which editing software?

[joshy2]

hi,
Im currently using Pinnacle Studio version 8 with the Hollywood Fx Plus upgrade options. However, im thinking of moving on to more advanced software and so am choosing between Pinnacle Edition 5 or Adobe Premiere 6. Perhaps also the Avid Xpress program.
Seeing as i already use a Pinnacle product, would i find it easy to move on to the Edition program?
I wont need to worry about inputting/outputting to analogue. I have my Trv33 camcorder which i input to my pc via firewire and then burn to dvd once edited.
Can anyone tell me what product is 'better' and why? A lot of the features of all three seem to be pretty similar.
thanks
josh

I use MSP 7.01 myself. But I do know that Edition is highly rated. Seems to be one of the few Pinnacle programs that doesn't attract mega complaints. Be aware that the latest vesion of prem - premiere pro - can only be run on Win XP, & needs a top bananas cutting edge PC. See review here: http://www.computervideo.net/dec03-1.htm

[joshy2]

ah ok, my system is a laptop which is running a 1.6ghz centrino chip (yeah, i know, not so ideal) but with 512mb of ddr ram and 128mb nvidia geforce graphics card. Ive not encountered any problems with running my current software although i know that it is less powerful than these other ones.
If Premiere is out then, will the other Pinnacle one or the Avid express dv work ok? or do they still need mega machines to work smoothly?

[joshy2]

ah ok, my system is a laptop with xp which is running a 1.6ghz centrino chip (yeah, i know, not so ideal) but with 512mb of ddr ram and 128mb nvidia geforce graphics card. Ive not encountered any problems with running my current software although i know that it is less powerful than these other ones.
If Premiere is out then, will the other Pinnacle one or the Avid express dv work ok? or do they still need mega machines to work smoothly?

[joshy2]

ah ok, my system is a laptop with xp which is running a 1.6ghz centrino chip (yeah, i know, not so ideal) but with 512mb of ddr ram and 128mb nvidia geforce graphics card. Ive not encountered any problems with running my current software although i know that it is less powerful than these other ones.
If Premiere is out then, will the other Pinnacle one or the Avid express dv work ok? or do they still need mega machines to work smoothly?

[joshy2]

ah ok, my system is a laptop with xp which is running a 1.6ghz centrino chip (yeah, i know, not so ideal) but with 512mb of ddr ram and 128mb nvidia geforce graphics card. Ive not encountered any problems with running my current software although i know that it is less powerful than these other ones.
If Premiere is out then, will the other Pinnacle one or the Avid express dv work ok? or do they still need mega machines to work smoothly?

[MarkE19]

Not all versions of Premiere are out, just the latest Premiere Pro. Premiere 6.5 should run fine on your laptop.
Another package to consider is Vegus Video. It is said to have the same sort of features as Premier, but also has the ability to encode true 5.1 onto DVD. It is American and AFAIK is only available as a download.

Mark.

[vonhosen]

I use Vegas Video & IMHO it is an excellent stable program. I moved to it from Pinnacle studio & found it very intuitive (people moving from Premiere to it don't find it quite so intuitive)

It does have a decent MPEG encoder from MainConcept & you can encode 5.1 AC3 audio (but you need to purchase the Vegas+DVD Architect budle for this - You can't purchase DVD-A as a stand alone product & it's this that does the 5.1 audio)

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...ct.asp?PID=810

It can be run on pretty modest PC's as well.

It's user forums are very active & provide great support. As a company as well I have always found their technical support & upgrade policy to be excellent (but they ( Sonic foundry ) have just been purchased by Sony this year).

[Black 5]

It's a shame Apples aren't more widely used/owned. They're made for this stuff and the available software is top notch

[mulder]

Joshy, how are you getting on with Pinnacle studio 8? and what's the best way to edit and then convert footage ready to burn to dvd?

[joshy2]

hi, thanks for the replies.
I think ill have to get the Premiere v.6.5 if at all because my system just isnt powerful enough to run Pro. However i know that theyve made loads more changes on the original in the latest version. Does anyone know then which would be 'better' or more advanced/sophisticated, Premiere 6.5 or Edition 5?
After ive decided between those two, then ill compare to the Vegas Video which also seems good.

Mulder - Studio 8 is a good program i think and definately covers all the basic stuff you'd want to do, certainly ive found nothing wrong with it, i just want to move on With regards to burning footage to dvd, ive heard that its not very good at doing that, what i do is convert the footage after editing to mpeg2 format using studio, then, i take the mpeg2 file and burn it to dvd using nero or another such program.
ta,

[vonhosen]

Might be worth getting this book if you decide on Vegas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...057257-6844431

My preference between those 2 would be Prem. There's just such a large support base as it's such a popular programme. For DVD, you can't go wrong with Ulead DVD workshop - the 'pro' version is even better. If you're on a tight budget, I'd go for DVD Movie factory.

[melliott1963]

You can get a demo version of Edition 5 if you get in touch with Pinnacle.

I initially thought that, as I use Studio 8, it would be easy to get into Edition 5. However, it uses a totally different method of video editing which I've just not been able to get on with. In fact, I think it would be easier if I hadn't used Studio 8!!

I would definitely recommend trying before you buy, as it could turn out to be an expensive mistake if you don't like it.

.....& Pinnicle have just about the worst rep for customer support