What's New in Corel VideoStudio Ultimate?

We've been reviewing VideoStudio for over a decade now, and it has been a favorite of ours for the past few years. It's an easy-to-use, powerful tool for consumer-level video editing that contains much more than just the new features. All the standard tools, such as timelines, storyboards, transitions, picture-in-picture (PiP), and sound editing, are present. Corel also produces Pinnacle Studio, which targets pro-level users. If you've been following VideoStudio over the years and are familiar with its capabilities, here's a quick rundown on what's new for the 2021 version:

Improved Performance. Faster rendering, with support for all three flavors of video hardware: AMD, Intel, and Nvidia. The update greatly improves the program’s stability, as well.

Instant Project Templates. Geared toward social and marketing posts, you drop clips into these templates, which can reproduce the look of viral videos. Some of them can widen vertical video and add text overlays.

Mask Creator. Corel has been improving masking capabilities in the last couple of versions of the program. The latest tool lets you manipulate masks with keyframes and create them in a new interface that doesn’t require starting with clips. Instead, you add the clips to the dedicated Mask Creator. The previous version improved the UI and added more basic mask shapes and smoother lines on export.

AR Stickers. Taking a page from mobile messaging, the new AR Stickers let you add bunny ears and eyeglasses to faces. Windows 10’s Photos app also offers AR stickers, but those aren’t face-aware; the VideoStudio feature is more like what you’d see in Snapchat or Facebook Messenger video chats.

Auto Motion Blur.  Part of enhance motion tools, this makes object movement more natural.

Split Screen Templates. Similar to tools available in CyberLink PowerDirector, these ease the creation of this style of PiP effect. You simply drop your clips into templates to create moving PiP layouts.

Updated Color Picker. Choose from palettes to get the color language you’re looking for.

More Third-party Effects. Just for the Ultimate version, you get new effects from NewBlueFX and proDAD that let you do things like apply lens corrections, enhance and calibrate color, and create reflections.

The 2020 version added more significant editing features, including the following:

Highlight Reel. This auto movie creator uses AI to turn a pile of photos and video clips into a compelling show.

New Edit Modes. VideoStudio lets you use Slip, Slide, Roll, and Stretch modes when working on the timeline—common capabilities in high-end video editing software.

Upgraded Color Grading. A color panel replete with color wheels is appearing in a lot of consumer video editors, and Corel has joined that particular party.

Painting Creator. Add hand-drawn text to your project that animates as though you're writing during playback.

Included LUTs.  There are over 30 of these pro-style color looks you can drop into your projects. You can adjust the intensity of these effects. The update also throws in new titles, video backgrounds, textures, and animated graphics.

Photoshop-like Blending Modes. For overlays, you can now choose Multiply, Screen, Overlay, and more.

4K Monitor Support. The interface looks better on high-DPI displays.

How Much Does VideoStudio Cost?

VideoStudio runs on Windows (10, 8, and 7) and the 64-bit OS versions are required; there are no macOS or Linux versions. The product is available at two levels: Pro ($79.99, and $59.99 for an upgrade from the older version) and Ultimate ($99.99, and $79.99 for upgrades). Both are frequently discounted online, and the pricing is one-time—no subscription required. I reviewed the latter edition.