One more software review for this week.
A digital video-editing product, suitable for all users
If you’ve ever considered breaking into the amateur video-editing business, no doubt you’ve encountered the dozens of applications available. It can be difficult to choose the right product: there is a very fine balance between functionality and ease of use, which will vary according to your level of experience and what you need.
Coming in at the entry level is Serif’s MoviePlus X3, but it doesn’t stop there. This application is surprisingly robust and will have even experienced professionals saying, “Wow, I wish our software did that.” Like many Serif products, MoviePlus X3’s interface bears a strong esemblance to Adobe’s counterpart – Premiere, in this case. With a quick glimpse through the tutorials, you’ll be ready to go thanks to the ‘all-in-one’ approach Serif has taken.
From within the application, you can capture footage directly from a FireWire-compatible camcorder or USB camera, or rip audio straight from a CD. The editing process is divided in two: storyboard mode and timeline mode. Storyboard mode is a straightforward, DIY ‘wedding-video’ mode that lets you drag and drop video and audio, insert a few amusing text overlays, or even record voice narration directly into the video.
When you’re done with that, jump into the incredibly easy-to use DVD menu-building function; use a template, or customise the features to your liking, and use the built-in DVD or VCD burning software. For the more ‘mobile’ approach, export for iPod or PSP, or directly to YouTube. It really is incredibly easy to use with as few frills and fuss as possible – almost all the nitty-gritty is taken care of for you.
On the other side is the timeline mode. This should appeal to the more experienced user, or those who would like to fine-tune their accomplishments from the storyboard. While it’s not quite as sophisticated as high-end users might like, there is no shortage of features here. Clips can be moved between tracks, sliced up and adjusted in any way you’d like. Transitions between clips can be altered, and there’s even a four-point, free-transformation tool to move, scale and rotate clips for pseudo-3D effects and delivering picture-in-picture for replays and the like.
Interpolation for transitions and other effects can also be adjusted, but there is unfortunately no way to manually edit the Beziers – instead, you’re reliant on a few variants between ‘fast’ and ‘slow’. There are no functions for dynamic time warps either, but you can at least adjust the playback speed of individual clips or slices thereof.
The interactive tutorial system should get anyone on their feet and editing in minutes, and there are plenty of quick templates, drop-in effects and overlays to ensure your family holiday movies are better than the Joneses’.
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