Movie Nova [review]
POS:
Basic functionality such as adding text and graphic overlay as well as flash introsNEG:
Has no real video editing ability, as such a video editor is still needed which will also include the functionality of this software anyway.Today Im reviewing Movie Nova by Simon J Warner So what is Movie Nova, well its a desktop software that is seeking to capitalize on the huge success of some recent video launches. The basic concept of this software is that it allows you to add intros overlays and other effects to your videos. […]
Today Im reviewing Movie Nova by Simon J Warner
So what is Movie Nova, well its a desktop software that is seeking to capitalize on the huge success of some recent video launches. The basic concept of this software is that it allows you to add intros overlays and other effects to your videos.
I was interested in reviewing this software for a couple of reasons. First I really believe in videos. Video is one of the most popular mediums on the internet and I myself plan on using them considerably more. Second I new that this was going to get a lot of attention. So I messaged Simon on Facebook and asked him for review access.
My access came in the form of a link and log in to a membership area. In that area was the software download link as well as a link to a quick start manual. There where some other downloads such as graphics packs and additional effects packs however Im not aware if those are included in the main purchase or if they are OTO’s / Upsells (I messaged Simon asking him about this, but at the time of this writing did not get an answer)
Once I downloaded the software I did what most people are going to do. I ignored the PDF manual and I installed it and ran it right away. I do this for two reasons. First I know that a lot of people are going to do that themselves. Second I want to see how easy it is to ‘figure out’ on its own.
The interface was easy enough to understand though it was a little clunky. Also from the start the entire software had a low quality feel to it. After using it for while it became apparent that the interface is easy to understand not because it is well designed (it isn’t) but instead because of the total lack of features that this software has.
You see really the only thing that this software does is add overlays, either graphics, text, or flash videos. You still need a normal video editor to actually edit the video. For example, I make a lot of videos, normally tutorials or training videos. Sometimes I will trip up my words or say the wrong thing in the video. Instead of starting the entire thing over Ill just start speaking the last sentence over and then edit the mistake out of the video later. This is actually one of the most common uses of video editing software. MovieNova cant do this. In fact it really does little more than add overlays.
The thing is that since you still need a real video editing software you dont need this. Why? Because any decent editing software (even many of the free ones) will also let you add text, graphics, and flash video overlays. So since this thing does not do anything that a real video editor can do (which you will need) you really dont need this.
Besides the fact that this software with its lack of features does not really provide any viable functionality there is also the problem of the low quality. You see when I first tested it I thought it had a low quality feel. But as I used it I realized that’s because it was low quality. The software has a clunky interface. It crashed more than once for me and even things like the video intros while ok are not anything fantastic. It also took so long to publish even a short 4 minute video. In fact it actually took 26 minutes to publish it! (I do not believe its not my computer because I make videos all the time and it never takes this long to publish) Quite simply this is not a professional quality product. Not by a long shot.
Movie Nova is being released at a base price of $37. At that price I would expect higher quality and functionality, but this just did not deliver. While I do think that video is something that everyone should be using MovieNova just is not a solid investment. It low quality software that lacks any real functionality or usability as a stand alone product.
If you want to invest in video creation and editing there are much better products that do everything MovieNova does and more. For example: AVS Video Editor has a TON of professional features, is very high quality, comes with additional software and can be had for just $59 (only $22 more than MovieNova with 10X the functionality). If you dont want to spend money there are several free products that would be better than Movie Nova.
Movie Nova is going to be released to a ton of hype because it has Simons name on it (he did not create it) and because affiliates are going to try to cash in on the success and hype of other recently released video products. However its a bad investment that you can live without. Had I purchased this I would defiantly be asking for a refund. As a software this has very little value. The only value is the flash overlays but they are not useable enough or high enough quality to be worth the $37 price tag.
One final note: To make sure I did not miss any functionality or additional features I clicked the help button and read the instruction manual. Its an 18 page PDF file that while clearly written did also confirm that this software has no real stand alone functionality other than adding text / graphic / or flash overlays on top of existing videos. Basically the help confirmed that Video Nova only does what a real video editor can do anyway.
**UPDATE: The launch of this software has been delayed. I just got an email from Simon letting me know that he is delaying the software so he can fix a ‘bug’ in its code. In the email he explains that he did NOT have the source code for this software, that the original developer vanished for a time, and that he just got the source code to do a bug fix. Simon made no mention of adding additional functionality to the software though so it really does not change my opinion of it.
A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
About the Author
Thanks so much for this review Brett,
I was assuming this was a decent online software that I could
use in a pinch when I didn’t have access to my Adobe Priemiere
Elements (bought it last year for 50 bucks).
The glitch in the software may be an indication of things to come?
Again, I appreciate your observations.
Jeff B.
PS is your “prove your human” captcha a WP Plugin?
Well the thing that struck me most about this ‘glitch’ was that one of the major problems with it was that the developer vanished. This is a problem with the launch business model as it currently is. Unknown developers / product creators create a product, contact well known marketers and do JV’s with them. The idea is that the well known marketer attaches his name to the product to give it creditability (in exchange for a large portion of the profits). The problem is the buyers think they are getting something from a well established and reliable person, when in fact they are getting something from someone unknown with no credibility on their own.
Oh and yea .. thats a plugin.