Reprinted from a Pinnacle press release:
Pinnacle Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLE) today announced the availability of more than 1,000 premium audio and video effects, scene transitions and DVD menus for its Pinnacle Studio 9 home movie-making software. Widely known as plug-ins, these tools add to the hundreds of standard transitions, filters and DVD menus already included with Studio 9. Available online, the new premium plug-ins can be purchased in theme packs of up to 16 plug-ins each or in larger packages such as Hollywood FX Plus and Hollywood FX Mega.
On top of Studio 9’s robust set of features such as one-touch color correction and integrated DVD authoring, newly available Hollywood-style video effects include “Cops”-style facial blurring, atmospheric rain and digital artifact removal. With new audio tools, Studio users can alter existing voice tracks with a telephone or robotizer filter or add fun background sounds such as wailing sirens. Users may preview the new content in Studio, then simply connect to the Internet to purchase virtual keys that instantly unlock those effects, transitions, sound effects or menus that interest them.
“Premium Hollywood-quality audio and video effects are now accessible to all Studio 9 users, giving them more creative power than ever.” noted Bill Loesch, vice president of engineering and product management of Pinnacle’s Business & Consumer division. “Pinnacle and its partners have collaborated to offer Studio 9 users unprecedented flexibility with the added bonus of instant gratification.”
The Studio 9 application was created with an open architecture that supports both VST (audio) and RTFx (video) plug-ins, allowing virtually any software developer to create custom effects and expand the creative options available to users. Developed by Steinberg, the audio group of Pinnacle Systems, VST (Virtual Studio Technology) is a universally recognized standard for audio effect plug-ins. Algorythmix GmbH and NewBlue are two software developers offering VST plug-ins for Studio 9. Developers offering RTFX plug-ins include BWPLUGINS, eZedia, StageTools and Virtix.
“With over 7 million copies of Studio products sold worldwide, this provides an exciting market for our software,” said Todor J Fay, co-founder of NewBlue, Inc. “Using the free SDK from Pinnacle, we were able to create the NewBlue Audio Essentials collections, plug-ins that offer stunning new audio capabilities to Studio users. Pinnacle’s technical support and marketing assistance have been outstanding.”
Developers can download free SDK s (software developer kits) for Studio 9 VST or RTFX plug-ins by visiting www.pinnaclesys.com/docloaderplain.asp?doclink=/developers/s9developer.html . To date, over 805 developers have downloaded the SDKs.
Pinnacle Studio 9 was created for camcorder owners who want to create entertaining home movies. The software includes a full range of free content with more than 200 two-dimensional and three-dimensional scene transitions, sound effects, image stabilization and movie soundtracks.
Pricing and Availability
Premium content for Studio 9, including video effects, audio effects and menus, are sold in “packs,” meaning users can purchase a collection, usually by type of file and/or effect. Each of the plug-in effects and menus can be previewed in the Studio 9 “edit” screen by clicking on the transitions icon, menu icon or by opening the toolbox and selecting the plug-in icon via pull-down menus. Pinnacle’s own Hollywood FX Plus and Hollywood FX Mega video effects are available for $49.00 and $99.00, respectively. Smaller theme packs tailored to weddings, babies or sports, among others, may be purchased for as little as $5.99 each when bought in bulk.
About Pinnacle Studio 9 Software
Pinnacle Studio 9 redefines home movie making with automatic editing capabilities, powerful tools for improving old or damaged video, and new creative options including home cinema-quality movie creation and integrated DVD authoring-all through Studio’s simple, award-winning interface.
Studio 9 software is available for a suggested retail price of US $99.00. Pinnacle also offers a range of tightly integrated hardware/software solutions featuring Studio 9 bundled with a variety of analog and digital video capture devices, with prices ranging from $99.00 to $249.00. Pinnacle Studio products are available at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry’s Electronics, and MicroCenter. For more information, go to www.pinnaclesys.com.
