Sony Movie Studio is terrible. It is not user friendly at all. It also lacks features that are standard in other software programs. For example, I could not find any way to write my video to a DVD that could be played on a DVD player. It also didn't let you select standard resolutions such as 1920x1080p resolution.
Sony Movie Studio 13- 30 Day Free Trial [Download]
3.1 3.1 out of 5 stars | 95 ratings
Price: 0.01
Last update: 01-05-2025
About this item
30- Day Free Trial
Add professional style and energy with transitions, titles, and video effects
Easily upload your finished movies on YouTube and Facebook without leaving the application
Touch-enabled for touch PCs
Help bubbles for easy guidance
Add professional style and energy with transitions, titles, and video effects
Easily upload your finished movies on YouTube and Facebook without leaving the application
Touch-enabled for touch PCs
Help bubbles for easy guidance
Top reviews from the United States
Michael Zoran
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money and poor performance
Steplander
5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars all around.(and a tip on how to RENDER WITH SOUND!)
My original Review had this at 2 stars.
I've upgraded it to 5.
The reason for the original review was because, although the software is beautiful streamline and pretty much free of crashes, it was rendering all my movies without sound.
I finally got connected with Sony support and they resolved the issue:
So, for all of you who are experiencing the same thing, here's what you do:
Although, I find this setup a little illogical, unlike other programs, this one has the rendering settings to default WITHOUT sound. You have to go into an advanced setting to render with sound.
When rendering click the ADVANCED button and choose a format and template (IE Program Stream NTSC Widescreen) and then click the CUSTOMIZE TEMPLATE button. Then click the AUDIO tab. Check INCLUDE AUDIO STREAM.
CLICK OK.
What I did, was SAVE this setting as a template and now I don't have to worry about it anymore. The SAVE feature is at the top of the Customize Window. (see image I included with review.)
About the software:
I'm comparing it to Premiere and Pinnacle Studio.
My problem with Pinnacle is that they have AWFUL customer service. The software is bloated and crashes in the middle of every project. They have a 14 day window for customer service and , after that, charge you if you need to speak to them. (What???!) Pinnacle used to be a great software program and then they made it overly complex and overloaded with features.
Adobe Premiere is very professional and loaded with cool features, but it's got a very unfriendly user interface for the "average Joe" who wants to edit cool looking home movies.
SONY's program is very clean looking. The buttons are big and the user interface is not cluttered.
You want a transition, click one. ( in Pinnacle it's an Easter-egg hunt every time I need to add an effect... and then it crashes.)
The rendering is a bit slower than the other programs, but who cares? As long as it renders right.
I'm upgrading to the Movie Studio "Suite" version so I can get the other programs in the bundle and the FX packages.
Once I got connected with Customer service, I have to say, I was really impressed. The guy qualified the problem, he looked at a sample file and came back with the answer i needed.
I've upgraded it to 5.
The reason for the original review was because, although the software is beautiful streamline and pretty much free of crashes, it was rendering all my movies without sound.
I finally got connected with Sony support and they resolved the issue:
So, for all of you who are experiencing the same thing, here's what you do:
Although, I find this setup a little illogical, unlike other programs, this one has the rendering settings to default WITHOUT sound. You have to go into an advanced setting to render with sound.
When rendering click the ADVANCED button and choose a format and template (IE Program Stream NTSC Widescreen) and then click the CUSTOMIZE TEMPLATE button. Then click the AUDIO tab. Check INCLUDE AUDIO STREAM.
CLICK OK.
What I did, was SAVE this setting as a template and now I don't have to worry about it anymore. The SAVE feature is at the top of the Customize Window. (see image I included with review.)
About the software:
I'm comparing it to Premiere and Pinnacle Studio.
My problem with Pinnacle is that they have AWFUL customer service. The software is bloated and crashes in the middle of every project. They have a 14 day window for customer service and , after that, charge you if you need to speak to them. (What???!) Pinnacle used to be a great software program and then they made it overly complex and overloaded with features.
Adobe Premiere is very professional and loaded with cool features, but it's got a very unfriendly user interface for the "average Joe" who wants to edit cool looking home movies.
SONY's program is very clean looking. The buttons are big and the user interface is not cluttered.
You want a transition, click one. ( in Pinnacle it's an Easter-egg hunt every time I need to add an effect... and then it crashes.)
The rendering is a bit slower than the other programs, but who cares? As long as it renders right.
I'm upgrading to the Movie Studio "Suite" version so I can get the other programs in the bundle and the FX packages.
Once I got connected with Customer service, I have to say, I was really impressed. The guy qualified the problem, he looked at a sample file and came back with the answer i needed.
Steplander
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five stars all around.(and a tip on how to RENDER WITH SOUND!)
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2015
I've upgraded it to 5.
The reason for the original review was because, although the software is beautiful streamline and pretty much free of crashes, it was rendering all my movies without sound.
I finally got connected with Sony support and they resolved the issue:
So, for all of you who are experiencing the same thing, here's what you do:
Although, I find this setup a little illogical, unlike other programs, this one has the rendering settings to default WITHOUT sound. You have to go into an advanced setting to render with sound.
When rendering click the ADVANCED button and choose a format and template (IE Program Stream NTSC Widescreen) and then click the CUSTOMIZE TEMPLATE button. Then click the AUDIO tab. Check INCLUDE AUDIO STREAM.
CLICK OK.
What I did, was SAVE this setting as a template and now I don't have to worry about it anymore. The SAVE feature is at the top of the Customize Window. (see image I included with review.)
About the software:
I'm comparing it to Premiere and Pinnacle Studio.
My problem with Pinnacle is that they have AWFUL customer service. The software is bloated and crashes in the middle of every project. They have a 14 day window for customer service and , after that, charge you if you need to speak to them. (What???!) Pinnacle used to be a great software program and then they made it overly complex and overloaded with features.
Adobe Premiere is very professional and loaded with cool features, but it's got a very unfriendly user interface for the "average Joe" who wants to edit cool looking home movies.
SONY's program is very clean looking. The buttons are big and the user interface is not cluttered.
You want a transition, click one. ( in Pinnacle it's an Easter-egg hunt every time I need to add an effect... and then it crashes.)
The rendering is a bit slower than the other programs, but who cares? As long as it renders right.
I'm upgrading to the Movie Studio "Suite" version so I can get the other programs in the bundle and the FX packages.
Once I got connected with Customer service, I have to say, I was really impressed. The guy qualified the problem, he looked at a sample file and came back with the answer i needed.
Images in this review
julisa garcia
1.0 out of 5 stars I wasted almost 3 hours to figure out how to remove ...
I downloaded this free trial version and first it took an hour to do it. Second once was install my computer crushed, all commands on my computer did not work except for shut down and reboot. I did reset it a few times and to my surprise all it did was shot down and start over again shooting the same issue. I wasted almost 3 hours to figure out how to remove this software from the computer. Last thing there is no way to contact the seller so I'm not sure how to cancel the try out.
Damien
4.0 out of 5 stars great editing software
This works really well to flip my upside down action cam videos right side up and also trim some of the tops and bottom of the video image to block certain things out. I am very happy with it. Video editing does take forever though, but its probably my old outdated computer...
Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Works great with Windows 10
I'm your "average" video maker. I wasn't looking for something that experts use, mainly I upload videos of my cats to YouTube and an occasional video review here on Amazon. I didn't care for any of the Corel or Pinnacle video products as those seem too complicated. And I could never get Windows Movie Maker to do anything right....maybe I'm dumb but I couldn't get WMM to save as an MP4 file. So this Sony Movie Studio is just about perfect for me. You can do an easy video or make it as complicated as you want with different editing techniques.
Don't be afraid if you're using Windows 10. Another reviewer of this product said he couldn't get it to work but later on did. Mine worked right off the bat.
Don't be afraid if you're using Windows 10. Another reviewer of this product said he couldn't get it to work but later on did. Mine worked right off the bat.
Beatrice
2.0 out of 5 stars A wast of time
It was very easy to install and I had no problems whatsoever. When the trial was over, a box popped up telling me so and asking if I wanted to buy it. While using it, it wasn't slow, and I had no problems when importing or exporting media.
However, I don't know what Sony was trying to do with this one. I have been making short films for the past 4 years and have worked with many different programs from Windows Movie Maker to Final Cut Pro to Premier to Sony Vegas. And honestly, I believe that Windows Movie Maker is far more efficient then this program is.
Most programs are pretty standard with certain terms, icons, they way certain thing work or move. But this was just bad. I only got this because at the time, I had a brand new laptop with no editing software, so I just needed something easy to use that would get the job done. This was NOT easy to use. I had no idea where anything was or how the controls worked as it was far different from any other program. It barely got the job done, and it was even very good. I did what I could with my footage, but I ended up with something that wasn't color corrected, poor transitions, and poor audio. I never worked with something so bad before and I can only hope to never work with something like this again.
I do not recommend this. Ever.
However, I don't know what Sony was trying to do with this one. I have been making short films for the past 4 years and have worked with many different programs from Windows Movie Maker to Final Cut Pro to Premier to Sony Vegas. And honestly, I believe that Windows Movie Maker is far more efficient then this program is.
Most programs are pretty standard with certain terms, icons, they way certain thing work or move. But this was just bad. I only got this because at the time, I had a brand new laptop with no editing software, so I just needed something easy to use that would get the job done. This was NOT easy to use. I had no idea where anything was or how the controls worked as it was far different from any other program. It barely got the job done, and it was even very good. I did what I could with my footage, but I ended up with something that wasn't color corrected, poor transitions, and poor audio. I never worked with something so bad before and I can only hope to never work with something like this again.
I do not recommend this. Ever.
Searick1
3.0 out of 5 stars Depends on what you want it to do.
Didn't do what I wanted it to do so I deleted it.
J. wills
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of valuable time
Waste of time. not user friendly for me maybe another but after three hours that enough time trying to get it to work. . . . I uninstall it. Good luck to you