I'm a relative novice at home movie editing (played around with Windows Movie Maker and Pinnacle Studio 8) and am thinking of buying either Cyberlink's PowerDirector 7 Ultra, or Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum - because they both support AVCHD and will write to blu-ray.

Does anyone here have experience with either or both of these?

PowerDirector7 is currently $119, while Vegas is only $69 (Amazon).

I've read two reviews ( Link 1 Link 2 ) that PowerDirector is easier for a beginner - but does this make it a $50 better program / investment?

Thoughts?

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"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

No experience with either.

So far as Blu-ray output goes:

I have experience with Adobe Premier Pro CS4 ($800), and have played around with Premiere Elements 7 ($140). I have also worked extensively with Pinnacle Studio 9. Pinnacle Studio 12 comes in three versions, but only Enhanced ($100) and Ultimate ($130) support Blu-ray authoring.

I would say if you want to go with Adobe, go for Premiere Pro CS4. If $800 is beyond your budget, go with Pinnacle Studio 12. While it's great, many of the transitions and effects appear chincy. In professional video, you rarely see that sort of "glitz." The next time you watch a film, you'll notice absolutely none of it. Rather, all professional film does simple cut transitions.

Caveat: I cannot compare either with Cyberlink's or Sony's software, so don't consider the above as a push away from either. I simply have no experience with either.

If you want an informed opinion, check out PC Magazine's collection of Video Editing Software Reviews.

But for the creme-de-la-creme, go to the 2009 Video Editing Software Product Comparisons chart by TopTen Reviews.

Some caveats:

1. I'd stay away from Corel. Their customer support is incredibly lousy.

2. Easy Media Creator is bloatware something fierce. So is Nero.

3. Both CyberLink and Sony Vegas are towards the left, with higher overall scores and seem to have more features.

4. The review says that CyberLink will not capture from AVCHD, and will not write to AVCHD disc. Something you may wish to consider.

After reviewing all, Sony Vegas gets my nod. However, I'd have to play around with several before I made a decision one way or another.

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After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy

Definitely go with Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum with DVD Architect.

I've been using it for a couple of years now, done a LOT of video with my Canon GL-2.

It is SO easy to use, virtually a 'no-brainer' producer. Just.works.every.time....

Well, that's two nods for Sony. As I'm in the market to upgrade, I'll review the reviews of the top 5 choices and post my obersvations here.

1: CyberLink PowerDirector 7 Deluxe:

- Editors' Gold award.
- The only rating below excellent is in help and support.
- If you want to author Blu-ray, you'll need the Ultra version.
- Video stabilization
- Playback in the editor was a bit jumpy. The system was tested on a DuoCore with 2 GB ram.
- Some camera compatibility issues with respect to Vista vs XP.
- A bit of information overload in terms of available options.
- Several times when their system hung for several minutes without apparent cause.
- Good, free online community where others share their custom menus, templates, and objects.
- Great auto/photo editing

2. Corel VideoStudio X2 Standard

- Ergonomically well-designed menus/functions
- Doesn't burn to Blu-ray - must use the X2 Pro version.
- Smoother playback that in PowerDirector due to use of proxy technology (edit in lower-res files; render using original files).
- Optimized for dual and quad-core processors
- Non-destructive editing (source file remains intact).
- e-mail support is free (but trust me, Corel's e-mail support sucks)

3. Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9

- Takes less effort to learn than others
- Quality software - "in depth"
- More features at this price point
- Awsome interactive tutorials
- No built-in audio editor. Can still do fades and pans. However, for just $30 more you can get the Platinum Pro pack which includes Sound Forge Audio Studio, various themes, 3D transitions, and 1,001 sound effects.
- "The most feature-rich video editing software in it's price range."
- Blu-ray burns in this package - no upgrade necessary!

I'll skip the other two. After reading the reviews of the Gold winners, it's clear the only reasons Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 didn't get the top award is that it has a slightly steeper learning curve, and it doesn't have a storyboard. It does have a timeline. Given it's significantly greater depth of capabilities, that's entirely understandable.

If only it had a storyboard...

So, for me, it's Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack. I'm downloading their free trial, now, and will let you know how I like it compared to the others I've used.

__________________
After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy

Steeper learning curve for Vegas???

Hmmm, after working it for a couple of years I don't get that.

You drag and drop all your clips and it'll automatically set your cross-fades to whatever you set in the preferences.... then hit Render Movie and let it do it's stuff. I found it FAR FAR easier than Premeir. I can usually drop clips on the end of a movie WHILE it's previewing several seconds behind me so that I can tweak lengths and fades without stopping.

And as a musician, I really appreciate Vegas Platinum letting me use my audio VST plugins (not many editor will do that) to enhance the soundtracks. There are many thousands of free audio VST's on the web giving you a LOT of extra abilities. I would upgrade to the full Vegas package in a heartbeat if only Sony would roll in the MIDI capabilities of ACID so that I could do all my audio and video sequencing in one package....

Also, the included DVD Architect is incredible for making menu'ed DVDs.

Yeah, I'm biased but go over to Sony's site; they have a free demo you can try yourself....

Platinum comes with Sound Force Audio Studio. Acid Studio is available for about $50 as a separate package.

Although I've downloaded free trials of both Movie Studio Platinum and Acid Music Studio, I haven't played around with it enough to see if there's any way to integrate them. Have you tried doing so?

__________________
After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy

Thanks guys.

I've downloaded the trial - but got an error during the install (something about failing to install a 2005 C++ executable...). I'm going to have to trouble shoot before I can demo the product.

Nevertheless - I appreciate the responses.

Also, I found the Pro Pack on sale for only $70 so I might just go ahead and order this...

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

@ JustAFriend: Mugs writes that the review criticises Vegas for no audio editor - but you write that the program allows you to enhance soundtracks.

Am I missing something here? Can you elaborate on what you can & can't do with the audio?

Thanks

@ Mugs: After you've had a chance to demo it, would you describe why you lament the absence of a storyboard? Or if you found that you didn't miss it once you played with Vegas a bit?

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

For me, it's easier to edit each storyboard clip (portion of a scene), then simply drag them into the order in which I'd like them to be. Longer clips can easily be cut into several smaller ones, which can then be intermixed with addition video footage.

The absense of a storyboard, for me, is like driving through an unknown city without a map.

__________________
After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy

I know what storyboards on paper look like, but I'm not sure how they
translate into computer storyboards. What doe such a storyboard look
like and how can it be manipulated? How does it relate to the rest of
the video editing program?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

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If you have Windows XP or Vista, you can open Microsoft Movie Maker and see what they look like. Essentially, it's the first frame of a clip. You simply line up your clips, then do your transitions.

Non-storyboarded approaches still use frames, but instead of each clip on a storyboard being one frame wide, you're looking at the composition in a timeline format. If the clip is long enough to support two or more frames, it'll throw in as many frames as will fit.

But it's a bit different. I like the storyboard approach, better.

__________________
After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy

After thoroughly using it for a month (my trial ended while I was on vacation), I can state that I'm happy with Sony's offering.

I still wish it had a storyboard!!! Reshuffling the order of clips is so much easier when you're able to simply drag and drop the entire clip as if it were a card in a deck. I guess Sony didn't do enough research into the "Vegas" part of their product to catch the analogy.

By the way - Sony is offering their Home Studio Suite, which includes the basic versions of Vegas Movie Studio, ACID Music Studio, Sound Forge Audio Studio, Photo Go, and a "free" (well, included) 2 GB thumb drive, for $150. I'm thinking that since the basic versions of each of these is around $30 to $50, it's no steal, and that I'd be better off with the Vegas' Platinum Pro Pack, as it includes Sound Forge Audio Studio 9, anyway, along with a bunch of other tools.

Any thoughts? Hold your peace after Jan 15, though, as the offer expires on the 16th.

__________________
After careful consideration of NASA's Constellation Program, I believe Directv3 is the only viable means of achieving the objectives of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.

"...only nuclear power can now halt global warming." - James Lovelock, independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and an open member of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy