Updating Editing Software
 

I am trying to look for new editing software now that business seems to be picking up. Originally I bought Pinnacle Studio Plus, but its irritating me that none of the transitions (i.e. fade to white - it only fades to black) or menus that I want to use are included in the the program. Everything has to be bought individually.

So I'd rather spend a few more bucks on a program that is more complete. I do have the ability to work in HD though, which was a great feature of Pinnacle. Any suggestions would be great for upgrading/changing software. Thanks!

Vegas Studio

dead easy, as feaured as vegas 5 was, with afew minor exceptions
Will do what u want.. dirt cheap

My (highly subjective opinion) would say if your on PC go Vegas. Mac go FCP.

Guess I should have specified... I use a PC, so it looks like Vegas would be the way to go. Thanks for the input, I'll have to check it out.

Vegas all the way...You can get scripts and do nested projects.

As an ex Pinnacle Studio user I can wholeheartedly recommend Vegas along with the others. No more crashing, no more piles of coasters and you will actually find yourself enjoying editing instead of looking for workarounds or waiting for the next patch. You can download a free demo.

GO FOR IT!

With Pinnacle Studio 7 and 8 I had a lot of problems ... who didn't? But with 9+ (9.5?) things straightened out. I don't recall every making a coaster and a crash is so rare as to be notable.

However, I'm outgrowing the package esp. now that I'm shooting 2 cameras (yes, I know that 9 and now 10 support 2 video tracks) plus a seperate audio track. Mainly I need more pro-like color correction to do my best to match 2 very different cameras.

Being PC based I think my choices are down to Vegas (probably Vegas+DVD @ $525) or Avid Liquid (formerly Pinnacle Liquid). With the upgrade discount for Avid Liquid from Pinnacle Studio (@ $300), I'll probably go that route.

Since all my projects are delivered on DVD I like the integrated timeline DVD authoring Pinnacle Studio has, and Liquid is very similar in this regard AFAIK. I also have made good use of SmartSound audio track "composition" including purchasing some extra music tracks, and this is now integrated into Liquid.

VideoGuys has Vegas 7+DVD for $399.99 plus Cinescore & training DVD's included.

I am more of an Avid guy when it comes to editing on pc's.. I would recommend that... It also helps if you have a bride or groom who know about video production and ask what you edit on.. If you say Avid they will be much more impressed then if you say Vegas.

I also being a past Studio person, know of the issues you speak, although I went to the pro level editor by Pinnacle which is now Avid, Liquid.

Have been using it since I left Studio 8 and it is a great program, now at version 7.1, it is stable and gives you capture to DVD authoring ability.

Check it out, you can get a demo from Avid's site.

Jeff

I went from Studio 9 to Vegas 6.....and I never looked back.

I personally love Avid Liquid (make sure it is the newest 7.1 version as they've had bugs to work out). Took a little while to get the hang of it as I used Premiere before that, but I would think going from Pinnacle Studio shouldn't be much of a leap since Liquid originally was a Pinnacle product and was bought out by Avid. I can do everything in it and don't crash even when I'm rendering a boatload at once. But, I've honestly not used Vegas much, don't feel there is a reason too. Good luck!

Hate to be the contrarian here, but if you are used to using Pinnacles format, you may find it easier to work in Premiere Pro 2. I have all three. (Studio 10 plus, Vegas 7, Premiere Pro 2.0) All three now edit in HDV native.

In early days of learning DV, Studio was a great learning tool for me. I still use it for simple edit projects in DV, and for simple HDV projects that I want to render fast.

At one point I thought I wanted "real time" editing, so I went to Pinnacles Pro One editing board. That started me in Premeire, and it was an easy transition, it seemed to me.

I have now bought Vegas 7, to round out my skills, but every time I want to do something fast, I seem to go back to Premiere. I think Vegas, even 7, renders a bit slower, though I don't think that is the end of the world. Vegas does have scripting features that I want to learn about.

One feature of Premiere I just utilized with great success was the multicamera edit. I had a two camera shoot, and I lined up the footage from the 2 cameras on a time line and then initiated the multi camera edit. You actually act like its a live shoot at that point, and switch cameras as needed. You can later add transitions and further modify the switching points. That worked great if you do much of that kind of of multicamera editing.

I agree with Chris.
In my PC, i have both Vegas and Premier Pro 2. If you are looking to move up and want to save money, I will say go with Vegas (according to Craig, VideoGuys has Vegas 7+DVD for $399.99 plus Cinescore & training DVD's included.)
If you are using multi-cam and shooting HD or even 24P, then premier 2.0 is better. Note: Premier 2.0 alone will go for $600 to $800. Personally, I use Premier Pro 2.0 for editing and Architect for DVD authoring. I think architect is best DVD authoring Program because of its simplicity. It comes with the Vegas package. Adobe's Encore DVD authoring program migth be a little too complicated when designing menus.

Thanks Chris... I'm currrently shopping around, so I appreciate your advice. I'll check it out. I'm playing with Vegas's trial and I'm not sure I like it, because, like you said, I'm used to Studio. Thanks again!