New to Version 12 are some pretty powerful aps that would singularly cost you much more than the Studio Ultimate, so it's a pretty good deal. Boris Graffiti costs around $300 as a standalone 2D and 3D titling effects software. This powerful program includes hundreds of stylized presets, titles, fancy lower-thirds and text filters.

ProDAD VitaScene's cool light filters and artistic transitions, from light rays to optical blurs, would be a great tool for wedding or worship videos.

Magic Bullet Looks is a filtering effects software that can give you a stylized look to your video, such as a sepia or old-film look.

Finally, Pinnacle has worked hard at staying abreast of ever-changing formats. Version 11 included support for high definition, and version 12 now includes support for Blu-ray burning. Now you can natively author Blu-ray discs with full motion menus or make AVCHD format discs on standard DVDs to play on your Blu-ray player. Speaking of exporting, with a simple 1...2...3...click, you can upload your finished video to YouTube or Yahoo video, and the program figures the encoding for you.

Import Formats: Video - DV, AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DivX, MPEG-4, 3GP (MPEG-4), WMV, Non-encrypted DVD titles; Audio - MP3, MPA, WAV, AC3; - BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, PSD, TGA, TIF, WMF
Export Formats: VCD, SVCD, DVD, Blu-ray BD, iPod, PSP, DV, AVI, DivX, RealVideo 8, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Flash, 3GP, WAV, MP3, Dolby Digital 2.0/5.1
Minimum System Requirements
Operating System: Windows XP SP2 (SP3), Windows Vista (SP1)
Video Card: Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 1.8GHz (2.4GHz or higher recommended), Intel Pentium HT or AMD Athlon 2.4GHz or 1.6GHz dual core required for Windows Vista, 1GB system memory recommended
Graphics Card: DirectX 9- or 10-compatible graphics card with 64MB (128MB or higher recommended), 128MB required on Windows Vista (256MB or higher recommended), DirectX 9 or higher-compatible sound card
Space: 2GB of disk space
Drive: DVD-ROM drive to install software
Import Formats
Video: DV, AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DivX, MPEG-4, 3GP (MPEG-4), WMV, non-encrypted DVD titles
Audio: MP3, MPA, WAV, AC3
Graphic: BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, PSD, TGA, TIF, WMF
Export Formats
Video CD (VCD) or S-VCD with optional CD burner (CD-R or CD-RW)
DVD disc with optional DVD burner (DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R or DVD+RW, dual layer)
Apple iPod and Sony PSP compatible (MPEG-4) formats
DV, AVI, DivX, RealVideo 8, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Flash, 3GP, WAV, MP3 files
Dolby Digital 2-channel and 5.1-channel audio

• SmartMovie easy to follow
• Uploads to YouTube easily
• Bundled effects plugins is an added plus

• Only 2 video tracks
• Trimming too basic

Including 3 great plugins, and following the SmartMovie guide and Montage templates, a beginner can have a nice movie edited and uploaded within a few hours.

Jennifer O'Rourke is Videomaker's managing editor.

Pinnacle Systems
280 North Bernardo Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
www.pinnaclesys.com
$129 new, $99 upgrade