CyberLink PowerDirector Deluxe Review

What makes CyberLink the best video editing software?

As a long time favorite of AlwaysReview and many of our reviewing colleagues; PowerDirector has perfected the art of top performance at a competitive price. Being a highly professional and intuitive program, this top movie making software is more than just a pretty face. Providing the hi-end features such as 3D, 4k and Multi-Cam editing demanded by professional users but making the program accessible and usable for casual audiences is a hard tightrope to walk, but Cyberlink has managed to nail it once again.

Setting PowerDirector apart from the rest are both its speed and its ability to create professional-looking edits in just a few clicks. Being engineering towards perfection over the last 11 versions, PowerDirector is able to take advantage of the very best in computing technology of both processor and graphic cards. Yet still running smoothly on a low-end system. As a result, it generates previews faster than any of its competitors and is able to produce outputs (the final version) at much faster rate than the rest. In a side-by-side comparison with other movie editors on rendering speed, where several clips were transformed into 720p MPEG4 format, colleagues concluded the following scores:

• Cyberlink PowerDirector 12 – 1:28
• Adobe Premiere Elements 11 – 4:46
• Corel Video Studio Pro X6 – 5:16
• Magix Movie Edit Pro – 5:19
• Pinnacle Studio 16: 11:30

Notice that the above is the time it takes to create the 720 MPEG4 format. A format so common that you quite likely will find yourself working with it. Sometimes numbers truly say more than words.

Upon opening the program three options are available. First off is the Full Feature Editor, which name kind of gives it away. It’s the most feature-filled option that will be thoroughly enjoyed by professionals and enthusiasts. This is also where you can find the top end features, which we will discussed a bit further down in our review. Next up is the Easy Editor. Like his more advanced brother, this editor lives up to its name by providing an intuitive, powerful and yet easy-to-use interface to quickly create high quality edits. And last but not least, we have the Slideshow Editor. A simple and basic editor that offers a great set of easy-to-understand tools to create slideshows. This is a very useful tool for either the most casual of user or someone making a presentation for a formal environment.

Coming back to the more advanced features of the most popular video editing software of 2018, we'll start off with 4k editing. PowerDirector is the first consumer orientated movie editor to offer 4k editing to the non-Steven Spielberg’s of this world. Just to make sure we are on the same page, 4k editing means creating videos with twice as much pixels as that of a full HD 1080p movie. In doing so, Cyberlink can work with several hi-end camera’s including the JVS HMQ-10, the Canon 1DC and the increasingly popular Hero3 by GoPro. The last one, also a big favorite of the editors at AlwaysReview, can shoot 4k at 15 frames a second. Magnificent.

Next up, are the 3D editing abilities of this popular movie editor. With PowerDirector you will able to import, produce and edit full 3D motion pictures. Something even Abobe’s Premiere Elements still isn’t capable of doing. On top of that, the video editor is able to convert 2D material in 3D material, but as you can imagine, genuine 3D material comes across significantly better. Most popular 3D file formats, such as M2T/MVC and Dual-Stream AVI, are supported.

Perhaps the most impressive of the advanced features on the best video editing software of 2018, is multi-cam editing. Although Magix was the first to introduce this to the public, PowerDirector has taken this to the next level entirely. In modern day, many events are recorded from many different angles on many different devices. In order to create a beautifully synced clip from these various angles you click the puzzle shaped icon where you will be able to select up to four different angles. Truly a joy to work with, and something that will take your editing to an entirely different level.

In conclusion; Cyberlink PowerDirector is a marvel of program. It’s one of the few video editors that brings professional performance to the regular consumer. It’s speed, advanced features and intuitive layout make it the best video editing software of 2018 by a long shot. 

Why choose CyberLink PowerDirector as your video editing software?

• Versatile and robust, suited to users of all levels and experience
• Can create anything from home movies, Blu-ray discs, and DVDs, through to professional-looking video edits
• Programmed with speedy previews and output in mind
• Stylish effects can be applied at the touch of a button
• Has many clickable features than can automatically edit or sync videos in various ways
• Incredible value-for-money
• MultiCam and MultiCam editing support
• 64-bit support
• 3D output support
• 4K resolution output support

Specifications and system requirements

Tools & Utilities

• Keyframing
• Timeline Display
• Titles

Video and Audio Effects

• Audio Effects
• Audio Transitions
• Video Transitions
• Visual Effects

Editing Features

• Animation Tools
• Audio Transitions
• Drag and Drop
• DVD Burning
• Green Screen (Chroma Keying)
• HD Support
• Subtitles
• Video Transitions

Specifications

• Video Input Formats: 3GP, AAF, AVCHD(MTS), AVI, DAT, FLV, MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV
• Video Output Formats: AVI, MKV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime(MOV), WMV
• Audio Input Formats: AIF, M4A, MP3, OGG, WAV
• Input Image Formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, RAW
• Publishing Presets: DivX, DVD, High Definition, Mobile Devices, MPEG-4, Web, Youtube

System Requirements

• Processor: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2, Intel Core i5/7 or AMD
• Graphics Card (NVIDIA): GeForce 8500GT / 9800GT or above
• Graphics Card (AMD): AMD APU Family with AMD Radeon HD Graphics
• Supported Platforms: Windows