CyberLink PowerDirector 8 Deluxe

Video Upscaling and Fixing
A host of new tools and technologies are designed to save editing time and improve your video quality. Leveraging PowerDVD's video enhancing TrueTheater technology, PowerDirector delivers HD-like results from standard definition content by upscaling video resolution, smoothing out playback in slow motion and enabling virtual surround sound.
With easy-to-use settings, PowerDirector's TrueTheater technologies fix common video shooting errors such as extreme backlighting, poor white balance, and inadequate lighting.
Pro Results
PowerDirector 8's suite of design tools—for creating titles, animated objects, and disc menus—now offers a Particle Effects Designer, letting you experiment with movie-like special effects. As with PowerDirector's other design tools, particle effects can be uploaded and shared with other users on DirectorZone, PowerDirector's community website.
Enjoy working with more editing tools such as Reverse, Crop, Speed and Rotate video tools. For precise trimming, retain frame-level control with the patented Zoom-In Cut™.
While the expanded 16-track timeline offers more creative possibilities including the ability to cut & paste sequences to other parts of your production.

Faster Performance
The first consumer video editing software to be optimized for Intel Core i7, NVIDIA CUDA, and ATI Stream technology, PowerDirector delivers up to 5X faster performance for rendering effects and transcoding videos, with vastly improved editing and previewing speeds.

Shared Creativity
Ever wonder how home movies achieve memorable effects? Now you can by viewing other users' timelines and even sharing your own on DirectorZone.com. This unique glimpse into others' creative approaches is a remarkable learning tool, offering incredible insight for your own projects.
PowerDirector's unique "open editing" experience also lets you share special effects, video editing secrets, and a chance to learn from other users. Download, upload, and share an unlimited amount of effects, DVD menus, particle effects, and PiP objects via DirectorZone.
Ways to Show & Tell
Video editing software, PowerDirector, provides direct HD video uploading to Facebook and YouTube, enabling easy sharing on today’s most popular social networks and video blogging sites.
Or enjoy your finished movie in HD at home by producing Blu-ray Discs or AVCHD discs in high-definition resolution. If it's mobility you are after, you can produce playback files for your iPhone, iPod, or PSP.

System Requirements:

Operating System:

• Microsoft Windows 7, Vista or XP (Windows XP Service Pack 2 is required for HDV capture)

Screen Resolution:

• 1024 x 768, 16-bit color or above

Microphone

• Required for recording voice-overs

Processor:

PowerDirector 8 is optimized for CPU with MMX/SSE/SSE2/3DNow! Extension/HyperThreading technology

• AVI Capture/Production: Pentium 2 450 MHz or AMD Athlon 500MHz
• VCD Quality (MPEG-1) Profiles: Pentium 3 600 MHz or AMD Athlon 700MHz
• DVD Quality (MPEG-2) profiles: Pentium 4 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2200+
• High Quality MPEG-4 and WMV, QuickTime, RealVideo Profiles: Pentium4 2.4Ghz or AMD Athlon XP 2400+
• AVCHD and MPEG-2 HD Profiles: Pentium Core 2 Duo E6400 or Athlon 64 X2 5000+

Memory:

• 512MB required (2GB DDR2 above recommended for editing HD videos)

Hard Disk Space:

• 5GB required minimum (note: 400 MB is for Magic Music Library)
• 10GB (20 GB recommended) for DVD production
• 60GB (100 GB recommended) for Blu-ray Disc/AVCHD production

Video Capturing Device

• PCI or USB 1.0/2.0 capture device compliant with WDM standard (i.e. PC Camera and TV tuner with WDM driver)
• DV camcorder connected via OHCI-compliant IEEE1394
• DVD camcorder connected via USB 2.0
• Sony MicroMV camcorder
• JVC Everio camcorder (GZ-MC100, GZ-MC200)
• Sony HDR-FX1 (HDV)
• Sony HDR-HC1 (HDV)
• Sony HDR-HC1 (HDV)
• JVC GR-HD1U (HDV)

Supported AVCHD camcorders

• SONY HDR-SR1
• SONY HDR-UX1
• SONY HDR-CX7
• SONY HDR-SR7
• Panasonic SX5

Burning Device:

• A CD or DVD burner (CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or DVD-R/RW) is required to burn VCD/DVD/SVCD titles.
• A Blu-ray disc recordable drive is required to burn Blu-ray Discs.

Free Video Editing Software: Create & Edit Movies For Free

Looking for a good video editor or movie making software that you can download for free ?

It's only a myth that you need expensive video editors for video editing tasks like adding scrolling texts, subtitles or custom animations - you will find such features even inside free video editors that we discuss here to help you produce video podcasts, home movies and online web video easily.

But before that, do check the installation DVD that came with your handycam or digital camera - most camera vendors like Sony, Canon and Panasonic generally provide a decent video editing software with the camera. If that doesn't help, here's a list of best and free video editing software:

Windows Movie Maker - The best video editing tool for Windows that's absolutely free and chances are you already have it installed on your computer as part of XP SP2. Microsoft Movie Maker has all the basic video editing tools plus a good collection of transitions and video effects.

There's an in-built movie titler that lets add you styles to text titles including ticker taps, zoom and even the scroll effect. And if you are feeling lazy, just hit the AutoMovie command to have the entire video produced for you with intervention.

Related: How to Edit YouTube Videos with free video editing programs.

Avid Free DV - Avid Free DV, poor cousin of Avid Xpress Pro, has all the basic video and audio editing features and allow you to put video in two tracks simultaneously. They have an extensive collection of tutorials online to help you get started quickly.

Support both Mac OS and Windows XP platform. Infact, you can even play with keyframes for generating custom moves and transitions. Ships with the Avid Title tool.

Online Video Editing Programs

Jumpcut.com - Jumpcut is a web based video editing software and now it's even part of the Yahoo! family. You upload a video or small clips just like importing inside a desktop software.

There are dozens of transitions and special effects. You can import photographs from your Flickr or Facebook account to mix them with the videos. The jumpcut editor is intuitive enough and there is good title support as well. And your movies are published online automatically. Perfect for quick vlogging and video podcasting.

JahShaka* (discontinued) - An open source video editing software that is currently in Alpha stage but has features found only in expensive video editing software suites.

Works on Mac, Linux and Windows. The interface might take some time for you to get started otherwise the software is definitely the most powerful one out there. And the price is just right. $0. Also does 3D effects which you won't find in other free video editors.

Conclusion: While all the above free video editing software will satisfy the needs of most amateurs and home movie makers, you can probably consider Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, Ulead Studio, Sony Vegas, Nero or Muvee Auto Producer for more features and better control over the final video output. They have trial version to help you try out the software before actually buying it.

Best Software in Video Editing

When you are about to engage in video editing, you must answer this question first – What do you want to do? There are so many video editing tasks but you can’t possibly do everything unless you’re a pro. Most of today’s videographers prefer to do certain editing tasks but not all of them. So when choosing for the best software, you must consider the things that you’re planning to do; this is the only way of getting the best software for you to work with.

It’s ordinary to see a lot of attractive promos when you’re shopping for the best software, online and offline. There are even programs that come with a free camcorder; don’t be fooled by these things. Stick to your needs and get the appropriate software if you want to end up with a software program that’s useful.

Firstly, you need to look at the format. What is the format that you’re currently working on? Do you want to create a final video or movie of the same format? The input is largely determined by the material you’re using – a DVD recorder, camcorder, etc. The input may be standard definition or high definition. The output can be in DVD wherein MPEG2 files are written on the DVD, in HDD, Blue Ray Disc, handheld devices, computer viewing, and many other formats.

Focus on the source of your files because the output will be mostly of the same format. Choose software that ensures ease of work with the particular input format so that you will not encounter any difficulty.

Sellers of various software programs see to it that their products are ‘attractive’ to the eyes of customers. Even if the program is not what you want, the seller can make it something that you want and so you’re tempted to purchase such software program.

The next thing that you need to consider is transition. When a scene changes, you should insert transitions between the clips. Transitions can be straight cut or cross fade and there are still others that you can use. You see, each software program usually offers about 50 different transitions.

Overlay tracks is another great feature of editing software programs. You can see this effect on movies and TV shows. A very good example is the news wherein you can see the station logo, tape readout, and a video of the reporter on a particular scene. Controlling the overlay tracks is important so that you won’t make a mess on the video output.

The audio control feature is limited in most consumer video editing programs. Just as the word suggests, the software is used mostly for editing videos and not audio. If you want to have maximum audio control, get advanced software packages used by pros.

DVD authoring is another feature that attracts videographers. You can use this if you have high definition materials. Make sure that it provides 10-20 menu templates for full customization.

Rendering is one of the most important features. The file is not finished until you render it; all the changes you’ve made on the video material are ‘virtual’. After rendering, the final video material is saved in viewing format.

Still looking for the best software in video editing? Focus on your needs and wants. If you know the video editing tasks that you’re about to do, then you can easily purchase the right software.

The Magic in Video Editing

Do you have a lot of video tapes at home taken during the holidays, birthday parties, summer getaways, and many other special occasions? Perhaps some of them are merely sitting on the shelves and accumulating dust. Travelers usually carry camcorders because they want to have fun memories and souvenirs from a foreign place they’ve visited. Piles of video tapes are often no longer viewed but the magic in video editing changes that.



Digital camcorders are cheaper these days and so you can easily capture videos of high quality. If you have a capture card, good editing software, and computer at home, you can start editing the videos you’ve collected over the years. Once you have the final output, you can now watch it together with your friends.



Magic requires you to have windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP in order to use such program. It supports media formats like WMA, AVI, ASF, SND, WMV, AIFF, MPEG, AU, and QuickTime.



What can you do using Magic?



You can capture videos by simply using FireWire or USB input device. You can also give good grade effects to the videos you’ve collected. The video and audio components can be edited separately even if it is a single file only. Like other editing programs, you can also decorate the videos with over 150 transitions. It is also possible to overlay tracks with the use of Magic. Video files can be added with voiceover and background score. The timeline is one the most important windows in the editing software. In Magic, you can combine different file formats on the timeline.



If you think that these are all the things that Magic can do, you’re wrong. Other features that Magic offers are the following – include text titles, trim audios and videos, create DVD or VCD file formats, change contrast and color, rotate and zoom in/out video angles, and export videos to digi-cams.



Your videos will look like the videos created by the pros in no time. With Magic, professional editing is no longer expensive. The interface is drag and drop which makes it easier to capture the footage into the timeline. This is also the time to add background music, title effects, scene transitions, and other effects to finish your masterpiece. On the timeline, you can also add others file formats like WMV, AVI, JPEG, MPEG, and ASF. You can create a unique video or movie output in a matter of minutes.



The MPEG format is required if you want to create DVDs, SVCDs, and VCD. You can create a movie in PAL or NTSC standards.



The volume of the tracks in the video can also be displayed so that you can instantly change the audio clip’s volume to create dopler effects, fade outs, fade ins, and other volume effects.



With Magic, you can split, join, trim, crop, merge, and modify color of the video files. The transitions make it even more interesting for users to create ordinary videos which look like great art works.



It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a pro or an amateur. You see, with Magic, the basics are easily learned and in no time, you can start working on your video productions. It costs $39.95 but you can also try the trial version by downloading it.



Is Magic for you? Try it now and see if it works great.

Seven Free Downloads for Video Editing

For those who have already tried creating their own home videos, you can make use of these seven free downloads for video editing.



If you try to search the internet, you will notice that there are lots of software programs out there ranging from below $100 to over $500. Well, here’s great news – you can also download certain video editing programs for free. Even if you don’t have money, you can still use a decent video editing tool but you need to spend some time browsing the web.



For newbies, it would be best to make use of these free software programs so that you will learn the basics of video editing. Once you get used to using different software programs, you can now purchase complex ones that offer special effects and other fun stuffs. Commercial software programs are too complicated for beginners so you’d be better off with free software.



The top 7 downloadable video editors are the following:



Latest personal computers now have pre-installed video editors, the Windows Movie Maker. You can create new videos/movie and edit or share them. With a few drags and clicks of your mouse, you can create a movie. You can exclude bad shots and get only the best scenes. You can save the movie and perhaps share it via the internet, in a CD, or through email. If you save it on your computer or camcorder, you can play it over and over again.



For Mac, you can use the Apple iMovie. This is one of the easiest ways to create your own video. You can add new clips to your existing project or replace them. It also allows you to edit the audio as well. This software is free only if you have a Mac system. When the Advanced Tools are shown, you can use additional options like green-screen effects, picture-in-picture, and cutaways.



For Linux and PCs, you can use the Zwei-Stein freeware. You can make use of the advanced features it offers like making custom effects or you can also do panning and cropping.



Debugmode Wax may be outdated but it’s still great for video editing. The visual effects are flexible and so you can easily create superb video sequences.



Jashaka can be used for Linux, Mac, and PC. It makes use of the OpenML and OpenGL hardware which allows users real-time interactivity. The platform comes with image processing, paint, and full CG modules.



Virtual Dub offers very simple editing tools. If you’re an advanced editor, this software is not for you. If you have an existing video footage, you can use this software to make clean and simple edits. It can handle AVI files, read MPEG-1 and BMP images.



These six software programs are downloadable. Only then can you use the software to create or edit videos or movies. If you want to use another good online tool, you can use Jump Cut. However, this can only be used online and you can’t download it. With this tool, you can cut videos; add effects, photos and titles. With Jump Cut, you can upload media, share them, remix, create new movies, or publish it for your friends.



For your video editing needs, get a suitable software program. The free software are easy to work on and you will hardly encounter any problems.

Best Software in Video Editing

When you are about to engage in video editing, you must answer this question first – What do you want to do? There are so many video editing tasks but you can’t possibly do everything unless you’re a pro. Most of today’s videographers prefer to do certain editing tasks but not all of them. So when choosing for the best software, you must consider the things that you’re planning to do; this is the only way of getting the best software for you to work with.



It’s ordinary to see a lot of attractive promos when you’re shopping for the best software, online and offline. There are even programs that come with a free camcorder; don’t be fooled by these things. Stick to your needs and get the appropriate software if you want to end up with a software program that’s useful.



Firstly, you need to look at the format. What is the format that you’re currently working on? Do you want to create a final video or movie of the same format? The input is largely determined by the material you’re using – a DVD recorder, camcorder, etc. The input may be standard definition or high definition. The output can be in DVD wherein MPEG2 files are written on the DVD, in HDD, Blue Ray Disc, handheld devices, computer viewing, and many other formats.



Focus on the source of your files because the output will be mostly of the same format. Choose software that ensures ease of work with the particular input format so that you will not encounter any difficulty.



Sellers of various software programs see to it that their products are ‘attractive’ to the eyes of customers. Even if the program is not what you want, the seller can make it something that you want and so you’re tempted to purchase such software program.



The next thing that you need to consider is transition. When a scene changes, you should insert transitions between the clips. Transitions can be straight cut or cross fade and there are still others that you can use. You see, each software program usually offers about 50 different transitions.



Overlay tracks is another great feature of editing software programs. You can see this effect on movies and TV shows. A very good example is the news wherein you can see the station logo, tape readout, and a video of the reporter on a particular scene. Controlling the overlay tracks is important so that you won’t make a mess on the video output.



The audio control feature is limited in most consumer video editing programs. Just as the word suggests, the software is used mostly for editing videos and not audio. If you want to have maximum audio control, get advanced software packages used by pros.



DVD authoring is another feature that attracts videographers. You can use this if you have high definition materials. Make sure that it provides 10-20 menu templates for full customization.



Rendering is one of the most important features. The file is not finished until you render it; all the changes you’ve made on the video material are ‘virtual’. After rendering, the final video material is saved in viewing format.



Still looking for the best software in video editing? Focus on your needs and wants. If you know the video editing tasks that you’re about to do, then you can easily purchase the right software.

Linear Video Editing

Most of today’s emerging videographers are more familiar with non-linear video editing. But did you know that there is also the so called ‘linear video editing’? Prior to the introduction of computer-based editing software in the nineties, video editing was mainly linear.



The process involves selecting and arranging sounds and images on a videotape. Such sounds and images are also modified whether they are generated from computer graphics or video camera.



The medium used was primarily the television. Shot edits were done mostly in live TV productions. More than two cameras are used and the shot edits were executed by switching from one camera to another. Video switchers allowed the handling of several synchronized inputs and at the same time, mixing them into one output. With the use of the switcher, cuts are easily done in various video sources and in wipes, dissolves, and fades.



Modern live TV productions follow the same linear editing system but due to technological advancement, the productions are much more effective and efficient. The airing of shows over and over again was only possible with kinescope but that was before the videotape was invented. With kinescopes, picture degradation was a major problem as well as evident scan lines and image distortion. Delay on broadcasts was also another problem since the kinescopes were processed in film labs.



Because of the tiring procedure with kinescopes, the videotape was developed. After some time, videotape editing became viable just like film editing.



The first accepted videotape was the quadruplex recording, about two inches in width. The tape was cut and spliced to carry out editing tasks. The process was arduous and not many videographers performed it. It involved many disadvantages such as – you can’t use edited tapes again, you need to be skilled enough to carry out the process, lose sync, and each editing task requires several minutes (too time consuming).



Are you familiar with the TV show - ‘Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In’? This show utilized the arduous linear editing process. The hand editing was first developed in the 1960s. But since it involved problems like short buzzing (audio), it was not used all the time. This method was impractical for most producers. Producers are not familiar with the process and they can’t give their personal opinions. Documentary television productions hardly used video because of these problems.



Edit suites were developed by 1970s. It already involved the use of computers. Time codes were used to synchronize auxiliary devices and tape machines. CMX, Ampex, and Sony created the edit systems. Only high-end productions were able to access the edit suites because most of them are very expensive.



Today, linear video editing is still being used in newsrooms and some production facilities where newer technologies are not available. Because of the improvement in today’s technology, linear editing is less complex. As compared to non-linear editing, linear editing will require you to carefully learn the skills of a good videographer. However, if video editing is just your hobby, you can opt for non-linear editing.



Video editing has a very interesting history. Just imagine the videographers cutting tapes and putting the together again to create a final production; it was really expensive, time consuming, and arduous. Thanks to the modern technology, video editing is already possible even in the comfort of your home.



Still, if you want to try linear editing, start gathering experience now.