Ulead MediaStudio Pro 8 now shipping
 

Many people will say version 8 comes a day late and a buck short -- arriving late on the heels of new products from Pinnacle/Avid, Adobe, and Canopus -- but its built-in Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator, SmartSound integration, and HDV Smart Proxy editing could give it quite a push. For details, see www.ulead.com.

With MSP 6/7 owning such a small portion of the low-end pro/pre-pro NLE market, I can't imagine there are that many people waiting for an upgrade. It seems to always be a mixed bag with MSPro. Two years ago, Charlie White and others in the technology press praised MediaStudio Pro 7, but I've had a love/hate relationship with it; when it works, it works great, but it's been relatively unstable on a brand-new editing PC that exceeds the recommeded specs. Internet message boards are full of bug reports, so now I wonder if enough people care about this app to give it a chance in the marketplace. I suppose Ulead's hope is that all those VideoStudio users will eventually outgrow it and adopt MSPro. I'm curious to see what the sub-$700 NLE market will look like a year from now. Seems Premiere and Vegas are the leading NLEs now. What are your thoughts? Is Ulead too late for the race?

I'm ready to adopt a new NLE. I'm leaning toward Avid Xpress DV for a few reasons: (1) easy upgrade path to HD/HDV editing through Xpress Pro HD, and (2) professional street cred; I'm surprised by how many people -- especially recent college grads -- ask me if I edit on an Avid. I am pursuing a career in post, so knowing the Avid workflow and interface can only help.

T.J.

Too late for me
 

It's about a year overdue. I was a confirmed MSP7 user whilst most people around me used premiere. I just can't get on with premiere which is why I leant towards MSP. However, there were a number of features that just weren't there and audio wise I found I was building my audio tracks in cubase as MSP just didn't have the tools.

Too long without an upgrade. I looked at Vegas about 6 months ago and decided to go with that. I have never looked back. I find that the workflow in vegas is faster and packed with better features.

All these things are subjective, but I did feel that Ulead had left it's userbase out in the cold as far as uddates go. In my opinion, Vegas wins hands down, and I know I've only scratched the surface!