Customer Reviews

Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite v 10.5 Titanium Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is my third Pinnacle product; my last was Pinnacle Studio Deluxe rev8 w/AVDV capture card. In upgrading to my now 10.5 {.7 patched,} Studio Plus T.E. I was pleased to see the hardware worked immediately. {I've worked the most with analog input, 8mm tape.}

1. My recommendations would be to improve the loading time, it's far too long, and while it eventually loads, it gives the appearance of having stalled.

2. Another would be to improve the stability; I have had several "stop-crash-return to Windows" events. I've always been able to recover so little was lost but it's frustrating and disconcerting (with XP, 2ghz, 1.5gb ram, 300gb separate capture hdd).

3. Rendering time should be estimated as soon as possible, it's hard to know how to plan the tasks. I've finally given up and do all my rendering overnight before going to bed.

Barring these recommendations, the product is easy to use in a basic mode and more complex projects are straightforward with a little study.

(This summary is as submitted to Pinnacle Systems. However, the notes in { } have been added for readers here)

Thanks, and best wishes for your projects!

As of the date of this review (Dec. 13, 2006) there were only two consumer video editting programs that support the conversion of HDV format video to HD DVD format video, at least the kind you can burn to a dvd-r or dvd+r blank. The two makers are Ulead and Pinnacle. All the other high falutin' editors, e.g., Final Cut, Avid Liquid, Avid Express Pro, Premiere Pro 2, etc., don't support this feature. Everyone seems to be riding different trains, it appears. Anyway, since this path now exists in Pinnacle Studio v 10.7 and an HD DVD Authoring pack ($50) extra, this is the only reason I purchased this product. I think it works fantastically for the price, and although I have seen a number of bugs pop up (like rtfx crashing for certain video effects), or the inability to burn iso sometimes (I have to use Nero 7), what do you expect out of Pinnacle? These guys did not graduate from the top of their engineering class. Given the complexity of software, even Microsoft and Apple's wunderkinds are also known for a few boners. I'll give Pinnacle credit for excellent encoding quality, a very easy user interface, and nice finished results. You only have to drop in a dvd-r into your Toshiba HD-A1 to see how fabulous HDV can look, when converted to HD-DVD format. You don't even need an expensive HD-DVD blank. Thank you Pinnacle for producing software for the masses, right here, right now, so we can all edit and view our HDV tapes. And not spend over $1000 for (other) bloated editors. You also get an mpeg-4 encoder, for web output. Cheap is good. If you need a green blanket, that too, comes for free. It's for green screen/video superposition effects (which I have yet to try).

I've worked with various Pinnacle Studio versions since last decade, and they've all had two things in common:

1. When the program works, it's superb.

2. The other 50% of the time, it crashes frequently, and hard!

For years, Pinnacle had designed the market's top, novice-affordable video editing/authoring platforms, but for some frustrating reason, they just can't seem to keep the bugs out. This verson is no exception.

Lately, the competition in this market has mushroomed, and there are better alternatives available for the same price. At last, others have emulated the Pinnacle platform while eliminating the work/creativity-killing bugs.

My advice? Shop around. Google the competition. But save yourself the frustration and steer away from anything Pinnacle.

I have used Pinnacle Studio since version 8.0. I have upgraded along the way and am very impressed with the latest edition. Studio has improved with each release and I am very pleased with the basic content as well as the available upgrades. The user interface is very intuitive and the sw is very stable.

Furthermore, my experience with customer support was fantastic. I moved the software to a dedicated editing work station and needed new keys to unlock effects. I called and spoke to a person within 10 minutes who was knowledgeable and empowered to help me. I strongly believe that this is an excellent product as long as you have a capable computer and a desire to create effective presentations.

WORST... SOFTWARE... EVER! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME LIKE MYSELF AND SO MANY OTHER POOR SOULS DID! Read the reviews, cnet also. Go to the Pinnacle Support User Forum Site (pinnaclesys dot com) and read the countless people who can't get it to work.

This software just doesn't work, end of story. You will be more upset about your time wasted than your money, buy anything but this. Render error, render error, render error... you will have nightmares about crashes and render errors, no wait, they are real. The only person who should buy this is the smart lawyer who is going to start the class action lawsuit against Pinnacle for selling us something that is not even beta quality, it is pure crapware, try to make anything longer than 20 minutes with many transitions and it does not work, period.

April 5, 2007, W. Maras

I recently purchased Pinnacle's "DVD Maker Plus" (about $45.00), to convert some old family VHS tapes into DVD format. These tapes were previously converted from old 60's film to VHS. It came with a Analog to Digital converter device. This USB device allows you to connect your audio Right and Left channels and video using RCA connector, or S-Video inputs. This product worked great for the first project I was working on. I was able to video enhance the old video to better than the original. BUT- Also in the box was a 30 day Free Trial Evaluation of Pinnacle's "Studio Plus, version 10.5 (With all the bells and whistles.). A very nice tutorial was included on this disc.
My next project was to convert a ten year old family reunion VHS video into DVD. I wanted this to be very special. I used the trial version of Studio 10.5. This product performed every task I commanded it to do. -I converted and enhanced the VHS video into the program, -I edited the DVD for content. I added family pictures wherever I wanted to. -I added an additional soundtrack (several), added titles and captions, special video effects, and sound effects (Some from the program, some from my own library.) I added video Chapters to the project (Just like any regular DVD) Once I got the layout the way I wanted it, I burned it to DVD. As with any project "Save"-BACK UP YOUR WORK as you proceed.
YES, once in a while the program did lock up. I could not tell you if it was because of the program or because I was trying to do something the program could not understand- I never lost my previous work- just reloaded and everything was there. I could not have been happier. I am going to bring tears and smiles to many relatives. I think I will upgrade to the full version- It worked great.
I guess I don't understand why some people gave this program such a poor rating. I've got a new Dell, maybe that had something to do with it??? I have a technical background, but I am not a graphic artist, and have never used this type of program before! Anyone should be able to use this program. I guess you got to be smarter than the software!

Before purchasing Pinnacle I was using Windows Movie Maker, Which I thought worked well till I used it a bunch, and then realized it was slow and took a long time to edit movies. Pinnacle has way more options for editing, and is very easy to use. I would recomend this to anyone who is still using Windows Movie Maker. Once you use Pinnacle, You will never go back.

--D Byers

I have completed some very wonderful and intricate DVDs with studio but after spending countless hours talking to tech support about no audio capture while uploading my videos and still not resolving the problems it might go in the trash. I have followed countless advice from them using regdelete to remove the software completely twice and reinstalling with no avail. The third try they took me through an extra step after reg delete and guess what? all my projects are now gone too. (except the ones saved to avi.) The program is wonderful when it works. Highest accolades when that becomes possible. Till then...I'm shopping

I bought this version of Studio to update my video editing capabilities. I haven't been able to complete the install yet. I have an e-mail in to support but they only work certain hours. Further, when I get to the point where I get a failure, cleaning up and starting over is virtually impossible due to some files being impossible to delete. And, the product never appears in the Add/Remove function of the control panel. Further comments will be tempered by how well the support folks address my problem.

In 2 days it has crashed my system 20 times. Products like this should not be sold in Amazon or anywhere else. This is a fraud