Review by Bryan Cass

I have reviewed PowerDirector 11 here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RTPLA2VIBROCG/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm, so I won’t go into much detail other than the new features. I installed this version 12 on a new Windows 8 All-in-one. It installed relatively quickly and without a problem.

One of the new features in this version is Multicam Designer, which makes it easier to put together video using multiple cameras. You can synchronize the audio with the different camera angles, and while looking at all of videos at the same time, cut between different angles as you put together the video. Cool! I don’t have multiple video cameras, but I can imagine you would want one that can capture excellent audio (or use a separate audio recorder), and the rest of the cameras can be video-only as long as they all shoot in the same quality/framerate/size/etc. I would like to try this out sometime – this is a step toward more professional video production.

There is also a new Theme Designer that will help you create nice compilations of photos and videos. Just drag and drop them into a template and it will create a finished video for you.

They also finally included an auto-crossfade feature, where if you overlay two tracks, it will allow you to insert a crossfade from one to the other. This was a feature from Corel VideoStudio that I missed in PowerDirector.

This version utilizes the 64-bit environment of Windows 7 and 8 better than the previous version, with quicker rendering. I have not had any crashes yet with v12, but keep your copy up to date since Cyberlink seems to like sending out new versions before all the bugs have been discovered and worked out.

So overall, I think this software is one of the best for consumer video editing – a step up from MovieMaker and other free software, but of course not as intense as Sony Vegas Pro or Adobe Premier Pro. With this one, you can get a quick slide show together with music, or a simple home video edited with intro and titles, all with a ‘wizard’ that makes it easy - then post to YouTube or create a DVD with menus all in the program. Or you can dabble in some editing and now even multi-camera shooting if you are an enthusiast or want to take the next step into better quality video production.

I have some other reviews on other consumer-grade video editors here, if you’d like some comparisons:nCorel VideoStudio: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LXHYRSL0J4LG/ref=cm_cr_rdp_permnAdobe Premier: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3C3QPVKONCBP1/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm