video editing

I was stunned to see the negative review on this product so I just had to set the record straight. I have been using Studio since version 7 and also own at least three other programs such as Adobe premiere and still choose to do my day to day video editing in Studio. Why? Becasuse it is easy to use and quite powerful. My current uses include creating VCD's from MPEG-2 video and creating vacation DVD's from my mini-DV Sony camcorder. I use it at least three times a week for one of these two functions and I have NEVER hung the sofware on my Windows XP home computer. I use Sony's GIGA pocket to capture video and import the file created into Studio. Importing the video for editing with scene detect does take some time but if you don't want to split the scenes, just hit the cancel button and the whole video is ready to edit in seconds. I like the scene detect for editing TV programs becasue I can see by the thumbnail where the commercials start/end and I do not waste time searching for in/out points. While scene clips are in 1 second intervals, you can further refine a clip edit down to tenths of a second. Special effects and text are easy to apply. I have created scrolling credits in seconds using their presets. The menu creation is a little less intuitive but it gives you complete layout and chapter control unlike other programs in this price range. The only real downsides are rendering time and video enhancement tools. It does take a long time for the file to render. For me its no bid deal since I start the render, do something else like eat dinner and come back later. The video tools are really amatuerish and best left for emergency use only. An example is the speed adjustmemnt tool. It is easy to apply but the effect is overexaggerted in the final rendering. For $100 you are going to need to make some compromises. If speed and correcting poorly shot video is is important to you then look elsewhere. Otherwise the program is rock solid with a bucket load of features.

My review is for the full version 9, not the upgrade, but they should be the same. I had so many problems with version 8, but I made the mistake of hoping version 9 would be better. WRONG.
The good: Pinnacle Studio is packed with features and is quite easy to use.
The bad: It's JUNK. Full of bugs even with the latest updates. It's slow too. STAY AWAY from this product!

I had Studio 8 and enjoyed it. I moved to studio 9 and hate it. There are lots of bugs too many to mentions. There Quality Assurance and marketing department has done a horrible product release that is full of bugs!!!!

My suggestion is stick with studio 8 if you have it. Otherwise go buy another competitor product.

Good Luck