VideoStudio x10 or Powerdirector 16

[TNT Pilot]

Hey everyone,
I'm having a difficult time deciding which video editing software to purchase...I have it narrowed down to Corel VideoStudio x10 or Cyberlink Powerdirector 16. I have tried some free stuff, just not impressed, and I would jump on DaVinci, but it won't accept 4k video that I intend to need in near future. I'll be using it on a purpose-built windows PC with plenty of horsepower, RAM, and GPU. I have been playing with the trial versions of both, and they seem fairly similar in function, just different layout. The trial versions do not allow me to load any 4K footage, so I can't really test any of the videos I have already taken. I have used some video from my cell phone, but it's too cold and wet to get the bird out right now to do some lower res shots. Most of the videos will be for real estate, and eventually I want to branch into other areas, but that's where I am starting. I am hoping to find someone that has used the full version of both and can give some honest feedback about what they like/dislike that I can't see in the trial versions. Thanks in advance.
Travis

 

[LarBear360]

Hey everyone,
I'm having a difficult time deciding which video editing software to purchase...I have it narrowed down to Corel VideoStudio x10 or Cyberlink Powerdirector 16. I have tried some free stuff, just not impressed, and I would jump on DaVinci, but it won't accept 4k video that I intend to need in near future. I'll be using it on a purpose-built windows PC with plenty of horsepower, RAM, and GPU. I have been playing with the trial versions of both, and they seem fairly similar in function, just different layout. The trial versions do not allow me to load any 4K footage, so I can't really test any of the videos I have already taken. I have used some video from my cell phone, but it's too cold and wet to get the bird out right now to do some lower res shots. Most of the videos will be for real estate, and eventually I want to branch into other areas, but that's where I am starting. I am hoping to find someone that has used the full version of both and can give some honest feedback about what they like/dislike that I can't see in the trial versions. Thanks in advance.
Travis

Not familiar with Corel, however, I own Cyberlink and love it. I don't record anything 4K so can't go there but every project I have completed using Cyberlink came out great. I also own Vegas Movie (consumer version of Pro) and Adobe Premier Elements.

 

[bhartwell]

I use VideoStudio X10, here is what I found:

Pros

1. Low cost.
2. Easy to learn and use.
3. Filters, effects, transitions, basically all the features needed for serious hobbyist and semi pro users.
4. Advanced tools to create custom filters, perform detailed color corrections, create custom transitions and more, a huge collection of tools in the toolbox.
5. Easy to mix sound, multiple video tracks, titles, stills and video together to make a very professional end product.
5. Render proxies for each clip to work with hi res video (this is good and bad)
6. Supports 360 video and multiple camera work

Cons:

1. Requires a beefy rig, I have a purpose built (I7-7700, 16gb, GTX GPU, 7200rpm 1tb drive) system, anything less is frustratingly slow.
2. Rendering times can be long, 10 to 15 min to render 10 min of 4K MP4 (roughly, depending on effects, tracks, etc).
3. Proxies are good and bad, you have to select to render the proxy, and even with proxy real time edits can be choppy or run into slow downs. They are effective once you learn how to use them, but the feature can be annoying out of the box.
4. No frame blending, so smoothing out jerky turns can be tricky.
5. Several annoying bugs, at times custom rendering will fail with no message or error (just no output). I’ve had a coupe of random crashed when applying filters as well.

Here is a recent sample.

I found Studio to be a solid step up from PowerDirector, but I only evaluated Power, I never really used it for anything serious , so your mileage may vary.

 

[TNT Pilot]

Thanks for the quick feedback! bhartwell, I really like the video you put together, and the audio is a great fit. I have read PC mag reviews that indicate PowerDirector has slightly faster render times, but not signifcantly better. Most of my videos will be less than 5min length anyway, so that would be a big deal. I had not thought about frame blending, and I don't see anything about it in PowerDirector. It may be in the more robust software like Pinnacle, Premiere Pro, etc.

 

[TNT Pilot]

bhartwell, I just spoke/chatted with tech at Pinnacle, and their new Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate has the ability to frame blend, and it is made by Corel. Based on your info and the Pinnacle chat, I may get Pinnacle and then I'll report back some testing with it. I can get it at Best Buy right now for $89.99, which is pretty good price.

 

[tcope]

I had not thought about frame blending, and I don't see anything about it in PowerDirector. It may be in the more robust software like Pinnacle, Premiere Pro, etc.

PowerDirector will do blending. I think it was added in PD 15.

Edit: just don't pay full price for PD. There are plenty of codes that usually knock the price down to $55 or so.

 

[bhartwell]

Let me know how it goes. At some point, I may move over to Adobe. For now, Corel does the trick. I got it for about $80 after discounts.

 

[bhartwell]

I just noticed PC Mag put out their updated reviews for 2018 on this topic, might be of some interest.

The Best Video Editing Software of 2018

 

[TNT Pilot]

Bought Pinnacle Studio 21 Ultimate two days ago and am almost ready to return it, or at the very least uninstall it and purchase PowerDirector16. Pinnacle has a lot of great features, but the one thing I can't get over is the choppy video during review playback. The same unedited footage in PD16 runs great. The use of timeline markers is a little more cumbersome in PD16, but more acceptable than lagging/choppy videos in Pinnacle. found out after purchase that this is common with Pinnacle, even with high end computers. I checked preview settings, and made sure they were set for "fastest preview" but saw little difference. My computer has a Ryzen 1700 3.0GHz cpu, Nvidia 1060 GPU w/6GB RAM, 32GB RAM for computer, 500GB SSD, and 4k monitor so I know it's not my equipment, and it works flawless in PowerDirector16. I'll continue to test and give some more updates later this week.

 

[sy2875]

Hey everyone,
I'm having a difficult time deciding which video editing software to purchase...I have it narrowed down to Corel VideoStudio x10 or Cyberlink Powerdirector 16. I have tried some free stuff, just not impressed, and I would jump on DaVinci, but it won't accept 4k video that I intend to need in near future. I'll be using it on a purpose-built windows PC with plenty of horsepower, RAM, and GPU. I have been playing with the trial versions of both, and they seem fairly similar in function, just different layout. The trial versions do not allow me to load any 4K footage, so I can't really test any of the videos I have already taken. I have used some video from my cell phone, but it's too cold and wet to get the bird out right now to do some lower res shots. Most of the videos will be for real estate, and eventually I want to branch into other areas, but that's where I am starting. I am hoping to find someone that has used the full version of both and can give some honest feedback about what they like/dislike that I can't see in the trial versions. Thanks in advance.
Travis

Have you tried hitfilm express?
Its free and easy to use!

 

[African wildlife]

TNT: DaVinci Resolve 14 (free version) does accept 4K footage. It's a much better option than the other two you mention, especially as you're wanting to produce semi-professional or professional work.

 

[deltamike]

Pinnacle has a lot of great features, but the one thing I can't get over is the choppy video during review playback.

I find the same thing, but at the end of the day the exported video was flawless - and you are right, I consider Pinn 21 to have many features over its competitors that its worth keeping.

Just for information, you might find this handy info.

Pinnacle21 App Hang