I recently bought a Canon Vixia HF11 camcorder, which shoots HD video in the AVCHD format. The camcorder came with simple editing software called ImageMixer 3SE, but it's very basic and leaves a lot to be desired. I really wanted editing software with more features and it looked like Corel's VideoStudio Pro X2 fit the bill. Therefore, I bought Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 from Amazon for about $59, which I thought was an excellent price.

Note: The prior version of Video Studio was released under the Ulead brand name. The latest version of the software is now sold under the Corel name.

What it is

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 is video editing software for the PC and it requires a powerful PC to run it well. For a $59 software package, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 has a ton of appetizing features. It will edit virtually all types of digital video from just about any digital consumer camcorder, standard- or high-definition. Some of the video formats that Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 accepts include AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, HDV, Windows Media Video, QuickTime, H.264 and AVCHD. Once in the editor, the software will output in any of these formats as well as outputting files in the format used by YouTube. Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 will support video that is 1920 x 1080 resolution, which is full 1080i quality HD.

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 has loads of editing features and can be used in either "storyboard" or "timeline" editing style. (I prefer timeline editing.) Once video is in the computer, it's easy to bring it into the software's library. Also in the library are a few dozen pre-packaged video clips that can be used for opening/closing credits, chapter titles or special backgrounds. These all look clean, even in HD.

There are a lot of other features in this editing software but one that I found really impressive is that there are color correction and video level adjustments. These are surprisingly easy to use, although they get applied to an entire segment on the timeline. That's not a big drawback, as you can drag different segments from a single clip onto the timeline and apply correction as needed to each segment.

One other neat feature of Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 is that it has a "Movie Wizard" mode that creates really fancy short videos in just a couple of steps. If you have a single long shot (of your child's piano recital, for example), in just three or four clicks you can assemble a really spiffy-looking finished video. You can then save this in YouTube format, burn it on a DVD or save it in just about any format.

Finally, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 can input/output Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. I have not tried to deal with that yet.

In use

I always load my camcorder's video into my computer first, using the SD memory chip that mounts in the camcorder. I then take this SD chip and slot it into the computer, then save the files on the computer's hard drive. My computer has an AMD Phenom 9500 processor, 3 GB of RAM and 1 TB of hard drive space, and it runs Windows Vista Home Premium. It's a fast computer and I wouldn't want to be running Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 on something much slower than this.

On the computer with Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 open, I use the "File" command to locate and load the video clips into the software's library. A project with 75 video clips might take around two minutes to load all the clips into the library. Once in the library, I drag-and-drop clips into the timeline and trim them in the preview screen. I've used a few different editing programs over the years and each has a learning curve, but I was running on Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 pretty quickly. It has many similarities to other editing programs and if you're familiar with one, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 will be easy.

Although Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 has a lot of transitions, one that I could not find was a simple fade-up-from-black. Other than that, there is a huge selection of transitions that will drag, twist and spin video from one clip to another. There's also a complete titling capability that makes it easy to size titles and locate them anywhere on the screen.

Once I have my clips arranged in the timeline with all effects and titles applied, I select the "Share" tab and that brings up the choices for saving the video project. As I mentioned in the previous section, there are a lot of choices for saving files. However, since my camera produces AVCHD files, I want to save the finished product as AVCHD to maintain the highest quality. Of course, I can save it in a whole slew of formats, particularly if I want to share something with friends. Therefore, although I may save a project as an AVCHD file for my use, I can also save it as a WMV file to share it with friends, for example.

Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 can create 720 and 1080 HD video in WMV format, although both are 30-frame progressive. True 720p HD is 60 frames per second and standard 1080i HD has 60 fields that get interlaced into 30 frames per second. It seems a small point and high-definition WMV files created by Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 look good, but they do not have the smoothness of motion of true 1080i or 720p video.

Rendering a 10-minute video to AVCHD takes about 25 minutes, even on my powerful computer. This is slower than I expected, even though I know HD video contains a heckuva lot of data.

Yes Virginia, there is a glitch

All the above sounds good but there is a nasty glitch in the way Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 edits AVCHD files, at least the AVCHD files made by my Canon HF11 camcorder. Before and after every edit, the software apparently jumps back to an earlier frame, creating a small but easily visible glitch. I couldn't believe it when I first saw it, thinking that I must have done something wrong or that my computer had a buffer that was overflowing. Or something.

Nope, this is now a well-documented bug in Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 and there is no word yet on a fix. Therefore, if you have a Canon or Panasonic HD camcorder that records in the AVCHD format, be very wary of using Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. (People with Canon and Panasonic AVCHD camcorders have both complained about this glitch. Sony camcorders may or may not have this problem with Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 -- the word is inconclusive on that.)

Note that this glitch occurs when rendering projects in AVCHD format or the related Blu-ray format. There is no glitch if I render a project as a WMV file. Of course, I bought the software because it prominently stated that it could input and output AVCHD files. Unfortunately, it only does that with glitches.

For more information about this glitch, you can read up on it at one of the Corel users' forums. Send me an e-mail for a link to a Corel users' forum where this has been discussed extensively.

Getting back to good news for a moment, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 has not locked up or crashed during many hours of editing. It is very stable, which is unusual for video editing software. That alone is impressive.

Feb. 21, 2010 Update:

As of the end of 2009, there was no patch for Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 that allows it to cleanly edit from/to AVCHD files from the Canon Vixia HF11. I can cleanly edit from AVCHD to WMV, but can not edit cleanly from AVCHD to AVCHD. I'm still hoping for a patch to fix this problem but have no idea when (if ever) it may be ready.

Summary

This is a solid four-star product that has a near-fatal glitch for my purposes. I think that I may be able to work around it by editing in the simple software that comes with the camcorder, then importing that into Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 for finishing. That's a strange bit of workflow, though, and not at all what I expected when I bought the software.

If you are looking for HD editing software that will be glitch-free to/from AVCHD, avoid Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. If you want to edit any other format, this is a good, solid and stable package. I'm going with two stars only because I think this glitch will be fixed eventually, but Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 has been a big disappointment.

Recommended: No