Quantcast
PCWorld.com is upgrading some back-end systems. Some site features, such as user registration, may be temporarily unavailable.
Subscribe to magazine

Studio 9: Good New Features, but Buggy

The latest version of Pinnacle's video editing software suffers from a number of glitches.

Richard Baguley

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

Pinnacle Studio 9 Powerfull Video Editing (Pinnacle-210100341)

Pinnacle Studio 9 has some solid new features, including fresh video and audio effects, but the interface is similar to that of previous versions.An update of Pinnacle Systems' popular Studio video editing software is out, with mixed results. On the plus side is improved background rendering: Using Pinnacle Studio Version 9, you can now continue working on an edit without having to wait until the last one renders completely. However, I found a shipping copy of version 9 to be buggy.

Other updates include a basic surround-sound editor and the ability to edit wide-screen video. The program's interface is now scaled to run at 1024 by 768 resolution, compared with Studio 8's maximum of 800 by 600. Moviemaking in this program, which is aimed at beginning and intermediate users, still is divided into three phases: video capture, editing, and writing to DVD or videotape.

Version 9 also provides a selection of new video and audio effects, as well as automatic color correction, which does a reasonably good job of improving video shot under bad lighting conditions. The SmartMovie feature will automatically edit video in a number of styles to fit with a song track.

But as nice as these features are, they don't make up for the quirks. The dialog boxes (such as those for opening video and audio files) always default to the drive where Studio 9 is installed. This is annoying if you store your data elsewhere, as you have to go into another dialog box to get to your files.

I also encountered intermittent crashes when creating videos, several leading to lost edits. The problems seemed to crop up mostly when video was being rendered in the background. (Before I completed this review, Pinnacle issued one patch, which didn't clear up my bugs; it is working on a second.) Studio 9 was rather slow, too: On my test PC (with a gigabyte of RAM), it sometimes took several seconds to update the screen when editing long videos composed of a large number of files. Before you buy, wait until Pinnacle fixes the bugs.

Pinnacle Systems Pinnacle Studio Version 9
Rated 2.5 stars

Bugs and quirks drag down easy-to-use video editing software.
List: $99
Current prices (if available)

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Featured APC Accessories

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Deal Breakers

Special Offers for PC World Users

People who read this also read:

  • 15 Minutes to a Secure Business Get the Secure in 15 toolkit starting with the "15 Minutes Month-at-a-Glance" calendar. McAfee will send you additional tools and tricks to stay protected around the clock.
  • A Buyer's Guide to Data Protection Implementing data protection products and processes can be daunting. Make the right decisions by exploring what is available and what makes sense for your organization. Use this simple guide to evaluate different vendor offerings.

Sponsored Links