Magix Movie Edit Pro Review

Considering its current purchase price of just under $ 77 (£ 60), Magix Movie Edit Pro Windows Only is a video editing solution designed for the lower end of the market. As such, you probably shouldn’t expect too much beyond what any included app or free software offers. But you’d be wrong if we took this assumption and found Movie Edit Pro to be extremely full-featured, with a sleek interface that can evolve as your editing skills develop.

However, this is not without some annoying and weird design decisions. For example, when creating a new project, you have the option to “automatically create proxy files”. Initially this is not selected by default, but if you are working with HD media make sure it is checked as this will ensure a smoother playback of the material. But who doesn’t work with HD content these days? Not selecting this option by default probably made sense years ago when HD was new, but in 2020?

Importing media into Magix Movie Pro

It’s a frustrating omission to be able to organize your clips before using them in a project. Many competing video editing applications let you import footage into a project, organize it into containers (also called folders), tag them, or do whatever you need to do to have all the clips you want at your fingertips when creating your project. Movie Edit Pro doesn’t work that way. Instead, if you select a clip, it will be immediately added to your timeline. Select multiple clips and they will all be added in chronological order.

Worse still, each clip is presented in the list view without a thumbnail. You can preview clips one at a time before importing them (from camera or disk), but this interface is not the smoothest: hover over a clip in the list to see the play button; click this button to see the clip appear in the main preview section. You can select a specific section to import, or you can simply grab the lot and trim it later in the timeline.

Editing

By default, clips appear as large square thumbnails when they enter your project. This is the basic interface of Magix Movie Edit Pro , designed to make editing fun and simple. In the upper right corner of the Timeline section, there are other options represented by a series of icons. The third view from the left offers a more traditional view with clips represented by rectangles whose length depends on their duration. This complex migration is welcome, especially if you are not initially familiar with the editing process.

When it comes to editing, if you’re at all used to the process in other apps, you’ll feel right at home here. Everything works as expected. Clips are easy to trim and move, you can navigate with the keyboard, and even traditional JKL keys are implemented here, which are often used to scroll, pause, and fast-forward on the timeline. You also have access to a range of tools via the row of icons in the upper left corner of the Timeline section.

The only thing that is frustrating for an experienced editor, and that might confuse you if you want to eventually move to another package, is that the paths are in reverse order. Usually, paths act like layers, and everything on top of one obscures what’s beneath it. Not like that: if you want to place one clip on top of another, you have to place it underneath it. It’s a different way of thinking that is counterintuitive if you’re used to a more traditional way of working.

Transitions and titles

In the upper right corner of Movie Edit Pro the interface it is known as Media Pool. Here you import your footage as described above, but also where all the effects, transitions and app titles are. You can easily review all of them before adding them to your project, which is a definite plus and saves a lot of time.

There is a large selection of titles, most of which are fully editable (3D effects are not available except for adding new text). You can also move them around the screen to place them in a place that better fits your design. There aren’t many transitions, but the ones that are present look very nice and some are even quite original.

Looks and color correction

You can apply a specific look to your clips or your entire project, which is a quick and easy way to evaluate your footage. Of course, you also have access to the usual color correction tools and other effects such as blur, distortion, speed, color keying, and more.

If you’d rather have the video editing software do most of the work for you, choose a movie template. Do this, and the interface will change as the timeline is filled with the placeholders you specified. You have to replace them with your own clips and, if possible, adjust the desired type of shot (long shot, medium shot, etc.).

You also have some graphic objects. Think of them as clip art, some of which are animated, that you can add to your clips. There are also some royalty-free tracks in the Audio section.

If you like these templates and objects, or are looking for additional transitions, effects, and soundtracks, you’ll be pleased to know that you can purchase an additional one through the built-in app store.

Exporting

When you are ready to share your movie, the export function allows you to save the rendered copy to your hard drive, create a version compatible with your mobile device, or upload it to the web. The app’s preferred social networking site is Vimeo, but if you prefer, it also has pre-made settings for Facebook or YouTube. If you’re still using DVDs, Magix Movie Edit Pro lets you burn your movie to disc and even lets you create basic navigation menus.

Final verdict

Movie Edit Pro has a few downsides and annoyances, but it covers much more than the basics and even includes automated features that can be a boon for novice users.

Overall, this is an app that can grow with you as you perfect your craft, and is a great step up from any free alternatives for a very reasonable price.