Do you remember when iMovie was easy to use and had a bunch of exciting features? For only $9.99 you can regain control of your amateur auteurism as well as access video effects and editing tricks that iMovie -- and even Final Cut Pro X -- would be proud of.
VideoCanvas’ best trick is multiple layers. Layered video is normally a feature found in professional-level video packages, but VideoCanvas handles them perfectly. We added more than 20 separate layers to a test project, including images, text, and video, and VideoCanvas was able to handle them all on a modest Core i5 iMac without any noticeable slowdowns.
VideoCanvas offers more editing features than you can shake a lens at.
Transparency, picture-in-picture, and even green-screen effects can be applied to your clips using a simple drag-and-drop. VideoCanvas offers a wide range of filters that can be applied to entire frames or just selected areas. Custom text can be tweaked and applied over time too. Unlike iMovie, which offers no gradual implementation of effects, VideoCanvas allows you to set start and end points for individual effects.
As we worked with clips in VideoCanvas, its remarkable power became more and more apparent. It’s easy to learn -- easier than iMovie -- and offers so many possibilities beyond the effects and filters. Every attribute of an effect or clip can be manipulated, from its size and position to audio volume and scale in a few easy clicks. The ability to combine effects and transitions opens up a wide range of creative possibilities. Even if you’re not ready to abandon iMovie entirely, you can add effects in VideoCanvas and export individual clips for use in iMovie projects.
The bottom line. VideoCanvas is not as pretty or as automated as iMovie, but what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in features and flexibility.
Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later
Multiformat support. Layered timeline editing. Multiple effects and filters.
Unattractive interface. More advanced effects require some learning.
Scarabus
September 03, 2011 at 5:17pm
I bought VideoCanvas on the basis of this review, and I haven't been disappointed. To tell the truth, though, I haven't found it all that easy to learn. Which is not to challenge your assertion that it's easier to learn than iMovie, mind you.
Through the years I've used a number of video editing programs on my Macs: Adobe Premiere, Avid (whatever), Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, Quicktime Player (I still use QT 7.6), and iMovie. Admittedly, I've never even begun to master any of those programs. I'm a 69 year old dilettante suffering from age-induced ADD.
I liked QT Player through v. 7 because it allowed me to do "Quick ’n Dirty" editing, combining, masking etc. without its being a big deal. I liked Final Cut Pro because it allowed me to do much more sophisticated stuff on the occasions when I was willing to invest the time.
Each successive version of iMovie has turned me off more and more. And from what I've read, FCP has become more like iMovie. I've been looking for an affordable program that would combine the best of what I liked about QT Player and earlier versions of FCP, while avoiding what I don't like @ iMovie: freedom to work the way I want rather than the way I'm pushed; easy access to "quick if not slick" editing; power to do more sophisticated stuff when I consider the objective worth the investment of time and experimentation.
The Norrkross program seems to provide what I'm looking for, and I appreciate your making me aware of it. But no pain? Then no gain. The gain will be worth the pain, I'm confident. I haven't read this magazine enough to be sure what the audience is. But I've read enough to suspect that writers acknowledge the pain while emphasizing the gain. (And in this case the bargain price!)
