Nova Development's Video Explosion Deluxe is $79 entry level video editing application that sports some professional-level features that are absent in other entry level editing tools. Although these features seem to be out of place in this consumer level tool, it does raise the bar up a bit for consumer-level NLEs.
Based largely on Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video editing technology, Video Explosion Deluxe sports a more professional looking interface than the other video editing tools with which it competes, and has added such professional features as dual processor support, Pan/Crop tools, automatic crossfades, real time voiceover recording, and picture in picture overlay capabilities. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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| The Video Explosion Deluxe interface is very similar to that of Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video |
The Interface
Video Explosion Deluxe sports a Timeline-based interface with five windows. The upper left window is the track information window. It has two video tracks and three audio tracks. The application supports one video track and one video overlay track, and voice, music and sound effects tracks. Above this window is the Time Display window, which details the current playback information in the Timeline. The time is set up in hours, minutes, seconds, and FF, which is the current frame that is highlighted/playing in the Timeline.
The upper right window is the Timeline, where you assemble your media. The manual calls all the separate media files that you place on the Timeline events. Other video editing applications call them clips, or just plain media files. Below the Timeline is the Transport tool bar for the Timeline, This is where you play back your project using the CD player controls. The lower left window houses a series of five tabs. The first tab is the media pool window, which shows in picon form, all the assets (video, audio, still image files, text, back drops) that you add to your project. From within the Media Pool window you can import media, capture video, acquire images from a digital camera or scanner, and extract audio from a CD and place these files on the Timeline. The next tab is the Transitions Window, of which Video Explosion has 174 transitions. Mousing over each transition will give you a visual representation of what the transition looks like. The Video FX Tab enables you to adjust various aspects of your video events or clips. The effects include the capability to add noise, adjust brightness and contrast, color balance, film effects, Gaussian Blur, Glow, HSL Adjust, Invert, Pinch/Punch, Pixelate, Sepia, Sharpen, Spherize, Swirl, and Wave. The next tab is the text and Backdrops Tab, which includes Color gradient presets, Solid Color presets, text presets, and Credit Roll presets. The Credit Roll presets include plain scrolling in black, scrolling in transparent, timed fade on Black, timed zoom in/out on Blue, Scrolling left side on semi-black, Timed Scroll Right on Frosty White, Timed wipe in/out on Black, and Backward Scrolling primary colors. The final tab is the Explorer tab, which enables you to access any event files on your hard drive and bring them into the Media Pool.
The Audio Controls window sits to the right of the Explorer Tab. This is where you monitor your audio levels and adjust the master volume of your project. The Video Preview Window sits to the right of the Audio Controls Window. This is where you preview your video, and any other moving events that are on the Timeline.
Output options
Video Explosion Deluxe supports a range of output options for your finished project. These include the capability to write your movie to disk, VideoCD or CD-ROM, print back out to DV tape, send movie via email, or create a web page with your movie embedded in it. The output capabilities of Video Explosion Deluxe are one of the strongest in its category. The options enable you to output to industry-standard file formats as well as proprietary file formats such as Real Media and Windows Media Video. For example, when you choose the option to write your movie to disk, there are a range of format options that you can select as the output medium.
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| The Make Movie window |
These include MPEG 1, MPEG 2, QuickTime, Real Media, Video for Windows, and Windows Media 8. The window enables you to stretch the video to fill output frame, and gives you the option to select fast video resizing. Information detailed in the window includes the estimated size of the video file as well as the free space on the host system and the estimateddownload time the video will take using the various modem speeds. The advanced render button enables you to use a pre-built template that you can choose your video to render out to. These include 56Kbps, 100Kbps, 256Kbps, 512Kbps video, 1Mbps and 3Mbps video. Your video can be also be saved on the following file types: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, OggVorbis, QuickTime, Real Media, Sonic Foundry Audio, Sonic Foundry Perfect Clarity Audio, Sonic Foundry Wave64, Microsoft's Video for Windows, WAV audio files, Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video. The Print to tape option enables you to render your final project out to NTSC DV, NTSC DV Widescreen, and PAL DV and PAL DV Widescreen. You can also choose uncompressed with this option. You can also create a DVD with the included MyDVD from Sonic Solutions.
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| The Video fx window |
The Big Explosion
Video Explosion Deluxe ships with plenty of content to get you started on the digital video editing path. It includes more than 100 NTSC DV clips, 150 352 x 240 resolution clips, more than 750 backgrounds and photographs, 200 MP3 audio files, 12 overlay backgrounds, 100 animated GIFs, 1000 sound effects, 300 fonts, and 24 sample storyboards. Video Explosion Deluxe minimum system requirements are a computer running Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP with 128MB RAM, Pentium II processor or better, 40MB hard disk space for the application, and DirectX 8 or later with Video Capture update. A more better configuration would consist of a Pentium III or faster CPU (or better yet, a dual processor system, which Video Explosion supports), 256MB RAM, and a separate, dedicated 30GB+ hard drive for video. Because video editing is processor-intensive, AND takes up massive amounts of hard disk space, it is highly recommended that you have the fastest system and the largest hard drive that you can afford. While the Pentium II minimum system requirements can run the application, you'll experience performance issues.
I tested the application on an HP 733MHz Pentium III with an 8GB hard drive and 128MB RAM and a Compaq Evo W4000 running at 2GHz, 30GB system drive, 512MB RAM, and a dedicated 30GB hard drive, and I'll tell you that the application was much snappier with the more powerful hardware. The application also seamlessly found the Sony TRV11 DV camera that I used to download video to the PC, and controlling the DV camera via Device Control is also built into the software.
Final Impressions
Video Explosion Deluxe definitely pushes the envelope in the entry level digital video editing market. The application, though targeted at the entry level, is full of professional level capabilities, from the interface on down. While the interface may be intimidating to those who are new to video editing, it does offer a pretty seamless upgrade path to Sonic Foundry's professional level editing tools because the interface is inherently identical to that of Vegas Video and Video Factory. If you do need assistance in getting up to speed with Video Explosion Deluxe, you can access the Video Explosion Deluxe Show me feature, which walks you through each aspect of the application's interface.
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| The Tutorial window |
Tutorials are also available that walk you through many of features in the application. These are interactive tutorials that use the interface and pointers to assist you with each tutorial. If you are editing a project and you want to add a cross fade, you can access a tutorial that shows you how to add a cross fade using the existing events in your project's Timeline. The cool aspect of the tutorial system is once you complete the tutorial, the action that you learned is automatically a part of your project. The tutorials range in scope from how to capture video to how to create a cross fade between video events.
For more information, visit www.novadevelopment.com or Click here for best price
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