I thought to let anotehr voice be heard.

To me, the new PowerDirector 16 is a huge update. This is because to me 360 editing is the main reason to use it. From where I stand, there are also thousands of potential new users to be gained for the new version. Those camera's are hugely popular these days, and there are not a lot of editors that can handle them. And far less even when it comes to affordable, (prosumer oriented ones.

Let's also not forget that getting new customers also increases the revenue that can go into developing future versions.

The main selling point to me is the new 360 stabiliser function. This is something you don't find in any other affordable editor at the moment and it does a spectacular job. I can really say at this point the 70,- upgrade saves me 300,- which I would have spent next month on a 360 motorised gimbal (370,- a piece). If I wanted this with other software, I'ld need to buy a much more expensive or a subscription based editor and another expensive plugin.

Just look at what difference this makes for 360 enthusiasts. I created a dog walking video recently, which was quite shaky. Looking at it was hard, let alone watching it in VR goggles: instant motion sickness. Now I re-did the same video on PD 16 with the stabiliser. It is a world of difference! Check it out yourself:

Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je_2bcqaTKs

Stabilised version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwT0hFnt66k

Apart from the stabiliser, the little planet video function in the View Designer is also a great addition. I used to be making these in a different program, a free editor from a known 360 camera, but that was limited to a lower resolution output (max res of that particular camera). Another editor from the Kodak 4KVR360 camera I own offers similar function in a new version, but without keyframing or editing afterwards. It just records what you do to the video with your mouse and outputs that. Would I want better, again I would have to buy the expensive editor and plugin, but now I can do it in PD.

Another function I am excited about but what needs some more attention is the Start view function. This works really well when you rotate around the Y-axis, but messes up when using X or Z axis. I've opened up a support ticket and hope they can improve on it.

To Cyberlink: I would really hope they can add keyframing and a stable horizontal plane to the 360 Start View

The improved placement of 360 titles and PIP's are also good improvements to the 360 toolkit.

On another chapter I'm very happy with the new included Boris effects. They yield not only great effects (I'm particularly fond of the Fast Film Process effect) but I'm also very happy they are fully integrated in PD, so no editing in separate, standalone plugins like ProDAD.

I do see some things need refining (like 360 Start View), I'm sure patches will follow, but overall I'm very happy with the new version. The 360 improvements are tremendously useful and I'm sure this will also attract many new users.

I would like to have seen import of dual fisheye footage, so a stitcher in PD, but that can wait, I can do it in the cam software. Looking forward to future developments!

regards, Frank