It is fair to say that the hobbyist / beginner end of the video market has never had it better; so many editing / authoring packages have been released of late with functions and features only previously available in high programs such as Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, Edius Grass Valley, Final Cut Pro and so on.

It is also fair to say that Magix has aggressively tackled this lower end market with their Movie Edit series of software, and now with the release of Movie Edit Pro 16 Plus (MEPP), I reckon they have the likes of Vegas Movie Studio, Premiere Elements and others of their ilk in the upper rage of "beginner's" packages in the gunsights.

And rightly, these others should be looking over their shoulder nervously.

As many of these styles of packages do MEPP uses both a timeline and storyboard metaphor for pulling clips, audio, effects etc together. There are a total of 99 tracks available per project, but any track can contain any sort of media, unlike many packages that limit you to say, 4 video tracks, two audio and so on. 99 is heaps, and in the real world I doubt more than 15-20 would be used at a time. To my mind, having massive numbers of tracks available is a bit like digital zoom on camcorders as it simply allows the vendor to be shouty with big numbers.

The interface of MEPP is freely adjustable; the user can place elements wherever they feel comfortable, which is just as well as for example, I prefer the timeline on the top next to the "video monitor" and I don't go for the current trend of dark grey interfaces as they assume the stereotype of editing in a darkened room and I find that look a little gloomy - accepting the contrast of your videos is easier to see.

Speaking of which, MEPP also boasts a workable secondary colour correction tool, which I don't think I have as yet encountered in lower level packages. There are a few more gimmicky things too such as an ability to create travel route animation and of course, a gazillion special effects and transitions which beginners love - but real filmmakers steer clear of (watch any Star Wars episode and take special note of transitions!)

All of the normal editing controls are there of course, and to get you up to speed with them, a bunch of very good tutorials are included in of course, video format. The manual is quite good too although I'd like slightly bigger print. Special effort has been put into audio with a music editor and also a Sonicfire-style music generator with allegedly 10,000 tracks available via purchasable CDs.

Videos you have created can be turned into DVDs via a very able DVD authoring system (using embedded markers in the video as chapter points) and assuming you have the equipment, ISO , standard and Blu-ray discs can be burned. If online is more your thing, both YouTube and Vimeo direct from the timeline are supported. Slideshows are also a snap. Of course both standard definition and high definition can bed ingested and edited in MEPP and output to these formats.

Getting into semi pro territory, multicam editing has been included (video clubs love that!) as has decent chroma keying (green/blue screen) and a very nice title editor - often an afterthought.

All in all, I think Magix is on a major winner here. The only drawback I found was that installation took forever. I chose to do a full install, and on an Athlon 32 under Windows 7, it took just over an hour. But at only $149.95, that is probably a small price to pay for the functionality.

Vendor: Magix (distributed by QV Software)

Web site: www.qvsoftware.com.au

Price: $149.95

We liked: Features and functionality, audio tools, storyboarding direct to Vimeo

We didn't like: installation time, dark grey interface

By David Hague

David Hague is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He now lives back in WA (Mandurah) on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety (he is on the Roadwise committee for Mandurah City Council), fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com, vbthedog@gmail.com via Twitter via @vbthedog. or