Just bought Pinnacle because it was only board with IEEE1394 jack. Came with the Pinnacle Studio v9 software. Looking for pluses and minuses on using this as my capture/edit suite. Looking to take MiniDV to my computer, do minor editing and burn to DVD. Thanks in advance for honest opinions.
Firstly are you saying you've already bought Pinnacle Studio 9, Is it the full version or SE? I've used Pinnacle Studio 8, and have had a lot of problems, some I've sorted out and some have been sorted with the latest patch. Two problems have reappeared recently, one is where the sound goes out of synch and I found that then I was editing and deleting a small part of the project the video was removed but the audio was left behind giving the OOS problem. Another problem is when a menu is edited, Pinnacle has a nasty habit of locking up. I still use Pinnacle because I've not found anything better to replace it with. On the whole it's quite easy to use and a novice can be editing their first project within half an hour of installing the software. For a fuller evaluation I would suggest you visit Pinnacle's website, they have several forums including one dedicated to Studio 9. You will need to register your software and get a login id to post messages. http://www.pinnaclesys.com/wwwsupport/Forums/uk/frameset.htm Hope this is in some way useful: -Pete
Thanks Pete. I ended up returning the Pinnacle 9 suite and just bought a firewire card. I still have not decided on an editing product yet. I used Moviemaker on my first small project and immediately realized (even as a novice) its limitations. I ended up getting TMPG for my encoding and Nero 6 for final burning. I had thought that TMPG would have an editing component, but it does not...
Sorry to but in on your thread but I am fairly new to dvd editing and was looking for a good program just to bring those dull dvd rips that i download back to life and give them a little sparkle. Tried canopus procoder but didnt really like it.. thanks
I am too new to the game myself. I'll let someone else field you question on this thread. I am still trying to figure out the "correct" order to get my MiniDV format video all the way to "final" DVDs for permanent archiving. My goal is to have nice, tidy DVDs with "chapters" that include things like birthdays, holidays, vacations, general video-ed events all organized nicely. Not to digress from your question, but I am looking for further explanation about "what" it is that I should edit... e.g. .avi files or .mpeg files. What should I put together the "chapters" of my DVDs with? not the software--I am already committed to using TMPG DVD Author. Should each "chapter" be a separate .mpeg file?