Have been using the Corel Videostudio Pro X3 during the last few days. Have it for 24 more days. I was able to produce a nice presentation from footage shot with my FX7. Burned it on a DVD in AVCHD. Looks pretty good on my 720 (768) plasma. I tried the previous edition a year and a half ago and while improvements have been made, I still have a couple of disappointments that have not been addressed.

1. Working the title page is not all that easy. It is limiting in what you can do, for instance: Changing the music (is there a way to do that?)
Changing the background.
Setting up the chapters on the menu (can they be shown on the title page?)
2. Working titles within the presentation (actually subtitles within the video itself).
Limited ability in moving them where you want them; many seem to be only
available in the middle of the picture. Can they be moved?
3. Transitions. Is there a fade out transition for the end of a project?

I figure that maybe it is that I am not all that familiar with the total program yet, and if I were, some of these questions would be answered already. I am very familiar with Pinnacle and that program has a wider variety of transitions, title options, and menu options to work with. The reason I am looking elsewhere for another NLE, is that Pinnacle rerenders things alot when I am trying to produce an AVCHD DVD, and the end resolution of the video is less than desirable.

Are there any other programs out there that have the versatility of Pinnacle (and variety of tools), with the final AVCHD quality picture of Corel (and Nero)?
I suppose that I just might have to save up my money for some program that costs in the $600-$1200 range (or higher) in order to get what I desire. Hope that is not the case, since I am already saving for a new computer.

Mike

Magix Movie Studio Pro 16 is in my opinion now the best consumer editing software out there, by a massive margin. For some people may be even the best editor. Don't be put off by the low price. Try the free trial copy (apart from being a sometime user, I'm not connected with Magix).

I was just looking around with X3 yesterday and did see a fade to black effect in the list. Before that, I was snipping off a small segment from the last clip which I had deliberately left a little longer - then pulling down brightness, contrast, and gamma to make those frames black. Then I would add a crossfade between the last scene and the new black frames.

But the fade to black effect should do the same thing.

Have you used Cineform with X3? .avi files that were converted from MP4 crash the program when placed on the timeline. But only from my Sanyo camera. Files sourced from another camera and converted at the same time do not crash the program. Weird.

Thenks for the info Thane. No, I have not tried Cinform.

Rainer, from what I have read about Magix si that it extensively occupies your computer (whatever that really means). I am hoping that does not mean that it would occupy several areas within, with bits and pieces spread all over the place.

Hi Mike, I have not noticed any problems whatsoever with the current version. I do have a fairly high end system and it might be a different story on older systems. I still cannot quite believe the value that this package represents. If you do buy the package you get access to a load of optional crapware (templates etc) that you can also download - might impress beginners or kiddies, and some might even be useful - this might be what people are talking about, but its optional, really everything you need is in the trial version.
(PS - cross fades and fades to black work the same as in Vegas - you don't need to add an effect - cross fades, slide clips over one another, fade to balck just use a little envelope handle at the end of the clip)

Thanks Rainer. My concern (paranoid?) is from having Nero all over my computer. Don't need another program running amok throughout my system.
Anyway, I will probably try Magix once my time with Corel is up.

Mike

I can suggest PowerDirector 8. You'll find it much faster, with more features for producing AVCHD HD footage. You will need at least a quad core PC with Win7 to make it fly. A trial version of the ultra is available on their site.

Thanks. How is it regarding the rerendering of the video and therefore "down-rezzing" the quality?

Yes. Rendering is faster, typically taking 2.5x times the actual duration of an AVCHD project. When video quality is compared in AVCHD mode, VideoStudio is not as good.

I have been running the trial version of Magix Edit Pro 16 lately, and I must agree with the above poster about it's power. Quite impressive when compared with Corel.

I bought Cineform NeoScene and convert AVCHD files before importing. Very powerful.