Micro_Mart_-_January_7_2016_

Movie Edit Pro

2015

H

ands up those who

have thousandsof

digital photos lying

around. Keep your

hand up if none of them have

ever been printedor even

looked at since they were

taken? Well, I guess the forest

of hands would indicatethat it

applies to most of us. If you still

have your hand up, one solution

would be to pick out the best of

them and turn them into a

slideshowor, if you’re more

adventurous, some sort of

multimediaextravaganza.

Whateverend of that

particularspectrumyou

choose,Magix'slatest

Photostory2016 Deluxewill

get the job done. It’s a product

that leans heavilyon the video

technologythat Magix has

becomewell knownfor, using

similar functionsand a layout

that will be familiarto anyone

conversantwith video editing.

I seem to be repeating

myself each time I review a

Magix product, becausethe

amountof contentincludes

with its products is remarkable,

and Photostory2016 is no

different. In fact, when you

considerwhat some companies

chargefor professionaleffects

and transitions,you quickly

realise the exceptionalvalue

this represents.As well as the

standard contentprovided on

the installationDVD, it

includesover 6GB of

downloadablecontent.You

also get free copies of Magix

Photo Manager15 Deluxeand

the Magix Song Collection.

So that gives you some idea

of what you get for your

money, but if you don't want

to get too involvedin the

productionprocess, the Magix

team have thoughtof that as

well. You can get the job done

with very little input if you use

the SlideshowMaker option.

This provides a fairly simple set

of menus with single-click

options,determiningthe theme

and pace of your project. Firstly,

there’s a set of style templates

to choosefrom, with a preview

option to help you visualisethe

result. (Incidentallythis preview

option is a constantfeature of

all the effects etc. throughout

the program.)So once you’ve

decidedon a style, you can

make it unique by changing

just a few other options.These

includethe intensityof the

project, the type of transitions

and effects you prefer, your

choice of music, and titles. Of

course you can leave all that to

the SlideshowMaker if you

wish, but to be honest,it’s

quite easy and fun to do; it

also makes the final project

more interesting for your

viewers.If you particularlylike

the style you’ve created, you

can save it to use again. Once

you’ve finishedthe creative bit,

a single click on the apply

button is all you have to do.

And I have to say the results

are generallybetter than you

those you might create on

your own.

Getsomemileageoutofallthosedigitalphotosyouhavelyingaround

On the other hand, if you do

like to get involved,the world is

your oyster, and of course you’ll

get to see how easy the

interfaceis to use. For example,

if you want a simple cross fade

betweenslides, you simply push

one into the other. The distance

they cross determinesthe timing

of the cross fades; there’s also a

small marker at the top of each

slide you can use for the same

purpose.Addingother effects is

just as easy; having watcheda

preview, you simply click on the

down arrow to apply the effect

to the current slide.

As you might expect,the

program includes

comprehensiveoutput options,

again with a range of pre

definedDVD-stylemenus to

choosefrom. The preview in

this case displaysa handsetso

you can check that the chapter

markersare set where you

want them.

Finally, this versionincludes

better image optimisation,

new high dynamicrange

effects, optimisedmultitrack

performanceand the facility

to arrangeyour slides so they

match the beat of the

soundtrack.

mmJoeLavery

Comprehensiveand

realisticallypriced

8

9

Quality

Value

88

Overall

iJustsomeoftheeffectsonoffer

iOutputusingDVD-stylemenus

DETAILS

• Price:Photostory
  2016 Deluxe£34.99


• Manufacturer: Magix


• Website:
  http://www.magix.com/uk


• Requirements:Dual-
  core 2GHzCPU, 1GB of
  RAM,2GB disk space
  Windows7 or later
  (64-bitversions)

REVIEWS