CyberLink PowerDirector 9 review

Over the last couple of years we’ve seen PowerDirector evolve from an undistinguished application into a serious contender for the consumer video-editing crown. This latest update completes the transition with support for up to 100 tracks, powerful keyframe automation and a significant overhaul behind the scenes to speed up operation.

CyberLink makes a big fanfare over the fact that this is the first 64-bit consumer video-editing software. While 64-bit code brings only small improvements to most applications, it can make a big difference for video editing, as Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 has already demonstrated at the professional end.

To test it, we rendered a 15-minute AVCHD project with effects and overlays on our Core i7 870 PC with 8GB of RAM. PowerDirector Ultra 8 took 1hr 24mins, while version 9 did it in just 31 minutes. Yet Windows Task Manager revealed RAM wasn’t the issue – both were well within the 2GB limit that 32-bit applications can address. The significant difference was CPU usage. Version 8 fluctuated between 20% and 60%, but version 9 went full throttle at 96%.

We replicated the project using our current favourite consumer video-editing software, Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum HD 10. This 32-bit application took 46 minutes, registering only 30% on the CPU meter. Clearly, there’s more to video rendering than 32- and 64-bit code, but the bottom line is PowerDirector 9 Ultra64 is the fastest consumer editing software we’ve seen.

PowerDirector 8’s preview performance was excellent, playing seven simultaneous AVCHD streams on our test PC. The downside was the fixed 320 x 180 preview resolution, which looked ugly and made precise edits tricky. Version 9 managed eight AVCHD streams at this resolution, but also adds the option to increase the preview resolution. It played six AVCHD streams at 640 x 360, four at 1,280 x 720 and three at 1,920 x 1,080 on our test PC. These are impressive achievements, and the ability to balance preview detail against smoothness is extremely welcome.

PowerDirector also retains its support for proxy files – low-resolution copies of HD clips generated on import for smooth previews, which revert to the original footage for export. It’s an excellent system for HD editing on slower PCs, and one that’s notably absent from most of PowerDirector’s competitors.

The timeline and interface as a whole seemed more responsive than before too. Occasionally, it took a second to two to respond to user input, but this was rare. The timeline now has controls for applying opacity envelopes to clips without having to visit the PiP Designer window, and overlapping two clips gives an option to overwrite or split. Applying a transition still requires a trip to the Transition Room panel, though.

The timeline also lacks ripple-editing options; the default behaviour is for clips to shuffle along to close gaps or make room when earlier ones are adjusted in length, but only for the track being edited. Keeping objects on other tracks in sync can be extremely tricky.

Keyframe editing allows effects settings to be varied over time, and while PowerDirector 8’s implementation was messy, the new system is much improved. Static settings are applied via the simple, friendly looking Effect panel, while clicking Keyframe brings up individual keyframe lanes for each parameter. This approach works much better than Sony Vegas Platinum’s single keyframe lane for the entire effect, where automating one parameter generates redundant keyframes for all the others.

The quality of the effects themselves still has room for improvement, though. There are plenty of novelty special effects but colour correction is a little crude, especially compared to the sophisticated tools in Sony Vegas Platinum. Colour-correction effects are always positioned at the start of the effects chain, which isn’t always desirable. Chroma key and opacity controls conflict with each other, with clips fading to black rather than transparent. We also found adjusting the brightness and contrast controls caused colour banding in the preview window, but thankfully exported videos didn’t suffer the same problem.

Other new features include support for DSLR cameras’ RAW files and 24fps footage, 1080p uploads to YouTube and Facebook plus support for BDXL discs up to 128GB capacity – enough for 15 hours of 1080p AVC video. There’s a new bundled audio editor: it’s a little cumbersome but has some useful functions for preparing audio files before import into the editor. This is a superb update to an already impressive editor, and one that addresses important issues rather than adding frivolous extras.

On balance we still prefer Sony Vegas Platinum for its elegant, unerringly responsive interface and superior effects. Vegas lacks proxy editing facilities, however, making it unsuitable for HD editing on slower PCs. It also lacks PowerDirector’s beginner-friendly features, such as the Magic Movie wizard that edits footage for you. If this kind of handholding appeals, or if HD editing on slower PCs is on the agenda, PowerDirector 9 Ultra64 is our top recommendation.