Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus

[RJ Johnston]

Price reduced to $69.99 US until April 10, 2008 for the download version of Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 PLUS.

http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/plus/pr/

This is worth every penny.

[Steve Grisetti]

In your opinion, Robert, is Magix the best value out there?

Are there advantages over other programs (such as Premiere Elements)? Does Premiere Elements offer advantages over it?

Your insight is very much appreciated.

[RJ Johnston]

Right now Magix Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus is the new toy on the block and takes front seat for a while. So it's going to be a while before I feel like doing a comparison.

Some things I know:

The Kodak MOV files that come out of my digital camera work perfectly as is. I don't have to do any conversions before I bring them into MEP.

There is smart rendering.

There is a title that fades in the date and time shot on a DV clip.

If you have a folder with a couple thousand photos, it will take a while for MEP to read the files before you can continue.

[ed]

It looks like the major changes are a somewhat cleaner interface, more HD support (AVCHD support and burn to Blue Ray), only in the Plus version of the software though. As usual with magix, don't buy the E-version because it usually has less features and they usually don't put out patches for thta download version.

[RJ Johnston]

I got the download version. It has more features than you can shake a stick at. After you download the main file, you will be downloading three times as much in DVD templates, effects, backgrounds, overlays, styles, and other free programs. There is over 2 GB in downloads, so you need a very high-speed connection if you do get the download version.

Then during the installation process, there's another download for iclone2.

The five-dollar welcome coupon isn't good on specials, I was informed.

[ed]

Here's what is different on the E-version as compared to the box version. It looks like you can get just about everything put in separate downloads.

We changed the way on how we do eversions. So you will get a fully functional program, such as the boxed version, just with less templates and styles and other little tools and toys. For MEP 14 plus its this:

The e-version does not contain the following extra tools, but they can be downloaded:
MAGIX Photo Manager
MAGIX MUFIN MusicFinder Base

The demo project, the electronic manual (PDF), the tutorial video, and the Task Assistant's Help videos are not contained in the e-version. Nevertheless, a detailed program Help is available. On purchase you will receive an email containing a download link, which can be used to download the electronic manual (PDF) separately.
Additional fade series, decorative elements, Soundtrack Maker styles, advanced DVD menu templates and MovieMaker Styles can be downloaded for free from within the program via the "Help" menu.Real Helixâ„¢ is not supported and WindowsMediaAddOns are not contained in the download version.

I read that it has a new 'Ken Burns" tool to make that effect really easy to do. Have you tried it yet RJ?

[JohnnyO]

Isn't it worth the $5.00 difference in price to avoid the hastle of downloading all that stuff?
The boxed version costs $74.99 and includes free shipping.

[RJ Johnston]

I read that it has a new 'Ken Burns" tool to make that effect really easy to do. Have you tried it yet RJ?

I guess you would be referring to the Movement panel. It does make it easy to pan and zoom. You don't have to wade through hundreds of presets to find the one you need. You have a nice compact control panel. The results are very smooth. They don't use terms like Bezier or Linear, they use Soft or Not Soft.

I would actually prefer to download the software, that way I don't have to wonder if and when the package will arrive, and I don't have to be home to sign for the package. It will also have the most recent updates.

[RJ Johnston]

I you decide to do any capturing from a miniDV camcorder using MEP 14+, you may want to check for a problem that I discovered with the download version for the US. Don't do a lot of capturing before you check for the problem to see if it exists.

During capture, the fields are interlaced incorrectly in the DV-AVI file. After creating a DVD, playback has that jerky motion on an NTSC standard interlaced television.

[JohnnyO]

RJ:

I found this in the Magix knowledge base. Try this when you capture:

1. Goto the DV-MPEG capture screen.
2. Click on "Output Options"
3. Set the video format to NTSC.
4. Re-capture the material

[RJ Johnston]

I saw that, but that has to do when you capture to an MPEG file from a miniDV camcorder. I'm capturing to a DV-AVI file. Anyway I changed it to NTSC but that didn't fix the problem.

What does fix the problem is when you go to burn a DVD, go into advanced Mainconcept settings and change the Mainconcept "interlace" option from "bottom field first" to "top field first."

It shouldn't be that way, but for whatever reason that corrects the problem.

[JohnnyO]

RJ this is definitely a bug. i wonder if there is a way to report bugs to magix. I also wonder how magix is at issuing patches.

[Paul LS]

Dont know how to report bugs but at least they tend to release a patch or two for each release.

[RJ Johnston]

Turns out the DV-AVI files are okay. It's after they are placed on the timeline in the arranger where things get off track.

In order to burn a DVD with bottom field first, I have to "interpret" the DV-AVI in object properties by indicating that they are TFF and that I don't want interlace processing. If I don't interpret the DV-AVI, then in the burn dialogs I have to change the Mainconcept interlace setting to TFF.

This happens even if the DV-AVI is captured in Premiere Elements and then used in MEP 14+ Download version 7.5.2.12 (US).

[RJ Johnston]

A continuation of my previous post...

Just discovered that when I export to other formats, such as Quicktime, I must interpret DV-AVI footage in MEP 14+ as Top Field First with no interlace processing. If the default value of Bottom Field First with automatic interlace processing is used, lines are jagged, such as crosswalk stripes.