Capturing, creating, and playing a video
If you have a digital video camera, you can use Nero to record your video directly to a CD or DVD. In case you're one of the handful of people able to watch TV shows on your computer, you can use Nero to record your favorite shows on DVD for you to watch later.

More important than capturing video is Nero's ability to edit it as well. On a basic level, you can trim your video to remove unnecessary footage. On a more advanced level, you can add transitions between scenes, add visual effects to your video, and type in text to appear as titles over specific frames of your video.

Since trimming video manually might take a long time, Nero even offers a special trimming feature that detects scene changes and cuts your breaks your video into separate clips automatically. After you've edited your video, you can then add a soundtrack to it and then save the whole project.

Most people are likely to save their edited video to a DVD but Nero also supports lesser known video standards including VCD and Super VCD discs, which are two video standards that let you store video on CDs. You can also export your video back to a digital video camera or compress your video to a much smaller size so you can email it to someone. With so many export options for your video, you should have no problems saving your video in a format that you need.

Nero also includes a video player that can play DVDs or a variety of video file formats including MPEG and AVI. By using Nero's video player, you can watch view your edited videos before giving them to someone else.

Is Nero right for you?
If you want a quick solution for burning digital images or video files to CD or DVD, then Nero is the program for you. It's simple, but effective, image and video editing tools also insures that you won't have to invest in a separate image and video editing program, like Adobe Photoshop Elements or Pinnacle Studio, just to edit your image and video files before burning them to a CD or DVD.

Of course, Nero isn't without its drawbacks. Because Nero crams so many features into a single program, it's inevitable that the sheer multitude of available commands will intimidate and possibly overwhelm a beginner. To partially overcome this problem, Nero includes a special StartSmart menu, which lets you choose a particular task you want to do and then Nero loads the program most appropriate for your particular goal.

Despite Nero's bulk and complexity, the program offers plenty of features that can meet the needs of everyone from the casual digital photographer to the professional who wants to store their digital image and video files on a CD or DVD. Nero may not be an indispensable tool for digital photographers, but it's the next best thing if you want to save your pictures and videos on CD or DVD.

OUR RATING: 3 of 5