Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)In a nutshell, this program will (probably) work fabulously if your needs are modest. You can (probably) capture video from digital or VHS sources, and edit with ease. The editing features are impressive (if everything goes well for you).
POSITIVES:
Very intuitive editing functions
Many file formats supported
Burning DVD, VCS, SVCD supported
Creates nice menus
Having said this, the few positive reviews I've read here must be from people with (a) amazing luck, or (b) amazing patience and low expectations from commercial software. These reviewers are saints! In my opinion, they should be given flowers and chocolates by each Pinnacle Systems executive, and warm embraces should not be ruled out by the next Board of Directors meeting.
(See, I could have said something mean but I didn't)
NEGATIVES:
(1) IT'S SLOW - The time the program spends hanging is legendary. There should be an award for the most time a program spends churning and thrashing for absolutely no apparent reason. Planning on opening an existing project that's more than 10 minutes in duration? Better plan your day around it. Seriously. Waiting for this program will induce hysterical hallucinations and / or cause you to find religion.
My day proceeds like this, and no I'm not exaggerating:
* Launch Studio 8 and wait while Studio accesses the last captured video, as is its default modus operandi.
* Shave, take a show, get dressed, have breakfast, check to see if Studio 8 is still hanging.
* Has it opened the last video? Great, it must have only been that short 10 minute clip of last Thanksgiving's bore fest, horrific gravy mishap included (in slow-mo).
* However if it STILL HASN'T opened the video, read next chapter of current good book.
* Finally, it finished. Don't get all giddy like a schoolgirl; all we did was start the program. (apologies to those who are, or aspire to become, schoolgirls)
* The default project it opened upon launching is a brand new 'Untitled' project (remember, all that opening time was just for a captured video that you MIGHT want to add to some project). Tragically, I need to work on an existing project. I know what's coming next, so I wipe a tear from my cheek and select my desired project from the menu. I've found that you can tolerate this anticipatory pain by either clenching your teeth or biting down on something hard to keep you from swallowing your tongue.
*OK, now I've really made it mad. My existing project is not only long (> 30 minutes of clips) but it also includes clips from more than one captured source (e.g. clips from my niece's christening, and from the public domain documentary "Exorcisms Gone Bad"). This is an affront to the Pinnacle gods. They punish my hubris by cranking up my hard drive to "ludicrous" speed, and keeping it there for a good half hour or more of senseless reads and writes. I think it's writing megabytes and megabytes of "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", but I have no conclusive evidence. Norton Utilities should make a tool specifically for this purpose. Meanwhile my computer has seized and is unavailable to do anything else, like update the clock, repaint the screen or acknowledge my frantic attempts to apologize and take it all back. This paralysis is the computer equivalent of eyes wide open, pupils fixed and dilated, jaw gaping and trickle of drool slowly creeping towards the floor without any attempt to wipe it away. Nurse! Get the defibrillator, stat!
Waiting out this state of inactivity is deceptively debilitating. You want to leave since you know nothing will budge for about 30 minutes. But you still retain this irrational expectation that maybe, just maybe, everything will unlock the minute you leave. In my experience, this is about as likely as an Elvis sighting in Kabul, Afghanistan. Instead, you stare at the blank, unpainted screen for far too long as your mind begins playing tricks, as if you're in a sensory deprivation tank.
There are similar criminally long delays in most editing attempts, like adding a clip to a project.
Given this glacial pace, I plan on finishing my video projects in the following way:
(1) start a religion,
(2) train the converts in the mysterious yet glorious ways of Pinnacle Studio editing so they work on my projects faithfully each and every Sunday for the rest of their natural lives,
(3) instruct my righteous flock to pass on these rites to their children, their children's children, and yea onto all those they beget,
(4) while the faithful await "the Great Rendering" when the project is completed and burned to disc. Alleluia!
Actually, this religion would be a great marketing angle for Pinnacle Systems, Inc., and would fit in well with their proclaimed "long term outlook". Certainly, a product that forces you to think in terms of geological eras instead of mere hours fits this long-term corporate vision.
(2) (oh, yes, all the above was just #1) DOESN'T BURN WELL - sometimes it doesn't recognize my CD burner. Now I might be convinced that some devices are unrecognizable. However, mine is on the official 'approved' list, and it is often recognized, but sometimes isn't. This is analogous to occasionally forgetting how to chew your food.
(3) CRASHES - not every day, but too often.
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