MAGIX Movie Edit Pro – video editing software

MAGIX Movie Edit Pro – video editing software.

I sprung for the “Plus” version of Magix Movie Edit Pro 17 Plus, from German software company, Magix. Runs on Windows.

I’ve only used it for a bit to do some “toy editing” of a mixed group of AVCHD files of different sizes and from different sources. Trying to make things hard for the program! Everything worked fine and was able to edit the AVCHD files natively on my $400 quad core Windows 7 box. I output to both 1280×720 and 1920×1080 MP4 files to watch on the computer and on a computer connected to the HDTV – excellent results.

The program has a unique user interface in that it can be operated in “movie clip” mode, like iMovie, or timeline mode, like Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere. I found this interface very slick – I could string together whole clips quickly in “clip” view then switch to the time line and do more precise edits, create cross dissolves, etc. Creating dissolves is very easy and, by default, is set to automatic: just drag the edge of one clip over the edge of another and Movie Edit Pro automatically sets up a dissovle.

I’ve used only a few features such as image stabilization (worked VERY well for my test clips – better than the similar feature in Vegas).

I have not yet done a lot with this program – there are tons of filters, effects, and titling options, including “3D titles”. Oh, and there is even 3D video editing too. If you have two video streams, say from identical side by side cameras, you can stitch them together to make a red/blue (glasses) 3D video to play on your computer or your TV. Can’t wait ’til have time to try that out.

Overall, so far, I am very pleased. The regular price is $99 for the “Pro” version. The program delivers capabilities costing far more than that from other vendors.

Magix merged with Xara, the UK company that makes several programs for graphic design, photo editing, web layout and more. I own the Xara Xtreme designer and like it quite a bit. It is inexpensive and does most everything the “really expensive” packages do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *