ArcSoft ShowBiz for Windows

User Reviews

• Showbiz 5 lacking

  katbo64February 27, 2014

  Pros

  Lots of options and easy editing.

  Cons

  Lags, stops working in middle of projects. Lost lots of fun editing features of previous versions.

  Summary

  Used to be a great editing software, prices went up, quality went down.

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• HORRIBLE! AVOID AVOID AVOID

  refudiatorDecember 15, 2013

  Pros

  It does something

  Cons

  It is extremely difficult to use. With a quadcore setup and 8 gb of RAM the program frequently shows the mouse wait cursor and there is a lot of hesitation when you try to move the cursor through a video. Extremely difficult to use. Bad support. They kept asking me if I had a registered version EVERY TIME I TALKED TO THEM ON THE SAME ISSUE! I even sent them my registration number but they still kept asking me. Their forums do now allow you edit posts after post them. Nobody answers questions on their forums. The program would not play sound in some of my mpeg2 videos. I got no help for this.

  Summary

  I used to use Showbiz 2 it was a little buggy but it was very easy to figure out and use. This one is awful. I tried to figure out how to simply add 13 videos and create a video disc with 13 separate chapters on a menu. I couldn't do it even though I have used video editing programs in the past. It is just the most confusing , buggy, and disappointing piece of software I have ever used. It would not even be worth it if it was free.

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• Nope. Could not get anywhere.

  peterv88August 17, 2012

  Pros

  It might be able to do the job if you're desperate. At least it did'nt crash on me( duing the 10 minutes I used it)

  Cons

  It's easier to swim through treacle than use this software.

  Summary

  I wanted to cut the adds from a (Humax) .ts file. With VideoReDo V4 I managed quickly to get results; however, that program freezes to many times (at least on my Windows 7 PC). Looking for something else, I came across ShowBiz, tried it and gave up.

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• Buggy, bad support.

  cbaldwin20August 17, 2012

  Pros

  When it works, it creates very nice videos.

  Cons

  About half the time, it only records the first few seconds of video. You only find out that it failed AFTER you record what you want. Hope you're not trying to record live television! Their support forum is a ghost town as well.

  Summary

  Wish my Hauppauge Colossus came with a different software.

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• Wow. Bad.

  coryb891May 21, 2012

  Pros

  Uhmm the program started up without crashing.

  Cons

  What a buggy mess. I opened up the file browser and found the video file (.ts h.264) that I wanted to edit. When I try to add it to my project, the thing animates like it is adding and then does nothing. Then I try the "import to library" function instead, and the program crashes (reproducible problem). So I can't add video. This thing is 100% useless.

  Summary

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• A BAD unnatractive follower to ShowBiz DVD 2

  willispeaksNovember 26, 2011

  Pros

  Is capable of working with more file formats than DVD2 without crashing.

  Cons

  Black depressing background, practically all functions are invisible. Crashes too easily [just click on the arcsoft logo and die]. Refuses to work with projects made with DVD2 !!!!! Timeline is too 'diffuse', definition of 'objects' is poor. Frame cropping merely adds a black border, the 'new' frame does not fill the window.

  Summary

  Altogether a step backward from DVD2. Whilst DVD2 may not be the most versatile home movie editor, it does a very good job considering it's price and relative simplicity. DVD2 has certain disadvantages, such as it's tendency to get indigestion if you try and manipulate too many of the wrong file types [AVI mp4 MOV] at the same time, so long all files are WMV then you can string together as many as you want, and you can use DVD2 to convert the files [one at a time] to WMV so that you can the string them together. Further to this if you add effects to the time line before you are finished adding all the clips and fotos then things get out of sync. In upgrading to version 5 one would expect these problems to have been adressed. Well as far as I can tell the file acceptance has been improved but further to this the product has been so badly revamped to the extent of unfriendliness that it's hard to know if other improvements have been made. To start with it just looks bad, an almost black featurless background practically devoid of indications where to find [or go to look for] any of the usual tools. After probing about [pressing the Arcsoft logo is a disastrous move] some recognisable features begin to appear, and things seem to be working, still against the uninspiring blackness. The timeline has been 'simplyfied' so that an effect 'object' is integrated into the clip body as it were, but then only into one clip [or foto] a fade for instance is at the end of one clip and does not extend into the beginning of the next, as one expects it to. This may all have solved the sync problem one can have with DVD2 but it's been done in such an unclear fashion as to make it unuseable, it simply lacks definition and clarity. The added feature of frame cropping, which would seem to be a real good feature for solving thos situations where you want to get the subject 'closer in', is a joke. It is really a non starter. It works all right, one can crop the frame to contain just that what one wants, but what happens next is quiet laughable! The result is the same size, you've just added a black border!!! This product may have 3D support on board but if Arcsoft thinks that the kind of home movie customer using this kind of product is going to need this yet then it has not done it's homework. Before the product is attractive in it's normal features no one is going to consider making the move to 3D! The fact that one can not work with projects made previously with DVD2 is another example of the lack of attention to detail apparent in the whole of the product. As if Arcsoft hired in a team of young teenagers who knew nothing about previous products and [as usual] did no research before producing this monstrosity. It is just not worth the price of the update. I wish now I had gone for the trial first and not just bought outright expecting the same quality as ShowBiz DVD2. Waisted $20!! Waisted a lot of time !! Now just using DVD2, quite contentedly thank you. Do not waste your money, certainly if you are thinking of purchasing for the first time for the full price!

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• Stick with free Windows Movie Maker

  xBobsxDecember 11, 2009

  Pros

  Easy to use

  Cons

  Price , monster 400mb+ installation

  Summary

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• The file may not be a trial version at all...

  secrecyguyJuly 1, 2009

  Pros

  It works similar and better than Windows Movie Maker. It's easy to use and have all the basic stuff you need to make your own homemade movies. It also works fast on a decent computer.

  Cons

  If you want more advance editing, this may not be for you. You probably want Adobe Premiere instead.

  Summary

  The file they have available to download may not be a trial version at all. I use it more than 15 days and the program still works. I already bought the program because I thought the trial was about to expire. If it is a trial program, it's probably a 30 day trial and not a 15 day trial.

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• the best video editing software

  vishalravariyaJuly 26, 2008

  Pros

  alll about it is the best

  Cons

  Summary

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• very good for the home movie buff

  ericor30July 14, 2008

  Pros

  I like that the titles can have a quick clip of the movie, so you can better tell what is on the disk.

  Cons

  I find that the requirement to double process the disk files is a rather large waist of time especial when you have the necessart memory to store the entire disk in active memory.

  Summary

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