As usual for this week’s Friday Roundup there is my usual collection of tips and interesting news items on the subject of video editing down towards the bottom of the page.
But before I get to that I wanted to directly refer to a couple of specific news items that I think are of interest.
Adobe Release Premiere Elements 12
You may have noticed there was a flurry of activity on this site a few months back when Adobe announced they were changing their licensing structure from perpetual licenses to a subscription model.
At the time my disagreement with the move was not how they were licensing but the way they went about changing it on their existing customer base without consultation or even agreement.
I also noted that I felt Adobe’s attention to the consumer end of the market had waned substantially and that they seemed to be treating the lower end of their customer base with disdain.
With the release of Premiere Elements 12 as an upgrade to version 11 I think it is safe to say that waning enthusiasm for you the consumer has accelerated!
In the coming weeks I will most likely overcome the overwhelming sense of boredom that this release has created within me and write a review but until then here the important points:
1. The biggest change to the software is that they have changed the 11 in the version number to 12.
2. They have added a feature called “Guided Edits.”
Essentially this is a wizard based interface that guides you through the editing process. This is a feature that Corel, CyberLink and Magix have had for at least 5 years, probably more.
3. They have added 50 soundtracks that you can use in your projects.
Really? That’s it? Again, the competition have been offering this for at least 5 years.
4. Sound Effects.
Yawn, they added sound effects, someone hold me down!
5. Auto Smart Tone.
An automatic feature that remembers your correction preferences and offers up the most common correction settings that you use.
This has been carried over from Photoshop Elements 12 and is kind of silly. It assumes that you are going to make the same mistakes or have the same imbalances etc. in your footage over and over and that’s just… silly.
6. Film Looks.
More filters to make video look like film. I don’t have words to describe just how pathetic it is that Adobe would think the public to be so stupid that they think this is of any value whatsoever.
7. Motion Tracking.
Again Adobe arrives at least five years late to the party.
This new version indicates that as far as their consumer level editing programs go they are either completely out of ideas or are just not interested anymore.
With that out of the way let’s move on to more pleasant news!
Magix Releases Movie Edit Pro 2014
Now that I have totally trashed the Adobe offering for 2014 let’s get into Magix and see what they have come up with for Movie Edit Pro!
Of course it will be with a great deal more enthusiasm that I update the full review but in the meantime here are the highlights.
They have added:
1. Color Correction
By adding the NewBlue set of effects they have followed the current trend of adding color correction to the program.
Although this is not a pro grade color correction module, for the average user more than you will need.
2. Animated titles using the ProDad set of tools.
3. Proxy editing for HD and 4K resolution video files.
If you are handling these very resource intensive files then the average computer can struggle to find the processing power to keep up.
The solution Magix have introduced is to create small low resolution proxy files which you use to make all you editing choices.
Once finished you can then apply those choices to your project which will use the original HD files to create the perfect output.
4. Added 4K resolution support.
5. Interface Housekeeping.
Reorganization of a number of aspects of the user interface.
They have tidied up the assets library as well as the toolbar and the icons on it to make navigating around a little more intuitive.
6. Put the graphics processor to work!
Finally they have restructured the software’s architecture to make use of any available processing power offered by your computer’s graphics card.
That’s just a few of the new or improved features and hopefully I’ll have a full review done in the coming week.
All in all there is nothing world changing in this new version but they already had a pretty good program and the changes they have made have definitely added value.
Click here to take a look at the existing Magix Movie Edit Pro Review.
Or here to take a look at the new version on the magix site: Magix Movie Edit Pro 2014
This Week’s News and Stuff
Let’s start of with some videos to watch!
PowerDirector – Making & Using Frames Tutorial
Corel Videostudio Pro X6, Batch Convert & Snapshots
The Next GoPro
With an almost unprecedented penetration of the market the GoPro has become the video camera of choice for a remarkably large sector of the population.
It’s been about a year since the GoPro 3 was released so the rumours of the next stage in its development have begun.
Low Budget Action
If you fancy yourself as an up and coming film director or simple want to add a few tricks to your arsenal there is always something to learn from the pros.
One of the great challenges in trying to not let your projects look amateurish is when you are attempting to edit action sequences.
Now you may not be quite ready to go out and film a few car chases with guns blazing but on the other hand a room full of five year olds provides plenty of action!
Small Camera Tips
The devices we use to capture both video and still images seem to get smaller and smaller all the time.
Although the convenience if this cannot be argued with a fresh set of shooting problems inevitable arise. There are a number things you can do to offset these disadvantages whilst still benefiting from that added convenience.
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