Corel VideoStudio by Colorgirl

We have a video buff in the family so we have had experience with X4, X6, X7, and now X9 of the Corel Video Studio. X9 has some very big improvements over the other editions. For this being the Ultimate, they do charge you extra to be able to authorize Blu-ray discs, something that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

This is a very difficult review to write as I am gearing it toward those who have never used this program before and those who like us have used previous versions and are familiar with this software.

I will touch on high points and give an overview trying to keep it as concise as I can.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS EDITION (GENERAL OVERVIEW)nStop Motion CapabilitynStandard Definition and HD quality videosnCan do In Depth video editing from multiple video sourcesnCan add and customize audio timelines with in depth capabilitiesnComes with fast flick easy editing mode (quick and easy video projects)nScreen Capture for anything you do on your computernAdditional programs for creating custom text and video effectsnLots of transitions ,animations, templates for lots of creativityn64bit program for faster rendering timennNEW FEATURES WHICH WERE ADDED IN THIS EDITIONnMulti camera editor (supports up to six cameras and two additional soundtracks with multiple sync points including Audio Markers)nEnhanced audio capabilities (Select multiple audio tracks to normalize audio)nCan customize attack and decay (ramp in and ramp out of sound)nThey have enhanced audio ducting to be able to work on multiple clips at same timenIncludes new Blue Video effects (exclusive to the Ultimate version)nCreate custom templates for Fast FlicknCan share templates with other peoplenNow supports HVEC which is H.265 video formatnSupports MSF video format (exclusive to the Ultimate version)nImproved .MP4 and .mov performancenOptimized for 6th gen Intel I7 chipsetsnEnhanced motion trackingnnCOMMENTSnThe multi camera editor can take all sorts of video from various sources and use them in sync. So if you took video from your cell phone and a video camera, you can sync them up with this program. From our experience it seems to work quickly and without glitch so far.

The new audio enhancements seem to be pretty cool. Now you can select multiple tracks and be able to normalize the audio a lot faster than before. This makes the work flow much faster than previous versions. Audio ducting moves at a much faster pace in work load since you can do many clips at the same time manually or automatically. It works pretty easily without issue so far.

New Enhanced Motion tracking will track motion up to four points in the video as compared to the previous versions only able to do one. This makes witness protection in video a lot more effective and easier to do with less room for misses and errors to better protect identities.

There are a lot of different options for outsourcing videos. You can outsource via web (Facebook, YouTube, social media, etc), DVDs, SD cards,nHTML5, and portable devices.

One of the most exciting parts of this package is the 30 day membership to the Studio Backlot. This is a fantastic boost for beginners to experienced users. The video tutorials go into great depth explaining the features - old and new- of this program. This is probably the most beneficial part of this package as it really takes the user to a new level of willingness to experiment and learn the program. It really can push a user, regardless of previous experience to new heights not previously possible so quickly from this program. Before this feature, it took a lot more time and research to try to figure out all of the capabilities of what Corel VideoStudio could do. Now, it is all laid out for you and you can take as much time as you need for 30 days to learn with optional membership after the 30 day period is up to continue with the Studio Backlot at like $7ish dollars a month which is not too bad if you need more time.

There are other programs that Studio Backlot that you can view tutorials from as well in addition to the Video Studio.

DRAWBACKnIn previous versions, you were able to create Blu-rays. However, in this version, you are not able to create Blu-rays until you pay $8 to unlock that feature. Considering that this is supposed to be the Ultimate version, I found that to be very irritating. Why should we have to pay MORE to make high definitions Blu-rays when we always could make them in previous versions I have had included.

THE BOTTOM LINEnIf you want to do some powerful and professional video editing, the multi-camera editing features with enhancements will make the job a LOT easier and faster. Faster workflow and fantastic tutorials through the Studio Backlot make this an excellent program to use. We are still very disappointed that we have to pay EXTRA for Blu-ray capability, but the program is still well done.

Because of the exclusion of Blu-ray without extra fees attached, I am giving this four stars. They should never have kept that feature out of this version with all of the great improvements.

I will update as time goes on and we are able to use this program more and I can comment with more detail and perhaps even edit comments with new information.

I will also update with our computer specs for the computer we installed this on soon.