Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my third iteration of Pinnacle Studio, having owned versions 11 and 12 as well. I also own and have used several other video editing packages running from high to low end. At the top of the low end range, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection 14 comes in as a solid five-star performer - if you are willing to tolerate some minor stability issues. For reasons I don't pretend to understand, all video editing programs seem to have stability issues to one degree or another. Sometimes I think I may be part of the problem as I rush ahead performing other operations while the CPU is still rendering what I've already done. Other times, I just plain don't know: like Adobe Premiere Elements 7 simply not running on a Vista 32-bit system while it ran on a 64-bit version without problems. Given time, I could probably narrow down the issues, but I'm not that concerned. With Pinnacle, I am politely informed that the program has malfunctioned and given an option to close the program. Do that, restart Pinnacle and I'm back in business within a few seconds. Do frequent saves and the occasional crashes don't hurt.
Pinnacle runs about a 12 month cycle between new major releases. Frankly, every other release could probably be skipped because the improvements are not generally that earthshaking.
I am glad, however, that I upgraded to Version 14. There are three variants, each having a few more features than the others. Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection is the top of V14 line. The only drawback is that some of the bonus content, such as the SoundSoap program, are no longer included and earlier versions will not run in V14.
The good news is that the user interface has been simplified again. Pinnacle uses context-sensitive functions. In other words, double-clicking on a video clip brings up a different menu than you'd get by double-clicking on a still image. I've found the current interface to be somewhat more sensible and easier to use. There are three primary tabs: import media, edit and render output. Import gives you the choices you would expect, covering the waterfront from analog video to AVCHD. It's pretty simple to use with some good on the fly scene selection options. There are also options for directly importing from a digital camera, and interesting, a stop motion option that lets you build something resembling a flip book. Automatic scene detection is available for those who want it. Personally I find it more of a nuisance than a help.
The editing section has everything you could want in a solid low-end program. The user interface offers a storyboard or timeline or text listing formats. I am generally in the timeline view. There are scrubbers both in the movie preview window and at the bottom of the timeline, so reviewing video is an efficient procedure. Lots of keyboard shortcuts permit a speedy workflow. There are dozens of ordinary transitions and a couple of dozen other effects that will probably see little use. Plug-ins offer special features such as pan and zoom on still images, RGB color correction and so on. There is Picture-In-Picture and Chromakeying. Pinnacle provides its own custom music program called ScoreFitter, which as the name implies will generate music of a sort to fit the time of your clips. There are also some sound effects.
There are tracks for primary video, overlay video (which can also be used for dual camera shoots), titles, music, sound effects and voice overs. All in all, it's a nice, functional layout.
Pinnacle provides two competent, if not brilliant, titling programs. One creates static text which may be kerned and otherwise adjusted. It may be used to create DVD menus and the like. The other, called Motion Titler, allows more dynamic titles. Third-party titling programs run rings around it, but it is still quite usable for those who don't want exceptionally elaborate titles.
Pinnacle includes something they call "Montage Themes" which the user can customize with clips, photo and captions. They are pretty hokey, in my opinion, and not something I would use.
You can output to just about anything. DVD menu layouts are included and you can create your own. Almost all common codecs are included for video output, which is nice.
Overall, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14 is a very nice video editing application that I would rank at the top end of the low-end programs. It has everything the average hobbyist videographer and, in a way, functions are more accessible than in Adobe Premiere Elements. But there's a caveat: buy the printed manual if it isn't included with your Pinnacle package. The manual itself is somewhat difficult to deal with, but comes in extremely handy as a ready reference when you need it. I have several low-end video editing packages and Pinnacle is the one I find myself using most often. It offers, I think, good value for the money and an unusually good user interface.
Jerry


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Serif MoviePlus X5 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First, I decided to try out Serif MoviePlus X3.
This is a very long explanation:
I have to admit, after reading some of these comments left on Amazon.com I was more than a little concerned. The first rating I saw only had 1 star! It was authored by Captain Spaulding, his caption read " tech/customer? Ha!!!"
In his comments he critically chastised the Serif company which sent shrills up my spine! Normally with such a negative review regarding this product, I would definatly consider other companies before being swayed to purchase this product following his critical review. "Captain Spaulding" was very persuasive in his harsh reprimand to the company. I then continued on reading the additional comments posted below in direct response to his rating of this product. One of the responses was directly from the Serif customer service department management. In their response they profusely apologized for the mishandling of his situation and they stated that due to their large volume of incoming calls by their own reference, his particular case was handled very unprofessionally in their own words. [This also concerned me...] The manager then continued to try to work out a solution by supplying an 800 number for this customer. Unfortunately, "Captain Spaulding" had already decided to go understandably with another product and had returned this product via the authorized Serif dealer purchased on Amazon. As I continue to read the other posts following the service managers message, at least two other people felt Serif should have offered a full refund which leads me to believe they didn't read (Captain Spaulding's) entire review. I researched this situation a little more. I called the 800 number and recorded the service person's response to my inquiry regarding this rating listed on Amazon.com.
The second rating only had 2 stars. [OK, this isn't looking good...] - I began to read this person's explanation for their rating. The persons using a net book. A big Booboo! Net books do not have the necessary ram memory or processing power to handle a program such as a video editor. His complaint about the audio makes no since. The audio is an art talent of it's own and mixing video and audio requires the users attention no mater how much money you spend on any editing program. I then continued on and read some of the responses to this particular rating. I agree wholeheartedly with those individuals who responded with similar impressions.
Two more ratings followed with a 5 star satisfaction response. Immediately their after was Louise's 1 star headline - (DO NOT USE with Windows 7.) Louise, seemed very dissatisfied with the product. Once again Serifs customer service department responded to this rating. In short they said, they were not affiliated with Ulead's company. Again, I did some research and discovered (Ulead's) does indeed have a digital plus studio video editing program. So I'm concluding she was not lying in her response as a rating, more rather she had misidentified (Serif MoviePlus X3s) program for (Ulead VideoStudio® Pro X3) program. A very easy mistake to make! But in all fairness I don't believe Serif deserved the low rating in this particular circumstance. Corel® is now the official site for Ulead / InterVideo customers and products.
Five other ratings following after were 4 to 5 star ratings, something I consider very good. The one after that 3 stars. I couldn't make heads or tails of that but I chalk that up to a learning curve. At least it was a 3 star rating.
Next one has a 2 star: They state the program is very slow. I guess that's there perception of 2 stars if you're using an old computer with low ram and slow process chips, yes it's going to be slow. Video editing requires an immense amount of computation which in turn bares a heavy burden on any processor and RAM memory. This person then follows through by saying they will try it on a different computer but never seems to come back and complete their rating. Personally, I chalk this up to another (Boo-boo).
The next person gives a 1 star do too the fact that they have to register their product. Once again Serif answers this person's comment. By my own experience of many other purchased programs I assure you this is nothing new. Any company designed for profit with half a brain would require a registration to operate there product. For example: (Windows operating systems environment) use's a registration process as well. [So lets chuck this out due to ignorance.]
Finally there's a woohoo 5 star... I almost barfed from laughing so hard. Yes I couldn't resist, I had to read the comments that followed this thing and agree wholeheartedly with the other readers that this indeed sounded like an infomercial. The only thing missing in this review was that goofy "Hollywood California audience applause" in the back ground. If this person wasn't directly working for the company then perhaps a relative or someone who has a special interest probably did.
That being said, I feel at least 4 of the negative comments that were presented on Amazon.com were not necessarily justified. So lets break this down before my own review.
Theirs 5 - out of 5 stars, subtract one of those for making me puke, making it 4 - 5 stars. Keep the 4 - 4 stars... The 3 star stays... Remove 1 - 2 star and leave the other a questionable... Subtract 2 of the 3 - 1 stars making it 1 legitimate 1 star... Confused yet?
Total 4, out of 5stars... 4, out of 4stars... 1, out of 3stars... 1, questionable 2stars, but I'll leave that in for David's review effort... and 1 legitimate 1star...
That's 4 exallent, 4 good, 1 average, 1 questionable below average, and 1 justifiable terrible...
"Still confused?"
It's 9 thumbs up, 1 average and 2 thumbs down introspectively for the Serif MoviePlus X3.
Below is my own experience with (Serif movie plus X3) in which I hope you find helpful and less long winded.
Hollywood's Studio producers may not use this, but for the price? Pound for pound you cant go wrong. Its definably a great product and when you compare it to similarly priced competitions, it's a strong upper 4 stars rating and can hold a Top Ten rating with the big dollar programs any day... Yes, we still have to register with legitimate copies of this program and yes, it will ask you to register with a license. However you can cancel the registration and go directly to the program and it will work fine as it is. The only issue with doing this is, each time you open the program you will have to select cancel the registration each time you open the program. (It's more like a nag box). The program will still have all of its features and you will be able to use the program. You will however, not be able to update the program for any sort of patched improvements until you actually register your copy. In regards to the complications of registering the program? There are approximately four different ways you can register this program.
1. You can do this by the provided link the program provides when you press the button to register.
2. You can register it by e-mail.
3. You can register by telephone.
4. You can register by snail mail.
I chose to register my program over the phone. Yes I had to listen to some elevator music while waiting for an operator to answer my call. No big deal! It only took about 2+ minutes. They will try to sell you an upgrade, but it's not really a hard sell phone hassle. Simply tell them you're not interested and they will leave you alone. I actually chose to upgrade my version to the Serif MoviePlus X5.
The only drawback I saw going this route was that it took 14 days for my upgrade to come in the mail. If you can deal with that, it won't be a problem. Their customer service was very polite and our interaction was A+. I will do business with them again. Oh, in regards to this Serif MoviePlus X5? Kaboom! It's the all star of 5 stars.

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Edit your videos with MoviePlus X5. It has powerful, yet easy-to-use, editing tools and studio-quality effects so you can create stunning movies in minutes. Import video from your camera, phone, PC - anywhere! MoviePlus X5 is compatible with all popular video file types. Make your movies look amazing with over 200 stunning effects & transitions and use powerful tools like green screening and picture-in-picture to wow your audience. There are exporting presets for iPods, iPads and PSPs and you can burn HD videos to DVD or Blu-ray Discs or upload your movies to the web and share them with the world.

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