Rating: 
Summary: Easy to use, but lacks a few features
Review: After going through a crash-fest trying to install Pinnacle Studio 9.0, I finally decided to download a free trial version of Power Director 3.0 from the manufacturer's website, www.cyberlink.com.
Editing with Power Director 3.0 is easy, and the results are great. My only issue is that, to effectively author a DVD with multiple chapters, you need to use CyberLink's Power Producer. While an "Express" version of Power Producer is included at no charge as part of Power Director, it's menu options (such as moving preview/chapter windows and adding title text) are very limited. If you want the real version of Power Producer which does all this, prepare to shell out $69.95 for the latest full version.
If you don't mind a basic DVD as a finished product, Power Director is a great choice for beginning or intermediate software - just don't expect to be able to do disc intros and menus that are Hollywood quality.
Rating: 
Summary: Won't work at all, zippo tech support
Review: After installing it on a Toshiba Satellite P25, it produced error messages stating I was lacking XP Service pack 1 (I'm not) and would not read any audio or video files. Also, Real Player stopped playing any audio files as well. Had to uninstall to get the other media programs to work. Message to tech support returned the response (after 3 days) that it must be a hardware problem, contact the manufacturer. Would not buy another CyberLink product if they were giving them away.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to paar!
Review: I am very dissapointed in how DVD's burned using PowerDirector 3 are hard to play on other computers other than the one they were created on. Time and again the video's I have produced "crash" when played on another computer. The player bundeled with the program, ostensibly to make the videos playable on other platforms, does not do the job. I think I'd consider getting another product if my goal was to share video with family or friends!
Rating:
Summary: Buggy
Review: I bought this program and it is somewhat unstable...sometimes it will freeze when loading and you have to manually shut down your pc and try again, (I run Windows XP on a Sony Vaio PC). When you do get it to run, expect dropped frames on your final video production. Adobe Premiere is much better....they now have a home user version for under 100 dollars. And Video Explosion Deluxe by Nova Development also works better...
All in all, you may want to download their trial version and give it a good workout before you invest in a product that nine out of ten times will freeze the PC...
Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: I downloaded the trail version before I bought the full version. I accidentally found that you can manipulate the trial version to be able to use more than 30 photes/videos. Simply add a color board to the end of the story board (then delete if you don't need) and you will get another 10 images available. Keep doing this to add more and more. This actually made me decide to buy this, since I could really get a feel for the program and make the DVD I needed to for a special event. As for the program itself, I found it very simple to use. I have had some problems with it locking up or simply closing on me for no apparent reason. But that seems to come and go, so maybe its just me.I have been using the progam to make DVD's of my kids plays, concerts and other events. It is very easy to add titles and even credits at the end. Although there may be a limit on the number of characters you can use on the color boards/titles. That seemed to be one area I was having problems. I just took my time, saved frequently and I ended up with some great DVD's to share. All in all I would recommend this program. It is not at all overwehlming like some progams can be, but also can do more than others. With just the trial version and without reading the on-line manual, I was able to create a DVD including pictures, videos, transitions and titles with very little effort. I even learned to trim and split without the manual. This is really the only video creation software I have used, except for those that came with my computer or vido camera and it far exceeds those in terms of ease and functions.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth it
Review: I had previously been using a copy of trial type Pinnacle that came with a video card, but had decided on Video Director 3 for my full blown software after reading an online review, not Amazons. The product was extremely glitchy to load and initially would not recognize my Sony HC-40. When I finally was able to capture video, it dropped 300+ frames in only 19 seconds of video. Pinnacle NEVER dropped a single frame on me. Tech support cost $30 per phone call after the initial one free call, use it to ask for a refund. The one star rating if for the art work on the packaging. I went out and got Pinnalce 9 and have had no problems since.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent product
Review: I have created exciting videos from this product. The recommendation is to use at least 1.8ghz cpu speed for mpeg2. My computer has the minimum speed and not even a Pentium. It works fine though.
It is good enough but I want more:
Slow motion and fast motion is limited to .5x and 2x respectively.
If you want to make camera effect in reverse motion, you cannot do that.
Some annoyances:
If you add or remove a video segment, the titles, additional audio, etc. needs to be adjusted manually.
In the chapter and thumbnail authoring, you cannot move the thumbnails around. You have to follow a fixed template. So, if you have a pix of your son on the background, you cannot relocate a thumbnail around so it does not cover his face.
Rating: 
Summary: One Fantastic Program
Review: I haven't had experience with similar programs in this price range. However, I did some research on line before I bought this package and it was rated higher than Ulead, Pinnacle & others. (check out this comparison chart: http://www.video-editing-software-review.com/index.html) I have to say that this software has blown me away. Rendering time is fast, it has been bug free and it will save to any type of format that you require. It even includes picture-in-picture. Not just a still image picture-in-picture but full motion video. My main use for this program is to import images from my digital video camera and make my own DvDs. It is a snap to do this and even throw in some background music or record a voice over. Sound levels are as simple as dragging a sound line up and down. There are three different volume level controls for sound included in the video file, voice recorded through a microhpone and imported sound file. This gives incredible control over the overall volume and allows you to bring volume levels up & down in various places for each of these. Editing is intuitive and easy. I can't say too much about the features that this software offers. Any savvy computer user will have no problems picking up the controls. I can't imagine that there could be software that was easier to use. However, don't confuse simplicity with weakness. This is one powerful program. Just get it and see for yourself. Have fun!
Rating: 
Summary: Version 3 is a Beta version - Too Many Bugs!
Review: I was using ArcSoft but bought PowerDirector 3.0 based on a review and the advertising. It has some slick features (mainly effects and transitions) that I like but the program is so quirky I have yet to finish a movie with it. I make short mpegs with it and import them into my ArkSoft program to get what I want. Examples of negatives - Losses picture file names or mixes them up,losses pictures, crashes with no warning sometimes, once was unable to set the default duration time for picture display - had to set everyone manually or start all over, cannot select all pics and perform the same function on them. My advice, wait for a few versions before buying.
Rating:
Summary: Athlon Unsupported?
Review: I'm sure all of the wonderful features of PowerDirector are extolled in other reviews, so I need not get into them. I will say this: Power Director is a powerful piece of software with many good ideas, but the level of "power" given to the home-movie "director" seems a bit of a paradox at times. Case in point: I want to zoom in on a picture for a slide show, but I can't set the zoom point-- it can only zoom to center. But hey, at least I can do PiP and move that around the screen (albeit only in preset configurations like top-left to right, etc.)
The Problem***
After spending about a month on correspondence with tech support (who are quite nice by the way), I still have the same issue: when VCDs, DVDs, and even SVCDs are created, they are created with randomly appearing screen artifacts (purple and green squares). They appear whenever there's action going on, or during a transition, or when text is (dis)appearing. HOWEVER, when I generate an AVI file, this doesn't happen! I get a crisp clean file. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but tech support is telling me to send them an image of my installation CD and a copy of my DxDiag.txt output from directX diagnostics. After all this, they still aren't aware of any problems with Athlon processors (they say) yet they can't figure out the problem.
I know that Avid FreeDV has issues with Athlon processors, which is why I can't use that product (trying to save money one way, get bitten another way). So I figured Power Director might have issues with the same. Apparently they do not. I beg to differ.
If you have an Athlon processor, beware. That's the only reason why I have to give this product 2 stars. I can't produce any media. What's the point in having video editing software if you can't distribute the final creation? Hmm....
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