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Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 (05/17/2003)

Ulead VideoStudio 7.0

Entered CNET Catalog: 05/17/2003

SKU: A284701110A0000

Manufacturer: Ulead Systems Inc.

Editors' review

  • Editors' Choice: No
  • Reviewed on: 02/21/2003
Last year's Ulead VideoStudio 6.0 won accolades, but Ulead has lost some ground with version 7.0. While the company made many worthwhile additions, including support for the new DVD-VR format and a nifty multicut editing tool, VideoStudio 7.0's effects, sounds, and DVD menus are woefully behind the competitions'. Even though we still think of VideoStudio as one of the better editing apps around, you'll get far better results with the slightly more expensive MGI VideoWave. If you own an older version of VideoStudio, we don't think it's worth paying the $50 upgrade fee unless you really must have the DVR support. Installing VideoStudio is quick and easy. In addition to the setup CD, you get a second disc that includes audio and video samples as well as a 10-step video tutorial--a big help for beginners.



You won't feel cramped by VideoStudio's timeline view. With one click, you can expand it to fill your whole screen.


Just like version 6.0, the main window features a large preview window in the center with the storyboard and timelines for editing beneath it and eight tool tabs along the top. VideoStudio's DVD menus are attractive and customizable, even if they still can't compare with the ultracool menus you'll see in iMovie and VideoWave. One notable improvement: the annoying Start menu, which required you to decide from the get-go whether you were making a DVD, a VCD, or an SVCD before you could begin a project, is gone.

VideoStudio 7.0 retains version 6.0's strong set of features and adds a few new ones to the mix. Our favorite newcomer is the multicut editing tool, which allows you to select and delete several segments at the same time. For example, you can select and delete all the commercials in your video in one fell swoop. In addition to MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, VideoStudio now supports the DVD-VR format, which is commonly used by camcorders that record to DVD-RAM and DVD-R and DVD set-top recorders. While VideoStudio 6.0's Instant Preview lets you take a quick, lower-quality look at your edits, you can preview your work in real time in version 7.0. But one time-saver is more of a bother than a boon: VideoStudio automatically adds random transitions between clips, which made us crazy. Fortunately, you can turn this feature off in the program's Preferences and select your own.

This version includes a total of 190 effects (5 of which are new to version 7.0) that you can easily add to clips, but the results looked far too amateurish. One of the five new filters, Bubbles, was supposed to add floating bubbles to a scene, but you'll never confuse them with the real thing. Worse, the included audio samples sound like they were made with a cheap Casio organ.



VideoStudio's Bubbles filter is an interesting idea, but the results don't pop.


On the bright side, Ulead integrated DVD-menu creation: instead of using a separate app as with version 6.0, you can create DVD menus in a new window from within VideoStudio. But the DVD tool contains a paltry 30 menu templates, and they're of only average quality. None has animated backgrounds or the polish of VideoWave's or iDVD's.

VideoStudio now comes with a tool for making 3D and animated titles. Just type your title, and you can easily move it around with your mouse to whatever angle you want. While it's a nice addition, we wish we didn't have to launch it separately.

VideoStudio's support options are above average but not outstanding. You can access FAQs, e-mail support, and free phone support (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT) from the site. Our call about a minor problem we had with batch capture using a Canon DV camcorder was answered quickly and accurately.

User opinions

Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

beats Windows Movie Maker by a long shot

Pros: has allot of advanced tweaking functionality that a createive home video producer wants. And it came free with my DV CamCorder ;-))

Cons: The interfacse sucks. At this stage I would take a Windows compliant interface for granted.

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Blue screens and buck passing

Pros: can't use it

Cons: Gives my WinXP machine BSoD, and even though I send a screen shot of the file properties(USIUDF.SYS) causing the dump, Ulead "technical support" says it is not a Ulead system file...and the properties even say it is copyrighted by Ulead! They actually tol

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Nice program, but still needs improvement

Pros: ease of use, good capture procedure.

Cons: Freeze up, some capture problems.

Review:
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

VideoStudion 7: A strong video editing package, but not perfect

Pros: (1) 30-day, fully-functional trial at Ulead's web site. Ulead is so confident you'll like their product they give it to you for 30 days. (2) Better tech support. I had previously used Magix VideoDeluxe 2.0 and had performance problems. I wrote to their

Cons: (1) Non-standard, non-Windows-like interface. If you're used to the standard Windows menu bar, you'll have to get used to the way this program operates. Be sure to read the manual. (2) Video preview isn't high quality; uses lower resolution video. (3)

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Frequent crashes, no tech support

Pros: Rich features

Cons: Unreliable and slow, crashes frequently, losing captured data

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Not my first choice, a little clunky.

Pros: I was able to compare both Pinnacle Studio 8 and Uleads Video Studio 7. Uleads VS7 has a lot of nice options in a single package. The price on both packages is competitive and the value is good as you can put together a complete DVD/Video of home movies

Cons: The issues I ran into with Uleads VS7 is that it doesn’t support my Pinnacle Pro-One capture card directly. While the 1394 port worked I am not able to use the RCA/Svideo ports to capture from a VCR or analog camcorder. Of course Pinnacles Studio 8 does a

Review:
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Easy to use but buggy

Pros: Its easy to make DVDs out of my Sony camcorder. The DVDs work great on my player.

Cons: Crashes with ATI9700 PRO. I had to back-off my Dislplay Hardware Acceleration to 1 notch less than full to keep it stable. 3.06G P4 1GB Ram

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Best medium-priced software out there.

Pros: It is stable - doesn't crash on my system. Great control over editing, lots of transitions, many filters too (if you ever use them - I don't), 3D title / animator tool, easy DVD authoring built-in, works with almost all video file formats.

Cons: No animated DVD menus, just static pictures. Also, would like the ability to move thumbnails/text where I want on the menus. Unsure if any non-professional product alows you to do this.

Review:
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Not one problem so far

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I was using Pinnacle stuidio 8 but that program was a mess. Just got the ulead studio 7 not one problem so far. works great with a HP 300i DVD burner
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Best of what is out there

Pros:

Cons:

Review: The truth about the various video software options is simple: there isn't one program that stands head and shoulders above the others. I have tried numerous programs (Studio 8, Movieshaker, Sonic MyDVD, etc) and I have to say that Ulead VideoStudio 7 gets the closest to what I need. It isnt PERFECTLY stable, interface is clunky, and it is a tad expensive but it does get the job done. SPECIAL NOTE: it is the ONLY program that I am aware that will actually handle SONY MICROMV format. Pinnacle Studio 8 CLAIMS to support but it crashes constantly. If you have MICROMV you MUST get VS 7.0
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Result it`s a disgrace

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I tried the trial version ofthis piece of software,and decided never to use it again. Why? Just because it`s unstable on large files(I used 3-5Gb files and it just kept crushing, while small files worked just fine), and the result it is so bad that you`d like to dump the tape you just made in the rubbish bin. I`ll stick with Adobe Premiere because it`s the best program so far I`ve ever used(but difficult to master).And the final rendering of the movie isn`t bad because of my hardware or something, I`ve got a top of the range pc and camcorder and Premiere make my movies perfect but this one skip frames which you can notice only after rendering and the sound quality of imported soundtracks is broken every 1-10 min of the movie. Well, you can try something else instead of Premiere, but just keep avoiding Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 as much as you just can. And a final note even Windows Movie Maker had better results than Ulead VideoStudio 7.0. You will just be very disapointed.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Trial version is great.

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Loved the free trial program. Found it very easy to use. Bought the full version, can not open it. A week later still waiting for response from tech support.
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Crashes everytime I try to capture.

Pros:

Cons:

Review: The software has a useful variety of features for editing video and is reasonably easy to use. Unfortunately, it crashes everytime I try to capture video using my ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV. Considering version 5.0 of this software came bundled with the card, I was a bit shocked at this problem. I've been waiting for a bug fix, but no luck so far. I'd suggest taking the trial-aside from the fatal crashing flaw, it is decent software.
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Capture from DVD; No audio.

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I downloaded the trial version. Found it stable on an ATI Radeon 9000 and Athlon XP 2600+. My main bugbear with it (not having a capture device) is that it will quite happily take video in from a DVD created on my set-top recorder but it REFUSES to have anything to do with the audio track. I playback what's been captured and there's no sound at all. In fact, I also downloaded the trial of Moviefactory 2 and that bleats on about 'This video has AC3 sound that is not supported by this software, please convert audio to compatible format first'. EXCUSE ME!!!! So, just what is the point of saying it works with DVD's created on a Philips DVD recorder when it quite patently doesn't. My ratings are for what did work. If it had said AC3 audio it'd have got a big fat ZERO! Oh yeah, they don't provide tech support for trial downloads, sooooo, I have this problem, I'd like to buy, but no support for you Lassy. Great. Tried the forums, page doesn't exist (according to IE6). So, as interested as I was, I'm looking elsewhere.
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Best I've Tried -- Free Trial Download

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Very functional. Burning video on to CD. I've tried MGI VideoWave, MyDVD (boo!) and Nero (for burning only). Easy to use. Some stability problems but better than the others. Rendering is very time-intensive. Was intrigued by the 30 free trial download. Takes a gutsy company to let you try for free. I will now buy it retail. Recommended to several friends already.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Not a problem. Stable.

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I loaded it, began capturing, editing, writing to disk and absolutely no problems. Machine 1.7 P4, ATI 9000 Radeon, Sony 500 U DVD writer, Sony DV camcorder via Firewire. I hoped there was a chroma key feature.
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Great Total Solution

Pros:

Cons:

Review: This is such an easy program to get into. Just follow the steps and it will take you through the whole process.
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Capture crashes with ATI 7500AIW

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Edit mode in Version 7 is better than those of V6 and V5. But capture mode crashes everytime, and I have not been able to capture anything yet. My PC: AMD1700xp, 512MB Memory, ATI Radeon 7500AIW.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Not bad, easy to use

Pros:

Cons:

Review: The transition effects will be added automatically. When I make a photo slideshow, it is very useful. I don't need add each transition individually. The extract video function is also a great feature. I also can change the step by changing the category of the library. It's very convenient. I think Ulead does the right thing in this version
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Big disappointment!

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Does not capture (crashes) with my ATI Radeon 8500DV. Too slow in trimming and re-rendering/saving on my P4. Menu buttons cheap first-generation graphics. Big disappointment!
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Good selections of effects

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I can't agree the editor's review about amateurish effects. The editor should apply effects into suitable scene.
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Download has missing information

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Like an idiot, I made the mistake of purchasing and loading new software without the real zealots and adventurers take on it. Once I downloaded it, several effects were missing. I wrote tech support and about 6 days later they got back to me with a link to download another 95MB of stuff. What a waste! I like version 6 and I'm going to stick with it until they come out with something more stable.
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Has Bugs

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Ulead always seems to make products that are overly complicated. Had version 5 and could never use it. Tried a trial version of version 7 and it has bugs. For one thing the capturing part doesn't work with my ATI Radeon 8500DV AIW. Program keeps shutting down. Can't try other features without capturing. Have other software that works fine. Back to the drawing board.
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Freeze, Freeze, Freeze.

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Well, there needs some more testing with this product at least with Athlon with ATI cards. Just freezes when trying to convert the video to disc. Hopefully they will release a patch but I would take the wait and see approach. If it wasn't for this glitch I would give it a thumbs up.
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Capture mode causes crash every time

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Software installs fine, but the Capture mode seems to be incompatible with either various capture cards or conflicts with something within Win XP. These problems did not occur when I used version 6, but have cropped up when trying version 7. VideoStudio 7 software will crash as soon as you click Capture. The only way to get it to not crash is to have dvd and/or pvr software running in concurrance. Then VideoStudio 7 will bring up the Capture options, but still does not function properly while the other software is running. As soon as you close down the other software, VideoStudio 7.0 crashes instantaneously.
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

I can't complain! MY VCR tapes are now digital!

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I got this product, and it's great because you can save imported videos into different format! And Since I have a TV tuner, I can also record my favourite TV shows! It's great, and I just burn them to a CD! The only thing that's annoy is trying to take pictures from imported videos! It's very time consuming. It's also annoying switching between TV tuner capture, and playback mode. (But that could just be my buggy XP) I recommend it, if you want to turn your VCR tapes to digital media!
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 27 user reviews

Great for DVD-RAM Recorders!

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I can finally put my mini DVD-RAM disk from my hitachi camcorder into my computer, and edit the files and make playable dvd's to play on my set top dvd player. Nice job Ulead. Very nice product, very easy to use.

Keywords

20868964   |   Ulead VideoStudio 7.0   |  

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Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 specifications

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