CyberLink PowerDirector 8 Deluxe (PC)

Before I used PowerDirector 8 Deluxe, I was a novice to video editting. Tried Windows movie maker before but found it too basic devoid of effects. The most fascinating thing of PowerDirector is how easy it is to create slideshows! The layout is user friendly too, saving time.

Another unique feature is the 20,000 worth of free download effects accessed within the software itself or online. Countless motion objects, title effects, frames and dvd menus are at your fingertips. It's quite fun with such a large selection. When it came to producing the video with my new HP notebook, it was surprisingly easy.

All in all, I am quite satisfied with the features and performance. I highly recommend to all editing beginners.

Took quite a while for the installation maybe around 20 minutes. It was easy to register, no problems at all with either installation or running it on my XP machine.

I must admit as soon as I read about it lighting up dark scenes, I knew I had to have this software. I had a few little films that I had made on my camcorder of my grand children and their first birthdays and they were very dark. In the Producer part of this software you can edit your movie to compensate for this and I was totally thrilled with the results. That was all I wanted really, but I got the bug.... And that was it, I was off trying all sorts. I put in a Title, music, cut bits that I didn't want and added frames and sliders.

I even went and signed in to DirectorZone (there's a link on the interface to do so, which allows you to open an account on DirectorZone) to download more frames, pips, scenes etc and looked at what others had made with film or photos. Inspiration everywhere. The choice is staggering for your home movies. And can be made to look really professional as you can download the first bit to Paramount Pictures etc...

I love the interface and it is easy to work around and get used too. I like to learn as I go along and if I get stuck there is plenty of help on the disc or the website. The interface and layout has been thought out really well, that even amateurs like me will get into the swing of it pretty quickly.

My first attempt didn't turn out that brilliant, but hey Im learning and enjoying it while I do. I had to clear up a bit of space to work as one movie can take up a lot of space so don't forget to check you have loads before starting. But it does tell you how much it will need when you click produce. You can turn it into quite a few different formats, but I chose .mov for high quality dvd. It counts down and tells you how much space it has used and how long it is going to be before it is finished.

You can upload to DirectorZone website or you tube or even facebook, plus a few others. But me, I just wanted to burn them to DVD for a special Christmas present for my girls.

It does things like you do with a photo and cleans it up lovely, sharpens, brightens etc. HD DVD's are easy to achieve, learn as you go. This is not just for amateurs, professionals will definitely love this very versatile software that will make them look like Hollywood Producers. I hope to get better each time I use Deluxe PowerDirector 8, I have loads of old home movie's to try in it.

And yes here it comes, the bit about the price. Is this worth the money? Yes, I would say every penny, marvellous piece of software that I wouldn't be with out now.

Good software ruined by highly intrusive built-in advertising.

About a year ago I reviewed the previous version of this software, and described it as 'Entry-level software with some annoying flaws.' So I was curious to see how the latest version would compare.

Here we go, in no particular order:

1. Still no manual.
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The sturdy, paperback-sized box might lead you to expect a printed manual inside. But no, there's nothing except the disk.

While it's true that the program has a help file, it really doesn't substitute for a proper printed manual - even a small 'quickstart' leaflet would have been helpful. The program is mostly intuitive, but it's not THAT intuitive.

As a result, I still think that a new user may not be aware of some of the program's cool features - unless they've used a prevous version, or have ploughed through the help files.

2. The 'adware' is still there - and it's even worse this time!
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When you edit your first little movie, then try to add a musical soundtrack, you may be surprised and delighted to find such an *incredible* range of titles and styles of music available in the software.

THEN you'll discover that most of these are only short, unusable 'samplers', and that if you actually want to use the music, you're expected to BUY the tunes on-line. This will cost you around $20 per shot (though there's also the option to buy a lesser-quality version for a mere $7. Or you can pay $100 per CD of music in that particular style. Thanks, but no thanks.

I don't know if this sort of thing bugs anyone else, but personally I HATE having dozens and dozens of titles pre-programmed into my software when their only real function is to persuade me to hand over a lot more cash. When I reviewed the previous version, I said that I would have deducted a star for this alone.

But it gets worse.

This version adds the even more disgusting feature of making you view a commercial as you render out your completed movie, and AGAIN while you burn a DVD. Built-in ads may be a feature of some zero-cost software, but there's really no excuse for putting it a purchased product.

3. DVD burning is still highly unreliable.
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The DVD burner in Power Director used to be excellent at creating shiny coffee-cup coasters, but not-so-hot at producing playable DVDs. I'd hoped this would have been fixed by now, but apparently not. I've tried the software on two different computers, and it's proved to be VERY unreliable on both of them. Once again, it's better at making coasters than movies. A visit to the company's help pages showed that a great many people appear to have this problem - personally, I found that the advice given there didn't help at all. I'm still able to make DVDs, but only by 'saving to file', then using other DVD burning software to complete the process.

4. General Stability appears to be much better.
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Unlike the previous version, so far this software has been trouble-free, and I've no longer come to expect at least one crash per session.

Also, unlike some other reviewers, I found that my previous installation caused no problems. Power Director detected it, asked my permission, and then deleted it flawlessly.

5. The bottom line - is it worth buying this thing?
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Imagine a line - at one end is Microsoft Movie Maker, a free program with a very limited feature-set. At the other end of the scale is Adobe Premiere Pro, costing...well, a small fortune.

You would really expect that given the price of Power Director, it would lie at a point much, much closer to Movie Maker than to Premiere Pro. Now obviously budget software like Power Director isn't going to be directly comparable to something like Premiere Pro. But I've used (and continue to use) all three pieces of software, and in my opinion, Power Director is much further along the line to Premiere Pro than its budget price might lead you to suspect.

Version 8 now has an even wider range of special effects, text tools, transitions, and other cool tools that will take you all the way from downloading your video to creating a professional-looking DVD, complete with menus, etc.

Unfortunately, in my experience it's hugely buggy when it comes to burning DVDs, and there's really no excuse for all those ads.

Three stars, though if it hadn't been for the annoying built-in advertising, I might even have given it 4 this time.