Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Got the itch for some new software? This is a good week to buy it - Corel is offering some steep discounts on some of their software - most notably 50% off on VideoStudio Pro X2, making it only $49.99 USD - I've tested it before and it's some pretty darn good software! And they're offering free shipping to boot on any order over $49.

"It’s always very difficult to review a package like Corel’s VideoStudio Pro X2 Ultimate in a succinct way because there’s just so much to it. Not only could you write pages about the main video editing/authoring application, but you could write just as much about the four bonus applications. It isn’t a massive upgrade from the previous version, but Corel has tweaked enough features to make it a more impressive overall package. VideoStudio Pro X2 Ultimate is still a mid-level video editing application, but compared to the likes of Pinnacle Studio and Adobe Premiere Elements, it holds its own very well. When it comes to the crunch these two competing titles have more raw editing power for around the same price, but neither comes with as many features or is as easy to use. Corel really knows how to put the value back into software."

Looks like an incremental update, but like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 has everything you need to create stunning photos. The integrated Learning Center and a selection of one-click photo-fixing tools make it easy to correct common photo flaws such as red eye, color and sharpness. Unique makeover tools let you whiten teeth, remove blemishes and paint on a tan, so you can make everyone look their best before printing or posting photos online. As your skills and confidence grow, you can harness the power of professional-quality features such as HDR Photo Merge, Histogram, Curves and Levels Adjustment tools to make precision edits. You can even get creative with artistic effects and filters to turn your favorite photos into fun projects to share with family and friends."

Hot on the heels of the VideoStudio Pro X2 announcement, Corel has an update to the venerable Paint Shop Pro product line: the Photo X2 Ultimate version. I haven't used Paint Shop Pro in years, but just the fact that it does HDR photos was enough to catch my attention - my current version of Photoshop Elemenst (6.0) doesn't to HDR photos and it's something I've been wanting to experiment with. Paint Shop Pro also supports over 250 different digital camera raw formats, so if you don't feel like dishing out the $299 for Adobe Lightroom, this might be a good solution (though clearly it won't have the same type of workflow). There's a nice bundle that Corel is offering which gives you both Paint Shop Pro Ultimate Photo X2 and VideoStudio Pro X2 for $149. The full press release is after the break. Read more...

"Corel VideoStudio® Pro X2 is an all-in-one video-editing software for creating high-quality HD and standard-definition movies, slide shows and DVDs. Edit video or photos quickly and easily using the Movie Wizard, or take full control with hands-on creative tools. Even paint, write or draw on your video. Burn your movies on DVDs, or high-definition AVCHD and Blu-ray discs. Share on PSP®, iPod® or iPhone®, upload directly to YouTube. Watch your movies on set-top players or with the included Corel® WinDVD®."

Formerly known as Ulead VideoStudio, Corel is slowly changing the Ulead brand into their own, and this latest release of VideoStudio looks like a solid one with exciting new features. One thing that caught my eye right away is that it's optimized for Intel Quad Core CPUs - meaning that when it's rendering video, I expect to see it happily using up all four cores to get maximum performance out of the CPU I'm using on my video editing computer. Compare that with Pinnacle Studio 12, which uses about 15% of my total CPU power when rendering video, and you can tell which one I'll likely prefer to use. Some other notable new features include the Painting Creator, which allows you to draw directly onto your video frames, and Smart Proxy editing which allows you to work quickly and easily with HD video clips by only changing the parts that it needs to change - meaning less overall system load. With the full version costing $99, this is a compelling alternative to Adobe Premiere Elements.

As a side note, I registered an account at Corel's Web site to download the trial version (I'm in Seattle right now, and the my press copy of the software is at home), only to be directed to a download page at CNET, so I felt a little tricked - go to the CNET download page and grab the file yourself. This system is still better than Sony's system though where, when you download a trial version of their video editing software, they force you to register the software before you can use it. I find it quite impressive that the software was just released yesterday and it already has 1.9 million downloads at the time of this writing.

The full press release is after the break. Read more...

"Whereas some might prefer the traditional interface and stability of CyberLink's PowerDVD 8 Ultra (£65/$99), WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray is definitely the current champ. Having said that it’s not without its faults. Most noticeable is that you can’t select WinDVD 9 for playing only some video and audio file formats, as it does not use file associations. This means you can’t designate it as your default player for MPEG-2 HD and use something else for MOV and WAV files. Also, load times for movies stored on your HDD are long. Still, while it’s not entirely perfect, Corel has a winner on its hands - at least until the next release of PowerDVD."



Sure, there are cheaper and free options that do a nice job of playing video on the PC. But, if you watch a lot of movies on your PC, you might appreciate the extra features this software brings to the table.

Here's our 13th giveaway (lucky number 13!), courtesy of Corel: two copies of Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus, valued at $129.99 USD each, will be given away. Here's a bit about the product:

"VideoStudio 11.5 Plus is video editing and DVD authoring software for anyone who wants to easily produce professional-looking videos, slideshows, and DVDs. Work quickly with intuitive wizards, or express your creativity with hands-on editing tools. Share your movies everywhere, on iPods, YouTube, or the latest HD home theater systems, with full support for AVCHD, Blu-ray and HD DVD discs."



Here's how to enter: just post a message as a reply telling me which feature you think will be the most useful to you in your video editing projects. That's it! There's one post per person allowed, and two winners will be randomly chosen. The contest will stay open for entries until April 7th, 2008.

Special thanks to Corel for their donation of this software!

Here's our eighth giveaway, courtesy of Corel: two copies of Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus, valued at $69.99 USD each, will be given away. Here's a bit about the product:

"DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus is easy-to-use disc authoring and burning software that lets you do more with your standard or High-Definition digital media. Create HD or standard discs with studio-quality personalized menus. Use the new Edit Room to add polish to your videos, with titles, music and effects. Archive, share and play your music, data, photos and videos on CD, DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc."



Here's how to enter: just post a message as a reply telling me what sort of DVDs you'd like to burn with this software. Family videos for safe keeping? TV shows or personal DVDs? Videos of your pet hamster? There's one post per person allowed, and two winners will be randomly chosen. The contest will stay open for entries until April 7th, 2008.

Special thanks to Corel for their donation of this software!

Here's our sixth giveaway, courtesy of Corel: two copies of Intervideo WinDVD 8 Platinum, valued at $69.99 USD each will be given away. Here's a bit about the product:

"InterVideo WinDVD 8 is the world's #1 DVD and video playback software, with over 175 million copies sold worldwide. Enjoy crystal-clear, smooth playback of your standard and High-Def video and audio. Movie buffs, frequent flyers and anyone who enjoys watching video clips on a PC will enjoy the WinDVD 8 digital entertainment experience."


Here's how to enter: just post a message as a reply telling me what your favourite movie is on DVD. That's it! There's one post per person allowed, and two winners will be randomly chosen. The contest will stay open for entries until April 7th, 2008.

Special thanks to Corel for their donation of this software!

"VideoStudio 11.5 Plus is video editing and DVD authoring software for anyone who wants to easily produce professional-looking videos, slideshows, and DVDs. Work quickly with intuitive wizards, or express your creativity with hands-on editing tools. Share your movies everywhere, on iPods, YouTube, or the latest HD home theater systems, with full support for AVCHD, Blu-ray and HD DVD discs."



It's not often you see much thunder about dot releases, but this 11.5 release has a significant number of new features in it. The direct to YouTube upload feature caught my eye, because I use that a great deal with Premiere Elements - when it's not crashing on me. The full text from the press release is after the break. Read more...

Here's our third giveaway, courtesy of Corel: two copies of Corel DVD Copy 6 Plus, valued at $49.99 USD each. Here's a bit about the product:

"Corel® DVD Copy 6 Plus makes copying DVDs and converting video easy. Enjoy full disc copying features, and convert video in three simple steps for sharing by email, on the Web, iPod®, iPhone™, PSP®, Zune™, mobile phones or portable media players. Easy, fast and reliable, DVD Copy 6 lets you take your video where you want to go. DVD Copy offers a simple process to complete most tasks: Just choose Source, Target drive and Format, click Start, and you're on your way to a perfect copy!? Copy video directly from the internet, make perfect 1:1 copies of DVDs, or select just the chapters you want to copy."


Here's how to enter: just post a message as a reply telling me either what features in Corel DVD Copy 6 Plus would be the most useful to you. There's one post per person allowed, and two winners will be randomly chosen. The contest will stay open for entries until April 7th, 2008.

Special thanks to Corel for their donation of this software!