Manifest Tech Blog

Sony Creative Software continues to enhance its collection of consumer media editing tools with Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 for "professional-quality" video editing and disc authoring, at a consumer price just below $100.

This new version features end-to-end support for stereoscopic 3D editing, along with enhancements including GPU-accelerated AVC rendering and the Blu-ray and DVD authoring in the separate DVD Architect Studio 5.0.

This splitting of functionality into separate focused applications is a trademark of the Sony venerable Home Studio line, which also includes two other separate audio tools, focused on audio vs. music (see earlier post): Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 for audio editing and production ($64, see earlier post) and ACID Music Studio 8 for music creation and mixing ($64).

Vegas Movie Studio is designed for people who want to do significant editing -- It's not an "EZ" editor with lots of one-click fixes and step-by-step wizards. Instead, it's a pro-style editor, with timeline editing, keyframed video effects and transitions, text animations and effects, and audio effects down to the event level. Plus it incorporates pro technology including stabilization, green screen, color correction, and support for pro cameras including DVCAM.

Another Sony trademark is deep access to options and features, with a wide range of options and features available in the menus and dialogs. The profusion can sometimes be overwhelming, especially with Sony's sometimes idiosyncratic design and terminology.

But Vegas Movie Studio continues to satisfy if you're looking for a consumer-priced editing tool that will keep offering options instead of getting in your way as you fine tune the subtle details of your production.

The core Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 is priced at $94.95, with AVCHD video, 5.1 sound, and DVD Architect Studio. And the Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Production Suite for $124.95 bundles Sound Forge Audio Studio and more effects.

See my full article: Summary: Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11

See summaries of video applications and versions in my Video Editing Software Gallery.

Find Sony Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 and Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Suite on Amazon.com

Samson Zoom H1 Handy Recorder is a small and light and relatively inexpensive professional handheld audio recorder with a smart design that makes just the right trade-offs -- at least for my needs.

At around 5 1/4 inches long and 1 ounce, it's easy to carry for capturing events, and it's lightweight enough to attach to a camera (with a tripod mount, plus a line out jack to feed directly into the camera audio input).

But the key to the H1 is the ease of use -- It has the controls and options that you need, all implemented with physical buttons and switches. You can set and check the settings directly, without needing to page through menus to make sure you don't have some options messed up.

The key recording features provide clean control over monitoring and recording the input signal:

• Onboard directional stereo microphones, configured in X/Y pattern for 90 degree stereo imaging
• 1/8" stereo input for external recorders, at Line or Mic levels
• 1/8" stereo output to monitor the input, for Headphone of Line level -- plus a mini built-in mono speaker in the base of the unit
• Live stereo recording level meter, with recording / peak LED (blinks if input too loud)
• Input level controls to adjust recording gain, with optional Auto-Level adjustment
• Optional Lo Cut input noise reduction filter
• Volume controls for output jack or speaker
• Play controls to review and delete files, add track marks

The result is a nice compact package that's quite light, but doesn't seem cheap or less durable. The straightforward controls let you set up the recording the way you want, confirm the set-up by visually checking the switch positions, and then monitor the live recording status and levels on the LCD display.

Even better, the Zoom H1 Recorder is priced around $99. Also check out the Zoom H1 Accessory Pak for around $20 that includes a nice compact and secure padded-shell case, windscreen, adjustable tripod table stand, mic clip adapter, and USB AC adapter and cable.

See my Audio Accessories Gallery for more on audio components.

Find the Zoom H1 Recorder
and H1 Accessory Pak on Amazon.com

Today's video editing software running on mainstream personal computers can handle even high def material with aplomb. But we demand more -- beyond HD to 2K and 5K cinematic resolutions, real-time editing of complex compressed formats like AVCHD, and building multitudes of layers on the timeline while applying sophisticated effects like color correction. And then we'll move on to 3D video...

So how can we keep up?

One answer is raw speed from the CPU (central processing unit), but the growth in GHz is peaking, as chips are expanding instead with multiple processing cores. Luckily, this parallel processing capability matches nicely with the demands of video editing, particularly decoding and encoding video stored in multiple blocks of data.

Meanwhile, the CPU-sucking needs of the gaming market has lead to the development of sophisticated GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) chips to off-load drawing in the frame buffer, including shapes, textures, and blending. Working together, multi-core CPUs plus parallel GPUs can allow PCs to challenge the performance of dedicated gaming systems.

Even better, GPUs also do the kinds of things that we want for video editing -- not just drawing pixels, but transforming and warping, merging and blending.

So while CPU chips have been adding integrated graphics capabilities, which are particularly useful for lower-cost and lower-power systems, the combination of a powerful multi-core CPU and video card with parallel GPU can provide a serious kick to accelerate your video editing experience.

Today's video editing tools, including Apple Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, and Sony Vegas Pro 10 leverage the capabilities of GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA for tasks including accelerated AVC / H.264 encoding and rendering, real-time effects, and specialized tasks such as motion and scaling, time remapping, compositing, opacity, deinterlacing, and the handling of multi-format timelines.

If you're thinking about accelerating your video editing, see my full article in Videomaker Magazine for more on evaluating your options for GPUs.

See my Video Editing Software Gallery for information and links on video editing tools.

Apple has released its first incremental update to Final Cut Pro X, modestly numbered 10.0.1 (see earlier post). This is a start at addressing the anguished response of its customers to this gloriously re-imagined application -- that also lost favorite features and removed support for interchange with other tools (see comments from Apple at Loop and MacWorld).

This is a free upgrade to the $299.99 application, available at the Mac App Store. Apple also now is offering a 30-day free trial for you to try out.

Apple describes this software update as offering the expected improvements to "overall stability and performance," plus:

- For better compatibility with your other tools, it adds project import and export in XML format to third-party applications and a camera import interface for camera manufacturers to write plug-ins for importing native media.

- To assist the editing workflow, it adds full-screen support on OS X Lion, single-step transitions on connected clips, and faster GPU-accelerated export.

- And for more complex projects, it supports shared media and projects and events on Xsan, and new Roles tag to label clips and export as a single movie or as separate stems.

Apple also has pre-announced two important features now promised for "early 2012" -- Multicam editing and broadcast-quality video monitoring.

But there's no news on other key missing features, such as importing projects from previous versions of Final Cut Pro.

See full article: Summary: Apple Final Cut Pro X for more on the re-imagined application.

See my Video Editing Software Gallery for information and links on video editing tools.

New Features in the Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 update ...

Corel MotionStudio 3D brings 3D animation to video enthusiasts, including flying and popping text, bouncing, twisting, and exploding 3D objects, and even fire and smoke particle systems.

What Corel has done with this new product is to build on the base of a traditional object modeling and animation tool, and enhance it for use by video editors.

Instead of needing to become a 3D export, you can get started with the library of hundreds of pre-built objects, and then apply hundreds more looks, effects, and animations.

Then customize the objects with deep control over the 3D attributes, and customize the animation with keyframe control in the timeline.

Plus, you can add your own elements by importing your own 2D graphics which are extruded to 3D, or create your own 3D objects by building solid objects from shapes.

Add more elements to build an entire scene, with global effects including fire, shadow, reflection, glow, lens flare, motion blur, and depth of field.

The result can be a single animated 3D object (flying text or spaceship), a mini-story overlay (with multiple objects, fire, smoke), or a fully animated scene.

You then can export in common video formats to play or include in other productions, especially with alpha channel for blending. Or export animations for the Web, or direct as 3D videos.

MotionStudio 3D is an impressive new product, making cool 3D effects possible for video enthusiasts. It's available as a download for $99.99 from Corel. Download the fully-functional trial version to try it out.

See my article for more on the features and interface --
Walkthrough: Corel MotionStudio 3D

    Find the Corel MotionStudio 3D on Amazon.com

Does your computer feel sluggish when you're editing? Maybe it's time to upgrade to take advantage of the latest round of technology so you can reach 64-bit, multi-core, GPU-accelerated, warp-drive video processing nirvana.

While it's always the situation that "there's never been a better time to get a new computer," this is more true than ever -- with the completion of the transition to 64-bit computing, widespread support for multi-core CPU and GPU acceleration, and major boosts in disk interface speeds.

Even better, there's an even broader range of options for configuring a system to your particular needs, not only with dedicated editing workstations and cutting-edge desktop systems, but also with powerful laptops that can support intensive video work.

The goal is to provide the right combination of hardware to assist your editing software in providing the best editing experience -- with real-time playback of layered timelines, instant preview of edits and effects, and background rendering for export while you continue to work.

So what are the best trade-offs to best invest for your needs?

Your first priority with today's 64-bit software clearly is to bulk up on the local memory to provide more elbow room to directly process sequences.

You'll also benefit from a faster processor with more cores, especially if you often edit native compressed formats like AVCHD, or encode to multiple compressed formats.

Stepping up the GPU (see earlier post) can significantly speed up your workflow, especially if you have effects-heavy timelines with multiple tracks with multiple effects.

And the disk drive capacity and performance has become more important when editing multiple files and higher resolutions, especially if you tend to composite many layers in your timelines.

But the real question is how well your preferred video editing software takes advantage of these capabilities, so build up from the system requirements for products like Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Apple Final Cut Pro X, and Sony Vegas Pro 10. These companies also work with partners to recommend step-up systems for more advanced editing.

See my full article in Videomaker Magazine - Recommendations for the Best Video Editing Computer - for more on configuring a video editing system.

And see my previous article - Getting into GPUs - for more on accelerating video with GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit).

See my Video Editing Software Gallery for information and links on video editing tools.

The new Corel MotionStudio 3D offers great power for adding 3D text and graphics animations to your video productions - with animated extruded text, flying and exploding 3D objects, and naturalistic fire and smoke. Even better, it is designed for enthusiast video editors, with an accessible interface to help you quickly create sophisticated animations from pre-built components, and it's priced at only $100.

MotionStudio 3D comes with an extensive library of more than 140 pre-defined objects, including spinning globes, turning gears, and flying spaceships. Then you can select from hundreds of materials, object styles, and animated effects to customize the objects in the scene. Plus, all this power also works with 3D animated text, plus particle effects including bubbles and snow.

After you assemble your scene, you can add global effects, including lightning, fireworks, and clouds, and add realism with lens flares, shadows, reflections, motion blur, and even depth of field. Then set the final scene view with backgrounds, global lighting, and camera settings.

Of course, you also can dig in further to customize the object attributes and fine-tune the keyframed animation. But all the heavy lifting of setting up the objects, attributes, motion, and scene can be done as simply as drag and drop from the library.

Underneath, MotionStudio 3D is built on a core of a quite powerful traditional 3D modeling and animation tool. You can import and export 3D geometric models in common modeling formats (DirectX and 3D Studio), build complex models from scratch with detailed materials, and combine objects into hierarchical structures (such as tires on a car). You then can keyframe animate the object shapes and motion, and build entire 3D scenes, complete with lighting and camera control.

Corel MotionStudio 3D is an impressive re-packaging of traditional 3D modeling into a nicely accessible tool for video editing enthusiasts. You can create quite effective text and graphics animations without being a 3D expert by using the supplied models, styles, and effects. And the underlying 3D modeling architecture provides lots of headroom to further customize your productions with your own objects, textures, and motions.

See review in Videomaker magazine: Corel MotionStudio 3D Editing Software

See my article for more on the features and interface --
Walkthrough: Corel MotionStudio 3D

    Find the Corel MotionStudio 3D on Amazon.com

This is the year for 3D, and Sony Creative Software has stepped up with Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11, with import from 3D video and still image formats, editing and previewing on 3D monitors, or on standard monitors with red/cyan glasses, and sharing on YouTube 3D or Blu-ray 3D disc. It also adds improved GPU-accelerated AVC rendering, support for more progressive HD project formats, title and text animations and effects, and other workflow improvements.

Sony has continued its legacy of providing a family of consumer applications instead of a single integrated tool, with DVD Architect Studio 5.0 for DVD and now Blu-ray authoring included with Movie Studio HD Platinum, plus the separate Sound Forge Audio Studio for audio editing and production ($65), and ACID Music Studio for music creation and mixing ($65).

Movie Studio is offered in several versions and bundles: The base Movie Studio HD 11 is focused on easy editing and sharing for HD media ($50). Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 supports higher-end features including 3D editing, GPU-accelerated AVC rendering, color correction, 5.1 audio, and disc authoring ($100). The Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Production Suite bundles Audio Studio and more effects ($130). The Imagination Studio 3 bundle completes the set with Music Studio and Photo Go ($180).

Movie Studio helps casual users get started with Show Me How tutorials, wizards for easy sharing online, and extensive collections of templates, themes, and soundtracks. But Sony's focus with Movie Studio is not so much on organizing and combining clips, it's on refining a production through precise control of the assembly and animation of your clips.

See review in Videomaker magazine: Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Editing Software

See my full article: Summary: Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11

See summaries of video applications and versions in my Video Editing Software Gallery.

Find Sony Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 and Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Suite on Amazon.com

The tenth edition of Adobe's best-selling consumer video and photo editing products, Premiere Elements 10 and Photoshop Elements 10, continues Adobe's focus on providing deep technical power to create impressive results, but packaged behind a friendly interface and extensive automated assists (see post on previous version).

Both Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements include a separate common Organizer tool, used to import media files from various devices and then organize and tag them. You can also apply basic photo fixes and create photo albums, and share photos and videos directly online. Then you can launch the individual applications for more extensive photo or video editing.

The applications prove a consumer-friendly interface with tabs for different processing steps, plus how-tos and Guided Edit support. Plus, they apply enhanced technology from professional editing, including People Recognition in photos and the Three Way Color Corrector for video.

However, these Elements applications are not for the casual user. They are designed for photo and video enthusiasts interested in investing effort to organize and manage your media with the assistance of automated analysis. This investment then pays off as you can leverage the media information to do a better job of finding the right clips and enhancing your productions.

See my full article in Videomaker Magazine - Adobe Premiere/ Photoshop Elements 10 Editing Software Review

See summaries of video applications and versions in my Video Editing Software Gallery.

    Find Adobe Premiere Elements 10
    and bundle with Photoshop Elements 10 on Amazon.com

Premiere Elements 10 - Autotone effect

This past year, video editing tools have been adding flashy features including 3D video editing, but the real focus has continued to be on the underlying machinery -- taking advantage of both today's 64-bit architectures to work efficiently with large clips in memory, plus leveraging GPU (graphics processing unit) hardware to significantly speed up video processing.

For example, Vegas Pro 10 from Sony Creative Software was released last year with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and with GPU acceleration for rendering to AVC format.

Now Sony Vegas Pro 11, provides full-up GPU acceleration that supports both NVIDIA and AMD hardware for video processing, effects, and rendering, providing speed-ups across editing, playback, and output.

Besides the under-the-hood improvements, the Vegas 11 also enhances editing with workflow improvements including Sync Link to keep child events associated with the main track, and technology upgrades including advanced video stabilization for all three axes of camera motion.

And it provides deeper support for editing 3D material including 3D Titler Pro.

Sony Vegas Pro is a classic and comfortable vehicle for video editing. Version 11 adds some nice refinements with the same comfortable feel, but the real action is under the hood with a significant turbo-boost from GPU acceleration that makes this a welcome upgrade.

It's available for $599 online, or via upgrade for $199.

See my full article in Videomaker Magazine - Sony Vegas Pro 11 Advanced Editing Software Review

See summaries of video applications and versions in my Video Editing Software Gallery.

Find Sony Sony Vegas Pro 11 on Amazon.com