Sunday, January 25, 2009

Video Editing Made Simple with Corel VideoStudio Pro X2



Video editing manufacturers are always trying to make video editing simpler to use, and include advanced features for the more advanced user. Corel is no different. Their VideoStudio Pro X2 is very simple to use, has a lot of features, and will make your home movies look professional. They also have the features to complement the new HD camcorders on the market today.
VideoStudio Pro X2 is an all-in-one solution. With it you can make professional looking HD or standard definition movies, slide shows, and DVDs. It allows you to capture videos and photos in HD or SD from camcorders, the internet, TV, digital cameras, and mobile devices. Once you have it captured, you can edit it with the included tools and include Hollywood style menus. You have the option to output the movies to HD or standard format, onto Blu-ray, AVCHD, DVD, mobile devices, or You Tube. Beginners can let The Movie Wizard do a majority of the work.
Some of the tools at your disposal are professionally designed theme templates and DVD menus. You can also add titles, transitions, music tracks, 100’s of effect filters, picture-in-picture, and even overlay objects and animation. There is even a new feature that allows you to paint, draw or write freehand on the video. You can even make your video look like film with the NewBlue Film effects filters. And if you really want to impress, you can take your stereo sound and encode it into 5.1 surround sound. VideoStudio ProX2 also comes with Corel WinDVD, so you can watch your end result of your Blu-ray, DVD, or AVCHD movie. If you recently upgraded to an HD camcorder, you will want to make sure your video editing software is up to the task. VideoStudio Pro X2 is up to the task.
Using the software proved to be very simple. It can literally be as easy as one, two, and three. One is for capture. That is where you import the video into your computer with the software, and can choose from analog camcorder, DV camcorder, import from disc (such as DVD), and mobile device. Two is for editing. And three is for share. This is where you choose how you want to export the file and in what format. Here you can choose from create video file, create audio file, create disc, export to mobile device, DV recording, HDV Record, or You Tube share online.
For those of you that are in the market for better video authoring and editing software, Corel’s VideoStudio Pro X2 should be on your short list to check out. It is simple to use for beginners, yet has advanced features that you can grow with. It works well, and the video looks great. For a full list of VideoStudeo's specifications and features check out Corel’s website. You can also download a trial version of the software to check it out yourself. It is at http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1175714228541#versionTabview=tab0&tabview=tab0. Happy editing.


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Saturday, January 17, 2009

CES 2009 Coverage

CES 2009 had a lot of different items this year. There were more manufacturers coming out with Blu-ray players and more models of them. Cell phones are getting more personalized with more color and style options as well as colorful cases to match your personality. SanDisk is coming out with a new mp3 player called Slot Radio player aimed at making it easier to have music you like on your player. It comes preloaded with over a 1000 songs in 7 or 8 preset categories such as Jazz or Country. You will also be able to buy additional cards with over 1000 songs in just a one category microSD card, or buy a newly released album on microSD instead of CD. The same trend can be found for laptop cases. There were also a few 1sts at the show, such as a portable Blu-ray player from Panasonic, and a Dick Tracy type cell phone watch from LG with a touch screen and mp3 player built in. Laptops are also coming out with many smaller models thanks in part to Intel’s Atom processor.
There was also some big news coming out of the show. Just as the Blu-ray format is starting to really catch on, its days appear to be numbered. It will not be this year, and may not even be in five years, but Blu-ray’s days are numbered. The new thing may just be soon to come in the form of flash cards such as SD cards. Up until now, they have been very convenient due to their size and fairly durable since they cannot be scratched like a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disk. But as the storage capacity has been increasing with SD cards having 32GB capacities are now available, they still do not have the capacity to be able to replace a Blu-ray disc. That will be changing in the near future with a new format called SDXC. Watch out Blu-ray. It is a new high capacity SD card that can hold up to 2TB of data. That is roughly the same capacity of 40 dual layer Blu-ray discs, and in just one small SD card! The specs are scheduled to be released here in the next few months. The new format is supposed to be backward compatible with your current SD cards, but unfortunately the new cards with not work in current SD drives found in computers, cell phones, mp3 players, and other devices currently on the market.

Video displays seemed to have the majority of the attention. Panasonic has an amazing front projector that has an internal lens setting so you can change from widescreen to cinemascope without the need of an expensive anamorphic lens attachment to the front of the projector. But most of the hype came from more traditional type displays. Flat screen TV’s using LED backlighting will soon be coming to market and with it an increase in energy savings and large increase in contrast to help make blacker blacks. Some TV’s are also getting very thin, as in around an inch thin, and some manufacturers such as Toshiba will be taking the bulk out by using a detached set-top box housing part of the circuitry previously found at the back of the TV. More are coming out with more advanced processing features, and Ethernet connections so widgets can be added. Some of you Vista users will already be familiar with using widgets. Now you will be able to check some items such as local weather and your stocks as if you were on your computer, but right from your TV instead.

3D TV was also getting a lot of attention at the show this year. There were varying degrees of success, but it looks better this year than in years past. But it appears there is no set format yet for it. Panasonic appears to be trying to change that. Their demo of 3DTV looked pretty good, but there was some content that appeared better than others. So it appears that content that was made for 3D and recorded in 3D had a much better presentation. They also showed off a Hollywood 3D video camera. It makes sense to have a set format for it, that way all the material as it comes out will be more standardized. I just hope it happens soon before too many manufacturers start creating their own. I would hate to have another format war.
This year’s show was very exciting. As you can see from the attached photos there was a lot to see. Look forward to seeing some of these products in upcoming reviews throughout the year. Some of them are already in the works. Thanks for reading.


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Monday, January 5, 2009

CES 2009 Coverage coming soon

Many of you, like myself, are eagerly awaiting the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for all the news of the latest and greatest to be coming out. Well, we will be happy to provide you with some of that. Please stay tuned. It all startes 1/8/09!


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