Transitions

Editstudio uses A/B form editing, so to apply a transition between clips they must be overlapped in separate layers: the first video in layer B, the second in layer A for example.

I must admit to making a noob mistake here - the transitions didn't work no matter what I did. Turns out the default transition is from layer B to layer A, so you have to have the first video in layer B then the second in layer A, which I find a little bit counterintuitive. You can of course change the way the transitions work using the properties window:

Applying the transition itself is easy. Simply select the transition tab from the media window, then drag your desired effect to the transition layer above your overlapped video. Note here that although there's a layer labeled transitions, you don't necessarily have to drop the transition on this layer. As long as you set the "from" and "to" layers in the properties window, you can place the transition on any layer. I did try to stack video transitions, but this didn't work for me.

I'm impressed with the transitions shipped with EditStudio. I'm not talking about the gimmicky custom transitions but the simple and completely customisable dissolve transitions. Beside the simplest (and most effective) transition, the cut, there's are all you'll ever need.

Next to the transitions you'll find the text tab. This is one area where my creativity is all to often lacking, but with EditStudio you you'll never have to be embarrassed about your titles again. There's an amazing array of presets and they're all completely customisable:

The arrange of animated text presets means you're bound to find exactly what you want without spending time animating a path. And this is one area where the preview window doesn't annoy: you can see exactly how the text effect looks by simply clicking the effect in the Media Explorer. It's then a case of dragging and dropping the effect to the text layer above your video. Then double click the effect on the timeline to change the text options or change the settings in the properties window. Simple, powerful and easy to preview. In addition the the funky text effects, there's also preset titling tools - from credits to subtitles.

Some neat little preset tags are also bundled in the title tool: timecodes and counters - both of these are often requested features at Digital Director. At last I have an easy response to both questions - get EditStudio!

Video's nothing without audio and EditStudio offer tools for audio effects and filters. Perhaps the most indefensible audio tool is the audio cross fade. Without this, cuts from one scene to another can seem odd no matter how good the video looks. EditStudio defaults to applying an audio crossfade whenever two layers are overlapped and, unlink the default video cross dissolve, this is a feature I would recommend leaving turned on. You can however increase or decrease the volume of any audio clip manually by clicking on the red line to create a node, then moving this up or down:

I'm not normally one for playing with audio much beyond cross fading and adjusting levels, so to me EditStudio's audio controls are pretty much all I'll ever need. What I do find refreshing is the labeling of presets within the equaliser folder. Here we have effects such as "somebody else's headphones" and "Remove wind noise". Someone's at PureMotion's been listening to their users!

There's no wave form by default for the audio and although this can be turned on by selecting view > show audio waveform it's only for individual clips and not entire layers. It's also useful to have audio when scrubbing for audio editing, but scrubbing audio isn't precise and the timeline must set to play. These are features I'd like to see improved for the next version.