Serif Movie Plus 4

Serif's MoviePlus 4 video-editing suite moves into a crowded market, with well-known competitors from Adobe, Pinnacle, Roxio and Ulead having flourished with the growth of affordable digital camcorders. So what can MoviePlus 4 offer to attract you away from its rivals?

Despite its modest price, this isn't a complete beginners' product. It doesn't have much in the way of wizard-based tasks and expects you to be able to work your way around what at first glance appears a complex editing screen.

In fact, it's all logically arranged, with areas devoted to video objects, their properties, a preview of your video and the timeline. There's no storyboard view of your video, though.

The timeline is an essential tool in editing your video. From left to right, it shows where all the video clips and stills appear chronologically, while from top to bottom you can see how one object overlays another.

MoviePlus allows for unlimited video and audio tracks, unusual at this price, and provides facilities for picture-in-picture and transparency, which is useful for adding effects like semi-transparent titles and credits.

A number of different video goodies are provided, including chroma key or matte effects, which enable figures to be superimposed on new backgrounds, which can be fun. Effects can be applied to individual tracks or to tracks you've grouped together.

As well as working with video clips, you can incorporate still images, but not just as backdrops. With timed panning and zooming, you can imitate the kind of rostrum camera work often seen in TV documentaries.

When it comes to burning a DVD or Video CD, Serif bundles a 'Serif Edition' copy of Sonic's MyDVD. This is a well-regarded application which can add a DVD menu in any of 32 different styles that are professionally designed and certainly improve a finished DVD's ease of use.

Considering all its tools, MoviePlus 4 has something for the beginner and more advanced video junkie, which is stunning for the price.