Magix Movie Edit Pro 200

It was in our video-editing group test in February that we last saw what relative newcomer Magix had to offer. We were keen to see how its latest foray into digital video would fare and, on first impressions, there's little to distinguish Movie Edit Pro 2004 from its predecessors.

The interface looks identical and, while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, there appears to have been little improvement in its usability, with wizards still missing. Indeed, we were left scratching our heads and wondering just how to import digital footage. There's a useful tutorial and introductory video, though, which soon got us up to speed on the basics.

The interface is businesslike, with its overall dark grey theme alleviated only by colourful, illuminated buttons. The layout is standard fare for the genre, with the editing space occupying the bottom half and the video preview and browser-like media pool at the top. Those with dual-monitor setups will find provision for the video preview and controls to be transferred to the secondary display.

From the capture window, digital and analogue video can be imported with ease and, when working with analogue footage, there's a handy utility designed to automatically detect scene breaks. Audio clips and images can be imported from here too, with the sound clips created by the audio commentary facility found on many digital cameras also carried across.

In storyboard mode, there's little to distinguish Movie Edit Pro from the competition. Captured digital video is split into scenes and placed into the storyboard ready for titles, transitions and additional audio. Previous concerns regarding the placement of transitions have been addressed and they can now be added via drag and drop, or via the transition box in between adjacent clips.

It's in timeline mode though, that Movie Edit Pro really comes into its own and video, audio and images can be dragged and dropped here and moved around at will. Cross-fades can be generated by overlaying clips, and more than 170 transitions are provided, some of which are of more use than others.

Curiously, the total number of timeline tracks has been halved to 16, but this ought to be enough for most purposes and we weren't unduly concerned. Handles on the clips provide access to basic editing shortcuts and fades, while right-clicking opens up further options including advanced transition editing, panning and image stabilisation. The latter is impressive, as it analyses a user-defined region of the footage and shifts it around to compensate for camera shake.

Another feature rarely seen outside much more expensive video editors is compositing. The so-called 'Blue Screen' technique, along with other advanced effects, such as picture in picture, can be configured in the Realtime Video FX Editor where much fun can be had exploring the creative possibilities.

Audio is also well catered for and, as well as the separate 16-track mixer, there are a number of virtual effects racks from where a range of equalisation, compression and echo effects can be added.

A wide array of output options for finished projects are available and, apart from the usual DVD, Mini DVD and VCD, movies can also be exported in Quicktime, Realmedia and Windows Media streaming formats. Also on the new feature list is support for hard disk TV recording, for those with a compatible TV card installed.

Video clips and animated backgrounds can be used within DVD menus and, while we've seen much of the associated menu artwork before in previous Magix products, most layout aspects are customisable to a large degree.

An obligatory second disk packed with additional transitions, sounds effects and copyright-free video clips is also included, as is Magix's own Media Manager application.

Usability issues aside, there is still much to recommend in Movie Edit Pro. The video effects look very promising and those using the timeline should find it most rewarding. With a new version of our current favourite, Ulead's Videostudio, hot on its heels, though, the recommended retail price of £50 does seem a little high.

Contact: Fasttrak 01923 495 496
www.fastrak.co.uk

System requirements:

• Windows 98 and above
• 450MHz processor -
• 128MB of Ram -
• 600MB of hard disk space -
• 800 x 600 16bit graphics with DirectX 8a support -
• 16bit sound card -
• Firewire port or Directshow-compliant video capture device