With a price tag of just £45, PowerDirector 6.0 is steered towards newcomers rather than professional video editors. But despite its inevitable limitations, the program does a good job of achieving high-quality results in relatively little time. This is partly down to the simple interface, while the clear structure makes it easy to work through to the end of a project.
Editing mode gives the choice of a storyboard or a timeline layout. The latter enables greater control by adding elements such as titles and transitions, while storyboards are designed for basic video editing and don't support multiple tracks.
A Magic Movie Wizard provides step-by-step instructions for selecting clips, music and styles, but we felt that a better selection of templates would have considerably improved this feature. The same could be said of the DVD menu designer - most of the templates and styles were rather limited; some were tacky.
When it comes to sharing video, PowerDirector's Production Wizard lends a hand. Content can be prepared for use with PSPs (PlayStation Portables) and iPods, and it's easy to upload clips to YouTube and Mediamax.
Previous editions of the program featured Magic Tools; these are greatly improved in PowerDirector 6.0. You can enhance video and audio tracks with the assistance of Magic Clean, while the split-screen mode on Magic Fix makes it easier to see your changes. While styles and templates are limited, the application does support high-definition video.
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