Alternatives to Video Studio?

[Davidk]

So far, after a fair bit of review reading, I've tried out PD18. But I have to admit that VS is superior - if only corel would take the time to stabilise it.

[pepegota]

Amen!!

[RickinSav'h]

Check out movavi.
Seems to be a powerful alternative for a reasonable price.

[laurentje]

I did hope that a number of forum contributors who have indicated they have/use other editors would be willing to offer some comparisons . . .

At the moment I use 2 editors:
VideoStudio 10: for interlaced material (old footage: Pal avi/DV 720x576 25i or 1920x1080 50i - PowerDirector cannot produce real interlaced video)
PowerDirector16: for newer material 1920x1080 50p: mkv with soft subtitles embedded (VideoStudio cannot do that) and is faster in render.
Years ago (2004) I switched from PowerDirector to VideoStudio, now in 2019 I go back to PowerDirector, but my old projects are are made in VideoStudio, so from time to time I use still VideoStudio.
Filters and maskers: very rare I use them, as transition I use PageCurls and fades (more choice in PowerDirector).

[asik1]

David, read this extract from a ~$300 latest 2020 version NLE forum

"“save the settings of individual plugs” will waste much much time if there are many FX to copy.
And if FX contain keyframe, you aren't able “save the settings of individual plugs” as preset with keyframe. And maybe you will say saving to a FX package, But applying FX package will overwrite orignal FX.
Most importantly, there will be many FX which need to copy. And applying FX package not only overwrite orignal FX but also waste much time.
In other NLE, it just need "Ctrl+C" and "Ctrl+V". These vey basic features will save much much time and not overwrite orignal FX. I hope VEGAS team will follow these basic features.
you have the additional capacity to save favorite plug- in "packages" as templates.
For saving "packages" , you need to apply it to a clip, and save it to package, and rename it. and when you need to use it, you need open "plugin selector" window, and double click the package.
In other NLE, you just need to click “☆”, it will automatically be copy to "Favorite" group in Vide FX window.
The latter will save much much time if you have a lot FX to favorite..."

In short words, it doesn't have a proper EZ way to save user FX's. (same goes to PD as far as I checked on PD16 ...) surly not as EZ as in VS. since the bronze age?

[pvreditor]

Been a l-o-n-g time since I posted here. I was a longtime VideoStudio user, but I ran into a strange problem and switched to Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve. Then at the beginning of 2019, I earned a year's subscription to Adobe CC. I earned a renewal in 2020, so I have now been using Adobe Premiere CC for more than a year. I actually rotate among DaVinci Resolve, Premiere and VideoStudio -- and I teach evening classes on the basics of getting started with Resolve and VideoStudio.

First, to me, VideoStudio is the easiest (by far) of these three to get started. It is the friendliest appearing and has the most templates and other helpful aids for beginners. Both Resolve and Premiere are much more daunting to beginners. Resolve is especially daunting, and some of Premiere's quirks seem designed to drive a beginner mad.

I have a Panasonic GH5 camera that produces nice-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 4K video at 150 Mbps. VideoStudio and Premiere work with these 10-bit 4:2:2 files with no problem, but only the paid version of Resolve (around $300 one-time cost) can work with 10-bit 4:2:2 files. The free version can not. This is the primary reason I was driven to Adobe Premiere.

Which brings up cost: The free version of DaVinci Resolve is a competent and valuable editor. If you are a beginner-to-mid-level editor, the free version of Resolve has everything you need (with the exception of handling 10-bit 4:2:2 files). Of course, Adobe Premiere is by subscription only and is quite expensive -- expect to pay $200 to $500 per year for a license for Premiere. VideoStudio has a new version every year, and an update costs around $75 or so. So figure that VideoStudio costs around $75 per year... unless you're cheap and skip an update or two.

Resolve is the absolute dead easiest for doing simple fade in/out effects, both for video and audio. All editing software should be so easy in this regard... really wonderful. Resolve makes it easy to adjust audio levels (for voice-overs, for example), too... much less twiddly than VideoStudio. And Resolve has an awesome and easy-to-tweak audio equalizer that should be an example for all editing software.

VideoStudio is the easiest to create simple on-screen titles. I used these all the time for VideoStudio projects, and was dismayed that it was so much harder to recreate the effect using either Resolve or Premiere. VideoStudio is easier than either Premiere or Resolve at saving and re-using titles (if I want the same lower-third in multiple videos, for example). You can save titles in all these programs, but VideoStudio is easiest and most intuitive.

As far as I can tell, VideoStudio still can't smoothly fade in/out a title with a background, at least not without resorting to a goofy workaround. Smooth fade ins/outs are easy with Resolve and Premiere.

Last I checked, VideoStudio only allowed rendering 4K video at 40 Mbps, while Premiere and Resolve give you essentially infinite latitude in the render's data rate. (I prefer to render my YouTube uploads at 50 or 60 Mbps.)

Adobe Premiere comes with some excellent audio tools for eliminating background noise, and a fantastic video stabilization tool called "Warp Stabilizer." Warp Stabilizer is slow and doesn't always work the way I want, but when it works it is fantastic.

Of course, Resolve is well-known for its color-grading/correction prowess. VideoStudio has gotten better at this, and Premiere is no slouch, as well. But Resolve is excellent for tweaking color and shading of scenes.

VideoStudio comes with free customizable music that is not great but can work at times. Premiere and Resolve come with... nothing.

Finally, VideoStudio is terrific for generating proxy files (called "SmartProxy"), then editing smoothly and satisfyingly with these proxy files. It is much more complicated to generate proxy files in Resolve, and I still often don't get a smooth editing experience. Premiere seems to automatically generate proxies without any user intervention, but edits don't always run as smoothly as they do in VideoStudio. And this is when using a pretty powerful computer with a 4GB display GPU.

Those are some of my thoughts on Premiere, Resolve and VideoStudio. There's room for all three, but the reality is that "serious" editors use Resolve and Premiere, and haughty "industry professionals" will smirk and refer to VideoStudio as "toy software." They are wrong... and stupid. But that is the reality of the world.

Bob Kovacs

[Davidk]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the detailed response.
I've used (tried to) different editors over the years but I agree that VS is the easiest to use, especially for beginners. I started as a student wanting to know more about using a new video camera and after several years became a U3A tutor in the use of it, which lasted for over 6 years. Took a break from that this year, in part because I had ethical issues about mandating a piece of software for newbies that had so many bugs and issues with it that Corel seems to have no interest in fixing.

Years ago, I had MS Movie Maker and magix - both free, but with very limited functionality. My early tutor with VS was a movie fan, with many NLE's and some professional software, and he asserted that the features of the expensive, professional programs were gradually migrating down to the home user packages. Programs I've installed/practised on to some degree lately in search of an alternative to VS are da vinci resolve (the free version) and power director 18. In respect of those programs;
- da vinci resolve has the most cluttered user interface I can recall, which together with the small print in it that makes it hard to find functions that should be there but are probably called different things.
- power director 18 has some better things than VS but the options/feature set is considerably smaller. I did like the way PD18 tutorials were available in a printable pdf file so you can step thru using them without having to constantly switch screens.
Basically, all the editors do things differently - the layout, nomenclature and controls - and sometimes the differences are hard to find or fathom, coming from the easiest to use one on the market.

Re onscreen titles -that's IMHO one of VS strong points. Fade or fly in - it's doable. The latest title editor just makes it better.

So, why pursue this? Reliability is key: overall, the bugs in VS keep growing. Corel's focus is on new features not fixing old bugs. Some bugs are functions not implemented or implemented badly, some are side effects of new features, and others are self-induced, one service pack to another. Managements focus isn't on reliability or problem free-use. And the best support is available here - the alleged support from Corel's indian customer service and support agents is laughable: they simply cannot seem to read bug reports and keep suggesting things a user has already tried. If the problem has occurred more than 3months after purchase, you are on your own, except for advice gleaned in this forum. No software is ever problem free but Corel simply doesn't listen - or give any evidence of listening - to issues reported by users between version releases. Reliable VS once was, but not any more.

[pvreditor]

Reliability is key: overall, the bugs in VS keep growing. Corel's focus is on new features not fixing old bugs. Etc...

I hear you. I mostly stopped using VideoStudio because there was some crazy bug with VS on my HP computer that caused VS to crash without warning when working with files from my Panasonic cameras. Video from Canon and Nikon cameras was fine, as was video from my cell phones -- only video (HD and 4K) from Panasonic cameras caused VS to reliably crash. That's why I went to Resolve and now also use Premiere.

That said, I have plenty of crashes with Resolve and Premiere, although they don't reliably crash like VS did with Panasonic video files. In particular, the latest update of Premiere is quite unstable on my HP computer. (That's my main editing computer.) If I just do something quick and try to render it, Premiere invariably crashes when I attempt to render. I have to save the work, small though it may be, or Premiere will crash. Thus, if I want to generate a 720p file from a 4K clip so that I can show people on Facebook, I have to save it like it was a project in Premiere, or it *will* crash.

And Resolve has a nasty habit of crashing at 15% or 32% or 61% or 88% into a render. Super maddeningly frustrating.

I personally think it is a software/firmware issue that is specific to my HP editing computer, but many others probably have similar problems on their computers in certain situations. I haven't used VideoStudio all that much lately, but it certainly seems no less stable than Premiere or Resolve. I definitely have some quirky issues with VS, but don't think that the rest of the editing sea is smooth sailing. The storms are out there, often coming from unexpected directions.

Bob Kovacs

[Raikku]

I totally agree with brouillette. In fact I have kind of moved a little bit towards Cyberlink’s PowerDirector. It is not so smooth when editing as CVS (I am still learning) but it is stable and fast and does not crash when rendering projects, which is the main thing. There is not much use for smooth editing if you cannot render your project to working video files. I was hoping Corel’s technical support would be able to help (when rendering CVS crashes 9 times out of 10) but unfortunately , no.

And I totally agree with brouillette as to the Forum being VS’s main asset. Also I have been helped here many times, thank you for that.

I am not saying totally goodbye to CVS for good for the same reasons that brouillette mentioned but unfortunately I don’t have the courage to start any new projects in VS though editing in VS is so nice and smooth. I am still hoping VS would work again some day. And I think I am downgrading back to…. CVS 2018, X10, X9 , X8 or X7… any suggestions?

[TonyP]

Like others here, I've tried and used different editors over the years. I've been editing since 1990 with the Amiga/Video Toaster doing a/b roll SVHS.
I've used PowerDirector for one specific thing when I bought it a long time ago, and after that, uninstalled. I've also tried Magix Movie Edit Pro. Of course, like a lot of others, I tried Resolve since the price was right, free.
While PD, MEP and DR are programs that can get editing done, I personally was not a fan of their editing style. They all had their quirks and crashes. But now, Pinnacle Studio 23 Ultimate and Vegas Pro 17 Suite with Boris Continuum Complete, Sapphire plugins, NewBlue FX plugins, Ignite Pro and Smartsound Sonicfire Pro support, I've become not quite a "happy camper", but am pretty close to it. CVS sort of lost me when they removed Smartsound support.

I've been using Pinnacle Studio in it's various forms since 2002. In it's current iteration, it does a lot of things very well, and like every piece of software, some, not so well. It can edit Pana 10bit video and export (Render As, Share, whatever term you use) up to 200MBits/s. It's color grading/correcting has been notched way up with realtime scopes and adjustments along with LUT support. But like anything out there, it is missing the mark in some areas. A real title program for one is a major drawback and a constant complaint from me. Also, it seems that the longer you edit with the software, some features become very unresponsive with long delays between keyboard strokes (I am a keyboard shortcut user) and actually seeing something happen on the timeline. You will need a strong computer if editing 4K and color grade/correct, BUT there is no proxy editing. There are ways you can speed up timeline editing with Preference adjustments, but you can't selectively pre-render an area (like in Vegas) to see the final results. I've done long form and short forum complex projects and complete whatever I start. One thing, both PS and VP do support is AMD graphics cards. Wow, does that make a difference in exporting where before, it was all CPU bound in CVS and PS. VP has always supported AMD graphics.

And while the user forum (like here) is the best place to get EXPERIENCED help, Pinnacle does have bugs as seen in the forum. Most do not affect the way I edit, or I know how to work around them, but they still exist and affect others.

Vegas Pro is the fastest timeline editing software I've used, period. But it requires the user to do everything like most pro editors. In Pinnacle or VideoStudio, to do a Split screen using the Split Screen Editor, it's easy. Way easy. It can be done in Vegas, but you have to set things up yourself and will take way longer. The wealth of plugins (OFX) are extensive, but expensive. But it has it's quirks too. Fonts do not display in the search bar how they look. Loading a project can take a long time depending on many factors. And of course, you will have crashes like in every NLE. Especially when you start using BorisFX and Mocha.

I've given up on searching for the perfect near flawless editor that would be relatively easy to use and not too expensive, so I use what I have to do what I need to do.

For quick editing of shorter projects VS and PS work for me. For more complex work requiring the plugins I have, Vegas Pro. While VS has annoying bugs, the feature set in the Ultimate version is extremely powerful. And in the end for me, my clients have never asked me what software I use to edit. They were only interested in the end results.