Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Pinnacle Studio Mediasuite USB Video Capture Device and Software

 The Bottom Line

Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus pairs a USB video capture device with the Pinnacle Studio Plus video editing software. The high-speed USB 2.0 device captures video from any analog or digital source. In addition, you can output video to a VCR or analog camcorder. The Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus includes compatibility with the Windows Vista operating system, HD DVD and AVCHD format editing and disc authoring, hi-fi audio music generation, and automatic Web publishing. A nice package for those looking for an all-in-one solution for Capturing, Editing and Recording to their videos to DVD.
Pros
  • USB Capture Device
  • Record Digital and Analog Video
  • Includes Pinnacle Studio 11
  • Edit and Burn HDV and AVCHD Video
  • Includes Firewire and USB cables
Cons
  • Video Capture Device has Cheap Feel

Description

  • Capture Analog and Digital Video
  • Captures from HDV and AVCHD Camcorders
  • Edit Video with the included Pinnacle Studio Software
  • USB Capture Device - DV, S-Video and Composite input
  • Includes a Firewire cable to connect a DV, HDV or AVCHD Camcorder
  • Output to VCD, DVD, Camcorder, or Save to Hard Drive

Guide Review - Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus - USB Video Capture Device and Software

Installing the Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus is fairly straight-forward, although it's a bit lengthy. Once you install the Pinnacle Studio Video Editing software included with the USB Video Capture Device, you then attach the USB Device and plug and play detects it and installs the hardware. From there you can connect either a digital or Hi-Def camcorder to the firewire input, or an analog camcorder or VCR to the analog inputs. Start the camcorder and capture the video using Pinnacle Studio. 
What I Liked About Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus

I enjoyed using MovieBox Plus. It was easy to setup and transfer digital, Hi-Def, or analog video to my PC for editing and burning to DVD. The addition of a Firewire input on MovieBox Plus really makes it stand out as far as USB Video Capture devices go. Most USB Capture devices let you capture the USB stream to your computer or analog video, but not via firewire, which is why the MovieBox Plus stands out.

What I Didn't Like About Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus

The only issue I had with MovieBox Plus was the cheap feel and look to the device itself. The device looks like it's made of cheap plastic that looks like it might shatter if dropped. Despite the look of the device, functionally it is very sound and I can easily recommend the Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus.
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Video Editing Pinnacle Studio Plus

Video editing can be an intimidating and time-consuming process for many small business owners, but Pinnacle Studio 14, by Avid Technology, makes it relatively easy.  This video editing and production tool is aimed at the consumer market, but I found it ideal for most of my business needs.
Pinnacle comes with cool features:
  • User-friendly video capture and edit process.
  • Multiple ways to export your final video; including a direct to YouTube option, to an iPod format, even export to a Wii or Xbox.
  • You can burn directly to a DVD or Blu-ray (if you have the right hardware, of course).
  • You can add Dolby Digital surround sound for the audio buffs out there.
  • It also comes with Red Giant, an effects suite, which are some of the same special effects you see in mainstream movies.
However, what most small business owners want is the basics and just a few advanced features.  Most of us have no intention of becoming video professionals.  We just want it to work, and work fast.  Then we want the software to help us upload video to our website. Pinnacle Studio 14 makes all this very do-able with a pretty short learning curve.
But let me be clear: there is a learning curve to any video editing program. The good thing is that Pinnacle has a robust community with support forums.

What I (really) liked:
  • Create a Smart Movie: This is one option from the Toolbox and it rocks.  It lets you pick the options you want from the introduction to the transitions from one scene to the next to the ending credits.  You just pick the photos, the video clips, the music, the ready-made transition (fade to black, screen wipe left, etc) and hit “Create a Smart Movie” and it produces it for you.  The ending result is a finished video with music. It simply guides you through.  Screenshot below of edit screen.
  • Music: In the Ultimate Collection pack, it comes with Scorefitter which is a collection of royalty-free music and sounds you can use in your productions. You can buy additional royalty-free libraries of music and sounds, if you choose. Having music and sounds available is terrific and takes away the worry of “will I get in trouble for using this?” copyright questions.
The program offers lots of ways to save your video including a direct-to-YouTube option. You enter your username and password once and after that you can upload your results directly, saving some additional steps and, of course, time.
Video uses by small business that I’ve seen on the Web:
  • Real estate sales: doing a real-time walk-through of a home.
  • Wedding and event videographers who want to add custom services to their work.
  • Used car lots for showing specific cars for sale online – mini commercials to draw prospects on to the sales lot.
  • Physicians demonstrating procedures to other physicians.
  • A pet shop showing individual animals and their cute antics.
What I didn’t like:
The Red Giant Effects option didn’t work on my machine and a small window would open saying something like “Magic Bullet” didn’t load. Check your Graphics Card.”  This would then cause the program to stop loading, but would resume after I clicked the continue button.   It could be my machine or Windows 7 or one of a dozen potential problems, to be fair.
Who is it best for?
Small business owners in any industry would find this software useful for making tiny or even significant edits to their first video efforts.  Overall, for the money, it is one of the best solutions out there in video editing.  The industry-leading professional editing solution is also made by Avid Technology, so you can get a taste of a fully loaded video editing software would be like with Pinnacle Studio 14.  The regular version starts around $50, going up to $130 for the Studio Ultimate Collection (the highest version).
I tested Pinnacle on a Lenovo A70z all-in-one desktop with the ioSafe 500GB hard drive (upcoming review!) to test the speed at which it would crunch and save.  Both did exceptionally well — better than my laptop.
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Pinnacle Studio Review

Pinnacle Studio Plus from Avid is high-end consumer video editing software. The program comes with all of the standard editing features, as well as some unique perks, such as the ability to work with HDTV video format and original transitions and sound effects.
Even with a user-friendly interface, Pinnacle Studio Plus is still a complex program. Because it offers so many features, options and is so customizable, it will take some time and practice to feel comfortable using the software to its capacity.
Ease of Use:
We had no problems installing Pinnacle Studio Plus. As you finish the install, a screen appears and recommends that you view the tutorial, which is approximately two hours long. Without the tutorial, you can still create a basic video, but most users will need the user guide or tutorial to learn all of the ins and outs of the program. We referred to help often to learn how to activate and utilize Pinnacle’s many features.
Editing Tools:
A tool we appreciated in Studio Plus is the metering feature, which constantly measures remaining hard drive space so you can avoid maxing out your hard drive during a project.
Pinnacle is well known for a feature called SmartAudio. You can choose a music track and set an exact time for the music to run. SmartAudio will stretch or shorten the music length so it ends with the video. In addition, the vast library of sound effects adds humor, fun and professionalism to your video.
Pinnacle Studio Plus lets you choose your own DVD menu background, buttons and music. Although this software offers some versatile scene transition tools, Studio Plus cannot animate text.
Help and Support:
The boxed version of Studio Plus comes with a Getting Started Guide that goes over some of the program’s basics. We would highly recommend reading this first. It will give you the opportunity to create your first video in just minutes. Additional help files are informative and easy to follow; we used them often while learning to navigate the software. You can contact Pinnacle's support team through email, live chat or phone support.
Summary:
Pinnacle Studio Plus is a powerful video editing tool and ranks among the best. With improved navigation and additional filter features, this video editing software would be more user-friendly and hard to beat.
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Avid Delivers New Version of Pinnacle Studio Quickstart Software

The #1 Choice in Home Video Editing Now Offers Customers Simplified Interface and Broadened HD Capabilities for Top-quality Movies

TEWKSBURY, MA,, 09/09/2009 -
Avid® today announced a major update to its family of Pinnacle Studio™ video editing solutions. Widely regarded as the industry’s leading application for home video editing*, Pinnacle Studio software now offers an even broader array of HD capabilities with a new simplified user interface that makes it easier to manage content and an unified capture/import utility for the latest formats and camcorders. Other new features include:

  • A stop-motion capture for animated and fast-motion effects.
  • New content and enhancements for Pinnacle Montage.
  • Dynamic Motion Titler tool that includes a number of new templates.
  • A new stabilizer effect – leveraging the same technology used in Avid’s professional editing products to fix shaky camera shots.
The new Pinnacle Studio meets the needs of a wide range of consumers, from novices to video enthusiasts and semi-professionals. The family of products includes Pinnacle Studio HD, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection, which offer a complete HDV & AVCHD workflow and allows consumers to export movies to Flash, QuickTime, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox, Apple iPod and more. Pinnacle Studio Ultimate and Pinnacle Ultimate Collection also offer Blu-ray authoring with motion menus.
"This version of Studio absolutely rocks – it's probably the best advance since the move to digital. New built-in features help to make it very easy for newcomers and hobbyists to create Hollywood-like movies and to turn their family and holiday shoots into something really special," said Pinnacle Studio Beta tester Mike Shaw, an international award-winning amateur movie maker. Shaw also highlighted the new user interface improvements, which make it easier for editors to find their way around, and praised the enhancements of Pinnacle Montage themes, as well as the new import features that make it easier to select the source of the movies consumers wish to import.
Alec Marshall, Director of Segment Marketing for Creative Enthusiasts at Avid, said, "A growing number of both video and point-and-shoot cameras now capture high-definition video, creating a burgeoning demand for editing tools that allow for high-quality export to the web, upload to YouTube, and creation of HD files for sharing. The latest version of Pinnacle Studio makes HD editing a breeze, empowering consumers to easily grab photos and videos from video cameras, still digital cameras or camera phones and easily bring that content to life using music, Pinnacle Montage Themes, animations and effects. Once finished, they can share their masterpieces with friends and family–or the world–with direct high-quality upload to YouTube, or by simply burning a DVD."
Customers who purchase Pinnacle Studio Ultimate software receive two bonus professional plug-ins: ToonIt and Knoll Light factory effects from video masters Red Giant. Those who purchase Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection will receive the most complete solution, including a green sheet for Chroma key effects and six highly acclaimed professional plug-ins from Red Giant:

  • Shine ultra-fast light ray effects
  • ToonIt turns video into cartoon style animation
  • Knoll Light factory creates lens flares, sunsets & more
  • Magic Bullet Looks generates advanced video styles
  • 3D stroke creates glowing lines, swirling shapes, and 3D camera effects
  • Particular smoke, explosion, and abstract effects
Pricing & Availability
The price of Pinnacle Studio HD, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection remains the same as previous version: US$49.99, $99.99 and $129.99, respectively. Pinnacle Studio is compatible with Windows Vista SP2 (Both 32-bit & 64-bit), Windows XP SP3 & Windows 7.
The new Pinnacle Studio family of products will be available at the Pinnacle e-store and at e-tail and retail beginning in mid-September. Existing customers currently using Pinnacle Studio versions 9,10, 11 and 12 are eligible for upgrade via Pinnacle’s website for $69.99 (upgrade to Pinnacle Studio Ultimate) and $89.99 (upgrade to Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection). For more information visit www.pinnaclesys.com
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