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| Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Version 12 | 
 enlarge | From: Pinnacle Systems
Category: Software
List Price: $205.10
Buy New: $112.61
You Save: $92.49 (45%)
New (37) Used (3) from $99.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 231
Format: Cd-rom
Platform: No Operating System
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Ultimate
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 9.4 x 2.9
MPN: 8210-10060-61
Model: 82101006061
UPC: 613570223245
EAN: 0613570223245
ASIN: B001AMSZSQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hollywood, here we come October 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Because of the following, it should get 4 1/2 stars but Amazon doesn't have that choice. So I have to decide whether these points are worth losing one star. I've gone back and forth and after using the software for a few weeks I have decided that it is a 5 star product.
Well, this is a very powerful video editing software system. The user manual is 320 pages long and the getting started video is about two hours long. That should tell you this is not software for the casual video editor. So you should set aside a couple of evenings to get aquainted with just what you have in the way of editing tools here.
Next, there are a number of plug-ins that will add to the ultimate price of the product unless you purchase the Studio Plus or Ultimate versions.
If you are never going to need them, the basic software should do the trick. These are for additional Fonts, additional video themes, additional video effects, etc. Many of them are included in the Studio Plus and Ultimate versions like Embossing, Blur, Old Film, Hollywood FX 3D transitions, Stain Glass, Earthquake, Rotate, Water Drop, Water, Wave, etc. I can see why they would do this since some of those plug-ins are never going to be used by the average video editor.
Finally, the resources needed to run this software. One hour of video takes up over 12 GB of Hard drive space and you will need a pretty healthy processor and a lot of real memory if you want to get your project done in your lifetime. These items need to be understood before you buy this software. Pinnacle does recommend that you dedicate a Hard Drive for their use since it is drive intensive and will affect all other computer work if mixed on a drive with other systems. While I haven't given it a drive to itself, I have put it in a space little used on a drive separate from my operating system. This has minimized the impact upon my system a good deal.
Now for the positives. I was not expecting an editor with the depth and breadth of this package. There is not much you can't do with this software that Hollywood editors do with movies from changing panning to correcting red-eye, correcting camcorder jiggles from hand held videos, Panning and Zooming, green screen, etc. A full line of features like those you would expect from a still picture editor, cuts and melts of many varieties, full menu capabilities that will keep you busy for as long as you want to spend on your project.
There is the ability to make your videos look like old time movies complete with Black and White to scratches on the film. Charlie Chaplin lives again!
It uses a Timeline editor and you are able to mix video with still pictures with a wide variety of fades and cuts from scene to scene. You can Pan and Scan, Pan and Zoom as well as perform Picture In Picture. There are a wide variety of sound features from voiceovers to sound effects.
One reviewing agency reviewed the 14 top video editing systems and they judged Pinnacle to be 3rd.
I question their judgment since the ultimate goal of any editor is to produce usable output.
Of 15 output formats that they listed Pinnacle produced 13, with only QuickTime and Electronic Greeting Cards not supported. The 1st and 2nd place products only supported 11 output formats. Neither of them could output Blu-Ray or AVCHD. With Blu-Ray becoming the most popular new DVD format, how could editors that don't create Blu-Ray DVD's be ranked ahead of Pinnacle?
One of the other two also can't output DivX CD either! The supposed 1st place editor can't even output e-mail videos!
The 2nd place editor can't import hi-definition videos!
So based on the major reasons for having a video editor, I can't see Pinnacle being 3rd, but 1st instead. The biggest knock those reviewers had was for ease of use.
Well, if you have an editor that can do so many things, it will not be as easy to use. Having so many capabilities, as well as two track editing, will automatically make the software more complex to use. But with extensive documentation (which a 320 page instruction manual gives it) and a detailed instruction video (which the two hours provided by Pinnacle also gives it) you should be able to overcome that problem. Add to that a large user forum and live chat, which Pinnacle has and neither of the other two do, and you should be able to overcome just about any problem you run into.
If you are into serious video editing, this is the editor you need if you want quality output in the most modern formats available.
A must for the casual user October 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After installing the software and spending the first ten minutes to view their video primer on using the software, it already looked like this package would be a great addition to every household that has tons of videos stored all over their hard drives at home with nothing to do with them.
I was in this category ever since I bought my Sanyo Xacti camera. Its great to be able to take video and easily transfer the files to the computer, but then I had the issue of being able to compose them into a compilation. With Pinnacle Studios Ultimate, it fills my needs; the ultimate version includes support for mp4 (which my sanyo records in). I'm not sure if both the standard and plus versions include this but it was definitely something that I needed. I haven't had the chance to create a DVD yet, but its nice to also be able to create VCD's (a format that is not all that popular here as it is overseas, but to my knowledge many DVD players support). Since CDR's are so cheap now, you can make many copies of short clips or home movies (less then 30 minutes for SVCD that is a little higher quality then standard VCD that should be comparable to a VHS tape if memory serves me) in this format instead of having to use a DVD-R.
The ultimate edition also includes a disc full of plug ins which is very nice to have. The package also includes a green screen so that you can superimpose whatever is recorded in front of it onto something else. I haven't tried this yet, but it looks interesting and should make for some fun video.
I haven't had very much time to use the software but it seems very intuitive and very flexible. Out of the box it has lots of extras that allows most people to create something that is presentable and with interest. I'm not a professional in the field, but I would venture to guess that unless you need "professional" features, this should do the job.
Overall i think this is a good package that I would recommend for most users, but a must for the casual user.
Powerful yet easy to use October 2, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've used a number of video editing software over the years, from the lightweight editors included in Roxio's Easy Media Creator and Nero 7, to the fully-featured Adobe Premiere. Lately, I had been using Ulead Video Studio, which was a nice compromise between Premiere (too hardcore and overkill for 99% of us) and Roxio's suite (too bloated and not enough features). After trying Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12, I will probably not go back to any of those programs. Studio Ultimate strikes the right balance between full-featured and user-friendly, which is very important for those of us who are not professional video editors. Creating a DVD is easy and quick, and I have yet to encounter a single hiccup with the software. There are tons of features and effect plug-ins, probably more than I'd ever need, but they are included and easy to use. The interface is simple and attractive, and rendering speed faster than in other software (though this greatly depends on your processor speed and amount of RAM). Overall, I'd highly recommend this software- for the price, I haven't found a better video creation/editing tool.
Wheres the sound? October 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Been using this software for years. This is an amazing program. Been having problems sinse version 11. 40% of my dvds have no sound and have to be done again. On 2 different computers 1 vista 64 and 1 windows XP. So Iam assuming its not my computers fault. Besides that it is easy to use and amazing what you can do to your home videos even if you dont know much. Hopefully they will have a patch soon to fix the sound problem.
The most stable Studio version I've used September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've been using Studio software from Pinnacle for years. I've always gotten decent results, but version 12 is, so far, the best.
With past versions of Studio, I've had problems with unrecognized CD/DVD drives, crashing, etc. With Studio 12, I've had no problems, which is great. But there are still some things about the interface that lead me to rate this package as a four instead of a five. For instance, after laying out a series of audio, video, still, and background music clips, I occasionally found myself wanting to insert space across all of the media while keeping the existing clips in sync. I couldn't find a way to do that. It was the only frustation I encountered in my projects.
This "ultimate" version provides a good set of menus, transitions, etc. It's possible to make professional looking video productions and output them to CD/DVD, even in HD format. I've tried a few other packages but always return to Pinnacle's Studio products.
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