Just when you thought Nero had crammed everything it could into its already impressive Multimedia Suite 10, they unleash the Platinum HD version. Only a few new features have been added but the quality and usefulness of those features may well be worth the upgrade.
Old Stuff
Containing the same host of great applications as the previous version, Nero Multimedia Suite 10 Platinum HD is well equipped to deliver on just about any audio, video or data project the home user feels up to tackling. The Suite consists of several Nero products, each of which contains a number of applications built around accomplishing a particular task.
Nero Vision Extra contains Nero MediaHub, a centralized organizer of all your music, photo and video assets. MediaHub also functions as a media player and slideshow creator. Nero Vision, the program within Vision Extra, is responsible for both editing and authoring duties. Vision comes with a nice assortment of tools such as keyframing, chroma key and others, making it a very capable intermediate editor. Nero ControlCenter is a handy utility for managing your Nero products and their serial numbers.
Disc burning chores fall appropriately to the well-known and very popular Nero Burning ROM disc burning application while Nero BurnRights takes the fuss out of deploying burning rights to various users lacking administrator privileges on their systems.
Nero BackItUp & Burn handles data backup and recovery. BackItUp is a utility for backing up, recovering and synchronizing your data while RescueAgent provides options for advanced file recovery. Nero Express is a wizard based option for disc burning and copying.
In addition to these core applications, Nero also includes StartSmart – a quick access launching point to all the included burning, editing and backup features. DiscCopy Gadget allows you to easily copy discs from your (non 64-bit) Windows desktop. WaveEditor is for editing music files, and SoundTrax will let you finally dust off that vast music collection from days gone by, to digitize the music from your old vinyl records and cassette tapes. CoverDesigner aids in creating customized covers and labels for all your CD and DVD discs and cases. Recode converts and compresses DVD video files, and Toolkit contains utilities to help improve performance.
New Stuff
What more could possibly be included in the Platinum HD version? The Suite is already capable of editing HD and authoring Blu-ray discs with high quality animated menus. Well, to begin with, it comes with 5GB of free Nero Online Backup storage for one full year (broadband internet access required.)
Also new is the Nero PiP (Picture-in-Picture) Effect Pack. This simplifies the creation of picture-in-picture effects with predefined templates. In Nero Vision Extra, select Make Movie or Slide Show. Select the appropriate format options and the editor opens. Clicking the Nero PiP tab located above the timeline displays the Nero PiP Effects dialog box. Here you may select from 50 templates and 30 backgrounds to quickly create perfectly timed, animated, picture-in-picture effects. A settings tab allows you to adjust the effect’s duration and mode of insertion. Also included for your editing pleasure: 25 extra high quality Movie Themes and 25 additional Menu Templates.
If you’ll want to play back Blu-ray discs then you’ll definitely want the Platinum HD version of the Suite. Check the specs, though, to make sure your system has everything it needs to fully experience the heightened picture and sound quality.
Finally, the Suite now has the ability to transfer your photos, videos and music files between mobile devices. With Nero MediaHub it’s a simple matter of dragging and dropping media files from your computer to your smart phone or other mobile device. Files are automatically transcoded to a format compatible with your device and you’re on your way.
Tech Specs
OS: Windows XP SP3 (32bit), Windows Vista SP1 (32 and 64bit), Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate (32 and 64bit)
Processor: 2 GHz AMD or Intel
Memory: 512 MB RAM (1 GB RAM for Windows Vista or Windows 7)
Drive Space Needed: 5 GB for a typical installation of all components
Graphic Card Needs: DirectX 9.0 compliant graphics card with 3D acceleration, 16-bit color, and a minimum of 128 MB video memory is required
For Blu-ray Disc Playback
Processor: Intel Core II Duo 2.2 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.6GHz or above
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA 8600 and above, ATI Radeon HD 3800 and above, Intel G45 (Windows Vista/7); minimum 512 MB VRAM, HDCP compliant display for digital connection
Special/Minimum requirements for high-definition video editing and authoring: OHCI compliant FireWire controller (IEEE 1394) for DV or HDV capturing, TV tuner or video capture card for analog and digital video recording, up to 50 GB hard drive space for disk images and temporary files, 2 GB of RAM, for support of AVC NVIDIA CUDA technology an NVIDIA CUDA capable graphics card must be installed.
Strengths
- Good variety of applications to handle wide array of project needs.
- Blu-ray playback and mobile device transcoding.
Weaknesses
- Would like to see a consistent interface across all applications.
Nero Inc.
330 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 800
Glendale, CA 91203 USA
www.nero.com
Summary
Nero took a great suite of programs and made it even better. Multimedia Suite 10 Platinum HD is a great choice at a great price for the beginning to intermediate editor who is working on a budget.
Mark Holder is a video producer and trainer.
