Digital Video - December 2008 - (Page 17)

er-end programs such as Adobe Premiere, so experienced editors should feel right at home, while Corel has done a good job keeping things simple enough for newbies. I happened to find myself overseas visiting my wife’s family when I started testing VideoStudio Pro X2, so I captured some HDV vacation footage from our Canon HV20 using my trusty Apple MacBook Pro running Windows XP SP3 via Boot Camp (which basically turns your Mac into a Windows PC). I had a few initial quirks capturing my footage to a portable 60GB Iomega hard drive via FireWire, so I swapped the connection for USB 2.0 and the problem went away. (I suspect it’s a Boot Camp issue and not related to the software.) I was then ready to move on to the Edit tab. tures in the Corel-rebranded VideoStudio are Painting Creator, which allows users to paint, draw and write directly on a video while recording their movements, and NewBlue Film Effects, a collection of five filters with 81 presets that re-create the motion, dirt and dust from antique movies to “age” your video creations. PROXY EDITING Among the other new features Corel has brought to the table is enhanced “Smart Proxy” editing, which allows the user to edit HD content as easily as working with SD footage. Aimed especially at lower-end PCs, VideoStudio utilizes lower-resolution files for editing and previewing a project while maintaining full res for final output. In my test, the Smart Proxy feature didn’t work as well with the HDV footage as I had hoped. Because of the amount of time that it was taking for Smart Proxy to render my clips, I chose to throw caution to the wind and cut most of my footage in raw HDV. While the editing process itself was fine, the preview was abysmally slow to the point of being almost unusable. Thinking the problem might have been caused by my use of a MacBook Pro running Windows XP, I moved my project to my home theater system, which is a native HP desktop running Windows Vista. (continued on page 41) THE LITTLE THINGS Editing in VideoStudio Pro X2 is similar to many other programs — drag clips from the Preview window or the Library bin and view them in the Timeline window in either Storyboard View (which Corel claims is the fastest and easiest method, with each clip in a small box complete with a thumbnail so you can tell what’s what) or the more traditional Timeline View, which enables you to trim clips by grabbing the head or tail, moving them to different tracks and even adding titles and overlays. My favorite aspect of the VideoStudio Editor turned out to be the Multi-Trim Video feature, which basically breaks one large clip into multiple segments for you. In my case, I captured an entire 60-minute HDV tape of our overseas travel, dragged the whole clip into the Timeline and selected Multi-Trim Video. Now all I had to do was play or skim through the video, clicking in and out points at the spots that I wanted to keep. The new selected clips show in a small bin at the bottom of the Multi-Trim window. When finished, you simply click OK and your single large clip is “automagically” split into all of the smaller selected pieces, ready to be trimmed further or have transitions and effects added to them. This is a feature I’d love to see ported to my NLE of choice, Apple Final Cut Pro, because it makes short work of home movies and other such videos that are shot in a linear fashion. I was also impressed with how simple it was to add titles, transitions and other effects to a project — and rest assured that VideoStudio Pro X2 comes with an ample supply of presets, probably more than I’ve seen in competing packages. Among the new fea- You’ll find an extended version of this review on our site. Visit DV online. SCORE COREL VIDEOSTUDIO PRO X2 PROS: Familiar interface for pros yet easy enough for newcomers, excellent Multi-Trim feature, maximum value for the money. CONS: Slow preview when playing HDV footage from timeline, interface sluggishness after being used for extended periods. BOTTOM LINE: Easy, quick capture, editing and exporting for HD or SD projects at a bargain price. MSRP: $99.99 ($69.99 for basic version or $149.99 in Photo & Video Bundle) CONTACT: www.corel.com Excellent HD picture quality due to MPEG 4 compression codec! Features include: $ › New Focus Assist Functions Now in stock! › Professional-Level Audio with XLR Line/Mic In › Large-Capacity SDHC Memory Cards Enable Extended-Time Recording › Professional PH Mode - Exclusive, High-End HD Recording in the AVCHD Format 349599 1.800.886.1976 | W W W. S H O W C A S E I N C . C O M www.dv.com http://www.dv.com http://WWW.SHOWCASEINC.COM http://www.corel.com http://WWW.SHOWCASEINC.COM http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - December 2008

Digital Video - December 2008 Contents DV Expo Gallery First Look: Ultimate 35MM Lens Adapter Vidock GFX Pro Videostudio Pro X2 Instant Expert The Making of Roman Close-up: Dave Ruddick Crypto Camerawork Click To Play DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - December 2008

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