Corel X2 quick look

[peterdb]

Well I just downloaded the trial and had a quick try.
Dont get excited it's not much better or different to 11.5.
it still cannot handle AVCHD files very well and is sooooooo slow doing it,
I imported a few AVCHD files into the library, dragged them to the timeline then went straight to "Share" / create disc ..there it froze and did not recover , I had to re-start the program.
Next time I did the same routine and got as far as "Create disc" and then I ticked the "add chapters automatically" and CRASH down it went ....re start ....I dont think so ...try again Corel , Cyberlink Power Director leaves you for dead !.

[Black Lab]

Dont get excited it's not much better or different to 11.5.

I disagree. It has many new features that enhance the video editing experience.

[Dabitz]

You can't edit straight AVCHD files unless you have a super-system, you have to create PROXY (intermediate) files. It runs smoothly for me even with 5.1 sound.

[sjj1805]

Well I just downloaded the trial and had a quick try.
Dont get excited it's not much better or different to 11.5.
it still cannot handle AVCHD files very well and is sooooooo slow doing it,
I imported a few AVCHD files into the library, dragged them to the timeline then went straight to "Share" / create disc ..there it froze and did not recover , I had to re-start the program.
Next time I did the same routine and got as far as "Create disc" and then I ticked the "add chapters automatically" and CRASH down it went ....re start ....I dont think so ...try again Corel , Cyberlink Power Director leaves you for dead !.

There are two versions, Standard and Pro.
Which version are you referring to?

[peterdb]

Which version ?.....I think there is only one trial download .

[Ken Berry]

That's a bit strange. So far I am impressed with X2's capacity to handle most AVCHD. I have a Quad Core, though not as powerful as yours, and with the exception of AVCHD from the Panasonic SD9, it handles it quite well. In VS11.5+ it would take up to about 10 seconds or more from when I clicked on any AVCHD thumbnail in the library to when it actually became active. Now it takes around 2 - 3 seconds. And when I join a few AVCHD clips in the timeline, with transitions etc, and render to a new file using the original AVCHD settings, it takes around 2x real time for the render, whereas VS11.5+ would take at least 3 times, and more usually closer to 4x.

As I say, the only exceptions I have found so far are the S9 footage already mentioned, and also the trial footage I have from the latest Canon AVCHD which uses the new top bitrate for AVCHD of 24 Mbps. X2 just cannot play it smoothly at that rate, and producing a new video of it at that rate is also not playable...

[babdi]

I installed the PRO version. The application loads faster. Nice slate grey background. Painter is nice. Transition in overlay works beautifully..I even added the burger effects. Note : Burger does not identify V12. You need to install it. Copy the VFX files to V12 VFX folder.
Still exploring

[peterdb]

Hi Ken
Thats very interesting and I assume you have not had the "crashes " that I experienced ?
Well as you say our systems are similar and it should work better for me , it look like I will have to investigate further.
There may be something on my system that is slowing things down or interuping processes but I normally dissable virus protection ect.
However I will investigate more and perhaps try a new download as I supose it could be corrupted.
Thanks for your input, any sugestions would be apreciated.

[Ken Berry]

No crashes yet, touch wood! And I don't disable anti-virus or other background applications either...

[etech6355]

SmartProxy is enabled by default when you load X2.
If your trying to work with the avc videos right away you may have to look into this and possibly disable the smart proxy files. Once you load them into the timeline X2 will start the proxy file generation sequence.

Although, I've already done a complex project with avc's and the project came out fine. However, I did let X2 generate all the proxy files first before any editing or other actions (which does take sometime to create the proxy files).
I also suggest if you do use the smart proxy feature to re-assign the proxy file location to another drive other than the OS system drive (at least I did).

[Ken Berry]

I first assigned another drive to the Proxy File creation folder. Then I disabled it... Did the first just in case I later used Proxy and forgot to change the folder!

[meloman]

...try again Corel , Cyberlink Power Director leaves you for dead !.

I disagree, PowerDirector is not so good. I tried version 7 and it crashed a lot. Once it even erased my project file while crashing.

VideoStudio 11.5 rarely crash, and when it does it recover the project with a backup file, even if I didn't save it.

That's one major reason why I didn't buy PD, it has cool feature but it's too unstable.

[peterdb]

Hi
Well I agree Power Director is not perfect by a long way and does have problems especially with it's menu system that kept crashing for me .
However the point I was trying to make is Power Director loads and is able to manipulate AVCHD files much quicker and easier than VS X2.
Why ? Power director has no mention of "proxy file" or anything like that.
I have also had a try with Pinnacle v12 and that is the same for me it takes ages to load files and when lots of files are eventually loaded onto the timeline it has difficulty working with them.
I note that I recieved an email from Sony Software (I am a member of the forum) anouncing that Sony Vegas will be available soon with an update that will make Sony Vegas the only Video editing software available in true 64 processing. this should make an enormous improvement and is of course what Corel should have done with VS12
So it may be worth taking a look at.