Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0

Version 6.0 brings several improvements to Media Studio Pro and none more important to working with current technology than native support for both DV and MPEG-2 video formats. While MPEG-2 support remains important primarily for output, video clips from DVD discs are becoming more common source material. On the other hand, there's no question about the importance of DV support, and Media Studio can now edit DV source material from a DV or Digital 8 camcorder in the timeline without any conversion. In other words, the first-generation footage you shoot stays first generation through editing (except where you create new media such as with transitions and overlaid graphics and titles), which results in professional image quality.

Improved ripple editing offers faster editing with three different modes. The no-ripple mode, typically called fit-to-fill, automatically trims the clips to fit into a space between two other clips already in the timeline. Ideally, you'd like the option of having it trim the front end of the clips rather than always having it trim the back end, but those are professional editing efficiencies that are, not surprisingly, still beyond a AU$1,095 software tool. The other two ripple modes push back timeline clips to fit the entire new clip. You can ripple a single track or multiple tracks, and multiple tracks doesn't necessarily mean all tracks. Media Studio Pro can now lock individual tracks while you edit others.

Hardware Integration:
SmartPlay, which gives you the ability to seamlessly preview a series of hard cut transitions without first using the create-movie setting and without jumping frames, first appeared in Media Studio Pro 5.0. Version 6.0 takes that a large step forward with DV SmartPlay, which now leverages Microsoft's standard IEEE1394 (FireWire) drivers to allow you to play your edited timeline directly to DV tape. You'll still need to render transitions and titles, of course, but you won't need to use the create-movie setting and render all clips into one long file. DV SmartPlay is a huge step toward professional functionality and editing efficiency, which increases editing responsiveness and ultimately saves you time.

Unfortunately, while most of Media Studio Pro 6.0 functions just fine on older computer systems, SmartPlay is not one of them. If you're using the first edition of Windows 98 rather than the second edition (SE) released only about a year ago in 1999, this feature won't work. It's only in Windows 98 SE that Microsoft finally enabled its standard IEEE1394 driver, and Ulead needs this driver to interface with all the digital camcorders on the market. Ultimately for DV users, this feature alone makes it worthwhile for first-edition users to upgrade to Windows 98 SE, though at this point, you may just wait for Windows 2000. Regrettably, DV SmartPlay is also not supported under Windows NT.

Look and Feel:
In Version 6.0, Ulead has moved closer to traditional editing conventions and efficiencies, bringing Media Studio's look and feel a step closer to other editing interfaces on the market. The two-window interface (preview and source players) now gives individual navigation controls to both clip preview and timeline playback, including a helpful pull-down menu in the source window for toggling between clips. Oddly, in an apparent leftover from a previous version, a third preview window opens momentary whenever you play through your timeline, then disappears to allow the video to be played in the new preview window.

All windows in the interface are now floating, so you can potentially configure the work space according to your own habits and predilections. Admittedly, unless you've got a second monitor, there's not much room for moving things around. The timeline, media library, and two monitor windows cover plenty of space, without too many options for repositioning. On the other hand, if your timeline has several layers and covers much of your screen, you'll appreciate the flexibility.

If you're used to working with more than just a few clips in a given project, you'll appreciate some of the modest improvements to media management. First, there is a new search feature that finds media distributed through different folders; however, Media Studio Pro does not offer any user-definable fields to let you search by anything other than clip name. Second, and more importantly, you can now drag and drop files from Windows Explorer directly into your media library rather than importing them through menus. The drag-and-drop option is especially helpful since Media Studio Pro's many modules don't automatically share files (see Performance below).

Overall though, Media Studio's look and feel remain consistent with its predecessors: It still has video A and video B tracks with the FX track between them. Some time ago during its 5.0 version, Media Studio's chief rival, Adobe Premiere, moved away from the timeline view in favor of a more professional main video and video cut-away layout. While that may appeal to pros, many novices may still be more comfortable with the A/B layout and, for them, Media Studio Pro is probably a better choice.

Performance:
As in the past, Media Studio Pro comes with a boatload of features in several modules. The video paint, the CG Infinity title generator, and the audio editor all add important capabilities to basic video editing. Unfortunately, these modules remain separate applications rather than integrated features. In fact, only the audio editor is automatically linked to the video editor, so if you sweeten an audio clip or an audio from a video clip, it asks if you want to update the clip in your video editor timeline. With the other modules, including the capture module, you'll have to manually import files into the video editor's library. If you use the video paint tool to touch up a clip in your timeline, for example, you'll have to manually import the changed clip. Then you'll need to substitute it for the one already in your timeline: an awkward step if you've done any trimming to the clip originally. Each of the modules includes helpful, and often impressive, features; you just have to work a little harder to use them than you would in a truly streamlined interface.

When you open Version 6.0, you'll now see a series of project templates - ÃÆ'Ã,  la Adobe Premiere - that quickly set adjustable parameters like NTSC, PAL, resolution, frame rate, and codec. This addition is not only convenient for users, but it's also where hardware manufacturers can put customised templates so you can easily work with their hardware. To that end, Ulead now offers hardware vendors an SDK (software developers kit) for linking Media Studio Pro to dual-stream hardware based on C-Cube's two codec (DV and MPEG-2) chipset. Expect more hardware bundles to follow with real-time editing in Media Studio Pro.

Less tangible improvements to Media Studio Pro's performance include more efficient rendering of effects, such as more efficient use of SmartRender files on your hard drive and better image quality in effects through antialiasing of diagonal lines.

Value:
For AU$1,095, you're not likely to find an editing package that offers more in terms of functionality. While Media Studio Pro is a little clunky at times when moving between all the different modules, and the interface relies more heavily on menu items and proprietary conventions than might be ideal, it still offers more features than most editors are ever likely to use. If you've already got Version 5.0 or 5.2 of Media Studio Pro, the AU$460 upgrade should be a priority only if you're shooting DV and editing DV footage, though you will pick up some editing efficiency if you learn the new features.

Ulead Media Studio Pro 6.0
Distributor: LakoVision
Ph: 1800 657 601; Fax: 3 9852 7400
Price: AU$1,095.
Rating: 4 Star