» Corel VideoStudio Pro X2

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Video quality is lacking
Comment: I am primarily interested in compressing about 20 miniDV tapes (not worried about HD video at this point) that I have accumulated over the years. With storage so cheap these days, I want to store the highest quality of encoded video on the hard drive of my home theater PC.

I downloaded the free trial versions of Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 and Sony Vegas Studio 9 and compared the quality of the encoders. Right out of the box, the Sony's encoders seemed to be more configurable than the ones in VideoStudio.

I created a sample video with my miniDV camcorder that pans/zooms across hardcopies of video test patterns, photographs, text, etc.

I was able to find several compression settings (bitrates, etc.) with Vegas that produced video almost the same quality as the original uncompressed video. But with VideoStudio, I was unable to find any setting that had good quality. The video captured by VideoStudio was MPEG format and had compression artifacts right off the bat.

I also tried using the Windows video capturing utility which captures uncompressed motion JPEG AVI, which was much better. However, after importing it to VideoStudio and writing out the video from the timeline, the output had motion blur sawtooth edges as if the video was not properly deinterlaced. I tried several configurations (including HD 720 30p, NTSC DVD, NTSC MPEG2 720x480) and nothing worked.

It could be that some VideoStudio expert can make this work with some magic potion that has eluded me. But as for me, I will go with Sony which works well out of the box.

I have not tried out all the bells and whistles of both products as video quality is the primary deciding factor for me. Your decision may weigh these other factors higher, resulting in a different purchase. Either way, happy editing.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Glad to run across this!
Comment: Even though I'm working in IT I'm so un-geeky when it comes to video anything! We went to the Seattle Music Project and came away with a video of us pretenting to be a band. I couldn't play that thing if my life depended on it. I installed Video Pro, popped in the Video and in 5 minutes I had a playable .wmv, Mp4 that I could send to my friends. I can't wait to learn more and be able to use all the features this offers. It's a great price, easy to use and I can only recommend it highly even for the ungeeky like me.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the best products our there, well priced
Comment: If you want to do more with your videos than just the cheezy transitions that come with Microsoft Movie Maker, it's time to jump up to a real piece of video editing software. VideoStudio has a lot of pro features and bundles it in an interface that is not well designed. Depending on how deep you want to delve into this software, you can really craft some well edited videos. The support for AVCHD is especially appreciated since many new cameras use this standard.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Corel Video Studio Pro X2 Is A Real Studio
Comment: Wow - this is a good one! This video editor is a great choice for those with underpowered PCs, and a pretty good choice for those with fast systems, too!

Video is moving to high definition faster than a dog to a doughnut. So which do you buy first: a new HD camcorder, or a powerful new computer on which to edit its footage?

Its updated Smart Proxy editing feature lets you create a lower-resolution version of a project that you can use to make edits, apply effects, and create menus, and when you're satisfied with how it looks, you tell the application to pull in the high-resolution source files to create the finished movie.

While the image quality isn't great in Smart Proxy mode, you can see well enough to apply effects; in addition, you can scrub back and forth in the timeline with no lag, and files play quickly and smoothly. In other words, you can use the program just as easily as you could with standard-definition video (and perhaps even more easily, because the proxy-mode footage is at a lower resolution than most standard-resolution footage). Even in the middle of a project, you can easily enable and disable the Smart Proxy mode by clicking a button on the timeline.

But I did find one timeline feature in VideoStudio that I really like: When you drag one clip into the timeline on top of another, VideoStudio will automatically insert your default transition, and you can set the length of the transition by adjusting the clips' overlapping points. It's a neat new time saver.

VideoStudio X2 has a slightly better range of features than Elements, and VideoStudio's tools are easier to see than Elements'. Elements still has a few unique features that I like--for example, better timeline features. I'd say VideoStudio X2 is the better choice if you have an underpowered PC, and Elements gets the nod for those with fast PCs. Great for those into editing with detail.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy to use and a great price
Comment: I think the best feature of the Corel Video Studio is its ease of use. Too often I have tried larger more robust (supposedly) video editing software only to be turned away by the sheer complexity just to get started. Not so with VideoStudio Pro. Right out of the box this program did better than my expectations.

I am not a video editor, nor do I wish to become one. All I want out of a, editing program is a simple way to take my videos, cut them up, and splice them in an order of my choosing. This program does that and more. I tried this on a video shot with my video camera. VideoStudio immediately identified the video files once I pointed the program to the proper folder and allowed me to drag the individual videos to a timeline.

Within the video wizard I was able to organize the clips and add a template which included a themed menu along with an accompanying soundtrack. I was also able to adjust the volume level of the sountrack so it did not interfere with the dialog on the video. From there it was just a couple of clicks of the mouse and I was burning the video to a DVD. It could not have been any easier.

Next I chose to import the same clips into the video editor. With a similar timeline the video editor gave me more control over the presentation compared to the wizard. Within it I was able to controlthe fades in between scenes, and adjust the volume for each individual scene. I had many more options, but still an easy interface to use.

I must applaud Corel on creating a fantastic product that is also affordable. I would have expected to pay at least twice this price for the capabilities offered here. In the past I have had mixed success with the Corel Suite of products. While I loved WinDVD, I did not care for PaintShop Pro.

If you are looking for a simple to use video editing program you can't go wrong with VideoStudio

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