Pinnacle Studio MovieBox USB Video Transfer Device (210100251)

by Pinnacle

Product Details

Product Manual [3.52mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000099SXU
• Item model number: 210100251
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #6 in Software > Video & Music > Digital Video > Compositing & Effects
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 20, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Pinnacle Systems' Pinnacle Studio MovieBox captures and digitizes analog composite and S-video signals and delivers them through your PC's USB 2.0 port. Bundled Studio 8 software helps you edit and assemble clips for recording onto videotape or for burning onto CD or DVD media.

To set up MovieBox, we connected the power and video source cables and followed the Windows New Hardware Wizard to install the driver software on our notebook computer. Next, we followed onscreen prompts to install Studio 8. The entire process was intuitive and took 16 minutes. Note that MovieBox USB has neither input nor output support for FireWire, so you will likely use a VCR instead of a digital camcorder as the primary input device.

Before testing MovieBox with Stuido 8, we tried to see if other editing programs would recognize the device. Neither Nero Vision nor Windows Movie Creator was able to initialize MovieBox, so expect to use it exclusively with Studio 8. Upon starting Studio 8, the program presented us with a simple but thorough 17-minute video explaining the basics of capturing, editing, and making a movie.

In our tests, we captured and edited over two hours of clips without a single error--not even one lost frame. Studio 8 intuitively handled positioning and trimming clips, adding transition effects between scenes, and creating DVD menus. The biggest drawback was the lack of multi-level undo--that is, you can undo only one previous mistake, which means correcting even minor errors can quickly become time-consuming and very irritating.

Rendering and compiling finished DVDs took between a few minutes and several hours depending on complexity. The final results were mixed. Some movies looked very good, with video quality about average for the cost of the device; others suffered from out-of-sync video and audio. Overall, MovieBox is a simple, intuitive solution for novice home moviemaking. Professionals and serious amateurs will lament its lack support for popular video editing software, its intermittent quality, and its single-level undo. --Mike Brown

Pros:

• Easy to install and learn
• Simple to capture, edit, and add dazzling effects
• No lost frames in our tests

Cons:

• Single-level undo command
• Does not support third-party editing software
• Video and audio sometimes out of sync

From the Manufacturer

MovieBox USB is the easiest way to create exciting home movies and save them to DVD, CD, or back to tape. MovieBox USB lets you capture your home movies to your PC via its USB port. The included Studio 8 software lets you edit your videos, add titles, narration, and special effects, and then output your final project to DVD, VCD, CD-ROM, the Internet, or back to your camcorder or VCR. If burning your videos to DVD or CD is your primary goal, then MovieBox USB is the best solution for you.

It's about ease of use. MovieBox USB is an external device housed in a sleek F.A. Porsche-designed enclosure. Simply attach your video source to MovieBox USB, attach MovieBox to your computer's USB port, and install the included Studio 8 software.

It's about Studio 8. MovieBox USB includes the full version of Pinnacle Systems' award-winning Studio 8 software. Studio 8 is the easiest way to capture, edit and share your home movies. Studio's key features include; a simple drag and drop editing interface, powerful features such as fast/slow motion, color correction, and integrated DVD creation.

Product Highlights:

• Includes full version of award-winning Studio 8 video editing software
• F.A. Porsche design, both sleek and rugged
• Captures video in DVD quality MPEG-2 format
• Connects to your computer's USB 1 or USB 2 port
• S-Video/composite input and output
• RCA audio input and output
• Studio 8 saves movies as AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, RealVideo, or Windows Media Format
• Studio 8 has built-in authoring for DVD, VCD or S-VCD
• MovieBox can be used with the included stand or laying flat on your desk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It works. But very slowly ..., July 15, 2003

By 

El Barto (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pinnacle Studio MovieBox USB Video Transfer Device (210100251) (Personal Computers)

First of all, it works. As advertised.
I connected through USB 1.1 port. Captured a 30-minute
Lizzie McGuire for my kid, edited out commercials,
and made an SVCD. The video editing software is very nice,
intuitive, easy to use. All I can say is, "It works !"
The trouble is though, it takes so much time.
My machine is 2GHz P4 laptop with 1G memory.
First, it takes 30 minute to capture.
Then editing process.
Third, to create VCD. I found that creating VCD actually
takes twice as much time as capture, because it converts to
some file format and then to CD image, and then copying
the SVCD image to CD.
So to record 30 minute, I ended up spending 2 hours.
Not recommended for casual recording from TV, unless you
have patience and a lot of time.
Very good, if you have family video, which requires some
good editing and you are willing to patiently wait
(as a rule of thumb, multiply the original length by four
(that is, if you are recording 1 hour, it will take four hours).
But it works as advertised.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Even very latest version will not synch audio/video, October 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Pinnacle Studio MovieBox USB Video Transfer Device (210100251) (Personal Computers)

I am sorry but the reviewer below who said the latest version fixes "out of synch" problems is wrong. Please go to the maufacturer's (pinnacle) web forums. you will see hundreds of postings from users who complain that studio almost always causes synch problems, ESPECIALLY the latest version which is even worse than the last.

What does out of synch mean? It means most movies you create will have peoples lips moving and then the corresponding audio ten seconds or so later. This is NOT a problem with original captures or sources. I have a dozen different sources, direct from digital camera, direct from analog, etc, all of which are perfect as they play from my hard drive on media player or other programs without any synch problmes. it is studio that creates the out of synch (and I have a very very fast and advanced pc).

Worse yet the support is nill. nada, forgetaboutit. on pinnacle's web fourmus you will see users asking: "is anyone from pinnacle ever responding?" etc.

This product has a feature list that is good. but it will not work. I have now downloaded many many "beta's" and "fixes". it is as if all the purchasers of this product are essentially product testers for a product that doesn't work.

Don't take my word. go to their forums or any other dvd authoring forums, or even just google +pinnacle +audio +synch...you will se thousands of people complaining.

The latest recommendd fix is converting mpegs to avi's. too funny, you don't have to do this with any competing products and converting a 90 minute mpeg to avi creats about a 50 gigabyte file. yes, gigabyte.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, October 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Pinnacle Studio MovieBox USB Video Transfer Device (210100251) (Personal Computers)

This product has no number to call for the thousands (literally) of people who have experienced problems just capturing from their VCR to their computer. If you want to convert your old VHS movies into DVD, DO NOT BUY THIS. I am not the only person who thinks this; there are forums for this product on the Pinnacle website full of very angry people who have many problems, the most common of which is the audio and video being way out of sync. Hard to believe Pinnacle didn't test it for that problem before they sold it (and even worse if they did and sold it anyway). There's a very high probability that you will not be able to do what the product claims it can do.