Hi folks:

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the expense and time for me to upgrade from Pinnacle Studio 8.12.7.0 to either version 9 or 10? Truth be told the expense is not really a factor - the limiting factor for me is my time.

Studio 8 actually handles *all* my capture, editing, menu creation, and ISO/VOB/AVI generation requirements. I probably use 10% of the capabilities of the editing and menu creation tools so I'm completely happy with those feature sets. I don't burn CDs or DVDs with Studio directly. I have it generate the ISO or DVD or AVI files to my hard drive and then burn my CDs or DVDs using a separate product. Again I am perfectly happy with the feature set for this aspect of the product.

The only additional thing I seek is greater stability and robustness.

I am currently running a machine with an AMD Athlon 1200GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and two large ATA hard disks. Studio's performance on this machine is perfectly acceptable for my needs.

Now that Studio version 10 has been released I suspect I can purchase version 9 on the cheap. Will version 9 provide significantly greater stability and robustness? Or is Version 10 a better bet for me?

I can ask this another way: given that I really like the feature set of Studio version 8, can I get greater stability and robustness by switching to another product - even an older version of another product? I'm intrigued by Adobe Premier Elements 1.0 (I can't run 2.0 - my machine lacks SSE2 capability) and I'm wondering if it's worth it to switch to that. I understand that PE 1.0 is not the most intuitive product to learn and to use so I'll have to spend some time learning it. Will that be time well spent toward helping me reach my goal of working with a more stable and robust product?

I have read almost all of the posts here regarding Pinnacle Studio versions 8, 9, and 10 so I've done some homework. I've come to a preliminary conclusion but I wanted to get some fresh feedback from the folks here.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

I never used Studio 8, so I don't know how it compares to 9 or 10. I started out using Studio 9 and added the free upgrades to 9.4. I just recently upgraded to Studio Plus 9.4. This was a $20 upgrade, not free like the others. 9.4 Plus offers the ability to work with two video tracks and a total of 4 audio tracks. One time I edited footage from two cameras in Studio and found it difficult with only one video track. This is the reason I upgraded to Plus. I considered upgrading to Studio 10, but decided to hold off for a while because I have read so many bad reviews about version 10. It appears there are a number of bugs in the program that have to be worked out. 9.4 has worked well for me except for a problem with rendering a project that has video effects, such as color correction. I don't have a problem if I use the color correction on just a small part of the video, but the computer crashes during rendering if I use the effect throughout the video. Pinnacle was unable to solve the problem. I still have the problem after upgrading to 9.4 Plus. I am beginning to wonder if I would still have the problem if I used some one else's program for the burning, and just use the Pinnacle for capturing and editing.

Kent

The whole time I had Pinnacle Studio 8 on my computer, I looked forward to the day that I could remove it and lay the software to rest in a dark place never to be seen again. I tried the 30-day demo of Ulead VideoStudio 9 and was very pleased with it's features, performance, and interface similarity to Pinnacle Studio. I bought the full version and have been a happy camper ever since.

Ulead offers a $30 competitive upgrade rebate to non-bundled, non-OEM Pinnacle Studio users.

I upgraded from 8 to 9. My personal experience is that 9 is about as stable as 8. I save almost after every edit. Really a shame given how easy the software is to use. I have no experience with 10 but understand it is buggy as well.

I am wondering if I should upgrade as well. I've been using Pinnacle for a number of years as it is so easy to use.

However, I was very unimpressed when I bought Studio 8. I bought it mostly because it boasted of the extra transitions. It did have the extra transitions until I upgraded with their patches and then the extra transitions were locked and/or watermarked with FX. Now when someone is going to take the extra time to video edit, who wants a watermarked transition? I couldn't believe it. I took it up with their customer service and they didn't give a hoot. Truly, you cannot give something and then take it away.

I downloaded a free trial of Ulead 10 and am not sure I am overly impressed but then again I need to sit and learn the program to truly get a feel for it. I do have a question. Are there extra features in the purchase version than the trial version? Is there a supplementary program one can buy to gain more transitions?

Pinnacle is, as mentioned, unstable. I find it locks up when creating titles, sometimes when rendering etc. I would love to leave Pinnacle just for that fact and for the fact that often one doesn't get what they paid for.

I've used all versions of Pinnacle Studio, including version 8, which at the time, I thought was fairly decent software. I purchased nearly every update of Pinnacle Studio, and quickly learned that newer updates do not always insure improved performance. Having invested so much in the Pinnacle product over years past, I reluctantly went ahead and purchased Studio 10, which now is developed by AVID. The initial release of Studio 10 was disastrous! Intervening updates gradually improved Studio 10, with the most recent 10.5.2 update having cured most of the ills of previous versions. The current version opens much quicker than heretofore; is quite stable and reliable; and with one exception, lives up to my expectations. The lone exception which I believe requires a fix is: that content captured in 16:9 mode from my Canon Optura S1 displays as 16:9 in the project, but is output as 4:3 mpg, avi, etc. I don't recall experiencing this problem with 16:9 video captured from my Panasonic GS250 camcorder, although I may have captured the Canon video in other software, before taking the raw capture file into Studio 10; whereas, I may have captured the Panasonic GS250 video directly in Studio 10. Still, I'm convinced that Studio 10 has a quirk with respect to 16:9 vs 4:3 output, as indicated.

Otherwise, the latest version of Studio 10.5.2 is far more responsive and stable than any previous version. By comparison, other video editing software that I own and use (three others) is equally reliable and stable as Studio, although each product has its share of quirks. I have yet to find a video editing software program that is perfect in all respects. That said, the single video editing program that comes closest to being "perfect" is Canopus Let's Edit2. Unfortunately, Canopus no longer supports this product --- I think.

VM

You are the first person to give a good review of Studio 10. Apparently the updates have fixed most of the bugs in the program. Version 10 uses the Liquid Edition engine that is considered to be more stable.

I am using Studio Plus 9.4, but have been reluctant to upgrade to 10. I may have to re-think my position.

Kent McVety

I use 10.5 and love it. It's easy to use and since downloading the update I've had no real problems with it. It's worth the few dollars for the upgrade.

I have to say, I will be a Ulead customer from now on. I've tried out the trial version and am very pleased. The rendering takes less time, it's easy to use, when adding audio from a cd it actually lists the song title and artist (where in Pinnacle one has to keep choosing a track to see what song it is), and I like the transitions far better, etc. I find it much stabler than Pinnacle (version 8 anyhow) and due to bad customer service from Pinnacle in the past it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

Ulead is thumbs up for me!

I have been using studio forever and have become so used to its interface I find it impossible to try anything else. That said, I have found that the first version of every new studio edition has been buggy and stopped buying the newest version after number 8. I always wait a few months before upgrading. Just purchased 10.5 plus titanium last night. Although haven't had much chance to put it through the paces yet, it was definitely worth the $29 to upgrade from the basic version 9.

Does Pinnacle 10.5 allow you to have multiple video and audio tracks ?

__________________
HomeVideo101.com

I don't use Studio 10.5. My Studio Plus 9.4 allows for two video tracks and four audio tracks. Being able to work with two video tracks simutaneously allows for editing footage from two cameras together.

Studio 10.5 probably works the same way. The standard version probably allows for one video track while the Plus version would allow for two video tracks and an additional audio track.

Perhaps some 10.5 users could tell you if this is corrrect.

Kent McVety

Yes it does and it is great.

I have tried the trial version of this and I am seriously thinking of upgrading (from 9.4) for two added features that I love. There is a color correction filter which includes all kinds of options like the usual contrast and brightness, but also gamma, gain, and other color adjustments. The other feature is the white balance filter. After adjusting the colors and gain, etc. with the first one and then fixing the white balance, I have been able to really improve some poor, dark video taken with my Canon Optura 40. I would not mind spending a few bucks to upgrade, but I have purchased some of the FX effects with the version 9, and I'm guessing I would have to purchase these all over again to get them to work with version 10. I do not like the way Pinnacle adds all those teaser features that are grayed out unless you want to pay extra to "unlock' them.

Can any of you longtime studio 8 users tell me if it supports 16:9 video and outputs same to DVD ? I have used Studio for a long time as well , but am considering my first 16:9 camera and I have never noticed an aspect ratio setting in the software and can't find anything in the help file about it.\


Thanks,
Ray