Pinnacle Studio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 on Windows 7 |
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| Developer(s) | Pinnacle Systems |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 14 / 2009-10-7 |
| Preview release | None / None |
| Operating system | Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 |
| Type | Video editing software |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | pinnaclesys.com |
Pinnacle Studio is a non-linear video editing software application manufactured by Pinnacle Systems, a division of Avid Technology. It is the consumer level counterpart to Pinnacle's former professional level software, Liquid Edition (now Avid Liquid). It also inherits from VOB Computersysteme's Instant CD/DVD. Studio allows users to author video content, create VCD/DVDs with menus and burn them without the need for any additional software.
Pinnacle Studio may be purchased separately, but is also included in bundled packages with various video capture hardware devices. These include analog and digital capture, either as PCI cards or connection via USB. In September 2007, Pinnacle released new versions of their Moviebox devices, including HDV and AVCHD support, shipped with their new Studio products.
In addition, a cut-down SE version entitled Pinnacle Studio QuickStart was included with the Dazzle (another USB capture device) and Pinnacle PCTV products, though since the release of Studio 12, the QuickStart version has been discontinued; Dazzle Video Creator Platinum now ships with the regular basic version of Studio, and the PCTV products ship with VideoSpin (see below).
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[edit] Versions
Since version 9, Studio has been sold in two editions: Studio and Studio Plus, with some additional functionality in the Plus edition, notably a second video track. This allowed Overlay and Picture-in-Picture.
Studio 10 and Studio 10 Plus were released on the 17 August 2005. While retaining the same user interface as Studio 9, the code base was taken from Liquid Edition, now called Avid Liquid. Real time preview at full resolution was introduced along with the ability to mix PAL, NTSC, 4:3 and 16:9 footage on the timeline. The standard version of Studio 10 has fewer features than the standard version of Studio 9, but Studio 10 Plus offers further enhancements including HD editing. Version 10.7 Plus allows users (after purchasing a premium feature) to burn High Definition video to standard DVD media that will then replay on the Toshiba HD-DVD players. Vista compatibility was added in version 10.8.
Pinnacle released Studio 11 in June 2007. It features three versions: Studio, Studio Plus, and Studio Ultimate. All three are designed to be compatible with Windows Vista and feature a new scalable interface and replace Smartsounds music generation with Scorefitter, a midi-based version written in-house.
Studio 11 Plus added native HDV and AVCHD editing, and HD DVD from standard discs. Keyframing became possible on most effects. Bluray AVCHD to standard DVDs was added in S11.1.1.
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate became the new top-of-the-line consumer video editing application. It included Soundsoap PE, an advanced sound-cleaning tool, Dolby 5.1 Surround encoding, proDAD VitaScene, and Moving Picture, a precision pan and zoom. A green-screen sheet to produce the chroma key effects with is also included in the full Ultimate version, or can be purchased separately.
Studio 12 was released in June 2008. Enhancements to the editing features include markers that can be placed on the timeline "on the fly", improved audio controls and the addition of Montage, which allows multi-layered video and still composites to be generated within pre-defined templates. MOD import and FLV output was added, as was direct upload to YouTube (similar to arch-competitors iMovie and Adobe Premiere Elements).
The Plus and Ultimate versions also add full Blu-ray disc burning with menus. Ultimate comes with Vitascene as in S11, but replaces Soundsoap and Moving Picture with Boris Graffiti 5.1 and Magic Bullet Looks SE. A new addition is the Content Transfer Window which should allow you to import any plug-ins or premium content purchased for Studio 10 or 11.
Recently, Pinnacle Systems has released Studio 14. With this series, the low-end version is now billed as "Studio HD", and is essentially identical to the regular low-end version of Studio, but with the overlay video track and high-definition capabilities available (previously, the only way to be able to use these was to upgrade the software to the Plus or Ultimate version). The "Plus" version is now known as the Studio HD Ultimate version, and includes a few special third-party plugins, while the top-of-the-line version is now known as Studio HD Ultimate Collection, which includes more third-party plugins and a green-screen sheet (which can be also purchased separately). The video capture interface has been redesigned, but the editing and export GUIs are identical to previous versions, in addition to including stop-motion capture and a motion title editor/creator.
While Pinnacle Studio is revered for its user-friendly GUI, the software has been known to crash or hang quite a bit,[citation needed] especially when run on a computer that barely meets the minimum system requirements (for example, the current release of Studio 12 seems to perform better on systems with 2 or more GB of RAM than 1 GB as recommended).[original research?] This is especially true when the project undergoes the rendering process.[original research?]. It also has some problems with getting the sound working even in play mode for M2TS videos.
[edit] VideoSpin
In the second half of 2007, Pinnacle introduced VideoSpin, a freely downloadable non-linear video editor similar to Studio but with several features missing. Some of the missing features include the storyboard, the ability to capture digital and analogue video, the video and audio toolboxes, the SmartSound/Scorefitter music generator, SmartMovie capabilities and DVD burning. Projects created in VideoSpin may be opened and edited in Pinnacle Studio 11, though not vice-versa, and once a project has been loaded in Studio, it may not again be reloaded in VideoSpin.
An advanced codec pack can be purchased allowing users to use MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DiVX codecs, all of which are available freely for the first 15 days after installation.
VideoSpin is also included with the Pinnacle PCTV products, replacing Studio QuickStart.
Since Pinnacle released the "patch" for Studio 12, several of the effects paid for in RTFX Volume 1 no longer worked. This was due to the parameters of the effects being changed from type="VideoFilter" HostMask="2" to type=VideoFilter" Hide. It was written this way for the following effects: Bevel Crystal, Lens Flare, Magnify, Median, Mosaic, Replicate, Water Drop, and Water Wave.[citation needed]
