Flick through the pages of most computer magazines and you'll find lots of software applications for creating CDs, manipulating photos or editing home video.

For anyone new to computers, figuring out the best option can be daunting. Extreme Media's Digital Studio hopes that amalgamating MP3 management, image enhancement, video editing, CD recording and CD labelling into one package will make that decision easier.

The Studio has five applications including MGI VideoWave 4 SE for video, MGI PhotoSuite 4 SE for enhancing stills and Cakewalk Pyro 1 for managing an audio collection.

Of course, no media studio would be complete without CD recording software so NTI's new CD-Maker Plus 5 is included for transferring files to CD.

Finally, Print Shop Label Creator provides a way to create custom labels for CDs and DVDs.

We were very impressed with the full version of PhotoSuite 4, and MGI's trimmed down version provides enough digital features to retouch photos quite admirably. The editing kit includes image cloning, colour adjustment and red-eye tools, as well as a bundle of effects.

MGI's VideoWave 4 SE is also a limited version but we managed to capture, edit and output a short home movie in a couple of hours.

Finally, Cakewalk Pyro 1 provides a basic system for recording, playing and organising your music. You can 'rip' MP3 files from CD, record CDs, export to MP3 players and record from analogue sources.

Digital Studio combines a competent set of applications at a reasonable price. If you want to do more with video, audio and images, this is a great place to start. If you aim for professional looking results, you should expect to pay a lot more.

Price: £80 (inc. VAT)

Contact: Mindscape 01664 481 563
www.mindscapeuk.com

Also consider: Ulead Mediastudio Pro 6.5
The video editor's dream with added audio editing and DVD/Video CD authoring features. Not yet reviewed.