Product Description

CYBERLINK POWERDVD ULTRA . UK

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1015 in Software
• Brand: Cyberlink
• Released on: 2008-03-07
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

PC Pro Recommended
Another big improvement, but this time its enough to make Power Director a worthy alternative to its mainstream rivals.

Manufacturer's Description
CyberLink PowerDirector 7 is a comprehensive, semi-professional video editing software, featuring end-to-end support for high definition video, from importing to editing and output, and includes advanced authoring features for Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. Create movie masterpieces with powerful editing features, enhanced video quality with adjustable fixing tools. Get creative with unlimited effects and groovy templates, share new effects on the editing community DirectorZone. Export to YouTube, iPods, PSPs, DVDs, Blu-ray & AVCHD discs.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Great for editing your home movies for DVD or for active YouTubers!
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R32SC2B128DJ5H I reviewed Power Director Ultimate using the software itself to show what it can do. How original! It's speeded up by x1.3 to shorten the length, which is why it seems I speak so fast. Also, apologies for the flicker from my monitor, I tried my best to get rid of it. Enjoy my video review (was it helpful? Please rate!) and I recommend the software if you like what I showed you.

Not Recommended
I had no luck at all with this software. I only turned to Cyberlink as my PC already came bundled with some of their software but I won't be buying this brand again. The software seems to install ok but the CD key to activate it will not be accepted. I've installed it on two different PCs and still the key does not work. Amazon kindly sent me a replacement but still the key (now different) does not work. I am now sending them back for a refund.
I read on the internet something about some problem with the Cyberlink servers which may be the cause here. I don't know if this is the case or not but you buy a product and expect it to work, and you certainly don't expect them to provide the wrong CD key twice. There seems to be no telephone support, only email and the emails didn't help at all. I was all ready to to sit down and watch a nice new Blu-ray film but couldn't. If you have a good experience, please let us know but I would avoid this product.

Entry Level Video Software with some annoying flaws.
My initial reaction to this product was VERY negative, so I've forced myself to use it on a daily basis for nearly a month now, hoping to see it in a more positive light.

Let me get my dislikes out of the way first.


Gripe 1. No manual.
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The software is over-packaged. The sturdy, paperback-sized box might lead you to expect a printed manual inside. But no, there's nothing except the disk.

While it's true that the program has a help file, it really doesn't substitute for a proper printed manual - even a small 'quickstart' leaflet would have been helpful. The program is mostly intuitive, but it's not THAT intuitive.

As a result, I initially thought Power Director lacked certain features - eventually I discovered they *were* there, but I had to hunt to find them.



Gripe 2. The 'adware'
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Well, technically it's not REALLY adware... But when I made my first little movie, then tried to add a musical soundtrack I was surprised and delighted to find such an *incredible* range of titles and styles of music available in the software.

The surprise and delight VERY rapidly changed to annoyance and frustration when I discovered that most of these are only short, unusable 'samplers', and that if you actually want to use the music, you're expected to BUY them on-line. This will cost you around $20 per shot (though there's also the option to buy a lesser-quality version for a mere $7. Or for $100 you can buy a CD of music in that particular style. Woopee.

(there's also a note saying 'price as of 2005', so goodness knows what they cost now.)

I don't know if this sort of thing bugs anyone else, but personally I HATE having dozens and dozens of titles pre-programmed into my software when their only real function is to make you hand over a lot more cash.

I would have deducted a star for this alone.



3. DVD burning.
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It's possible that I've just been unlucky and there's something wrong with my disk, but I found that when I used the software's built-in DVD burning feature, I wasted lots of DVDs. For my trial I used 2 different computers, 3 DVD burners, and several brands of DVD, and I was left with the feeling that this part of the software was seriously buggy.

All too often, on playback the DVD picture would freeze about halfway through.

Eventually I stopped trying - I just burned the DVD images to my hard drive, then used separate DVD burning software to make the DVDs. That solved the problem.


4. General Stability.
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I've been using the software an AWFUL lot over the past few weeks, and I've come to expect at least one crash per session. It would be nice if the software had an auto-save feature. I've learned to save my work on a regular basis, but even so, I still have times when I'll work for a half-hour or so, and bang - it's all gone. This still applied, even after visiting the website and downloading the updated patch.



Ok, so much for the gripes. Apart from those, I DID eventually get to like the program a bit better.

Generally I use two very different video editors. For something *really* 'quick and dirty', say if I just want to quickly email a vid or post it on the net, I use the (admittedly awful, but free) Microsoft Movie Maker. For more serious work, I'm lucky enough to have a copy of the (admittedly awfully overpriced) Adobe Première Pro.

Power Director Ultra is significantly better than the Microsoft offering, and at its price, it would be totally unfair to expect it to compare with the Adobe product.

And yet, almost grudgingly, I have to admit that its range of features makes it closer to Première than to Movie Maker. It has a large range of effects, transitions, and cool tools that will take you all the way from downloading your video to creating a professional-looking DVD, complete with menus, etc.

The software is, beyond all doubt, 'Entry level.' If you take your video work very seriously, you'll probably outgrow it quite quickly. But if you just want to document your holidays, special events, and enjoy playing round with video, you could certainly do a lot worse.

I will never 'love' this software, but I think that in future it will be my choice for a 'quick and dirty' upload, rather than Microsoft Movie Maker.