CyberLink Power Director Ultra | Download Now

Friday, March 06, 2009 Author Danish Ahmed

In the past, CyberLink's PowerDirector has felt like an also-ran. It may be bundled with quite a few camcorders, but most video makers interested in editing will have wanted to move onto something more powerful fairly quickly. With version 7, however, CyberLink is hoping to make PowerDirector an application you might want to stick with a bit longer. Some new versions seem more like dot releases, but the shift from PowerDirector 6 to 7 is more of a leap than a baby step.

For starters, CyberLink has followed the trend and given PowerDirector a graphite finish to its interface, making it look vaguely like Adobe Premiere Elements 4. It's also available in two versions - Ultra and Deluxe. Both variants will import pretty much every format under the sun, including HDV and AVCHD. The differences show themselves at the output stage. The Deluxe edition can't create AVCHD files, can't author Blu-ray discs, and can't write AVCHD and other Blu-ray video formats to DVD. These are features most people will want to pay the extra £20 for, however.
In these days of camcorder format confusion, editing software needs to cope with a hefty array of different file types. So we threw everything we had at PowerDirector, from DV to MPEG-2, and HDV to AVCHD. The separate capture section has sections for DV, HDV, analogue capture cards, digital TV tuners, webcams, soundcards, audio CD and video DVD. However, there's no specific import wizard for pulling footage off a hard disk or flash memory-based camcorder. Instead, you have to copy the files manually to your hard disk, and then use the import command in the media library

Since CyberLink holds a few key patents in Blu-ray, we expected PowerDirector to cope with most things, and we didn't manage to find anything the software wouldn't import. Progressively scanned Full HD files from Canon's HF10 were handled without issue, as were the TOD files created by JVC's High Definition Everio camcorders (which isn't surprising, as a version of PowerDirector is bundled with these camcorders). The aspect ratios were correctly displayed in almost all cases, with the notable exception of the MOD files created by Panasonic's SDR-S7, which uses a slightly non-standard 704 x 576 frame size.
It's at this stage in the editing process that we start to encounter PowerDirector's plethora of new features. Instead of having one amorphous media library, you can now create a second layer of subfolders to assist file management - although only one. Annoyingly, importing files into the media library and folder creation are only accessible via icons at the top, not via a right mouse-button click.

From Capture to Produce — in High-Definition - Create HD videos with support for formats including AVCHD, MPEG-2 HD, and WMV-HD. Preview quickly as you go with fast HD Random-Seek Technology.

6-track Picture-in-Picture Effects - Design sophisticated image overlays, chroma-key effects, and masks, with up to 6 independently animated objects. Learn about using multiple PiPs.

Disc Menu Designer - Work with new designs featuring "select scenes" navigation and animated chapter thumbnails. Create stylish menus with subtitle on/off controls too! Output to Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator - Burn discs featuring surround sound audio that you can enjoy on your home-theater system.
Resizable Workspace - Adjust your workspace to make editing even easier. Drag to enlarge the timeline, preview window and effects libraries.
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Enhance Videos and Photos with Magic Tools
Powerful Video Enhancements - Transform some of your worst mistakes into your best video content. PowerDirector's video and photo enhancement tools let you adjust the degree of each fix then automatically create the results your are looking for.

Automated Video Editing - Select a movie theme and let PowerDirector complete your video for you. No need to set a single edit point or add an effect. It's totally automatic!

Professional Slideshows - Choose from 7 unique templates, including the new "3D" style and slideshows featuring beat-detection technology to automatically sync your photos to music. Advanced tools for the "cell" style let you rearrange each photo and adjust the center of each frame.

Acquire Online Resources Easily

Direct Access to Photos on Flickr™ - Retrieve photos you have already uploaded to Flickr™. Search for photos created by your contacts or available under common license agreements. Import directly to your PowerDirector projects.
Unlimited Audio on Freesound - Never get stuck for a sound effect again. Search by tags and import to your media library.