Review by Chawks

VideoStudio Pro X2 is enigmatic program. It is an easy to use video editor, with powerful editing tools often found in much more expensive programs. Tools such as:nn- Editing Masksn- Graphic overlaysn- Color correction & brightnessn- White balance & tone adjustments (very useful for indoor photography)n- Video rotationn- Ability to add flash animations to your videon- Chroma key functionsn- Surround sound mixingn- Stretching audio durationnnFrom my tests and reading of the manual these functions seem to be relatively easy to use. However, the quality of the program is always found in the production process and the final output.

To test VideoStudio Pro X2 I imported a 30 minute avi file and had VideoStudio segment this clip into segments. Next, I placed these segments onto the storyboard and cut out a few unwanted clips at the start and end of video. Next, I trimmed the opening and ending clips using the clip trim handles. Finally, I applied an audio fade at the end of the video and burned the production to a dvd. All of these functions worked perfectly and quickly on a Pentium 4, 3ghz machine with 3 gigabytes of ram. Impressive!nnHowever, VideoStudio does exhibit some unstable behavior upon exiting the program. VideoStudio has given me a couple error messages upon shutdown. Strangely, neither of these error messages affected the editing and production process. My guess is that VideoStudio is not fully releasing the memory it was occupying.

Corel is close to having a class defining video editor. Hopefully, Corel will issue an update to fix some of the small but irritating bugs.

P.S. If you are looking for a slightly less powerful video editor that is even easier to use you might want to check out Serif’s MoviePlus X3. Both of these programs appear to be far more stable than my old Pinnacle Studio versions 8, 9 or 11.