VideoStudio Pro X6
Publisher: CorelPlatforms: PC
Description: Video Editing Software
MSRP: $69.99 New, $49.99 Upgrade
Expected Release: Available Now
Official Website: Click Here
Samples: Click Here
Demo: Click Here
Special Discount: Click Here
Review Issue: Issue #88 (06/13)
Review By: Mark Colegrove
Final Score: 8.3
Not too long ago, we took a look at Corel VideoStudio X5, a surprisingly powerful and extremely affordable program that not only caters to entry-level editors, but also offers many features you’d normally associate with high-cost editing programs.
Well, the new version, Corel VideoStudio X6 has just arrived, and it offers up many new bells and whistles including 4K support, a subtitle editor (with voice detection), motion tracking, movie files with alpha layers and more. (And folks who’ve been dismayed to see a well-known competitor go to an all subscription basis will be pleased to note that you can actually own a copy of VideoStudio Pro X6, not just rent it!)
Ease of Use
VideoStudio Pro features a very intuitive user interface that takes you from the import to the export process in a breeze. At the top of the screen, you’re walked through the 3 basic steps of the editing process: Capture, Edit & Share. VideoStudio X6 works with all the latest camera formats, and as mentioned, this surprisingly includes 4K.
Everything’s here in the edit workspace, including a very visual depiction of your effect options.
The layout is very similar to any other editing program: you have your bin, timeline, and monitor. In VideoStudio Pro, the source and program monitor share a space to make the most of your available screen space, and the program will intelligently switch between the two depending on whether you’re setting in and out points on a clip in your bin, or working directly off the the timeline.
Converting a few clips from my DSLR to a Quicktime format that VideoStudio can work with was relatively quick and painless.
Depth of Options
For a program so affordable, it’s remarkable just how much you can do with it. In a world where video has become much more integrated with everyone’s everyday life on mobile devices and DSLRs, it’s not uncommon for the average person to be sitting on a wealth of video footage with no idea what to do with it. I’ve recommended VideoStudio Pro several times now to people looking to get into some basic editing, although the options go well beyond the basics.
Take the audio mixer for example: here you have the option to map your sound into 5.1 surround, and you can cross-fade and level your audio tracks with keyframes.
Your keyframe-based mixing options on your timeline should look familiar to any Premiere or Final Cut user.
In addition, in the new version, Corel has added a much needed “speed” control for fast and slow motion. I’m assuming this was probably a heavily requested feature.
Quickly do a time remap on your footage by adjusting the percentile values.
It should also be mentioned that many common video effects and color correction options are available here. With the purchase of the “Ultimate” edition for $20 more, you’ll get even more at your disposal.
Performance
While the very visually-based interface is probably comforting for the editing newbie, for someone used to Premiere and Final Cut, I found things to be a little clunky. The thumbnails of each effect, for example, taking up a good deal of screen real estate, it’d be nice to have the option to consolidate them to a list view. I also kept trying to use my familiar (and intuitive) keyboard shortcuts: “I” and “O” for my in and out points, which are substituted with F3 and F4 here. The option to configure your own hotkeys would speed up workflow a good deal once you’ve gotten used to the program.
Thumbnails let you quickly pull from a set of existing templates.
The inclusion of many preset templates for Text effects and graphics is also great, but at the same time, many of the default sound effects and graphics seem to clutter up your bin a good deal.
Setbacks aside, everything works relatively fast, playback of the clips was smooth, and just like much more expensive editing software, you’re given a multitude of formats you can export to.
Compress your clip for YouTube, burn a Blu Ray or DVD from your timeline, or even make a 3D or 4K file. It’s all here!
Value
Clocking in at $70 for the standard version, value is a department where Corel VideoStudio Pro X6 can’t be beat. It offers, more-or-less, all the features you can get from solutions like Final Cut Pro X or Adobe Premiere, at a fraction of the cost. It’s shocking to see a program this affordable offer 4K and 3D support, and it’s probably only a matter of time before Corel, or another developer, creates a real professional solution that will force some of the major players to respond (much in the way that Final Cut unseated Avid as the major NLE solution when it became available for a mere $1,000)
Final Comments
For anyone just getting started in video editing, I would say this would be the perfect gateway software. While the workspace could use a less “newbie-friendly” interface to allow for more efficiency and working with longer more complex projects, it is perfect for those that are just getting started. I’ll continue to recommend it for any budding filmmakers out there!
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Breakdown
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Ease of Use
|
9 |
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Depth of Options
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7 |
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Performance
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8 |
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Value vs. Cost
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9 |
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Overall Score |
8.3 |
Mark Colegrove
Mark Colegrove is the director of 2008's horror/comedy Isle of the Damned, which is self-distributed through his production company, Dire Wit Films. Based in Maryland, he currently produces corporate video and is working on his second feature, Driven to Succeed, a driver's ed comedy.