videoguys first look at Edition 5
 

Wednesday I had the priviledge of going to Pinnacle systems and getting an in depth demonstration of Edition 5. I WAS BLOWN AWAY!! Unprecedented real-time performance with integrated professional level DVD authoring. Here are the highlights of the demo:

FIVE full motion streams of video in Real-Time!!
Each video layer with 1 -3 filters applied including page peels, advanced color correction & other 3D FX. All in real-time preview on the VGA screen PLUS real-time analog output via the Pro AGP hardware. Just as Matrox raised the bar for Premiere accelerators by leveraging CPU and graphics technology, Pinnacle has blown it away. I call it RT squared. It's the full utilization of both CPU and GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) to deliver an unprecedented level of real-time performance. On top of this you get background rendering, so the DV output is being rendered while you work. 9 out of 10 times this is going to result in you being able to play directly from the timeline out to DV with little or no waiting when the time comes for your DV master.

The ability to create a fully interactive DVD with motion menus and motion picons.
This is all done from within Edition - you never leave the app. You can use image grabs or video from your actual production in your menus and buttons. You can set the chapter points and direct the clip navigation. You get a wide range of templates that you can fully customize and then save. You can preview and navigate the DVD from within Edition. When you are satisfied with the DVD content you then burn your DVD directly from Edition.

Tons of real-time 3D FX.
Page peels, explosions, ripples, and all the real-time Hollywood FX from the Pro-one series. The real-time lens flare filter is superb. So is the real-time blur. All 3D FX can be applied as a filter to video, graphics and titles. Some of these 3D FX look really amazing, others are a little cheesy. That said, even the cheesiest 3D FX can look pretty cool when applied to graphics as part of a title sequence. With Edition the choice is yours. There are no rules about how you apply these FX. The only limit is your creativity.

A standardized Edition interface and toolset.
This is very important for learning Edition. The Hollywood FX GUI and the GUIs for filters & FX now all have the same look & feel. It's even more customizable then before. I'll be the first to admit that Edition takes getting used to. At first look the interface seems quite foreign. Once you figure out what all the buttons & icons mean, it starts to not only make sense, it becomes incredibly intuitive. Pinnacle has listened and learned. Edition 5 will come with dramatically better documentation and several training initiatives are under way.

I'm going to be putting together a first look article on our website in the next week or two. I'm also working on a real-time NLE software shootout article for after NAB.

Big news: All registered Edition 4.5 owners will be able to upgrade to 5.0 software for free. Well - almost free - you'll have a $19.95 handling fee. But for that you'll get new disks and the all new manual and user guides. We're also expecting some great Pinnacle loyalty offers and upgrades from 4.5 to Edition 5 Pro.

Gary
Videoguys.com

Hi Gary
(Big news: All registered Edition 4.5 owners will be able to upgrade to 5.0 software for free. Well - almost free - you'll have a $19.95 handling fee. But for that you'll get new disks and the all new manual and user guides. We're also expecting some great Pinnacle loyalty offers and upgrades from 4.5 to Edition 5 Pro.)

I'm a registered user of 4.5 and would of course very much like to upgrade to version 5 PRO - but the news that I have from my vendor is not the same as yours? I'm told that I will need the new AGP graphics card which goes with version 5. Secondly, the vendor had not been informed of what the actual upgrade cost from 4.5 to 5 will be - as on 26 March.
I hope your info is correct but surely one cannot expect such a huge upgrade for only $19.95??
Have a nice day.
Ewald