Roxio Toast Titanium

Pros

• A comprehensive video authoring suite
• Exports different video formats
• Burns edited output to different physical media

Cons

• Overloaded with tools
• The software occasionally hogs computer resources

Targeted at DVD authoring enthusiasts, Roxio Toast Titanium Pro has also become something of a media processing powerhouse. That's not exactly surprising. After all, the software has evolved greatly over the years. Still, at heart, this is a suite of CD and DVD burning applications. Within the software's tiered menu entries, many disc burning and media authoring programs have come together to create one remarkably powerful collection of professionally polished video editing tools.

Roxio Toast Titanium Pro incorporates what sometimes feels like a staggering number of media editing tools. Despite the sheer volume of working components, they all work with the latest disc and video playback standards. DVD processing and burning functionality are still very much in evidence, but those core features are bolstered by new workflow options. Blu-Ray optimized support is inbuilt, so high-definition footage can be edited, authored and burnt to a compatible disc. Back at the interface, different video and audio processing tools export clips from cameras or storage devices. Indeed, it's as easy to edit a home movie as it is to alter a stored TV show when working with Roxio Toast Titanium Pro.

Delving deeper into the available tools and plugins, the 64-bit software suite includes either a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements or Corel Painter Essential. A further look at the image editing tools reveals a version of Corel Aftershot Pro, which is there to edit Raw digital photographs. That's a gift that's sure to attract semi-pro photographers. Of course, some of those premium features are only available with the Pro edition. For example, and this will affect HD file editing, Burn To Blu-Ray is a Roxio Toast Titanium Pro feature. It's the same with the photo editing tools, they too are only available with the Pro version.

Drag and drop functionality is at a video editor's fingertips when the user interface opens. Crop video footage, add artistically edited music tracks, remove noise and grain, and even add a voiceover track, all from an easy to master timeline editor. If all of these controllable elements sound a little overwhelming, not to worry, the software includes many themed templates. The Pro edition squeezes in over 100 templates, so creativity blocks will never be an issue. By the way, moving away from the numerous video and audio editing features, there's still the more prosaic tools to check out. Convert video, add password protection to the footage, compress the clips with AES encrypted 256-bit protection, or continue onto the authoring panel. It's here that MyDVD burns data discs or digital video discs, which will play on all Blu-ray or DVD players in full HD, or in the resolution that the file was originally captured at, be it in DVD quality or some unconventional file format.

Pros

• A comprehensive video authoring suite
• Exports different video formats
• Burns edited output to different physical media

Cons

• Overloaded with tools
• The software occasionally hogs computer resources