by Alan Sheckter, Videomaker news editor
Pinnacle Systems has begun shipping Pinnacle Express video editing software, which it says will make it easy for users to convert camcorder tapes and digital still photos into DVD player-compatible discs.
Pinnacle says users can import video directly from a Digital8 or DV camcorders, via FireWire interface, or by dragging and dropping video file thumbnails into the Pinnacle Express application. In addition, the software includes a variety of menu layouts and backgrounds as well as the flexibility to type in a title for each scene. Finished videos can be output on CD-R and CD-RW discs or on DVD-R discs in the DVD format.
The software, according to Pinnacle, automatically creates scene-index menus for easy, pinpoint navigation. Additionally, viewers can jump to the scenes they want to see, repeat scenes or even freeze the action, all with their DVD player’s remote control. Users can also trim, split, combine, delete or re-order scenes within the menus, Pinnacle says.
In an effort to make the new software more user-friendly, Pinnacle said, it eliminated the tricks-of-the-trade that users in the past, had to learn in order to index, plan and layout DVD navigation.
Pinnacle Express DV, including the Express software and a FireWire card has a MSRP of $79.
