Pinnacle Edition DV

Rating:
Summary: EditionDV offers solid value for the home enthusiast
Review: I've been using EditionDV for about a month now and just finished my first DV->DVD project with it. Overall the experience has been very positive, with minial hiccups and no lost work or time due to the software.

Editing: My project involved merging 4 different camera shots of the same event into the finished product. Edition allowed aligning the clips from the different camera's very easily on the timeline. It allows allows you to protect the clips that you don't want to be messed with on the timeline. It's also got a good set of transition and effects which allows you to do a very professional job. Once I got the hang of the software using the Training CD (highly recommended), then it was easy to use. Pros: Very stable, creates great quality output on DVD. Cons: Documentation sucks, no tutorials or anything of the like and you don't find books on EditionDV in the stores like you do of Premiere. Pinnacle should really package the Training CD as part of the package.

Commotion: Pinnacle packages a great package which costs about [$$$] by itself for free. This is a great piece of software which allows you to develop composites. I used it extensively for creating professional looking titles and other intro clips. Pros: Great package with a lot of built in filters; Cons: Documentation (no docs in the box!!!)

Authoring & Burning: Impression Pro is another solid package which allows you do motion menus and overall has created DVD images which have been very compatible with set top players.

Overall a solid package for the serious hobbyist who wants to spend time and create professional looking DVD's. I was comparing it to Premiere, but Commotion and Impression for free was what made the choice an easy one. But Pinnacle really needs to beef up the documentation. Pinnacle support however has been excellent with their online support.