Wondershare Web Video Author Review

If you’re starting out in web video, you will welcome the Wondershare Web Video Author program as there’s no steep learning curve to contend with. Also, you don’t have to be a video camera owner to put the program to work for you. All you need is a webcam and you’re in the business of producing web video. If you like like to work with video compilations, Web Author will come in handy because it allows you to put together video clips of different formats without hassle.

Wondershare Web Video Author comes with a non-distracting albeit black-gray-dull-green interface. The interface fits your monitor screen well even if you’re working on a 800 x 600 resolution. Your eyes will not miss the large `functional’ buttons – Import, Capture, Export Story Board.

If you’re working with existing video clips, you would choose the Import mode. This allows you to work with the most popular video formats – AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, FLV, SWF, ASF, and Real Media, among others. You can also combine image files with your video. Among the formats supported are JPEG, BMP, GIF and PNG.

The main interface is divided into three areas. In the Video frame area, you drag and drop and line up your clips.The Story Board area is where you drag and drop and clips from the Video frame and work to produce the edited version.The Player pane is where you preview a video clip. Rest assured there are no pop up windows to contend with. The main window takes care of everything. The moment you import a clip into the Video pane, the clip is also automatically loaded to the storyboard pane and is highlighted in blue to indicate that it has been loaded.

A feature worth noting is the video clip properties displayed in the video pane. You have the source path of the clip, the resolution, frame rate, file size, the audio sample rate, audio channels (whether mono or stereo) and the frame count displayed. This is feature is handy if you’re working with different file formats with different encoding properties.

Another useful feature is the `quick’ buttons above the storyboard pane which saves you the trouble of having to use the drop-down menu at the top pane. Among others, you could use these buttons to add video to storyboard, remove clips, zoom and apply effects, titles and credits.

If you would like to capture video from your camera, you would have to configure the Capture Video Wizard first. You would have to specify your microphone driver, your webcam, frame rate and set the maximum file size of your capture.

A glaring shortcoming in the Wondershare Web Video Author is its inability to trim clips. You would have to do it elsewhere before importing them into the program. The program, however, mentions editing as a feature. All the editing you can do is add effects, titles, control brightness, contrast, saturation and adjust the audio volume

Done with your `editing’, you’re ready to export your storyboard by clicking the Export Story Board button. You’re allowed to export only in FLV, SWF or LMS.

Once you have chosen your output format, hit the Next button and you’re ready to set up your video player.You can then choose your player style – simple or classic .A feature worth noting is the logo mode. It allows you to introduce your company logo in the video for branding purposes.

The clips you have assembled in the storyboard are shown as chapters in the player – handy if you want to easily switch from one clip to another.

The developer allows a 30-day trial of Wondershare Web Video Author. It comes with a major limitation though. The video you output is stamped with the `Evaluation Copy’ watermark right smack in the middle of the player screen. To remove the annoying watermark you could purchase the full version for $59.95. Academic institutions can get hold of Wondershare Web Video Author for $49.95.