Cyberlink PowerDirector 9 Ultra64 review

Consumer video-editing software was once a two-horse race, with Adobe Premiere Elements leading in powerful features and Sony Vegas Platinum excelling for streamlined efficiency. However, Premiere Elements recently veered off course, just as Vegas Platinum 10 received a big injection of power, leaving the competition for dust.

With the launch of PowerDirector 9, the race is back on. With up to 100 tracks per project and improved handling of effects, this update matches the key strengths of Premiere Elements. However, it avoids mimicking Elements’ main weakness – poor performance.

PowerDirector already excelled for preview performance, playing complex projects without dropping frames. Version 9 is better than ever. We were able to play eight simultaneous AVCHD streams on our Core i7 860 test PC, up from seven in the previous version. More significantly, previews are no longer limited to 640×360 pixels, and now come in five sizes up to 1920×1080. Increasing the resolution inevitably increases the processor load, but it still managed four streams at 1280×720. Version 9 is also much faster at rendering; we saw 1080p AVC export times fall to around 40 per cent of version 8 speeds.

These improvements stem from a move to 64-bit code, so you’ll need to be running a 64-bit version of Windows to get these benefits. It is compatible with 32-bit Windows, but we’d strongly recommend that even casual videographers should make the upgrade. You’ll not only benefit the latest software rendering engines, but you can also address more than 3.5GB of memory.

Cyberlink has also addressed some of the limitations that made PowerDirector 8 unsuitable for demanding users. It’s now possible to unlink a video from its soundtrack and edit them independently. Clips can be dragged to a different track and grouped for easier rearranging, while the increase from 10 to 100 tracks means you’ll never run out.

PowerDirector 8’s handling of keyframes (for effects settings that vary over time) was clumsy but now it’s one of the best around. It’s easy to choose static settings via simple sliders, but a separate Keyframe editor provides a track for each parameter to create automated changes. This multi-track approach looks complex but it works elegantly, as brightness keyframes don’t get in the way with contrast keyframes, for example.

These new features are undoubtedly welcome, but PowerDirector carries some mixed blessings over from the previous version. Those in search of fun features will appreciate the sophisticated slow-motion effect that generates extra frames for smooth motion, as well as the abundance of other eye-catching special effects. Colour correction remains basic, though, and often worsens rather than fixes problems.

Another key strength is proxy editing – or Shadow files, to use Cyberlink’s terminology. When importing HD footage, the software offers to create temporary standard-definition copies to speed up operation during editing, returning to the HD originals for export. Even with all of PowerDirector 9’s performance increases, there are still times when either the project is too complex or the PC is too slow for smooth previews, and proxy editing makes a big difference. Significantly, it’s something that Sony Vegas Platinum lacks.

Ultimately, though, PowerDirector 9 Ultra64 still can’t match Vegas Platinum for swiftness of operation. It usually responds quickly to user input but it sometimes takes a second or two to register, which can be pretty frustrating. It slips behind Vegas Platinum for precision too. The lack of ripple-editing options (to dictate how edits affect clips further down the timeline) make big projects spanning multiple tracks tricky to manage. We also found that editing 1080 24p footage from a Nikon D7000 resulted in a slight loss of audio sync and occasional inexplicably muted soundtracks.

Vegas Platinum is more polished, largely thanks to its close relationship with Sony Vegas Pro. However, PowerDirector is still worth considering when processing power is in short supply. Anyone in two minds should download the demos of both from www.cyberlink.com and www.sonycreativesoftware.com to see how their PC gets on with them.