Reviews

Pinnacle Studio version 11 Ultimate

For the first time in ages there's something to get genuinely excited about in the world of home movie making .I was amazed with the effects that are available even in the basic product, Pinnacle Studio, without any upgrades. But if you want to show your friends that baby video, with a lot of special effects, or make your vacation video look like a high definition movie, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate is just the thing for you. And the price is right at $129. Then you too can become that Hollywood director you always dreamed of being.

Price

• $49 for the basic Studio: for editing Standard Definition
• $99 for Studio Plus: adds editing of HDV and AVCHD (High Definition); creates special effects such as PIP and “Chromakey
• $129 for Studio Ultimate: adds Dolby 5.1, sound cleaning, and effects like pan & zoom

System requirements (available only for Windows XP or Vista)

• 1.8 GHz or higher; 2.4 is recommended
• Video requirements: ATI 9600 or Nvidia G force six or higher recommended
• DVD-ROM to install; DVD burner; creative soundcard recommended

When Pinnacle Studio was released in the 1990s, most video was captured to a computer by way of a dedicated video capture card that had to be installed in the PC. Then digital video cameras made things a bit easier. Today, there are multiple video formats and multiple devices that can capture video. And Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate handles all the latest video file formats, including HDV and AVCHD. It also includes a whole host of new features that give consumers access to some professional level tools.

My previous version Studio V9, came with my laptop video card. Since V9 was not compatible with Vista, it was time for me to upgrade. V10 would have been a free upgrade, but instead I decided to go for V11, which had more bells and whistles and a lot more effects.

When I did this review I was using an IBM ThinkPad with two gigs of RAM, a 40 gig hard drive and a 1.8 GHz processor. Then the worst thing happened: my hard drive crashed, and I had to reinstall the program. I would hope that my experience in this regard was not typical, but this caused some extra spinning of my wheels. I was able to recover some of the data from my drive, but when I went to reinstall the program, I encountered problems with the serial numbers. Apparently, every time you install the product, it goes out to the Internet to register (like any new software today). Little did I know that once you install software, the activation key is only good one time. After that you must contact customer support. (I was very frustrated when Pinnacle support promised one-day response, and then it took three days, and a reminder call from me). I believe service is still important and must be maintained, not just to keep the sales up, but also to uphold the company’s reputation.

Once the product is all installed, every time you use a new effect, it will get the activation code from the Internet. The bonus disc has many extras; however, a fee will be charged whenever you use a plug-in. If you register, you get a very useful free plug-in. Even with the aggravation to get the activation key, the program is still worth $129. The annoyances are far outweighed by the powerful features.

Let's start making movies

Although the interface has not changed much over the years, it's really hard to see the differences until you start playing with the toolbars. If you don't have a video device to bring in files from a camera or VCR or TiVo, you can simply drag the files from your hard drive as long as you have a current AVI file, MPEG movie video, or any type of video output this program understands.

As seen in the screenshot below, the program starts dissecting the video into scenes.

Every time you start and stop your camcorder, Pinnacle creates a new scene. With all the effects, you can easily make it look like it was one constant shot with the camera by inserting fadeouts or other effects. And you can put yourself in a “Greenscreen” to make it look like you're part of the movie, even if you were the one taking the shot.

Dual monitors makes the editing layout much easier to see. You can enlarge the play window and not miss details, when cutting scenes. You can also use the timeline to cut any blank spots or embarrassing moments out of the movie.

The moviemaking process screen shot below allows for the differing output formats, including high definition. It also allows you to copy to an iPod or smart phone.

The green screen background allows you to take shots of yourself and all of a sudden look like you're climbing Mount Fuji or falling over Niagara Falls in a barrel. This is truly a great Hollywood effect available only in this product. This is something you can't get with any other product on the market today, even if you worked in any Hollywood studio. So if you want to spice up your life and not put your friends to sleep, go out and get this product, buy some popcorn, and treat your friends to a night at the movies. Just be sure that you at least have the bare minimum requirements on the hardware side: that means have plenty of RAM available, a large hard drive and a fast computer.

In closing, the product is very well worth the money. It is one of the few remaining products that still come with a manual. So you spend a little time looking at PDF files and then go back into the program picture show, knowing what to do. I found it very impressive that you don't have to spend hours trying to find the features in the product.