Software quandry

1. Foxjaw
   Member

   

   <p class="post">

   I'm considering getting back into the video business (Worked at the Campus TV studio in college in the mid 80's) my main focus will initially be  funeral tribute videos and video biographies. I've been looking at the Photodex Pro Show Producer, ($250) but am really wondering if the Pinnacle studio Ultimate version 11($100) is the way to go ? It looks to have all Ken Burns effect capability from what I'm reading but will have the video editing tools I would need later as I go on from doctoring up stills and apply video as well.

   Can anyone give me a heads up on where I might go with all this ?

   Thanks !

   Posted 4 years ago #

2. brandon0409
   Member

   

   I will warn you now, as will any searches on this forum (if you can figure out how to do that on here anymore) and internet, that your best bet would be to STAY AWAY from Pinnacle anything.  All of their consumer products absolutely suck!

    Yee be warned.

   Posted 4 years ago #

3. birdcat
   Moderator

   

   I also agree - Stay away from Pinnacle.

   You might want to look at Sony Vegas Movie Studio - It is nearly as functional as the full blown Vegas Pro suite but costs less than $100.  You can download a fully functional thirty day trial here:

   http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=736 

   Bruce Paul
   7Squared Productions
   http://www.7squared.com

   Posted 4 years ago #

4. Foxjaw
   Member

   

   OK Why does Pinnacle suck ?

   Posted 4 years ago #

5. cjvideo22
   Member

   

   I have Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate and absolutely love it.  I had some problems with 10, but 11 has been great.

   Posted 4 years ago #

6. brandon0409
   Member

   

   When I first started editing digital video, I had pinnacle plus 9.  It crashed my system so many times, that I eventually had to give it a dedicated PC.  I installed it got all the updates, then backed up my HDD with Ghost.  That way, every couple weeks I could reinstall to keep it from completely locking the system down.

   My main problem was that it would just crash with no warning in the middle of while I was doing something and no matter if I had saved it or not, everyting was lost.  I got to the point that I had to open and close the program after any major edit or it would crash and I'd loose everything.  Not to mention that once Pinnacle introduces a new version, they completely stop supporting any older versions.  Pinnacle 9 had so many problems but they figured people would just switch to Pinnacle 10.

   Eventually I went ahead an bought Pinnacle plus 10, (for lack of money or knowledge of any other titiles) and it had the exact same problems as Pinnavcle 9.  Crash after crash.

   I ended up returning it to the store.

   Maybe it was my computer you say. It wasn't. I installed on 4 different computers just to test it.  Some were mine and some were at alternate locations.  The same result with each.  My Firend also bought Pinnacle 10 and had the same trouble.

   So as I said before... YEE BE WARNED.

   Posted 4 years ago #

7. bobjr94
   Member

   

   I started using Pinnacle 8 after it came free with capture card, it worked ok but had bugs(sometime wouldnt ever finish rendering a movie, would crash when making a movie). Later I upgraded to 9 and seemed about the same and still crashed sometimes. I tried 10 and it was totally worthless, even after some patches it crashed all the time, sometimes would never even start, it lost work all the time, would get stuck (at like 40% or any %) and sit there forever. I then went to ulead studio 10 for a year, it was much better but had a hard time finishing movies with lots of effects, filters or transitions and the sound would get way out of sync(by like minutes). I would have to set it to split the movie into 10 minutes parts and then rejoin them.

   Currently Ive been using ulead media studio pro 8, it came out in 2005 so its not the newest but does everything I need, suports HD video and is very stable. Took about 20 minutes to figure it out and now its fast and easy to use. I would say to stay away from Pinnacle based on my use of version 8-10. Its sucks to spend hours / days putting together a movie then have the program crash or never be able to finish making the movie. Sounds like Vegas movie studio is the favorite on this board, Ive never tried it because I like my current program.

   Posted 4 years ago #

8. birdcat
   Moderator

   

    Pinnacle Studio 8 came with my Dazzle 150 capture device - My first attempt at doing video.  Neither the Dazzle or Studio ever worked successfully on my computer.  I quickly moved to Vegas Movie Studio (called Screenblast Movie Studio then) and have been a Sony devotee since.  I've looked at Premiere Pro and Avid but decided to stick with Vegas, as the workflow is simply amazing - It does it all.

   Posted 4 years ago #

9. brandon0409
   Member

   

   Amen to all.

   After the Pinnacle Debacle, I received a copy of Adobe Premere Pro 1.5 and it was very easy to learn and very efficent.

   Then I moved to and Mac Pro and have done all of my editing in FCP.  My favorite so far.

   Posted 4 years ago #

10. DaveArthur
    Member

    

    My 2 cents would be to start off with "prosumer" version of a leading post production platform. Examples are Final Cut Express 4.0 or Sony Vegas Platinum. You can get into these editing suites for very little money, they are powerful, and you have an easy upgrade path should you consider moving to the pro versions. In truth though, these programs could handle 95% of all editing done. The vast majority of us do not need the features associated with the pro versions of current editing software.

    I am partial to FCE. It is pretty hard to get the value that this package represents elsewhere. On the PC side, Vegas Platinum is a very close rival.

    Hope this helps,

    Dave Arthur

    http://www.HowToVideoPRO.com

    Posted 4 years ago #

11. klopex
    Member

    

    Apparently you shouldn't get Pinnacle.  I, not knowing what to buy, finally decided to buy Pinnacle Plus 10 Platnum blah blah...  I am happy with it.  I am running it on my laptop which has an Intel Core Duo CPU running at 1.6GHz with 1GB RAM.  It isn't as unstable as some people have described earlier versions.  When it has crashed, I re-opened and it had a recovery file so that I didn't lose anything.  When I told a friend what I bought, he said I should have gotten Adobe Elements.  I am not unhappy with Pinnacle.  However, I don't know what I am missing. 

    I think Pinnacle's DVD menu builder is unpleasant to use.  I have been able to do some good stuff, but it too WAY too long, and too many DVDs, for me to get it just right.

    I was watching a video about being a videomaker on Monkeysee.com.  The woman advised never buying software without trying it first.  She said you can download trial versions of just about every major product that is available.  Do that.  Perhaps, you could use trial versions for your first few clients and learn what you like and use the money you earned to buy that one. 

    But if you buy something you don't like, just use it and save up for the next product!

    Posted 4 years ago #

12. george
    Member

    

     If you are really going to do this as a "business" then professionalism is the name of the game. If you are PC, then Adobe is the way to go. If you are Mac, then FCP is the way to go. In my opinion, FCP is the only way to go. That's just my opinion. However, if you are just testing the waters, Vegas or FCE like Brandon and DaveAuthur mentioned is the ticket. Your ultimate choice should be when purchasing another computer should I switch to Mac? You can't go wrong with a Mac.

    Posted 4 years ago #

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