MovieShop Deluxe 6

MovieShop Deluxe only imports from digital sources; if your camcorder doesn't do FireWire, forget about it. It also imports clips of various formats from storage devices. It recognizes the usual suspects: AVI, MPEG, and QuickTime files, and so on. Once you've imported your clips, the interface looks friendly: you drag the files onto a slide show, add effects and transitions, and edit them as needed.

Editing clips is anything but intuitive. While all the controls are there, it's tough to figure out what to do when. Since the package lacks a printed manual, you have to use the online documentation, and it's brief and not very descriptive. MovieShop gives you the power to trim clips, stretch them to create fast or slow motion effects, and perform other relatively powerful editing feats. The trick is figuring out how to do them.

You cannot export movies to composite-video and S-video devices like VCRs. Movies can be exported to digital camcorders, burnt to DVDs or CDs, or saved as files in a similar range of formats that MovieShop imports. This application is strictly digital.

Included on the CD is Broderbund's Media Manager, an application designed to help you organize all of your music, video, photographic, and other media files. Its interface is clunky, though, and if you keep your subdirectories neat in Windows Explorer it's not worth the effort.

MovieShop Deluxe isn't a complete failure, but it's not the best video editing tool available. Amateurs looking for a friendly interface and helpful documentation would do better with Ulead's VideoStudio or Roxio's VideoWave. --Joel Durham, Jr.

Amazon.com Product Description
Bring a little Hollywood home by enhancing your home videos. Whether you're an experienced moviemaker or a newcomer to video editing, MovieShop Deluxe is your complete creative video solution. Simply capture your favorite analog or digital video clips, then edit and enhance them using a variety of editing tools and special effects. Delight your friends and family with full-scale movie productions featuring music, transitions, titles, and much more. MovieShop Deluxe also comes with Michael Rubin's Little Digital Video Book. A $20 value, this comprehensive guide to digital video editing is designed to help beginner and intermediate users alike.

Organize digital photos, MP3s, video clips, and other media files with MovieShop Deluxe's Media Manager, an easy-to-use tool that streamlines media collections. Get started in moments with quick tutorials. Enhance productions with quality content, including fun frames, professional titles, music themes, and even video clips. Ready-made design kits deliver coordinated frames, titles, and backgrounds. Cut, slice, and stretch movie clips with editing tools. Add special effects, transitions, and more with drag-and-drop ease. Save movies in formats for transfer to videotape or CD, and share smaller formats online. MovieShop Deluxe even offers DVD authoring and burning capabilities, bringing movie magic to your next party or family gathering.