Library management improvements in X2?

[Clevo]

I'm wondering if any of the early adopters of VS x2 can provide any reports on Library management. Particularly any improvements or changes to managing files.

From anyone who has the Ultimate version, which is available to us here in Australia I would like to hear reports on the sound editor...which sounds appealing to me but would like to learn more about it first as I have Sonic Fire Pro and Audacity already.

I'm likely to go the Pro version but have my eye on the Ultimte version too and can't decide

Thanks

[Ken Berry]

The only differences in the Library area I have noticed so far are a handy slider up in the top right of the library pane which varies the size of the thumbnails; and a new 'Windows Media Library' with separate library managers for video, audio and images. These seem to detect just about every file of the 3 categories that you have on your computer, and inserts thumbails in the library pane for that category. Mine is still, after about 15 minutes, still doing this for my photos as I have quite a few of these on my computer!!

I guess the next thing would be to use the Library manager to create sub-folders in each of the main categories. Otherwise, as with my images, I would have to trawl through literally thousands of thumbnails to find the one I am after. Much quicker simply to use Windows Explorer or My Computer to find the relevant folder and insert from there. Otherwise, though, the idea is a good one as it means you can drag and drop non-VS files in all three categories directly from inside VS. But the devil may be in the detail.

There is also, for what it is worth, in the Image section, the capacity to print the images to various pre-set sizes. But I am not sure why it was thought useful to include this capacity in a video editing program!

Incidentally, on early viewing, X2 does indeed -- as the ads say -- take better advantage of Quad processors. In mine, with just X2 running, I get activity graphs in all four panes of Task Manager. Though 3 & 4 are slightly higher than 1 & 2, they are relatively even i.e. implying that the load is being spread fairly evenly between the cores.

As for Pro vs. Ultimate, the only difference, as I am sure you realise, is the addition of the Steinberg audio editing program, WinDVD 9, and DVD Copy 6. I am assuming that it will be full, and not SE, versions of the latter two. But I have them already! So it is also the audio program that interests me -- though I, like you, already have a third party program which I am familiar and comfortable with. So my own inclination would be to go for the Pro version unless money is no object!

[Ken Berry]

A little bit of further follow-up. There are 10 more pre-set title clips, and a whopping 25 more sound clips -- mostly sound-effects (cars screeching, boings, canned laughter etc). Useful if you haven't already got a good collection of sound effects!

As for the audio editor (WaveLab), I think I am on the verge of being impressed. After what can only be described as an incredibly Byzantine registration and activation process, it presents as a fairly simple screen. The Help files are incredibly opaque -- but then again, reading some reviews of it, it is in fact aimed at the *real* pro end of the market, so they might actually understand what some of the Help entries mean!! I suspect I had better have a look at its Manual, as I suspect there is a steep learning curve.

But just the simple things I have tried so far seem fairly easy to apply from a master control panel and do the same things Audacity does or my own preferred Nero WaveEditor... But the application of multiple filters seems dead easy, and the program seems to come with a good supply of filter plug-ins. I'll report more when I have had more of a chance to play around...