What's the best video capture/editing software « Videomaker Community Forums

nobody
Member

I realize this is a vey open ended question with many correct answers but basically my problem is this:

I was using an XP, P3 1.0GHz box and Pinnacle Studio Deluxe V8 which includes their capture card. When capturing 60 minutes of digital video through the firewire cable, I'd consistently drop 20,000+ frames, even after doing everything they recommended including disabling the preview window, defraging my HD, and killing all unnecessary programs.

I've just upgraded to an XP 4 3.0GHz box with all the latest technology (FSB, 800 Mhz bus, etc) and am debating if I should place the Piniccle card in this machine and use their software or if I should look for some other card and software in my price-range ~$100-200.

I'm hoping some of you can comment here that the Pinnacle card/software work great on this level of horsepower, or that some of you will say performance is still poor and I should be looking at a different product.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I suffered with this program for a long time. In fact, I must have been on the Pinnacle Favorite Sucker list, since I bought Studio DV, then the next version Studio 7, and then Studio 8, and most recently Studio 9. I say I suffered because of the famous Studio CRASH. However...

When it finally occured to me to ignore Pinnacle's instructions and try my own settings, everything changed. As you may recall, Pinnacle says use 800x600 res and 16-bit color depth. I did that with various video cards and monitors over the years, and Studio continued to crash. I never made an MPEG2 file with Studio during that time. CRASH CRASH CRASH. At least when I went to W2000 and then XP, I didn't lose the whole computer with the crash. But, to make a long story short, when I switched to 1280x1024 resolution and 24-bit color, my crashes ended.

With Studio 9, a couple of noteworthy improvements:

Studio now allows L-cuts and J-cuts (finally!).

Also, Studio 9 supports 16:9 aspect ratio, if you have a cam that shoots real anamorphic 16:9 (not so-called cinema mode, which is still 4:3), although you can't mix 4:3 and 16:9 in the same project.

The MPEG creation works now and writes to DVD--at least my test project worked.

There is also a new $100 program, Screenblast Movie Studio, a subset of Vegas, which has had pretty good reviews.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

As a long time user of Pinnacle Studio programs, let me say a few things. First of all, I no longer recommend it. For $100 you can get a far superior program with Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 that has many more features and has multiple video tracks. Plus it is far more stable.

Depending upon what you have to spend, Magix is the all-time value. Period.

However, advancing to Vegas is worth it.

That said, there is absolutely no reason why you should be dropping frames in Studio. There are a lot of problems with each new edition, but dropped frames is not one of them. Your best help is to go to the Studio Forums where there are many, many people who can answer your questions within an hour - provided that #1 you have filled out your profile and #2 that you have already done a search and looked at FAQs. There are a lot of helpful people there, but answering the same question over and over again is not something they relish.

Posted 8 years ago #
Kingkool682
Member

You won't need to get a capture card if your working with DV. All you need is a simple 1394 port (also known as firewire). The editing software you get should allow you to capture footage via your firewire card.

For begginer software i'd reccomend sony Screenblast, which is the little kid brother to Vegas. Once you grow out of that, the transition to Vegas will be a smooth and easy one. And with Vegas it's really easy to do anything you can imagine. Whatever software you decide to get, make sure you try a demo to see if you like it. Most companies have demos on their websites. I wouldn't reccomend pinnacle because they seem to be having lots of bugs and problems. Good luck with your search!

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

The one you know how to use and the one you can afford.

Personally, I like Vegas best.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Well, the frame dropping was annoying, especially when I switched to NTFS and dropped 20,000 frames on a 60 minute video.

Actually in doing more research I see that Studio 9 supports 16x9. I've just got a 16x9 TV and my camcorder can record in that format. Do you know if any other software supports this format as I plan on always recording in 16x9 for now on.

If not, then I'll have to stick with Pinnacle and hope that my higher horsepower machine will eliminate the frame drops.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

DMA active on your hard drive?

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

The 16x9 format is "supported" in many NLE programs. Just depends upon what exact format support you expect. It gets complicated. Videomaker magazine has had several articles on this subject.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Actually I'm not sure. What I can report is I just loaded Studio 8 on my new P4 machine and after 45 minutes of video, not one dropped frame. I guess that old machine was simply not enough horsepower.

Posted 8 years ago #