With the way technology has moved forward, you would be hard pressed to buy a new device that doesn't have some sort of video capturing functionality. The modern consumer has one to three video recording devices with them at any given time, i.e. cell phones, portable game systems, digital cameras, etc. Video editing has gone from being reserved to trained men and women in the back rooms of motion picture and design studios to your average persons home office. The problem was that you either had to pay through the nose for industry quality editing software, or pick up the bargain software that offered little in the way of creative control.

Corel VideoStudio Pro X4 bridges this gap. It offers a suite full of valuable tools and editing options comparable to what you find in the industry quality software while filtering out many of the more technical aspects and controls that would just intimidate the amateur videographer.

The layout is clean and the space is used well. I was actually surprised to find that it reminded me of a less cluttered Adobe Premier. I'm fairly seasoned when it comes to video editing, I've had lots of experience with Premier and After Effects so I can't really speak to how easy it is to pick up for the beginner. I will say that it is not nearly as complex as those software packages can be so, yes there's a learning curve, but it doesn't seem too steep. I appreciated the stop motion functionality as that is typically something you would capture and tweek first in After Effects or Flipbook and then export the file to Premier to clean it up and add the final touches. This is more of a one-stop-shop in terms of capturing the motion capture and cleaning up the final video. The 3D is fun, but not remotely cinema quality. This is just the prize at the bottom of the cereal and doesn't merit purchasing the software for. As others have said, if you're looking to create 3D movies, save your money and shop around for a 3D video capturing device.

Overall, if you're the parent looking for ways to clean up your home movies and add some more "professional" touches, this is the right software at the right price. If you're a student or hobbiest looking to get into video editing without investing too much money up front, again, this is probably a great place to start.
With the way technology has moved forward, you would be hard pressed to buy a new device that doesn't have some sort of video capturing functionality. The modern consumer has one to three video recording devices with them at any given time, i. e. cell phones, portable game systems, digital cameras, etc. Video editing has gone from being reserved to trained men and women in the back rooms of motion picture and design studios to your average persons home office. The problem was that you either had to pay through the nose for industry quality editing software, or pick up the bargain software that offered little in the way of creative control. Corel VideoStudio Pro X4 bridges this gap. It offers a suite full of valuable tools and editing options comparable to what you find in the industry quality software while filtering out many of the more technical aspects and controls that would just intimidate the amateur videographer. The layout is clean and the space is used well. I was actually surprised to find that it reminded me of a less cluttered Adobe Premier. I'm fairly seasoned when it comes to video editing, I've had lots of experience with Premier and After Effects so I can't really speak to how easy it is to pick up for the beginner. I will say that it is not nearly as complex as those software packages can be so, yes there's a learning curve, but it doesn't seem too steep. I appreciated the stop motion functionality as that is typically something you would capture and tweek first in After Effects or Flipbook and then export the file to Premier to clean it up and add the final touches. This is more of a one-stop-shop in terms of capturing the motion capture and cleaning up the final video. The 3D is fun, but not remotely cinema quality. This is just the prize at the bottom of the cereal and doesn't merit purchasing the software for. As others have said, if you're looking to create 3D movies, save your money and shop around for a 3D video capturing device. Overall, if you're the parent looking for ways to clean up your home movies and add some more "professional" touches, this is the right software at the right price. If you're a student or hobbiest looking to get into video editing without investing too much money up front, again, this is probably a great place to start.