Smideo for Windows

Smideo puts your digital snapshots, videos, and tunes together into seamless video presentations. You can add narration, screenshots and screencasts, and even YouTube videos to your productions. You can use Smideo to create presentations for work or school, family events, auditions, and invitations, or jazz up your photo albums with music and video. Smideo 2013 is an all-new release that adds full HD video capabilities, improved text titles and subtitles, and the ability to burn discs in any format that your DVD burner supports. Smideo 2013 is free to try for 30 days, though you must purchase the full version to enable HD video and unlimited video length.

Smideo's large and colorful icons are grouped by category in shaded areas on a white background: Video, Options and Updates, and Info and Help (including a Manual). Clicking "Create Project" in the main window prompts Smideo to start a project by offering to download free images and MP3s. Starting with my own files, I quickly moved on to a screen describing the five steps for creating a Smideo: 1) adding media, 2) cutting video into smaller parts, 3) arranging the order of the parts, 4) adding audio tracks, and 5) choosing a file name, video resolution, and any optional effects.

The first step has five options for adding media: file, folder, YouTube, Flickr, or a screencast capture. Each step includes instructions and a preview option. The combination of tree view, thumbnails, and drag-and-drop for sorting and arranging Image or Text files or sequencing video clips provides users with multiple production possibilities. Clicking "Add All" or "Randomly" offer quick shortcuts for automated photo selection. The Audio screen has a sequencer with timeline and thumbnails for synchronizing audio tracks. Smideo saves projects as AVI files that you can play almost anywhere or easily convert.

Smideo 2013 lets users create a high-quality video from snapshots and other random clips and bits. Adding the HD options requires a purchase of the full version.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of Smideo 2013.