Review by Kyle Slayzar

As a hobby on the weekends I run an AV team (five crew members) of gaming junkies that help run a youtube channel devoted to gaming and not all of us have enough discretionary income to purchase MacBooks and/or Final Cut Pro X. As such it was a real treat to test out both Corel VideoStudio Ultimate and Pro X7 (for more information on Pro, see respective product for more) and we’ve had very positive feedback on the Ultimate edition.

Our co-founder and marketing expert Tom tried the Ultimate version and quickly discovered that his laptop was not only grossly obsolete (Windows 7) but most of the features exclusive to the ultimate edition are more gimmicky than utilitarian.

After find Tom a suitable computer to work on, he began working on a Legend of Zelda project using in game footage we captured with an Elgato capture card and some live-action sequences we filmed. One of the first things he began to experiment with was the 3D plug-in and quickly disregarded when his new PC didn’t feel like supporting them that and we have no need for them. The other premium plug-ins were the Hollywood-esque transitions and titles but they still resembled something a high school or film student makes in his bedroom so they’re not that great.

However, what Ultimate missed in its plug-ins it makes up for in its comprehensive layout and use. While not as streamlined as Final Cut Pro X, it still had a very easy-to-understand layout even for rookies like Tom to understand and master quickly. The software is, relatively, user-friendly and that is a plus to anyone that doesn’t feel like shelling out over $1000 in premium software or Mac products like I did.

All in all, I would probably recommend Pro over Ultimate since the premium features on the latter are less professional than one would think. I’d keep things simple.