They are probably using "muvee autoProducer"

www.muvee.com

John

(Jay, it really is "automatic ediitng software" and it works.)

Maybe we could get Edward to put a new script in Excalibur.

Along the lines of the "Extract Good Clips"

Make Funky Clips

How about it Edward?

Thanks for the replies. John, Muvee does indeed seem to be the kind of thing they were using. I'll download the trial and check it out.

Jay, I have no intention of actually using this software for this promo project. But since my usual style is very classic (i.e. I like to hold the camera LEVEL, straight cuts, cross dissolves, simple titles etc.), having a play with this Muvee software will no doubt give me some ideas that I can mimic in Vegas and incorporate into the project :)

I'll let you know!

Cheers guys

Okay, I stand corrected. But John, would you please define "and it works"?

The wild zooms / pans / MTV effects are probably pre-synched to preset music tracks by an actual person. Or the software could use a beat detection algorithm and you could drop in any music with a thumpin' beat.

I have a video game with a similar feature. So after your race you can watch a music video version of it, complete with synchronized sound track, special effects, crazy camera work. It looks like the real thing. Every once in a while you get a bad angle with a big tree in front of the camera or something, but it's a lot of fun to watch and that's what counts.

It really isn't that hard to make a good impression as long as you have something synchronized to music! So it isn't a big deal that the original editor / programmer has never seen your content ;D

Jay,

Don't worry, it will never replace us. You throw some raw footage and a music track at it and it can make a pretty decent "abstract" video. I made some music videos with it and they were amazingly watchable. I assumed that the result would be "mechanical" and amateurish, but it wasn't. It has an uncanny ability to choose interesting shots, decide where to transition and what transition to use based on the music selection. muvee has programmed a certain amount of artificial intelligence into the software using basic video editing rules and concepts. Like I said, it will never replace us, but anyone can now take home movies and turn them into something that won't put you to sleep. It's a novelty program, but an interesting novelty nonetheless.

From the muvee FAQ:
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There are three main parts to our technology:

Video Analyzer: Detects shots from raw video footage and analyzes them in terms of color, texture, motion and other characteristics so that "key scenes" (such as those focusing on human faces) are highlighted for use in the final production.

Music Analyzer: Detects music parameters such as tempo, rhythm and the "emotional index". Based on these analyses, the software decides when to make cuts, which kinds of transitions to use, what effects to add and when to add them.

Constructor: The Constructor takes information from three places, namely, a video description produced by the Video Analyzer, a music description produced by the Music Analyzer, and information about the desired effects and transitions based on the specific editing style that the user has chosen.

The Constructor combines these three inputs in order to make the best possible production - one that is as stylish, artistically pleasing and professional as possible using practices of good "editing grammar" and other rules that have been encoded in our software.
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Pinnacle Studio 9 will also do this. It's called Smart Movie. I think it will make four different styles.

Yes and Cyberlink PowerDirector4 does it, too.