A new interface, smart albums, guided editing and photo merging keep Photoshop Elements ahead of the pack

Not only slightly cheaper than the last version, but now Encore CS3 and OnLocation CS3 are included too.

AVCHD support and some useful new effects keep this as the leading entry-level video editor.

Editing performance with HDV remains sluggish, but DV-editing ability is formidable.

HD editing finally heads to the desktop in this major update to a favourite consumer editing package.

This version brings some real improvements, but there are still a few features missing.

Vegas has a huge array of editing features for the money, plus powerful bundled DVD authoring.

Surprisingly powerful for the price, even if the best features are reserved for the more expensive Plus version.

HD DVD support is the big new feature, but the automated ad-removal tool and enhanced menu customisation make this a great app for the money.

With its limited editing features, it would be hard to see anyone choosing PowerDirector 5 over the Adobe, Pinnacle or Ulead competition.

HDV support and seven video tracks make this a massive upgrade, but only for the plus version.

The proliferation of cheap digital cameras and DVD burners means that consumers, with the help of programs like Ulead PictureShow, can now create their own professional-looking slideshows on DVD at little cost.

Despite the fact it's aimed at professional users - corporate and event videographers and advanced home-video enthusiasts are the target market - Ulead DVD Workshop 2 retains many of the ease-of-use features for which the company has become known.

PowerDirector 3 is the latest version of CyberLink’s DV editing application aimed at home video enthusiasts. It has been radically overhauled since the previous version 2.5, and includes many new features as well as a revamped interface. On the capture front, a new quick-scan option enables fast pre-capture preview of an entire 60-minute DV tape in just six minutes. There’s also a new title editor, Picture-in-Picture (PiP) motion effects can be easily added, a three-track audio mixer provides real-time mixing during playback, and you can now record voiceover narration during timeline playback of a project.

In order to control distribution of movies and prevent piracy, many most DVDs are region protected to ensure that they cannot be played outside of their region of issue. In short, this means you can't play American DVDs on an Australian player and vice versa. To further complicate the matter, PC and notebook DVD drives are locked to the least region set with DVD drives correspondingly locked after five changes of region code by the user.

For many years, After Effects (AE) was the only real choice for PC video compositing - everything else was in a different price/hardware league. But in the last couple of years, with the steady improvement of Pinnacle's Commotion and the huge price drop in Discreet's Combustion, AE isn't alone anymore.

There was a time when semi-professional video editors and home-video enthusiasts had little choice but Adobe Premiere. Back then, video capture and output depended on proprietary hardware, which often only worked with its bundled software.

Not so long ago, Pinnacle concentrated on manufacturing graphics hardware and bundling third-party software with it. These days the company provides its own digital video editing software and makes no bones about competing with Adobe's Premiere.

Final Cut Express

Creating your own custom DVDs and VideoCDs becomes fairly simple with Adaptec's MyDVD Video Suite 4.0 from Sonic Solutions.