To trim a clip, you click it, move the scrubber to where you want to make a cut, and choose Slice Media from the Media menu. Then you repeat the process to set the end point of your cut, select the trimmed portion of the clip, and pick Remove Media from the Media menu. MovieShop Deluxe speeds the task of trimming the start or end of a clip with specialized buttons, but the process is still clumsy compared to video editors that let you trim clips by selecting segments with the mouse.
While MovieShop shows a storyline and timeline simultaneously, it can display only one media layer at a time. That can make it difficult to edit what's happening in a clip because you can't see all its "dimensions" in one view.
Moreover, the application's media palette -- the area where clips, images, and sounds are offered for import -- is limited to a single column on screen, so you must scroll constantly to see your media inventory. Other programs have more spacious accommodations for this function.
Now on FX
Although MovieShop lacks the automation that simplifies the use of some editing programs, it gives you some powerful tools for making slick-looking movies. For instance, an effects editor lets you size and orient video clips on a TV screen to create picture-in-picture sequences or even fancy montages like those used in the TV series "24."
You can do the same for still images, performing snazzy effects such as zooming in or out on a photo or panning across it as documentary filmmakers do.
MovieShop doesn't include hardware drivers for capturing video -- it's compatible with with DV or Mini-DV camcorders and PCs with IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports, or with analog capture devices based on the Bt8x8 chipset. The program worked adequately with my FireWire-equipped PC running under Windows XP, although it exhibited some flaky behavior in the camera-control department -- occasionally, clicking Record on the PC captured only a single frame from my camcorder, and clicking Stop didn't always work.
What's more, MovieShop didn't recognize my camera's segment structure. Whenever you start and stop your video camera, a segment is created on tape; editing programs like Windows Movie Maker recognize those segments and break them into clips when importing them, but MovieShop ignores the segments and won't create a clip until you stop the import.
When you've finished your movie, MovieShop Deluxe gives you a nice array of export options: You can send the edited video back to your camcorder, save it as a multimedia file such as RealMedia, Windows Media, or Apple QuickTime, or burn it to a DVD or CD (the former using a supplied version of MedioStream's neoDVD software).
The best-quality export I experienced was back to my video camera, although the initial title and music to one movie mysteriously vanished from the exported version and there were a few spots where the movie stopped momentarily for no apparent reason.
When I created a VCD of the same movie, every scene and feature made it to the CD disc, but the end product had noticeable digital artifacts or inferior quality to VHS tape.
Overall, MovieShop offers powerful tools that can unleash the creative juices of any home videomaker, but would-be directors will need at least a cheek-kissing acquaintance with video editing and a bit of tolerance for the program's idiosyncratic behavior.
