Canopus Edius 2 review

Edius' most impressive feature is just how much it can mix in real-time. On our dual Athlon MP 2400+ test rig, we found we could easily combine three streams of DV with more than one effect applied to each stream. Edius also contains Canopus' caching technology. During less processor-intensive sections, rendering races ahead and future frames are buffered into memory. When a section is reached that exceeds CPU capabilities, this buffer will allow real-time playback to continue for a few seconds - enough for a complex transition. Unfortunately, in OHCI mode Edius only allows a 32-frame buffer. Users of proprietary Canopus hardware get the option to increase this considerably in a system with plenty of RAM.

Another big plus is that, unlike Pinnacle Liquid Edition, even OHCI users get real-time DV output from the timeline. Edius will also render to DV files, plus AVIs and still-image sequences. Further output options are added via the bundled ProCoder Express, including MPEG-1 and 2; VOB files ready to burn to DVD without authoring software; streaming Windows Media, QuickTime and Real Media; and even DivX. A full Pro version of the latter codec is included. ProCoder can even transcode between PAL and NTSC formats, and on DVStorm systems with MPEG encoding hardware, rendering is accelerated.

In just a year, Edius has come from nowhere to take its place as a viable Premiere competitor. It may not have Adobe's range of effects, but its real-time capabilities are exceptional, and its MPEG editing unique.

Author: James Morris