Video Editing for the Mainstream from Corel

Jon Pepper

Slowly but surely, video editing is moving into the mainstream of desktop computing, just as desktop publishing did several years ago. Corel's Lumiere Suite for 32-bit Windows is designed to compete against high-end products, such as Adobe Premiere ($750), and low-end products, such as Ulead's Media Studio ($299). In the Corel tradition, Lumiere not only does the job but offers plenty of goodies.

Although video editing can be an intricate task, Lumiere simplifies many of the job's complexities. The program uses familiar, VCR-like controls for many function s and lets you drag and drop video, sound, and still clips to assemble a project.

The built-in video and audio slides make it easy to trim cli ps to the length you want, something that can be tricky in other software. There are more than 60 transitional effects, such as wipes, fades, and zooms, to help spice up your project. You can add titles, credits, and other professional-looking finishing touches, too. A transparency function lets you superimpose images, and several software wizards assist you. For example, the Smart Sound Wizard helps you create music and sound effects. To help you get started, Corel includes a host of photos, images, and music and video clips.

In addition to Lumiere, Corel includes in this package its Photo-Paint 6 image-editing software, which lets you retouch any still frames or add effects to them in 2-D or 3-D. However, Photo-Paint 6 is a separate installation and isn't integrated directly into Lumiere as a module.

Lumiere's $99 introductory price makes it a good buy. It will eventually rise to $495, but Corel isn't sure when.

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Product Information

Lumiere Suite.......................US $495

Corel Corp.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Phone:    800-772-6735
Phone:    613-728-3733
Fax:      613-728-9790
Internet: 
http://www.corel.com

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Corel Illuminates Video Editing

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