Give Sony's developers their dues; when they get something right, the end result is worth looking at. That's exactly the case with Sony Movie Studio + DVD Platinum, a smashing package that respects the user from the moment the software is installed.

Its major trump card is its tutorials. While intermediate and advanced users will have little problem plunging straight into the software, Sony has bundled in some excellent animated guides that give everyone easy access to the core functions of this suitably powerful package. They cut straight through arguments of user-friendliness and over-complicated manuals, and get you up and running far quicker than you'd expect. And they're just a button click away, whenever you need them.

When you jump into the program proper, things continue to work exceptionally well. Sony Movie Studio perhaps doesn't have quite the friendly edge of Pinnacle Studio, but it is a lot more stable and equally powerful.

You can lay down up to four video and four audio tracks (the far more expensive professional version allows you more, but what you get here is ample for the average home movie maker), apply effects and transitions with ease, and generally work your way around putting your video creation together with little to no interference from the software. Just as it should be.

Movie Studio will deal with the capturing and importing of footage too, and takes the process right through to the DVD creation stage, from where you're in the hands of the excellent DVD Architect tool.

This in itself is a superb piece of software, and arguably without peer given the price bracket it finds itself in. While retaining an easy-to-use core, there are umpteen options to help precisely tailor your DVD, from blocking access to certain remote control options through to some quite brilliant choices when putting your menu and playback options in place. A little too complicated for some? Perhaps, but help is always at hand should you need it, and we had a whale of a time fine-tuning our finished product.

As with all good software, many of the options on offer are 'take it or leave it', and should you choose, you can easily and effectively make use of the basic features to compile and publish your video work.

But that'd be a waste, because Sony has fashioned a smashing package here (the Platinum element of which, incidentally, indicates that it can handle HD video as well as standard definition). While Adobe Premiere Elements users may still take a little nudging to migrate, they should certainly consider it.

Stuck on a diet of the brilliant Pinnacle Studio with its frequent crashes? Sony has just the ticket for you, and given that it's possible to shave a little off the RRP just by some simple online shopping, it'd be a pity not to give it a try.