Cut Pro and you are new to video editing, things won't be simple. However iLife '06 will help you get started in video in a straight forward manner.

Cost - $$$$

Apple product pricing is detailed in the table below.

Software	Price	O/S Supported	Overview	Features	Compatibility
iLife '06	$79.00, family pack $99.00	Macintosh OS X 10.3.4 or later	Digital Music, Photography, Moviemaking and DVD Creation	Garage Band 3 -record up to 8 audio tracks, real-time notation display, timing enhancements, tuning enhancements, tune guitars, Apple loops included, create podcasts in Podcast Recording Studio, add radio-style sound effects and jingles to recordings, create talk show podcast and interview one or more remote guests simultaneously with iChat, create music score iWeb - create websites and blogs, 12 templates and themes, add photos, movies and music with iLife Media Browser, produce podcast in Garage Band and publish to web iPhoto 6 - softcover books in 3 sizes, import, organize and edit photos captured in RAW-format, editing tools, slideshow editor, hierarchical folders, calendar view, supports up to 250,000 photos, photocasting through .Mac, edit and compare images in full screen mode, create photo quality greeting cards, calendars and books, one click photo enhancement, build photo blogs iMovie HD 6 - import and edit HDV video, Magic iMovie for film creation and video capture, editing tools, media browser, includes iMovie themes, real-time effects, cinematic tiling, audio enhancement tools including noise reduction and graphic equalizer, integrated with iWeb iDVD 6 - animated drop zones, themes, OneStep DVD transfers movie directly from DV camcorder to DVD, burn DVDs, burn projects to hard drive as fully encoded disk images, 10 included themes, autofill drop zones, reorganize projects with map view editing
Shake 4.1 Mac OS X	$2,999.00, upgrade $999.00	Macintosh OS X 10.3.2 or higher	Compositing Software	Unified 2D 3D compositing - 32-bitfloat Keylight and Primatte keyers, OpenGL-accelerated 3D multi-plane compositing, resolution independence, tracking on Rotoshape Points, Truelight monitor calibration Image processing - pixel-by-pixel image analysis for retiming, resizing, automatic stabilization, smoothcam and tracking, shape-based warping and morphing, auto-align Scripting language and macros
Final Cut Express HD 3.5	$299.00, upgrade $99.00	Macintosh OS x 10.3.7 or later	Video Editing Software	Input Video Capture - plug-and-play support for DV25-format camcorders and decks: MiniDV and DVCAM (NTSC or PAL), plug-and-play support for HDV-format camcorders and decks: 702p, 1080i, FireWire device control of MiniDV and HDV camcorders, capture window for naming, adding comments to and organizing clips as they are captured, incremental clip naming during capture when recording break is discovered, bins for project file and sequence organization, clip organization in the browser, cliplabels, search, sort sift capabilities in browser, master and affiliate clip relationship for update of properties of a clip, 32 levels of undo Editing and Timeline - non-destructive editing references original video, editing palette for most-used functions, drag-and-drop editing, editing on the timeline, 3-point editing model, 99 video tracks with support for nesting sequences, support for multiple sequences and projects, insert and overwrite with or without transitions, replace, fit to fill and superimpose edits, edit overlay for insert, overwrite, replace, fit to fill and superimpose for control over how clips are added to timeline, blade and blade all tools, extend and split edits, sync detection and correction, active track targeting, auto select controls, adjacent indicators in timeline, dupe detection in timeline, keyframe graphs, tack locking, timecode or frames in timeline, clip, sequence, scoring, chapter and compression markers, clip and sequence marker export to LiveType for titling, clip and scoring marker export for Soundtrack, chapter marker export of iDVD and DVD Studio Pro, custom, independent track heights, autosave vault Trimming - ripple, roll, slip and slide, asymmetric, multitrack trimming, dynamic JKL trimming, trim edit window, timeline trimming, keyboard and numeric trimming Output - print to video for recording sequence or clip back to DV or HDV device, footage looping, sequence, scoring chapter and compression markers, Digital Cinema Desktop for preview Media Management - search, sort, sift capabilities in browser, clip labels, custom comment fields, master and affiliate clips, move, copy and transcode capability at sequence or project level, autosave vault Transitions, Filters and Effects - 200 transitions, filters and effects, unlimited effects favorites, copy and past capability for motion and effect attributes, bezier curves for motion paths, keyframe capabilities for precise animation, numeric controls for effects and animation, RT Extreme for scalable, software-based multistream real-time effects, unlimited RT Extreme modes for custom performance versus quality trade-offs, RT Extreme quality settings; low, medium, high, opacity overlays in Timeline for keyframeable opacity, direct-to-timeline drag-and-drop motion project integration, auto render option, broadcast safe filter, 2D and 3D titles with Boris Calligraphy, composite and transfer modes

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Video Editing and DVD Burning Software

Video Editing and DVD Burning Software