Ulead VideoStudio 11 - Video Basics

There are many video capturing and editing software programs on the market today, including Ulead VideoStudio 11, Corel’s latest version of video software. Ulead VideoStudio 11 competes with Pinnacle Studio and Adobe Premiere Elements. Ulead VideoStudio 11's highlights include the ability to work with high-definition video and multiple audio sources. Ulead VideoStudio 11 also includes sample media to enhance the movie experience. Downsides are the user interface which can be challenging. I found the execution of the capturing process unpredictable, but after some time and patience I was able to create the movie files I desired.

What's Hot: The online help found within Ulead VideoStudio 11 is broken down by program section with information ranging from preparing to capture video to editing and creating your final product. Overall help touched on each section of the program with tips and suggestions found throughout.
[See Image 3]What's Not: The level of help detail in Ulead VideoStudio 11 is lacking. While everything is mentioned within the help file, great detail is hard to find.

What's Hot: Ulead’s VideoStudio 11 retails for $89.99. For a beginner’s video capturing program, it offers multiple features. Ulead VideoStudio 11 supports HDV and AVCHD formats which are features not normally found in the consumer line of video editing programs. This makes Ulead VideoStudio 11 a good choice for those home users wishing to work with their high definition formats.What's Not: Ulead VideoStudio 11 fails to deliver an obvious value offering when compared to its competitors. Users looking for a first-time video editing software solution should consider the alternate solutions. Unless you are a Corel fan, you may find alternative products that are more user friendly and contain additional editing features for the same or nearly the same amount of money.

What's Hot: Ulead VideoStudio 11 installation and setup was simple and completed without issue. Ulead VideoStudio 11 consumed over 400MB of hard drive space for the application and the included media samples, which is not large compared to some of its video authoring competitors. The total time for setup was acceptable as well. I was able to begin capturing video and working within the application in under 15 minutes of beginning the setup program.

What's Hot: Ulead VideoStudio 11 begins with the premise that there are three immediate tasks one might want to perform; launch the full featured application, launch a quick movie creating wizard, or burn straight from a DV device to DVD. Multiple tabs exist separating the tasks involved in creating a movie including Capturing the media, Editing your files, applying Effects, and Sharing the media in a format. This separation helps a novice videographer follow the necessary steps to make a movie. Video editing options exist including audio modifications, speed playback modifications, and color correction. The location of the features was generally easy to find and understand.
[See Image 1]What's Not: Ulead VideoStudio 11 in general feels clunky and difficult to navigate if you do not want to follow the step-by-step approach. Integration into Ulead’s post-marketing attempts was annoying as well. For instance, as soon as Ulead VideoStudio 11 was installed and registered, I was prompted to purchase an upgrade to the Plus version. Similarly, after I created a WMV file for “Sharing Online,” I was prompted to create a Neptune.com media sharing account for a fee.
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What's Hot: Ulead VideoStudio 11 includes a myriad of features; some that would be used by all and some that would only be found by those hunting for options. The general features include video playback speed (time shifting), fade in and out special effects, video color correction, and reverse audio (a fun feature if nothing else). Ulead VideoStudio 11 offers a Quick Scan feature to capture video. This is similar to Pinnacle Studio’s old feature where you can preview the captured video stream at a low resolution and decide what clips you want without having to capture the entire DV video stream. Final capturing of video can be saved to multiple formats including MPEG, DV, VCD, SVCD, and DVD with each size offering different quality to file size ratios. There are preset bitrates and audio quality settings but UIead VideoStudio 11 allows custom settings as well.
[See Image 2]What's Not: The inclusion of the audio editing effects is impressive although cumbersome. Ulead VideoStudio 11 supports Dolby 5.1 audio but the editing of the audio source lacks refinement and clarity. Similar to the other video editing software titles, Ulead VideoStudio 11 attempts to capture DV video clips based off of the time code breaks. Unfortunately, Ulead VideoStudio 11 did a poor job deciphering the breaks creating multiple clips even though the video was continuous. Unlike Pinnacle Studio’s low resolution capture feature, I was forced to capture the entire video stream clip as interpreted by the program. Capturing only a small portion of a single clip is not supported.

What's Hot: Ulead VideoStudio 11 didn't appear to place a large impact on the system while editing or capturing video. In fact, while using the program I was able to multi-task on my computer (unless I was rendering the final product). Screen refresh was great and frame loss while capturing DV video simply did not occur.What's Not: Rendering video is a CPU intense process. While it's expected that Ulead VideoStudio 11’s rendering process leaves your system unusable while it is completing, it's still unfortunate. Higher performance computers with multiple hard drives will do much better using this program than those which only meet minimum system requirements.

Like Ulead VideoStudio 11’s competitors, it would be nice to see basic video capturing tips, tricks, and tutorials. It's always easier to create a great movie if you are stating with great capture video.

Ulead’s VideoStudio 11 offers the consumer a video capturing and editing solution at a low cost. With a little time and effort, the program can be mastered allowing for the creation of home videos. Don't expect to create amazing DVD menus with great special effects. Ulead VideoStudio 11 is aimed at simplistic video creation with a few twists. Ulead VideoStudio 11 was able to capture video, edit the data, and create a movie as expected but in the end it left me wanting more.

Pinnancel Studio 11, Adobe Premiere Elements 4