Sony Movie Studio 13

The number thirteen is interpreted differently across our world. The 13th day may be one of caution or one beneficial for meditation. Regarding software iterations 13 means nothing special, although it certainty denotes longevity. Established video processing packages often come with a hefty price. So for Movie Studio's 13th version, Sony decided to add two major selling points. First, it introduced touch controls and second, it's only $50.

A good investment

Sony Movie Studio looks like a regular video processing software, but in case you own a touch monitor, then you will notice that clicking as well as tapping works on the main interface. While buttons are big enough to do it, I wouldn't share Sony's optimism regarding the demise of the mouse pointer.

The interface elements are all at their place. The media tracks have headers which control them and each media element can be manipulated individually to trim it, change its opacity/volume or simply moving and snapping it to other elements.

There are many transitions that you can set between clips and also many visual effects and media generators include title text and credit rolls. You can drag anything to an existing track or to a new track.

From the header you can "arm" a track for recording. In this way you can begin recording while simultaneously playing the other tracks. Useful for narrating or to add background music to a guitar song for example. Movie Studio allows for up to 20 audio tracks, but has that many guitars anyway?

The visual aspect might be a bit off-putting. The dark gray tone can be switched to a brighter version but the buttons and controls have a very austere look. The labels are not very intuitive and despite the big buttons the text seems under-sized.

Features

• Transitions & Text
• Picture effects
• Filters
• Media import tools
• Live Recording

Pros

• Great price
• Many pro-level tools

Cons

• Less than stellar interface design
• Steep learning curve

Conclusion

The Sony Movie Studio experience is definitely less smooth than others. Still if you are patient enough to discover its pro features and overal usefulness, the price is well worth it.