| User review:
|
I had been using Pinnacle Studio v7 for ages. I guess it came bundled with my capture board.
Having to edit a somewhat longer video, I felt it was time for an upgrade. The version available for download as trial was v14. Being familiar with v7, it took me no time and no manual/help reading to get going with it. Though the skin is more fashionable, operation remains unchanged.
My very first editing session went OK. Surprisingly, after I shut down everything, and restarted on the next day, it seemed that I was using another computer, another software. Everything was so s-l-u-g-g-i-s-h, that it was unworkable. So I called their tech support via online chat, and it was very good. They asked the right questions, had the right answers, and were in no hurry at all.
The technician gave me a few tips on how to improve my overall computer performance, but said that I MUST have SP3 for Win XP. I have a faint recolection of deliberately not having installed SP3 because of some conflict with software I use, can't recall which. Anyway, if it caused trouble, I could roll back to SP2.
To install SP3 and all the updates released for it afterwards took longer than installing Windows XP from scratch... twice! But I did it. Studio, with SP3 still performed somewhat sluggishly, sound was never in sync with video (however it rendered OK). Work was definitely slow, but what would be the options?
Then my trial period came to an end, and I tried to buy a license. They don't sell v14 any longer. I'd have to download and install v15. Anyway, the payment process via PayPal failed twice (though I had the necessary amount there). Avid CSRs were helpful, but couldn't solve it. And I can't buy by phone and pay via PayPal when it doesn't work.
Amid this confusion, before downloading Pinaccle Studio v15, I downloaded a similarly-priced Sony Vegas v10 trial. The shift felt like moving from an AMC Gremlin into a brand new Lexus. While both will take you from A to B, there is a noticeable difference. Vegas has some excellent tutorials to fill me in on what's done differently there, and everything is done in real time, quickly, and in sync.
So I gave up on Pinnacle Studio, and bought Sony Vegas instead. The latter has been performing magnificently, any shortcomings being mine, as I'm not used to wade in such an immense "sea" of features.
As both offer free trials, I'd suggest anyone to TRY BOTH before buying either one. Maybe different hardware configurations will deliver different performance levels and results. |
