Compare Prices on PowerDirector 8 Ultra
More powerful and even faster, CyberLink PowerDirector 8 offers more video enhancement and editing tools, designer tools and more timeline tracks to let you create great videos. Spice up your projects too by downloading any of the 18,000+ free effects and templates already uploaded to DirectorZone by PowerDirector users.
Achieve Professional Results with New Design Tools. |
Upscaling Video Quality with TrueTheatre Technology. |
Faster Performance with Multi-Processing. |
Upload HD Videos to Facebook and YouTube. |
Share Your Creativity with DirectorZone Members. |
Powerful Video Editing with Unlimited Possibilities.
CyberLink PowerDirector 8 Ultra is an easy-to-use yet powerful video editing software application. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, PowerDirector makes video editing an enjoyable experience. It features many new video enhancement and editing tools to let you create great videos. Upscaling technology will help improve your video quality with just a click of a button. Designer tools and more timeline tracks offer even more power, and you can simply spice up your projects by downloading any of 13,000+ free effects and templates already uploaded to DirectorZone.com, PowerDirector’s online community. With broad format support and the options to upload videos to YouTube & Facebook, or output to on-the-go media players, you can share your creations with anyone and everyone.
Quick and Easy Video Enhancing
A host of new tools and technologies are designed to save editing time and improve your video quality. Leveraging PowerDVD’s video enhancing TrueTheater technology, PowerDirector delivers HD-like results from standard definition content by upscaling video resolution, smoothing out playback in slow motion and enabling virtual surround sound. With easy-to-use settings, PowerDirector’s TrueTheater technologies fix common video shooting errors such as extreme backlighting, poor white balance, and inadequate lighting.
Achieve Pro Results
PowerDirector 8′s suite of design tools–for creating titles, animated objects, and disc menus now offers a Particle Effects Designer, letting you experiment with movie-like special effects. As with PowerDirector’s other design tools, particle effects can be uploaded and shared with other users on DirectorZone, PowerDirector’s community website. Enjoy working with more editing tools such as Reverse, Crop, Speed and Rotate video tools. For precise trimming, retain frame-level control with the patented Zoom-In Cut. While the expanded 16-track timeline offers more creative possibilities including the ability to cut & paste sequences to other parts of your production.
Faster Performance
The first consumer video editing software to be optimized for Intel Core i7, NVIDIA CUDA, and ATI Stream technology, PowerDirector delivers up to 5X faster performance for rendering effects and transcoding videos, with vastly improved editing and previewing speeds.
Share your creativity and learn from others
Ever wonder how home movies achieve memorable effects? Now you can by viewing other users’ timelines and even sharing your own on DirectorZone.com. This unique glimpse into others’ creative approaches is a remarkable learning tool, offering incredible insight for your own projects. PowerDirector’s unique “open editing” experience also lets you share special effects, video editing secrets, and a chance to learn from other users. Download, upload, and share an unlimited amount of effects, DVD menus, particle effects, and PiP objects via DirectorZone.
Ways to Show and Tell
Video editing software, PowerDirector, provides direct HD video uploading to Facebook and YouTube, enabling easy sharing on today’s most popular social networks and video blogging sites. Or enjoy your finished movie in HD at home by producing Blu-ray Discs or AVCHD discs in high-definition resolution. If it’s mobility you are after, you can produce playback files for your iPhone, iPod, or PSP.
Key Features
- Create pro results with 16 tracks, particle effects designer, & more
- 5X faster video rendering with support for CPU/GPU acceleration
- Upscale SD video to HD-like quality. Fix video problems instantly
- Learn editing tricks from other users on DirectorZone
- Share videos on YouTube and Facebook, output to mobile devices, and burn to discs
- PowerDirector 8 has been tested to meet all of the technical requirements to be Compatible with Windows 7
- Amazon Sales Rank: #212 in Software
- Brand: Cyberlink
- Model: PDR-E800-RPU0-00
- Released on: 2009-09-04
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Format: CD-ROM
- Original language: English
- Dimensions: .25 pounds
Features
- PowerDirector 8 Ultra provides easy-to-use, powerful video editing for users of all levels
- Create pro results with 16 tracks, particle effects designer & more
- 5X faster video rendering with support for CPU/GPU acceleration
- Upscale SD video to HD-like quality; fix video problems instantly
- Share videos on YouTube and Facebook, output to mobile devices, and burn to discs
Comprehensive Review of the top 7 video editing software titles
Sorry about the formatting, Amazon is removing all my spaces when I publish even though it looks fine in the editor.
Computer Specs:
Intel Core2 Duo @ 1.86 GHz
2 GB RAM
256 MB Video
32 bit
Windows Vista
My test:
Added 2 videos.
Added image stabilization to one
3D transition between them.
Rendered the project.
AVCHD in and MPG2 out (both in full HD, 1920*1440, Dolby 5.1 if available)
Video length 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
Overall Review:
***** Corel Video Studio Pro X3
***** Cyberlink PowerDirector 8
*** Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro Plus 9
**1/2 Adobe Premiere Elements 8
** Magix Edit Pro 15
* Roxio Creator 2010
* Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 14
Package Options:
My reviews are against the top versions of each product line. You will find that most of the differences between the top versions and the base are Blu-ray export options, and some add some extra sound options. See for yourself the option that suits you at the manufacturer’s website in their respective product comparison guides.
Windows 7:
All seemed to work for me in windows 7, 64 bit with 4 GB RAM. I didn’t do any tests with it b/c I wanted to use an older machine that would come closer to representing the average computer. This includes Roxio 2009, but not 2010 for reasons stated below.
Final Opinion:
If you want something super easy to use, then I would go with Cyberlink PowerDirector 8. If you want something with a bit more power that you can grow into, I would go with Corel Video Studio Pro X3. Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro plus 9 may very well be good, but I see no reason to purchase it with the power of the Corel package.
If you are a masochist, go with Adobe, Magix, Roxio, or Pinnacle.
DETAILS:
Adobe Premiere Elements 8
65 min render time
Pros:
You can search effects
Layout was good but not great
Interface was pretty straightforward
Cons:
Virtually locked my system
Slow and temporarily froze frequently
Output menu was cumbersome
Corel Video Studio Pro X3
19 min render time
Pros:
Great Output menu
Very fast
Easy to use user interface
Proxy editing*
Autofit for timeline
Cons:
No search function for effects
Cyberlink PowerDirector 8
30 min render time
Pros:
Output menu was nice
Very nice and easy to use layout
Cons:
No Blu-ray output
*Edit*
Blu-ray output available with the Ultra Edition
*Edit*
Magix Edit Pro 15
41 min Render time
Pros:
Simple
Cons:
Poor user interface
Oversimplified (Too simple I think for most people)
Very Cumbersome to use and add effects
Output options were confusing and cumbersome
Extremely limited options for PC output (which is what many will be doing)
A couple of lock ups
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 14
Pros:
Nice little finished project to see what can be done
Nice interface for editing
Cons:
ONLY SOFTWARE that I was not able to import a video
Locked up my system many times and left errant process running at 80% CPU
Took 50 seconds just to load the import video TAB
When I selected videos to import and hit start import, absolutely nothing happened
Tried one of their movies and went to help to find stabilization and it crashed on me b/c I didn’t have enough memory
No Blu-ray output
Cons on install on windows 7 computer:
Failure on export of file on all formats
I actually tried Pinnacle about 10 years ago and had absolutely nothing but problems. Spent many days downloading patches just to get it to work. Then, like a moron, I did an entire project and when I went to burn it, the burn failed every time. I see a decade later, I still can’t export a file.
Roxio Creator 2010
Pros:
—–
Cons:
They don’t allow a trial download. I contacted them asking them if I could download a trial and even noted that I was a current customer. I personally like the 2009 Roxio. It was a nice “all-purpose” program. They told me that I had to buy it. I was offered a money back guarantee, but to do so, I had to send in a letter of destruction. This is way too much effort on my end to see if your software works for me.
I find it ridiculous in this day and age that you can’t have a trial version of something, especially when EVERY ONE of your competitors does. In addition, this is how they were treating an existing customer!
You throw in all the compatibility issues that can occur in software in general and video software in particular, and that leaves me to think they have nothing to hide.
As icing on the cake, the following sentence was in their reply.
“Creator 2010 does support AVCHD software and hasn’t been know to have any issues thus far!”
I replied to them about this OUTRIGHT LIE! First, you can read the compatibility issues on Amazon. Second, as a person that writes programs, there is no such thing as bug free software, especially video editing software.
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro Plus 9
14 minute render time (NO ANTI-SHAKE IN RENDER, see below)
Pros:
Computer stayed pretty responsive during render
Savable packages of effects
How to guide is nice
Cons:
Couldn’t search effects
Very, very cumbersome to use
Couldn’t find stabilization
The render time approximation stayed at around 1 minute or 2 left the entire time
Here is my issue with Sony Vegas. I have compared its features with many of the other programs and they are all very similar. Now, when compared with Corel Video Studio Pro X3 and Cyberlink PowerDirector, they are virtually identical. I personally think Sony leaves their software cumbersome so that it “looks/seems” more powerful.
I was definitely most disappointed in this product because it was the one that I was looking the most forward to using. When I say that it is cumbersome to use, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be used. Let me give an example. I am a programmer, and in something like excel, I like the ability to write my own code to create functions and tools that it doesn’t offer or to tweak ones that it does. HOWEVER, when I want to enter numbers in boxes, I just want to enter numbers in boxes. I don’t want to click in a box, go to a menu or right click, select some gadget and then enter a number. It is ok for complicated things to be complicated, but simple things should not only be simple, but also INTUITIVE.
The main thing that I saw that you could do in Sony Vegas that you couldn’t do in the others is change your transitions (both audio and video) ramp as far as how quickly they come in and go out. I am not talking about changing the time, but how your out video accelerates out and how you in video accelerates in during that time. It is a cool feature, but something that 99% of people will only not use, but won’t care about either.
Another thing, the image stabilizer should be easy to do, and it may be. However, I did a search in help for stabilize, stabilizer, sta, shake, anti, etc. and could not find out how to do this very simple thing. This worries me greatly that if this isn’t readily available in the help docs, then much of the other stuff probably isn’t either.
*A note on proxy editing.
Proxy editing is basically you working on a very low def version of your file, but when it comes time to actually render your output, the original file is used. Some view this as a crutch because they say you should be able to optimize the software to work with the high def video. My opinion is that if I can work faster, then I will work faster. Who cares what my resolution is while I am editing. If you have the fastest software out there for HD, and you can do your edits in very low def and it is even faster still, then why would you not want that?
Powerful and User Friendly
I’ve been using CyberLink’s PowerDirector for quite a few years and I find the latest build of version 8 to be one of the most stable yet. The first release had some codec issue, but they seem to have been fixed with this build. The program is more intuitive than others that I tried. It is easy to get started with basic editing, and very powerful for creating high quality videos when the user feels more confident to explore the features. It takes a lot of power and memory to run the Ultra version, which adds high definition capabilities, but that would be true with any program. Extra templates and effects can be download for free from the web site, and they have an active user forum that is very helpful when you do run into trouble.
The DVD authoring feature is not as advanced as a dedicated program would be, but it is a nice addition to the total package and I find little need to go outside of PowerDirector to create my discs. I also create a lot of content for online and probably would not attempt it without this program. It has a wide selection of formats that it will produce to. The DV capture options seem a bit limited, but with the HD options now available, that becomes far less important. I do find it sluggish on a laptop, but my dual-core desktop rarely even coughs when editing anything short of full HD, and even manages that with just a little more care. It has a free trial, so it is easy enough to find out how it works for your system.
Works for me!
I downloaded a trial version of Ultra, edited a 30 minute video and burnt it to a DVD. All went smoothly. It was quite fast!
I have some previous (very amateur) experience with Pinnacle and Premiere elements and was looking for something different for my new computer which has a Blu Ray burner.
I tried Sony Vegas and the DVD creation part kept claiming I was missing plugins and should reinstall. I did. same problem! Email to tech support went unanswered. I then tried PowerDirector 8 which was perfect! I ordered it from Amazon yesterday.
I don’t know how to reconcile the differing experiences of the other reviewers. Perhaps the hardware and software environments of modern computers are so complex that unexplained things happen.
My computer is a new Velocity Micro quad core i7-920 with 12 GB of 1333mhz RAM and 3 TB of hard disk space.The video card is a 1.34 Teraflop ATI Radeon 4890 which PowerDirector 8 uses as a GPU.
