MAGIX Photostory 2014 Deluxe Review

Reviewed by Stephanie Moore

I was really excited to receive this software to review as I knew how helpful it would be for my blog and creating wonderful videos.

Firstly, a word of warning, this piece of software isn’t for the faint hearted! There are so many features and there is so much to learn and even after using it for over a month now and making several videos I am still finding more functions to use.

However, that said, for the technophobes out there I’ve found that you can simply use some great built in templates. These are all pre-done for you to just add your own pictures into each section. These templates make great little videos that looked really well done.

This was the first time I have used a built in template to make a video (and for that matter the first time I’ve used a video editing program) and I must admit I found it really simple. I’m also feeling brave enough to share it with all of you. So, here is a link through to my first template video to show you what I created… www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eraGALHZBk

I have been using the main software and designing my videos from scratch and I really have enjoyed it.

Each time you open up a new project you start with a blank canvas, you can add an opening page where you can add animation, text, plain background colours or add in a photo.

You can choose from a large selection of transitions to each picture, you don’t need have the same transition each time and you can vary them throughout. You can also lengthen or shorten them to suit your requirements.

All this is very simple once you get your head around the functions and I love the fact there is so many options to choose from as you can make really personal videos.

So what about those options? There are far too many to list here but you can apply all sorts of effects to your videos to change the look and feel of them. I must admit that I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all the options that are on offer and I think that there are plenty on offer for the more serious user as well as a casual user like myself.

To really add that bit of oomph you can add music to your videos, there is a large music library within the software for you to choose from but you can add in your own music too.

So, what happens once you’ve created your masterpiece? What do you do with it? Thankfully help is at hand as you have a plethora of options built into the software.

You can simply save your masterpiece onto your PC/Laptop or burn your video straight onto a blank CD or DVD. Alternatively you can upload your video directly to any number of online services such as YouTube, Flickr or Facebook. This last option is very easy to do with only a couple of clicks of a mouse and is a total godsend for me with regards to my blog as it takes a lot of the hassle out of using videos in my blog posts.

Overall I love this software and I am going to be making my own videos for everything I possibly can!

Minimum System Requirements:
Processor: Processor with 1.83 GHz and higher
RAM: 512 MB
Graphics card: Onboard with a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768
Sound card: Internal sound card
Hard drive space: 2 GB for program installation
Optical drive: DVD drive (only for installation of the box version)
Internet connection: An Internet connection is required to activate the software

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £69.99

Available to buy from MAGIX here.