Vid Studio 9 vs Pinnacle??????

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:18 pm

I have Vid Studio 8 SE DVD. I have used Pinnacle.

I am thinking up upgrading to Video Studio 9 (full version) but have one major question: With Pinnacle, when you click the preview button there is no delay, but with my version of Video Studio, there is a delay of a few seconds. To me this is annoying -- like you change something, add a transition or whatever and want to preview it. Click "play clip" button under the preview window, wait................... then watch it, make another change, wait......................., etc. Not so with Pinnacle. Quesiton: is this what is going to happen with Video Studio 9??
Thanks!

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:21 pm

Where is "Multi trim" in Pinnacle - as far as I can see there isnt one.
This was the main reason why I stuck with Video Studio instead of Media Studio - though the latest version MSP8 now has the function which is why I have just upgraded.

aatencio · Post by **aatencio** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:25 pm

Well I can tell you this i have used several past version of UVS and upgraded to version 9. I am very disappointed and will be going out today to invest in a new application (either Pinnacle or Adobe's product). I have not as of yet been successful in creating a DVD with this software without some kind of application crash or other issue.

At this point baring some response from Ulead on how to fix this application so it can actually burn a DVD by clicking on the Creat Disc button I would have to recommend the move to pinnacle, I think the little delay you are talking about is going to be the least of your problems with version 9.

Andy

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:08 pm

Eh, Pinnacle can be a little quirky here and there. For example, trying to add a couple level of menu AFTER inserting some clips is next to impossible, at least it has been for me.

I cannot burn a DVD with UVS 8 LE as there is no patch for dual-layer DVD burners whereas with Pinnacle and I would assume, UVS 9 there would be.

With UVS 8 it will not tell me in advance what the file size will be for .WMV files -- don't know about DVD space since I haven't been able to burn DVD's anyway.

michaeltee · Post by **michaeltee** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:38 pm

Zoltar,

Over the course of the last year I've demo'd virtually every pro-sumer editing package on the market. I can tell you with complete confidence that all of them have their quirks **and** that in some cases these quirks will be tied in with the current state of one's PC. In the end I liked Ulead VS9 and Pinnacle Studio Plus 9 so much that I kept both. As for Adobe, it will no doubt be worthy of consideration in the not-too-distant future but there are a number of bugs in the initial release and (just my opinion) is among the least intuitive of the popular $100 editing packages.

VS9 does have a slight delay with it's "instant preview" (compared to Pinnacle) however this sometimes yields a smoother preview especially at your transition insert points. You really need to look at the overall speed of the UI, not just the preview speed, to evaluate the program's time efficiency. All things considered, it's pretty darn fast and you'll experience your fair share of frustrations no matter which program you choose. Generally speaking, VS9 offers a strong feature set and the basics are almost ridiculously easy to learn. It includes a fairly rich assortment of high-quality transitions, title effects, masks and additional content straight out of the box. As another user mentioned, the multi-cut editor is a superb tool for quickly selecting wanted or unwanted clips. With Pinnacle you're better off dividing long clips and then deleting the unwanted footage as their trim tool can be time consuming. With VS9 you might encounter an issue burning discs directly from the time-line but the workaround is simple and effective.

Pinnacle Studio Plus 9 is nearly as intuitive but if you want the best possible titling, transitions and effects you'll have to invest in expensive plugins such as Hollywood FX Mega, Heroglyph and Adorangle (just to name a few). Overall they are quite impressive and well worth the money but only for users who are REALLY serious (or perhaps just wealthy... lol!). Although pro-quality videos are possible straight out of the box, you could easily spend an additional $300-500 in plugins if you want the extra bells and whistles. That said, Studio Plus 9 does include nearly 4gb of content and it's highly expandable architecture is a huge feature with dozens of OEM and 3rd party plugins available for purchase.

As far as installations go, I'd say Ulead's VS9 platform is the more stable of the two however Pinnacle is releasing Studio 10 even as we speak and this new version is built on the "Liquid Edition" engine which is far more robust than that of the current Studio 9.

All video editing apps are complex so it definitely pays to demo before you buy. This not only allows you to get a feel for how well the program will run specifically on your computer, but also a chance to discover the features, benefits and quirks of each program which are far too numerous to mention in this forum.

I don't mean to come across as a know-it-all (I'm definitely not) but having used both programs I hope this brief comparison is of some value.

-Mike

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:37 pm

Thanks for taking so much time in responding!

I was just surfing around on Ebay and found Pinnacle Plus 9 for under $50 -- being closed out I suppose. I

michaeltee · Post by **michaeltee** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:50 pm

Sure, happy to help. I'm sure I mentioned quite a few things that you already knew but figured I'd throw 'em in for anyone who is just beginning to compare the two programs. For those who take the time to research all the current editing apps it seems to come down to decision between Ulead and Pinnacle more often than not.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:23 pm

I am a keen Video Studio user, and have never tried Pinnacle products, so cannot comment on that. But I happen to like Adobe Premiere Elements, though would have to agree with you that it is far from intuitive. Even after producing several videos using it, I still find myself having to consult Help for even relatively simple things. That being said, Adobe's Help and Tutorials are ten times better than Ulead's rather sketchy things.

I would also like to agree with Michael's comments about people finding little (or big) faults with **ALL** applications, but also finding that those faults are often linked to their computer's architecture. Obviously people have their problems with Video Studio -- that is why there is this Board after all. And some people unfortunately still go away unsatisfied, their particular problem unsolved. It is understandable that they will turn to other programs and Ulead's pretty woeful technical support is hardly a major argument for them to stay with the product. But there are an awful lot of other people out there for whom the product works just fine -- the silent majority who have no need to come to this Board -- plus, of course, us, the 'usual suspects', who also think it is a good product and try to help others get over their problems if we can. The problem is, though, that we are not sitting in front of the other person's computer and so can never have a totally clear idea of all of the aspects of its inner workings. And that is why we collectively sometimes fall down and can't help on particular or computer-specific problems.

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 10:32 pm

This is a pretty fast box, I assembled it myself about 6 months ago -- AMD 3000+, 6600 vid, ASUS board - dual channel, 1 gig RAM, RAID 1 drives, etc. Still, it takes several hours to render a 1 hr DVD.

On the copy of Pinnacle I tried I could not import MPG files from my digital camera, whereas with ULead I can. Maybe this has changed with Pinnacle's newest offerings?

michaeltee · Post by **michaeltee** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:07 am

Ken, it is so VERY much appreciated when experienced users like yourself jump in and take the time to help! If we had to rely on tech-support to solve common (and not-so-common) problems it might very well take weeks, months or (gulp!) years to complete a project.

Zoltar, it sounds like your machine would easily meet the requirements of most any current video editing program. The other side of the coin is keeping one's computer in top form by maintaining a clean registry (perhaps using a product like "Registry First Aid" or "Registry Mechanic"), keeping drives well defragmented and removing lesser used applications (especially those that are codec intensive) thus lessening the chances of program and/or system conflicts. Of course I haven't followed that last bit of advice too strictly having both VS9 and Studio 9 on the same PC, thankfully witout conflicts. So pretty basic stuff, but almost "crucial" when it comes to smooth performance with video apps.

Re rendering, I've experienced quite a dramatic range of rendering times which I attribute to various factors, primarily one's system capabilities combined with choice of output format (some codecs are faster than others but often with a quality hit) and the density of the project itself. That said, it's definitely true that rendering times can vary greatly between one editing application and another. Searching through various video forums it's not unusual to find examples of similar projects taking an hour to render for one person and half a day for another. There are so many variables involved. I'm sure other more experienced users can add something to this.

Re MPEG-1 & 2, it's not a problem for Pinnacle version 9. If I recall correctly, the first time you attempt to import in the MPEG format you are taken to a web page wherein the codec is semi-automatically registered and activated at no charge. Same goes for MPEG-4 but with a $10 registration fee. Pinnacle is very big on registrations and this type of procedure will come up (for various program features) the first few times you use the software. One more thing to add to the quirk list

-Mike

zoltar · Post by **zoltar** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:17 am

Thanks for all the wonderful help! For a newbie on this board, it has been a great experience!

michaeltee · Post by **michaeltee** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:11 am

I hope VS9 works out for you! Good luck

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:30 am

I was just surfing around on Ebay and found Pinnacle Plus 9 for under $50 -- being closed out I suppose. I

This raises a few alarm bells - Why was the owner selling it?
Dis-satisified? made himself a copy now hoping to sell the original?
Is the purchaser going to have a problem with registration of an already used serial number?

michaeltee · Post by **michaeltee** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:20 am

sjj1805,

Due to the release of Studio 10 which is already shipping to select USA retailers, the publisher is selling boxed versions of Studio 9 and Plus 9 on their site for 50% off. Quite a few resellers have purchased them in bulk and are now offering them on eBay for a similar price, making some additional profit on the S&H charge. However as you have pointed out, in the event of a used copy there could be registration issues.

DiscCoasterPro · Post by **DiscCoasterPro** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:22 pm

I am also a newbie to video editing. I haven't tried the Pinnacle products yet because I read so many things about their glitches and problems.

I tried Adobe, I thought it was too confusing. I have VS9 and Power Director, I also have MyDVD 6 (which I have yet to load). Bottom line for me is, I forget the whole editing thing and open up DVD Workshop, trim what I need and just do the menuing....... no problems. Wish I could say the same for these editors.

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Vid Studio 9 vs Pinnacle??????

Vid Studio 9 vs Pinnacle??????

Moving to Pinnacle