Rating: 
Summary: Its more like an alpha software - significant bugs
Review: Ok - so my computer has plenty of HDD space (100 GB), 256 MB of RAM, a 1.7GHz P4 CPU, a newer VIA chipset and runs win2K with the latest service pack and so on. Radeon Graphics for video and Turtle Beach Sound. I can't remember when an installed software crashed on it - that is - till I installed Studio 8. You'd think the latest bug fix (updating it to 8.5) would have fixed the problems? Read on....
Now the problems - where do I begin?
1) Installing the MP10+ analog capture card was a nightmare - till I swapped PCI slots - a day wasted.
2)When rendering, the software sometimes simply quits. Thats it. No message - Nothing. And rendering is not a breeze - so you can imagine the frustration.
3) For my second project, the software rendered partway and then stops (does not matter which codec I am using). And this is a long continuing struggle. Since rendering is such a time consuming process, any experimentation takes a while. Deleting a couple of scenes in the beginning for example allows rendering to cross the point where it normally gets hung up - and then it continues on to the very end.
4) If I try to do Divx encoding of the videos, then the software does not work if I try to encode the audio in mp3. It has to be kept in PCM format. While it gives you the mp3 option, there seems to be no way of specifying bit rates for example.
5) I am not sure that audio and video sync properly - because I can hear audio for a second or two after the video has ended.
6) Many of the buttons don't have baloon help associated with them.
7) The interface is not standard windows interface - This means you will have to relearn buttons and icons. This is a very stupid thing to do - makes the learning curve steeper. Many times, the buttons are all over the place, instead of being bunched up in one place.The software sort of works, its relatively inexpensive, and includes a bunch of neat special effects transitions for free, I give it two stars. Else, I would have given it one.
Rating: 
Summary: Software Engineer
Review: Don't buy it! I bought and installed this product on a brand-new Pentium-IV 2.8 GHz computer from a well-known computer maker. From day-1 the software was unstable. There were frequent crashes. Nevertheless I continued on with it, attempting to create a DVD for a Christmas present. I did not get it done by Christmas. After I had created the movie and was ready to render it to a DVD, the real instability started. When I contacted Pinnacle for support, nearly their first request of me was to reinstall the Windows XP operating system, on the off-chance that it had not been properly put onto my computer by the manufacturer! That was enough for me. I have many other applications on that computer, all of which run just fine. I'm now looking for a replacement product with which I can finish my movie.
Rating: 
Summary: A little buggy, but easy to use
Review: I purchased Studio 8 about 8 months ago to get my feet wet with editing my own videos from my digital camcorder. Studio had the basic features that I was interested in for an entry level editor. The Bad:
I have seen many posts complaining about Studio crashes, and I too have had this experience on a several occasions. I have learned to save my work often as I have seen Studio simply shut down with no warning or error - it just quits. The Good:
Overall, Studio does what it's supposed to do. It has a nice feature set and using the software is quite fun and intuative. It took no time at all to edit my first movie and add titles, transitions, music, etc.... Summary:
Studio is a bit buggy, but it is fun and easy to use. Now that I have used Studio for a while, I have decided to look into other DV editing solutions that have a bit more capability. I have just ordered Canopus' Let's Edit from Amazon and will post a review for it when I have a chance to use it.
Rating:
Summary: All the reviews are correct
Review: I agree with everyone of the reviews on Amazon. I have a brand new pc; 2.8 GHz, 1 g of RAM, 200+ g hard drive, so on... I mean you have read it all below, I do not have a Tandy 1000SL from 1988. I am computer savvy, that is until I got this software. Do not get me wrong, I love Studio 8...on paper. In my computer it has created frustration, headaches, 3 computer format procedures, and 3 long projects (taken about a month of work) LOST. As one of the reviewers mentioned, if you do get the program to work, it is great. I can do some really neat things with my home video editing. The tools are easy to learn, except for the special FX (transitions) editor, what is that about? Could not tell you because no documentation comes with it. Back to the great video editing, it will stay in your computer. At first I could not render to any format including (theoretically the simplest) back into the DV camera... Then finally I was able to render only to MPEG format, only to have it wiped from my computer during a format, because I could not burn to a DVD, CD, or anything else I tried. So as the saying goes, when you fail try, and try again.... I did, it rendered, but does not play on any DVD. So, after a year with this software, I have rendered to DVD only once (like the x-mas story, my gift is only about a year old as well, I feel you), only to have the DVD not detected by all but one DVD player in my entire family. To give you an idea, that is everyone I know with a DVD player from Rochester, NY to Ponce, PR. Only one DVD player can read this stupid DVD movie, and of course it is the DVD player at my house which is older than bread. I am only comforted in the fact that I did not pay any $ for this nightmare. As far as solutions are concerned....what solutions. Not even the technicians (if they can be called that), can explain what they did to fix the machine.... It (the computer) fixed itself (I got the first self-fixing computer on the market) so beat that. Would I recommend anyone to buy this product. Depends, if you have grandiose ideas, like I did when I got this; to share with your family (spread thin across the eastern border and Puerto Rico) every waking moment of your first child's life...then NO. But, if your idea is to store your movies on your computer, and show them from your computer this product is great (You will not be affected by any tech problems if you choose not render your movie). PS- Yes it will crash, many, many more times than Studio 7. Sometimes just if the program is running while you are away for the computer. The only fix is to make sure that the program saves your projects automatically and often, that way when the inevitable and unfixable crash occurs you will not loose anything. Oh, by the way the really cool DVD menus...forget about them, will not render, only crash.
Rating:
Summary: Save yourself the aggravation - don't buy this!
Review: Too bad I didn't read all these reviews before I bought this software! I have a brand new Pentium 4, 2.4 ghz processor, 256 MB ram. Bought the software, came home all excited about making a VCD...hours later I finally figured out how to make it capture some video. The program takes forever to open, to the point that I can't tell if it's still loading or if it's frozen and I should reboot. Same problem after clicking the button to start the rastering process. Took me 2 days to create a 10 minute VCD, but at least it worked...that time.
Now, I'm trying to create a 5 minute movie of wrestling highlights, and the software acts as if I'm trying to create a 5 hour movie. I've been working with it for 4 days now, and still no go. And now, my other programs have started crashing.
What a lovely (ha!!) piece of software! Your money would be well spent on almost ANYTHING else!
Rating: 
Summary: All that worrying for nothing
Review: Got a new Dell Dimension for video editing. Pentium 4 @ 2.6 mhz, 80 gig hard drive, 512 meg ram. Upgraded to Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator V6. It works pretty well until you burn a dvd, when the video quaility is bad. This is all well documented in the discussion area on the Roxio website. All the magazine reviews rate Pinnacle Studio 8 very highly. I was all set to hit the BUY button at Amazon, but checked these reviews first, and got cold feet. I downloaded Ulead Movie Factory 2 trial version, it isn't powerful enough for me. Next I downloaded the 108 meg trial of Pinnacle Studio 8. I liked it a lot, but it crashed a couple times, and would not let me burn a trial dvd anyway. Still, I liked the software so much I took a chance and bought it. All the worrying was for nothing. It works perfectly on my computer. I completed a 35 minute dvd of my class reunion. There was some tape shot as a couple dozen people at tables set up in a garage visited after eating. Because of the enclosed space, all the conversations reverberate and the audio sounds like 20 or so people talking at once. Studio 8 let me add a soothing guitar soundtrack, while reducing the level of the original sound. The added soundtrack (there are several with the program to choose from) was automatically fit to the length of the garage clip. I am glad the Roxio software had the quality glitch. Otherwise I would not have tried Pinnacle Studio 8.
Rating:
Summary: Weapon of Mass Destruction
Review: The Weapons of Mass Destruction have migrated to Pinnacle video software. After I installed Pinnacle 8 on my high end Toshiba laptop I had to return the computer because of a hard drive failure. This is not conclusive proof that Pinnacle caused the failure, but read other reviews and you will see there is a good possibility it was. Oh, yes, I did get an opportunity to put in about twelve hours trying to make a video only to lose it all in a crash.
Rating:
Summary: Someday my Prints will come
Review: Having read the recent November-December 2003 reviews I'll add these comments.
Pinnacle seems to be chasing it's tail as it rakes in the money on a glitzy box design and marketing. Each supposed "upgrade" creates even more bugs than it solves. After untold hours of failure, followed by updating various hardware drivers on a brand new Dell 8250 2.4GHz P4 with 2 120GB HDs and 2 NEC ND1100A DVD burners, I am finally able to create flawless highest resolution MPEG-2 DVD from DV video. Six are 58 minutes and,
more significantly, a seventh one is 68 minutes. There are various "bugs" I've learned to work around, and I avoid all the hoakey glitz that amateurs love. Simple crossfade edits
and no added imported audio keeps potential bugs dormant. Would I recommend the current Studio 8 software? No!! Not yet. Not until they actually have a product. Having installed several "upgrade" patches I've only had success with supplied disc version 8.4.16 (at least 4 versions superceed it). I'll only upgrade from 8.4.16 when I see positive reviews in the user forums. This company is the ultimate in "chutzpa". They post upgrades that promise everything and then ask forum users to report how it failed on their systems. Read the Pinnacle user forums especially "failed to compile DVD". Someday (if they survive) they may actually get the bugs out. If your only task is firewire transfer from DV, editing footage, and transfer back to DV (these are done in real time), you cant beat the price. Since rendering, and then compiling a 1 hour DVD takes 5 to 6 hours, failures for any reason following that process will raise your blood pressure beyond belief. Am I an average user, hardly. If you are very computer literate and a hardware maven who has hours to kill, this alpha software is for you. Remember though, that each purchase reinforces Pinnacle to produce nothing for $$omething .
Rating:
Summary: Problems with Studio 8
Review: Except for a very long rendering time, Studio 8 ran fine until I upgraded from 8.10 to 8.12. When I clicked on the "Make Movie" tab the computer consistently crashed with a Windows Protection Error or just hung up the computer necessitating a cold boot.
The Pinnacle Tech support came up with all sorts of fixes which none worked.
The program obviously was released and not tested prior to release.
It is junk and I would not recommend it to anyone.
I am using Windows ME but others using XP are having similar problems.
Rating:
Summary: Studio locks up while creating files
Review: While the program works quite well as a digitizer, editor, adding transitions, sounds, etc., trying to get your work out of the program is another matter. It nearly always crashes/locks up while trying to create files with any major resolution such as VHS, mpeg2, broadband .wmv (Windows Media), or .rm (Real Video). While sometimes the output files are readable and somewhat usable, they usually aren't, thereby wasting much of your time. I've wasted probably 50 hours at various times and projects, trying to get my work out. When Studio does successfully output files at lower resolutions, (i.e. dial up wmv formats for posting to a website), it does OK.
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