Features

CANOPUS EDIUS 4 REVIEW

Features

EDIUS® Pro 4 video editing software from Canopus provides professionals with advanced realtime, mixed format SD/HD editing, compositing, chroma keying, titling and timeline output capabilities. Featuring the revolutionary Canopus® HQ Codec, EDIUS Pro 4 offers the highest image quality and performance available today in any SD/HD editing solution.

Canopus Edius comes with many features and I will cover the main ones that I find important and am most impressed by. For a full list of what it can do please go to the Canopus Web Site for a read. Edius has reached version 4, and I believe in time will become one of the big names. It probably is THE most under estimated NLE software out there, and I would suggest to anyone looking for a HDV or DV editing software to go and download the 30 day free full trial and have a play. It is strange and unfamiliar when you first load it up, but it does not take long to get that hang of it.

On the subject of hanging or crashing, it is rock solid and the only time I have a problem with it was when I imported an HD WMV file along with audio files that I had ripped from a CD with Windows Media Player. Edius still ran them on the timeline but it made it very hard to capture on the fly once those two types of files were sitting in the import folder. It took me three days to figure the problem out, but like all software bugs, I am confident that the programmers will get on top of it. I deleted the HD WMV file from the project bin and used the built in DISCcapture program and ripped the same audio CD without any problems. I tried many times to crash it, like scrubbing the timeline as fast as I could or clicking on things fast, but it continued to work.

Apart form the amazing ability to convert on the fly to the Canopus HQ codec, it has impressive slow motion in real time and good colour correction. These two features are perfect for underwater footage and the slow motion blows Premiere Pro's slow motion away. I love that the slow motion and colour correction are also keyframable so you have complete control of your clips speed. Here is a link to a small WMV vary slow mo example here. 15 megs.

Another alluring feature is the ability to take a screen grab with just one click straight from the timeline in full resolution, WITHOUT having to adjust it's pixel aspect ratio in photoshop to get it correct. Here is an example

Keyframable Slow Motion. Perfect For My Underwater Shots.

Colour Correction is another important feature and Edius has a few different ways of achieving this in real time on HDV material . It is also keyframable, which gives you full control of what you want.

Keyframable Colour Correction Using the Colour Wheel

Split The Preview Window To See The Colour Changes You Are Doing

Keyframable White Balance Control

YUV Curve

Monotone Control

There are many effects to choose from but not all will work real time with HDV, although it only takes seconds to render one if it is not. Editing in DV allows more work in real time on my system however a faster CPU would allow more to be real time with HDV as well.

Xplode 3D Object Wipes

Pick Your Effect and Even Customize it.

Many Effects to Pick From

You Even Have Adorage To Use, Just In Case You Thought You Did Not Have Enough Effects To Choose From

Picture In Picture Control Window, Fully Keyframable.

This is the 3D Keyframer, Grab A Preset Or Fully Keyframe Your Effect.

Making Titles is a pleasure in Edius, in fact not only does it come with it's own Real Time Quick Titler, but Title Motion Pro is included with it as well. I also downloaded Heroglyph and installed their 30 day free demo to trial, which I works well.. I am happy to say all three work great and give you many options to make impressive animated titles, along with your normal rolls and crawls.