Video Edit Magic

Video Edit Magic is a tool you can use to capture and edit video files. Besides video editing, you can capture footage from a USB or DV camera or view the interactive tutorial and user guide.

To get started, you have to import video (the "drag and drop" method is supported) and audio (optional), and add it to the timeline. You can preview it in a small window or add video effects and transitions.

Video effects include "Fade In" and "Face Out", "Pixelate", "Emboss", "Posterize", "Brightness/Contrast", "Color Channel", "Rotate", "Text/Title", "Pan and Zoom" and others, but you can also configure their settings.

There are also many transitions to choose from, including "Picture-in-Picture", "Wipe", "Triangle Wipe", "Matrix Wipe", "JPEG Image Wipe", "Cross Fade", "Slide", "Random Dissolve", "Iris", "Luminance" and more. Once again, settings can be changed.

You can split the track, split and pack the timeline, take a snapshot of the preview window, crop video, record a narration and create a movie in AVI, MOV, WAV (audio only), MPEG formats, Windows Media formats or Digital Video AVI.

The program is easy to learn even by beginners, thanks to its well-drawn help file and video tutorials, and it uses a moderate amount of system resources. However, it takes a while for Video Edit Magic to apply changes and navigating could have been simplified.

Although Video Edit Magic couldn't compete with more powerful similar software, it's still a good way to start when it comes to editing video. We recommend it to first-time users.