ArcSoft ShowBiz DVD 2 review

ArcSoft has plenty of experience in graphics software, but video editing is a relatively new avenue for the company. Even so, ShowBiz DVD 2 includes some impressive video-editing tools alongside friendly, template-based DVD authoring.

Many competing products are up to version 7 or beyond, but ShowBiz DVD's youthfulness works in its favour. It mimics many of the best bits of Pinnacle Studio, Ulead VideoStudio and others, but while their new features have been shoehorned into ageing interfaces, ShowBiz DVD looks fresh and inviting and its tools are tremendously easy to find and use.

Adding a clip to the timeline or storyboard gives a useful set of colour correction, playback speed and audio volume controls right when and where you want them. Cropping and arranging clips is easy in both timeline and storyboard views, and animated text, transitions and effects are well signposted and extremely easy to use. Our one frustration was that the preview window regularly switched to Play Active Clip when we wanted to Play Entire Project.

The DVD creation options are fairly basic, but you can customise each menu rather than creating a theme for the whole disc, and slideshows benefit from an attractive Pan & Zoom function - a shame you can't use it for projects not bound for DVD.

There are a few areas in which the competition fares better. The creative effects are limited in number and flexibility; its competitors' effects are more sophisticated and their settings can be morphed over time. It also lacks advanced functions such as picture in picture and image stabilisation, and smooth previews rely on a fast PC rather than clever workarounds.

ShowBiz DVD 2 doesn't offer enough to tempt enthusiasts away from Screenblast Movie Studio, but its decent set of features and unbeatable ease of use make it perfect for those who are new to video editing.