Ulead
Video Studio 11.5 Plus continues to extend the
boundaries of video presentation for the home user,
it exports professional results without the need
for in depth research and study. What makes this
application so acceptable is the user interface, it
so logically and clearly set out that it makes the
steps of capture, edit and export a breeze to work
with, of course taking into consideration that the
PC you use meets at least the minimum requirements
laid out in its user guide.
Corel recently took over Ulead and have done a fine job of implementing new and improved features to satisfy the video enthusiast, one of the most impressive features is that you can completely work with high definition video and burn the contents to dvd, the very latest formats are supported which include H.264, AVCHD, Divx, you can automatically create an intro to your main slideshow or video presentation, simply by selecting one of the tailor made themes whether it is wedding, travel or some other category. Another impressive feature is its timeline, you can actually expand the timeline to see in more detail your overlays whether it is picture in picture, video overlay, text or whatever else you have inserted, this assists in a more accurate edit. How about the feature of automatically adjusting the colour and tone of your imported video a worthy and well received addition to this impressive application. But one that should be worthy of note is the MPEG video optimizer that saves hours of encoding, you know the story you have spend ages getting your presentation right only to find that you will have to wait hours before you really find out whether the job is satisfactory or not, well Corel have really implemented a great new feature here. If you are a newcomer to video editing, then probably you would purchase the Ulead Video Studio 11 as opposed to the plus version, however as with both versions it has a nicely placed wizard which assists you from beginning to end, complete with DVD menus. If you like to play a bit more this application is one of the easiest to insert overlays simply by dragging the handles on each clip you can easily position and resize the object. It continues to use Smartsound which in my opinion is the best audio insertion program there is,simply because it stretches the style of music you have chosen to the desired length of your video clip, and automatically places an ending to the music clip, there are plenty of ways to tweaking the audio from your camcorder with Uleads built in audio enhancement to give that presentation the quality it deserves. Last but not least is the DVD menu section which presents high quality templates that can be modified for your personalized show putting pizzazz into your finshed project.
Whats New in 11.5
End-to-end AVCHD – (AVCHD on standard DVD) Author HD content (from AVCHD or HDV camcorder, or any other HD source) and burn to a standard DVD, using a standard burner.
• AVCHD discs with menus play back pristine HD video on your PC, Blu-ray Player or Sony PS3, or from disc based AVCHD camcorders.
• Supports standard screen sizes from SD to HD, 1280x720 to 1920x1080 as well as PAL and NTSC systems
• Audio formats include LPCM and Dolby 2.0 or 5.1.
M2TS (Transport Stream) import
• Import video files directly from AVCHD hard drive or memory card camcorders.
• Use the “Insert Video” function to preview clips and easily import to hard drive
• VideoStudio 11.5 Plus opens M2TS files that have been copied to your hard drive using other utilities.
Blu-ray Disc (BDMV) authoring
Now users can author HD productions in MPEG 2 HD format, with High Definition Type I motion menus, and burn them to Blu-ray Disc.
• BD supports standard screen sizes from 720 to 1920 as well as PAL and NTSC systems.
• Compliant video, (such as HDV) isn’t re-rendered, ensuring shorter encoding times and excellent picture quality.
• Supports Dolby® 2.0 and 5.1 audio formats
• Both single- and double-layer discs are supported.
H.264 High Profile (HD) encoding-
• Supports 1440x1080 and 1920x1080 output frame sizes.
• Encoding is optimized for multi-core processors, including Intel® Core™2 Duo and Core™2 Quad.
HD DVD on standard DVD Production
Users can author HD DVD productions with motion menus, and burn to standard DVDs.
• There is now a dedicated workflow for producing such “3X DVDs”.
• Choose a disc size and the capacity indicator will show how much space isavailable on the disc.
• HD DVDs play on set-top or PC HD DVD players, Xbox 360 HD DVD players, or standard PC DVD drives with appropriate software.
Native .TOD format (JVC HD Camcorder) import and editing
• VideoStudio 11.5 now offers support for importing and editing native .tod HD video from the latest JVC HD-7 camcorders. No conversion is required.
• VideoStudio 11.5 Plus fully supports all frame sizes offered by this camera, including the “FullHD” 1920x1080i frame size.
• MPEG Optimizer works with TOD video and VideoStudio will SmartRender it for more efficient performance.
New Menus, Templates and Overlay Graphics
Even users who have not made the jump to HD yet, are always looking for fresh content. The 11.5 Upgrade adds a set of rich, professionally-designed templates and graphics to the VideoStudio 11 Plus library:
• 8 New Movie Wizard templates for Home Movie and Slideshows, including powerful, eye-catching multiple-overlay sequences.
• 20 DVD Menus in text, thumbnail and unique One-Scene styles.
• 5 video frames for custom openings or segues.
• 19 Animated Flash overlays to enhance video.
• 5 Overlay mask frames for transparent overlays.
Direct YouTube™ upload
Sharing videos online has become one of the most popular activities in the wired world. The leader of this revolution is YouTube, and now VideoStudio makes it easier than ever to create and upload cool videos.
• After completing editing, users can select from a range of quality settings before video is encoded and uploaded directly to YouTube.
• Logging in and uploading all takes place from within VideoStudio.
In conclusion I have not touched on everything but I have presented what I believe to be the most exciting features in this impressive application, it is worth every penny and Corel have done a fine job in enhancing an already tried and tested program for the home user market, which yet produces professional results that go beyond the popular home movie, I rate this 9 out of 10.
Corel recently took over Ulead and have done a fine job of implementing new and improved features to satisfy the video enthusiast, one of the most impressive features is that you can completely work with high definition video and burn the contents to dvd, the very latest formats are supported which include H.264, AVCHD, Divx, you can automatically create an intro to your main slideshow or video presentation, simply by selecting one of the tailor made themes whether it is wedding, travel or some other category. Another impressive feature is its timeline, you can actually expand the timeline to see in more detail your overlays whether it is picture in picture, video overlay, text or whatever else you have inserted, this assists in a more accurate edit. How about the feature of automatically adjusting the colour and tone of your imported video a worthy and well received addition to this impressive application. But one that should be worthy of note is the MPEG video optimizer that saves hours of encoding, you know the story you have spend ages getting your presentation right only to find that you will have to wait hours before you really find out whether the job is satisfactory or not, well Corel have really implemented a great new feature here. If you are a newcomer to video editing, then probably you would purchase the Ulead Video Studio 11 as opposed to the plus version, however as with both versions it has a nicely placed wizard which assists you from beginning to end, complete with DVD menus. If you like to play a bit more this application is one of the easiest to insert overlays simply by dragging the handles on each clip you can easily position and resize the object. It continues to use Smartsound which in my opinion is the best audio insertion program there is,simply because it stretches the style of music you have chosen to the desired length of your video clip, and automatically places an ending to the music clip, there are plenty of ways to tweaking the audio from your camcorder with Uleads built in audio enhancement to give that presentation the quality it deserves. Last but not least is the DVD menu section which presents high quality templates that can be modified for your personalized show putting pizzazz into your finshed project.
Whats New in 11.5
End-to-end AVCHD – (AVCHD on standard DVD) Author HD content (from AVCHD or HDV camcorder, or any other HD source) and burn to a standard DVD, using a standard burner.
• AVCHD discs with menus play back pristine HD video on your PC, Blu-ray Player or Sony PS3, or from disc based AVCHD camcorders.
• Supports standard screen sizes from SD to HD, 1280x720 to 1920x1080 as well as PAL and NTSC systems
• Audio formats include LPCM and Dolby 2.0 or 5.1.
M2TS (Transport Stream) import
• Import video files directly from AVCHD hard drive or memory card camcorders.
• Use the “Insert Video” function to preview clips and easily import to hard drive
• VideoStudio 11.5 Plus opens M2TS files that have been copied to your hard drive using other utilities.
Blu-ray Disc (BDMV) authoring
Now users can author HD productions in MPEG 2 HD format, with High Definition Type I motion menus, and burn them to Blu-ray Disc.
• BD supports standard screen sizes from 720 to 1920 as well as PAL and NTSC systems.
• Compliant video, (such as HDV) isn’t re-rendered, ensuring shorter encoding times and excellent picture quality.
• Supports Dolby® 2.0 and 5.1 audio formats
• Both single- and double-layer discs are supported.
H.264 High Profile (HD) encoding-
• Supports 1440x1080 and 1920x1080 output frame sizes.
• Encoding is optimized for multi-core processors, including Intel® Core™2 Duo and Core™2 Quad.
HD DVD on standard DVD Production
Users can author HD DVD productions with motion menus, and burn to standard DVDs.
• There is now a dedicated workflow for producing such “3X DVDs”.
• Choose a disc size and the capacity indicator will show how much space isavailable on the disc.
• HD DVDs play on set-top or PC HD DVD players, Xbox 360 HD DVD players, or standard PC DVD drives with appropriate software.
Native .TOD format (JVC HD Camcorder) import and editing
• VideoStudio 11.5 now offers support for importing and editing native .tod HD video from the latest JVC HD-7 camcorders. No conversion is required.
• VideoStudio 11.5 Plus fully supports all frame sizes offered by this camera, including the “FullHD” 1920x1080i frame size.
• MPEG Optimizer works with TOD video and VideoStudio will SmartRender it for more efficient performance.
New Menus, Templates and Overlay Graphics
Even users who have not made the jump to HD yet, are always looking for fresh content. The 11.5 Upgrade adds a set of rich, professionally-designed templates and graphics to the VideoStudio 11 Plus library:
• 8 New Movie Wizard templates for Home Movie and Slideshows, including powerful, eye-catching multiple-overlay sequences.
• 20 DVD Menus in text, thumbnail and unique One-Scene styles.
• 5 video frames for custom openings or segues.
• 19 Animated Flash overlays to enhance video.
• 5 Overlay mask frames for transparent overlays.
Direct YouTube™ upload
Sharing videos online has become one of the most popular activities in the wired world. The leader of this revolution is YouTube, and now VideoStudio makes it easier than ever to create and upload cool videos.
• After completing editing, users can select from a range of quality settings before video is encoded and uploaded directly to YouTube.
• Logging in and uploading all takes place from within VideoStudio.
In conclusion I have not touched on everything but I have presented what I believe to be the most exciting features in this impressive application, it is worth every penny and Corel have done a fine job in enhancing an already tried and tested program for the home user market, which yet produces professional results that go beyond the popular home movie, I rate this 9 out of 10.
Corel Ulead Video Studio Plus 11.5 Review