| Power Director 7 Ultra (PC) | 
 enlarge | From: Cyberlink
Category: Software
List Price: £59.99
Buy New: £24.99
You Save: £35.00 (58%)
Buy New from £24.99
Avg. Customer Rating:   (37 reviews)
Sales Rank: 77
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp
Media: CD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 1.3
EAN: 4711162031882
ASIN: B001D5X9FY
Release Date: August 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Recomended all round package that is really quite good November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm impressed with this software package. The editing capability is straight-forward to use. The pre-sets that can be applied, are extremely useful and really spot on in my opinion. The menu layouts seem appropriate and logical; the learning curve to get into the software is around an hour I thought. Great value considering the benefits and the overall value of the package. Worth considering if it is on a short-list and cost is a factor, anyone making the purchase really will not be disappointed. Recommended.
 A lot of features but your system needs to be up to spec as it's very resource hungry November 15, 2008
Power Director 7 Ultra is a comprehensive software tool that will give you lots of options to edit your video/images into a really good looking DVD. I used to use Nero Express for several years to make amateur DVD's including my wedding and honeymoon. However this software has far more customization options from effects, making menus, visual effects, transition effects and sound. You need to ensure that you're system is fast enough to use it to it's full effect though otherwise it runs really slowly.
My system is running Intel Celeron 2.8Ghz with 1.18Ghz RAM and the software starts up really slowly. The software took a good half a minute to load up and even very simple, low demanding project took a while to create. The recommended spec varies depending upon what type of movie source you use (ranges from Pentium 2 450 MHz/AMD Athlon 500MHz to Pentium 2.4GHz/AMD Athlon XP).
Drag and drop worked well to add images from the library and movies when added are converted to a compatible format. Pictures can be made into a slideshow with interesting display formats, like in picture frames moving in and out in 3D or as a photograph flip book. Creation of the menu was a little difficult and takes a while to get your head around.
All in all a software full of potential but the learning curve is steep and your system needs to be up to spec. The software is aimed more at the movie buff who wants to create good quality DVD's. I wasn't able to try the Blu-ray disc feature as I'm not able to create these type of discs.
Jack-of-all-trades video editor November 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Power Director 7 Ultra is the latest version of a long running series of video editing software. Having used several of the previous entries in the series, I was quite happy to test out the latest.
The new version adds more effects, more options for burning and High Definition support, including burning to Blu-ray. Not having a Blu-ray recorder in my PC, I was unable to test this out, but if it works as well as the rest of the software then it should be worth the purchase for any HD users.
The video editing itself is very easy to get to grips with, despite not having a manual included in the box (a seemingly frequent occurrence with software these days). If your video camera supports USB2.0 or Firewire then Power Director can be used to import the video ready to edit. From here you can cut and paste the video and lay it across a timeline, then add music and sound effects.
There are plenty of built in effects, from layering and blue screen to titles and intros. They all work very well after a bit of practice, but this is where some will find Power Director fails them. Though I mentioned that the editing itself is fairly easy, once you come to add effects, music and try to piece together a professional looking video, you'll find that the software suddenly requires a much steeper learning curve.
However, sticking with Power Director's many options will finally produce something which looks much more professional and developed. There are better pieces of software on the market and this does occasionally let you down when something doesn't quite work the way you think it should, but Power Director does work well as a Jack-of-all-trades video producer.
 Atrocious Company for Customer Service October 30, 2008
This review takes a different tack from the others posted here as I've had trouble installing the software, so I've had to contact Cyberlink's customer services - only to discover how truly atrocious their service is.
I'm running XP and on my first attempt it didn't load properly, still, I rebooted and reinstalled and got the same error messages so I thought I'd install it on my recently purchased notebook as it runs Vista instead. However, it already has a lower spec version of Cyberlink Power Director pre-installed, therefore, as it required me to first uninstall the older version before trying to install this one, I was worried about losing it only to get the same error message.
So, taking what I thought was the sensible option, I contacted Cyberlink, explained the situation and they replied asking if I have the sales receipt? I explained again it's a review copy for Amazon UK, therefore, it was not a sale.
Cyberlink wrote back again asking for the sales receipt, so for the third time of explaining to them I responded; No, there is no receipt, it is a review copy, I then concluded by restating my original query.
At that point Cyberlink Customer Services went silent and they've ignored me ever since - that was three weeks ago.
There may be worse companies at providing Customer Services than Cyberlink, but I'm not reviewing them.
(NB - I see from another review, there's an link to download a Patch/Fix from Cyberlink's site, but at this moment in time I don't have any desire to have further dealings with such an unprofessional company).
Therefore, I would recommend to anyone who may be likely to need support to run Video Editing software - stay away from this firm, unless you can provide your sales receipt first, of course.
i will stick to my old one October 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The programme itself is surprisingly easy to use. I expect that it is to be the same fiddly, slow, irritating kind of affair, but in fact it was a pleasure to use the drag and drop features so easily and quickly to cut and edit my project. Importing files for use with your project was very easy and Power Director conveniently keeps your component parts of your movie in a specific section of the screen for easy use. It also allows you to watch back the whole of your movie or just certain sections, in order to perfect timing issues. one useful feature is the ability to view your project in either storyboard or timeline mode, great for working out story problems. Power Director has an abundance of effects, screen wipes and changes and other features that allow you to dress up your movie almost instantly - it's good fun to play with. It also has access to a bank of sounds and pictures on the Internet that you can buy. I'm sure committed editors will be chuffed by this feature but I was left thinking
Bad points. Programmes come without PAPER instructions or a booklet to give you a rough guide of how to get started on the programme. I want information in my hands NOW on how to use it. i want to go on straight to the software and less reading.
2. it doesn't save everything related to your work i.e. that specific area I was talking about earlier. You need to keep your movie components in a specific folder cos they don't get reloaded when you re-open your movie project.
In the end my project turned out fine, in about a week I was finished. However it would have been a lot quicker and easier if the above issues had not been present. Great for budding directors and editors but if you're just looking to have a bit of fun with the software don't waste your time.
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