[melliott1963]

Sorry if this has been asked loads of time before, but, as a long time user (sufferer?) of Pinnacle Studio (since version 1), I've at long last decided enough is enough. I love the simplicity of capturing and editing videos within Studio and have faithfully upgraded and patched-up over the years. However, what I do not love is the unpredictability of the software. Tiny little bugs and annoyances that crop up for no apparent reason.

Anyway, I'm now looking around for alternatives. I'm not after anything in the Adobe Premier class as I only need something to edit my home videos for viewing by family and friends. My main requirements are:-

* Easy capture with automatic scene detection
* Must be able to edit and output 16:9 widescreen ratio
* As easy to edit and insert titles, effects, music etc as Studio
* Basic DVD Authoring.
* Reliable (should really be at the top of the list).

I've just downloaded trials of Vegas Movie Studio, ULead MediaStudio Pro 7 and ULead VideoStudio 8 and will be looking at these over the next month.

Can anyone give me any ideas as to the reliability of these programs, or give any other suggestions for me to look at?

Budget wise, I don't mind spending a little bit - Ulead MedioStudio Pro will probably be about my limit.

At the end of the day, I've loads of Camcorder footage that desperately needs editing and put onto DVD, so need something that will allow me to do this quickly and easily.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Martin.

[shoehorn]

I've only read about it - not used it, but Sony Screenblast (here) sounds good.... and has just won the award in Computer Shopper (in front of Studio 9, I believe)

[melliott1963]

Hi shoehorn,

Thanks for the reply, but looking at it, I suspect that Sony Screenblast and Vegas MovieStudio are one and the same - the graphics on the boxes are identical, and the editing screens are the same. See:-

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...ct.asp?PID=856
and
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...FeatureID=7786

Or is it just that, after version 3 of screenblast, version 4 became Vegas MovieStudio to bring it in line with their professional video editing suite?

[shoehorn]

Originally Posted by melliott1963

Or is it just that, after version 3 of screenblast, version 4 became Vegas MovieStudio to bring it in line with their professional video editing suite?

Looks like you're right

[vonhosen]

Sony Vegas products are MUCH more stable than Pinnacle in my experienceing of using both (including higher end product lines of these).

Screenblast is a dummed down version of Vegas (which I use full blown version of with DVD Architect) & if it's reliability is anything like Vegas you should be well pleased.

[melliott1963]

Obviously it's still early days, but my initial impressions of the software I'm testing would point to Ulead MediaStudio Pro being the best option (I suppose you get what you pay for!).

Ulead VideoStudio 8 seems OK but is a bit 'sluggish'. As I'm running a 2.6Ghz CPU with 1Gb RAM I suspect it's the software and not the PC that's slow, especially as MediaStudio seems really quick.

I quite liked Vegas Movie Studio and need to delve into it a bit deeper. Whilst I was manually able to split existing video files, I couldn't find a way of getting the software to automatically do this by timecode (as both Ulead products are able to do). Can anyone help?

On a stability point, so far, none of these programs have crashed or done anything unpredictable, which is a good sign.

If anyone else out there uses any of these programs, I would appreciate any feedback, or if there are any other 'low to mid' range editors I should be looking at, please let me know.

Thanks.

[thebrummy_one]

Interestingly enough, Pinnicle and Screenblast are the two packages I've been looking at. Pinnicle 9 has the ability to add 5.1 surround sound, which is an attraction for this budding Spielberg. Does Screenblast also offer this. Also, I've read that screenblast's DVD authoring tools are not all that and users prefer to use alternative packages. What are Pinnicle's like. If both are 10/1, what is a reliable standalone DVD authoring package?

[vonhosen]

Originally Posted by thebrummy_one

Interestingly enough, Pinnicle and Screenblast are the two packages I've been looking at. Pinnicle 9 has the ability to add 5.1 surround sound, which is an attraction for this budding Spielberg. Does Screenblast also offer this. Also, I've read that screenblast's DVD authoring tools are not all that and users prefer to use alternative packages. What are Pinnicle's like. If both are 10/1, what is a reliable standalone DVD authoring package?

I'm pretty sure Screenblast won't allow 5.1 , you would have to use Vegas+DVD which will not only allow you to import 5.1 audio but pan/mix & encode your own 5.1 tracks.
(Quite a bit more expensive than screenblast mind you)

You could also have a look at mainconcept eve2 which seems to have had a considerable revamp recently, I have been impressed with the demo version

http://www.mainconcept.com/evev2.shtml


regards

ern

[Canary_Jules]

Any one tried Cyberlink's Power Director 3? I need the functionality of Pinnacle Studio 8 but with reliability and speed!

Jules