Review: Corel VideoStudio X6 eases creative video production

Version X6 of Corel VideoStudio brings the super-intuitive and easy-to-use video editor/producer within into a virtual dead heat with the feature sets offered by its competitors. New tricks in its bag include animation overlays, controlling DSLRs for stop motion animation, free-form motion editing, layer swapping, motion tracking, support for 2K and 4K video, and variable speed.

VideoStudio X6 also supports 50p/60p editing, AVCHD 2.0, 3D, surround sound, Blu-ray and most everything you could ask for. One cool new feature for subtitling is a form of audio beat detection that allows you to sync subtitles to speech more easily. There's even a whiteboard capture for animation overlays. Creatively, the VideoStudio X6 is very well-rounded.

The VideoStudio X6 interface isn't revolutionary, but because it doesn't overload you, it's easier to use than those it might resemble.

Most video editors have dark, paneled interfaces that rightfully focus your attention on the video. However, VideoStudio X6 manages to do it more cleanly and intuitively than Cyberlink PowerDirector or Adobe Premiere. It helps tremendously that Corel hasn't sized the icons for microscopes and has used them sparingly.

VideoStudio X6 also has a nice simple storyboard view that makes adding and arranging items a more intuitive process. You then use the timeline to tweak location and lengths, and add audio, multi-tracking, subtitles, and the like. I've only mentioned a few of the logical interface design decisions, but all told, they make VideoStudio X6's interface friendlier and more intuitive than just about anything out there.

VideoStudio X6 has a ton of transitions, effects, title styles, and what Corel calls instant projects which are basically templates. Drag an instant project element to your project, then edit details such as the audio file to be used, colors, text, videos to be used, etc. It's a bit different from the automatic productions you get from Muvee and others in that it requires your participation and creativity, but it's cool nonetheless.

2. The storyboard view in VideoStudio X6 makes it easier to order scenes than the standard timeline, which is also offered.

The Pro version of VideoStudio X6 costs $60, while the $100 Ultimate version adds a boatload of very nice effects from NewBlue and proDAD, plus the latter company's excellent video stabilization technology. Ultimate X6 is likely worth the extra $40, especially if you're editing lots of home video that needs steadying.

Corel may not be the powerhouse it once was, but the company is still putting out some very good software and VideoStudio Pro X6 is the evidence. For the average user it delivers a significantly easier, more intuitive, and more creative video editing experience than its major peers.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Juilliard, and now he power-mods his car for kicks.
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Adobe Creative Cloud: The Evolution of the Creative Suite

Adobe just revealed a much clearer picture of Creative Suite 6 (CS6), the next iteration of its industry-leading collection of graphic design, video editing and web development desktop applications. Concurrent to the announcement, the company also unveiled the new essential dimension to this suite of apps that it’s really making a push for: Creative Cloud, its new web-based subscription service.

Scott Morris, Senior Marketing Director at Adobe, said the company considered Creative Cloud to be “the next step in the evolution of Creative Suite.” In the same way that at launch, Creative Suite revolutionized Adobe’s pricing scheme and allowed users to purchase a bundle of apps for a much cheaper cost than making individual (and expensive) purchases for each app, subscribing to Creative Cloud opens the door to the complete collection of CS6 apps – including such familiar titles as Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, DreamWeaver – along with real-time updates for each app as soon as they’re pushed out by Adobe.

The service will start at $49.99/month for individual users and includes all of Adobe’s touch apps (available on iOS and Android), 20GB of cloud storage, and Adobe Business Catalyst for publishing and hosting up to five different websites. Additionally, you can step up to a $69.99/month subscription on Creative Cloud to get “Apple Genius Bar”-like support features on Adobe’s apps.

Here’s how a subscription to Creative Cloud would work: You’ll be eligible to download every CS app, and you’ll get everything new that’s coming out every single time. But the catch is you can only install these apps on two machines, which you can’t use simultaneously, and your license will work for only one kind of system: either Windows or Mac. So if, say, you’re using a Windows computer at work and a Mac at home, you’ll need to get two separate subscriptions to get all your Adobe apps on both devices.

As mentioned, Adobe’s touch apps (Photoshop Touch, Kuler, Collage, Proto, Ideas and Debut) are also included in your Creative Cloud membership, but Morris says the ability to download the apps seamlessly onto your mobile devices without making separate purchases on iTunes or Google Play won’t be ready at launch. Instead, the company is making amends by giving away a month of subscription for free – a $49.99 value – if you purchase at least three of the touch apps while your Creative Cloud subscription is active.

You can pre-order a subscription to be the first to get Creative Cloud as soon as Adobe releases it.

These details come just ahead of Adobe’s announcement, to be headed by CEO Shantanu Narayen and slated for 10 AM Pacific Time today. The presentation will be livestreamed on Adobe’s launch site and replays will later be made available on tv.adobe.com.

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