Pinnacle Studio 14 HD
Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate firmly committed to the entry-level consumer and doesn't include the sophisticated automatic editing features of Premiere Elements 8, or the high-end targeted hardware optimizations that characterize CyberLink PowerDirector 8. It concentrates instead on a clean, sensible interface.
Installation and User Interface
There are three versions of Pinnacle Studio 14. I tested the $99.99 (direct) Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate, which sits in the middle of the line. The $49.99 Studio HD drops the Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding, Blu-ray authoring, and some effects. The top-of-the-line, $129.99 Studio Ultimate Collection adds a green screen backdrop and four extra Red Giant Software effects plug-ins.
The main window had a three-square interface similar to Adobe Premiere Elements 8 and CyberLink PowerDirector 8. Pinnacle wisely chose a much smaller default size for its movie preview window—good for lower-performing PCs. You can easily adjust its size with the slider control just above it. Across the top left, three mode buttons let you choose between importing footage, editing the movie, and "making the movie," which is for configuring and exporting a final product to disc, file, tape, or the Web. In edit mode, the large, colorful timeline was easy to manipulate. Adding clips from a second-generation Flip MinoHD was as simple as dragging scenes over; each time, it split the clip into clearly designated video and audio tracks. The interface felt snappier and more responsive than the one in Adobe Premiere 8, though there are still only two video tracks (plus music, sound effects, and others)—Adobe and CyberLink's products both offer more editing and layering flexibility.
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