The Good: More than just for video editing, it can work with photos and music as well as video. Containing so many abilities in one package makes for great value-for-money and versatility.
The Bad: For actual video editing, Roxio Creator NXT leaves something to be desired – It does what is basically needed for a video making software, but does not provide any bells or whistles and will leave those wanting advanced features needing more. This could be the price one pays for getting an all-in-one product.
The Verdict: Possibly the best digital creators around in terms of value for money, but only if you intend to use all of its features, including video, music and photo editing. Easy to use but light on the video editing options, it is good for casual users or users wanting an all-round media editing experience, but not the best for advanced users.
Roxio Creator NXT (CNXT) is an all-encompassing media editor. It provides tools to enable you to edit videos, photos, and music. This large area of usage is one of its defining features. Someone wanting to fully edit a presentation or video in one program can do so with CNXT, and this is a very useful and time-saving aspect. Importantly, having such a suite of programs in one place at this price is definitely value-for-money, as often individual editors of each of these programs will cost more than CNXT does as a whole, making this a valuable product for someone wanting to work on varied media for as small a cost as possible.
For video editing purposes, however, CNXT offers a solid if largely very standard level of editing. It contains standard features such as being able to trim clips, and adjusting standard settings such as contracts. There are plenty of transitions to be found, numbering in the hundreds, so it would not be fair to call CNXT particularly limited.
Included in this video editor program for pc and mac (called VideoWave), is timeline mode, the standard presentation of video in an editor, which is complimented by a storyboard mode. Between the two of them, which can be switched between seamlessly and without losing progress, it is possible to make sweeping changes or tiny changes to your project. This means that despite the lack of advanced editing features, CNXT certainly a capable editor for a casual user. The user interface is also friendly and appealing enough to a new or casual user that there shouldn’t be a steep learning curve when getting started for the first time.
Another appealing feature is that of an included music editor, which compliments the video editor, though being stand-alone can be used by itself for its own projects. Using this you can create music and/or get it ready for the video you are creating. Included in this music editor is a royalty-free library of songs and sound effects under the name of Scorefitter, allowing you to enhance your video with audio and music without extra cost or too much effort.
Finally, the photo editor is useful for complimenting the video editor. As many presentations and videos use images, having a built-in image processor and editor not only saves time but means there is no need to purchase other image editing software to create great presentations.
Exportation of your creations is modern and easy. From the online video editing aspect of this good film editing software, it is possible to directly upload your production to Facebook and YouTube, saving potentially a lot of time and effort. CNXT also includes standard expected but welcome features such as burning CDs and DVDs, and also includes Blu-ray burning. This means sharing and presenting your creations is easy and efficient with multiple options available to you.