Corel VideoStudio Pro X8 X7 worth upgrade?

[jamesd1]

Looked over the new features in x8 and they don't seem that fundamental or important in terms of my personal use of the program, especially since "upgrade" really means buy the program yet again at a modest discount.

BUT I would want to upgrade IF

1. X8 is more stable than X7.
2. X8/64 is faster than x7/64bit
3. X8 is more bug free than x7
4. X8 is more friendly and less quirky in adapting to other hardware/software, e.g. on my Lenova it won't run unless I use an external monitor (On Lenova 675 gives me screen resolution insufficient error even thought it is 1366 X 768)

[asik1]

X8 is more stable than X7?
I didn't have major issues with X7 of not being stable.
Same as I don't have now with X8.

Wait to X9 in few months.
But...
It will have X9 bugs.

[pepegota]

The chroma key improvement is worth it alone, not to mention others.

[jamesd1]

My concerns are, that, as can be seen from this link...
http://tinyurl.com/ozc44q9

That about one out of every 8 or 9 users/reviewers have bad experiences with Corel VideoStudio Pro x8 that are apparently associated with hardware and software issues resulting in crashes and impaired program functionality. From this, it would appear that X8 has serious deal-breaking bugs and stability issues for a substantial percentage of unhappy users. This is why I posed the question to get additional views and experiences of other users.

[paulkurucz]

I purchased X8 after trying the demo version of X7 and X8 seems to have minor upgrades. If you don't need any specific improvements, then perhaps continuing on with X7 and waiting makes sense.

In the end, VideoStudio is great for basic and intermediate level video editing for those who need a good time-line based tool with a straightforward interface. For the price it is great value. From intermediate up to pro needs? Use a much pricier top end editor and work through the learning curve. Why do I say this? To put VideoStudio into perspective: It is a modest price, good bang-for-your-buck video editor. Full stop. The reviews on Amazon are likely from people with expectations that go out of the bounds of the target markets for this software. Oh, and take reviews with a grain of salt: Righteous haters and paid haters now abound on every review system.

[canuck]

My concerns are, that, as can be seen from this link...
http://tinyurl.com/ozc44q9

That about one out of every 8 or 9 users/reviewers have bad experiences with Corel VideoStudio Pro x8 that are apparently associated with hardware and software issues resulting in crashes and impaired program functionality. From this, it would appear that X8 has serious deal-breaking bugs and stability issues for a substantial percentage of unhappy users. This is why I posed the question to get additional views and experiences of other users.

Most of those so-called reviews are useless and only show that the user does not use the program correctly or does not have much knowledge about video programs/standards etc. Video work is not really "pulg&play" despite what the manufactures try to claim. This applies to all video programs. I certainly would not base my purchase on any of those "reviews"

[Terfyn]

It is essential that you look at the minimum computer specification supplied by Corel to check that your PC is up to the job. If it is then upgrade.
X8 works just fine and I have found it very stable. As mentioned, the improvements with chroma key and the addition of Audio Ducking are worth having.

[jamesd1]

I read the critical reviews for Corel VideoStudio Pro 7/8 on Amazon and on CNET, and while some are inexperienced, I think a substantial number of users are experienced and knowledgeable people who generally do know what they are doing with software/hardware. So I think there are some real weakness in the Corel VideoStudio Pro for some hardware/software configurations, so buyers have to be careful that it is not true in their case. This means its likely much better to not buy a download version which can not be returned for refund. I agree that Corel VideoStudio Pro is a great program, when it works for you!

[Terfyn]

With all due respect - what is your gripe? VSX8 works and is a good video editor. If you don't like it go for another editor.
I suggested you compare your computer to the Corel supplied PC spec. If your PC is as good or better than the spec, VS will work. If not, you can upgrade. All the recent batch of editors require computers with a decent specification.
I think a substantial number of users are experienced and knowledgeable people What do you think we are? I have used VideoStudio from X5 and the main responders in this Forum have much greater experience than I.

[jamesd1]

y Terfyn on Sat Aug 01, 2015 6:34 pm
With all due respect - what is your gripe? VSX8 works and is a good video editor. If you don't like it go for another editor.
I suggested you compare your computer to the Corel supplied PC spec. If your PC is as good or better than the spec, VS will work. If not, you can upgrade. All the recent batch of editors require computers with a decent specification.
I think a substantial number of users are experienced and knowledgeable people What do you think we are? I have used VideoStudio from X5 and the main responders in this Forum have much greater experience than I.

Hi Terfyn and all,

Well, I have an approach/avoidance or love/hate conflict with Corel VideoStudio Pro. It was the 2nd or 3rd editor I tried, and I tried two more before returning to it this month. I have spend many hours with Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studio, Cyberlink Power Director, Lightworks, and to a much lesser extent a few others). I love Corel VideoStudio Pro interface and features but was concerned about performance/software-hardware compatibility and support (which, as I think everyone knows is terrible). I had some problem with Corel VideoStudio Pro (don't now recall details) some months back and it was past the one month support deadline so I'd have had to pay to figure it out. Tied online also for fix but no luck. Since then I reinstalled Windows 7 and I've gone back now to give Corel VideoStudio Pro another try in the hope that it was something in Windows that caused the difficulty.

But really, I suspect you may not have actually read the horror stories of the computer-literature and competent users who have had deal-breaking software/hardware problems with Corel VideoStudio Pro. I'm an x-tech writer with specialization in computer program documentation and 20+ years experience in computers and with extensive experience with Windows software, yet still I ran into problems with Corel VideoStudio Pro despite my predisposition to love it. My concern is that I may come up against a serious problem again after spending many hours reviewing how to use it. Yet hopefully, maybe not, but that's the basis of my caution and careful reading of both positive and negative reviews of the program as well as seeking additional input from this forum.

[jamesd1]

Well, I found that Corel VideoStudio Pro was creating black thumbnails for about 1/3 of my imported videos, even though the thumbnails showed correctly in Windows 7 browser. So I searched the forum and found that someone had solved the same problem by updating media codecs. So I searched the net and found a windows 7 condex pack on cnet http://download.cnet.com/Windows-7-Code ... 65840.html

I installed it, rebooted and started Corel VideoStudio Pro. I then selected all of some media thumbnails in Corel VideoStudio Pro in order to try reloading them, and initiated a delete, whereupon instead of deleting, the program crashed with:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: vstudio.exe
Application Version: 17.1.0.22
Application Timestamp: 538721fe
Fault Module Name: mfc110.dll
Fault Module Version: 11.0.60610.1
Fault Module Timestamp: 51b4fccb
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0000000000001a61
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 6a4b
Additional Information 2: 6a4bffa2c2c7cfbfcba62879c07aa344
Additional Information 3: 4e83
Additional Information 4: 4e8329bee3437d3b5ca1f432d88d994c

So I uninstalled the codec pack and rebooted Windows, then tried to launch Corel VideoStudio Pro.

Corel VideoStudio Pro then generated a "Load from stream error" message and this message could not be terminated but looped infinitely. Even ctrl-alt-del task manger could not kill it. So I rebooted and tried again. Same error. Now Corel VideoStudio Pro will not start at all.

[jamesd1]

So I looked up the error and found http://howto.corel.com/en/c/Load_from_s ... Studio_Pro

I renamed folder, but that did not work because it it said "Rename the Corel VideoStudio Pro folder to Corel VideoStudio Pro_old" when it should have said Rename the Corel VideoStudio Pro folder to Corel VideoStudio (64) Pro_old which then allowed Corel VideoStudio Pro to start but without the project I was using to test Corel VideoStudio Pro.

So, is there a Win 7 codec pack that Corel likes, or would the first one I tried work with a new project. Anyone begin to understand what I mean about love/hate with Corel VideoStudio Pro?

[jamesd1]

So with it starting again, I continued my test. I have a nice collection of short videos, a minute or two each, so it would be convenient to have them all laid out in thumbnails in the Corel VideoStudio Pro browser. There was over a 100 of them so I imported them. Came in as before, about 1/3 with solid black thumbnails. Too much black I decided so I tried to delete them. Crash again with the same Steam Loading error. It appears that Corel VideoStudio Pro can only handle a limited number of imports at a time.

[Terfyn]

Again I do not claim to be an expert and others will answer this better. You are still running XP, I wonder if this is your problem? I have had no problems with VS X8 running under Windows 7 and there are now reports that X8 will run under Windows 10.
There will always be a problem running newer programmes with older systems and vice versa. Everything has to match eventually. (which, lets face it, is how these software companies make their money)

[asik1]

Terfyn,
I'm running X8 on XP and it runs great.
On the other hand, I never loaded 100 clips to VS. If I hit a brick wall in VS I convert my video/audio to friendly formats.
X8 isn't perfect as unfortunately X9 will not be but neither pinnacle 18.5 or PD13 are.
But certainly many improvements where made from X4 to X6 to X8.