These tools also have continued the performance improvements from hardware acceleration and now multiple GPUs, and are seeing even more impressive features flowing down from pro tools, including 3D editing, keyframed effects, blend modes, multi-cam editing, 4k and AVCHD 2.0 progressive formats, motion tracking, and color correction.
This is reflected in cleaner interfaces without arrays of tiny tool icons, support for separate simple editing modes separate from a full timeline, and even more emphasis on templates, tutorials and guided editing, especially with links to online resources for help, more content and effects, and connections to a community of other users sharing discoveries. One key emphasis has been on enhancing usability in response to customer feedback, especially for newer users who want to do more with all that video that they have been shooting, as smartphones and digital cameras now have even more fully integrate video.
In addition, user interface innovations have been migrating up from consumer to pro tools, especially in packaging complex operations in easier-to-use guided workflows.įor this release cycle, the new generation of video editing software is more incremental, driven by the need to support a broad range of users, from novice to hobbyist to advanced, all driven by the continued fascination with user-generated content, and with the growth of Media Creativity as a new category in personal entertainment.
However, consumer tools often are updated on a faster schedule, and so can include early implementations of new features. The historical progression has been: new technology is established in pro tools (as with DV and HD), and then trickle down to the consumer software, typically as part of a higher-end premium version of the product.
Similarly, interface styles have varied, with full-screen windows versus configurable panes, bright playful colors versus dark backgrounds to help the video pop, and user assists video tutorials, to templates, to step-by-step guided workflows.Īnother interesting trend has been in the cross-fertilization between consumer and professional tools. In recent generations, the emphasis has been on performance, leveraging multi-core CPUs, graphics accelerator GPUs, and 64-bit memory access for faster previewing and rendering. Often the focus is on making use of new technology, as in new capture devices – including DV camcorders, smartphones, and DSLRs, – and new formats like DV, MPEG, H.264/AVCHD, FLV, MOV, and even 3D formats. With some generations of video editing software, the key themes are obvious.
Roxio Creator NXT, updating the digital media suite with PaintShop PRO and bundling other applications for photo and music enhancement.Nero 12, expanding its smorgasbord of media and disc tools built around the venerable Nero Burning ROM.
A few years ago, it really looked like all that consumers wanted to do was to shoot cute little clips of kittens and post them directly to YouTube, without all the fuss and bother of transferring to a computer for manual editing. This is the right time for the video editor.