Comments on: Avid Technology Unveils Pinnacle Studio 11

By: JVC

JVC — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:53:15 +0000

I tried studio 10.8, 11.1, 12.1 and they all work perfectly on windows xp, vista and 7
NEVER CRASH

By: Ezz

Ezz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:08:12 +0000

I had pinnacle 11 installed on my computer, and i've purchased the upgrade to pinnacle 12 ultimate, i had previously bought the vitascene package and it worked perfectly, but my computer crashed so i had to reinstall…anyway, Vitascene has the watermark on it when i put it on a transition, but when i use it as an effect it will work perfectly without a watermark.
I've tried to enter my activation keys for Vitascene like 4 times now, and restarted the program and nothing happens. I really need to use Vita as a transition and i can't!!!
Could you please help me to solve this. I have used pinnacle before with vita and i never had a problem.
Please help

By: Leonard Partner

Leonard Partner — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:40:47 +0000

I wonder if anyone out there can tell me what the video card part no. or specification is that was supplied with Pinnacle Studio version 8. I have had to replace my PC when it got fried by lightning. Did not think to remove the card for identification. The cord that was supplied with the program is red with a 26 pin plug at one end and a blue box with inputs & outputs for "S" video and also RCA type A/V plugs. The manufacturers plate has the following printed on it.
blueBOX
Pinnacle Systems Inc.
PN 40160734
Please help. There do not seem to be any agents left in South Africa.
As amatter of interest, I have been using Pinnacle Studio for a number of years and am currently using Version 10. There have been a few hitches but overall I am well satisfied with the product.

By: Opa

Opa — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:15:41 +0000

To: KManovich

Of what benefit is your 4G memory? I have 2G and in the height of editing or rendering Windows always reports 1.2G or more as free. I've seen posts indicating Studio 10 will use up to 700M, so 2G should be fine. I have a 256M Nivida video card (Pinnacle recommendation), 2.3G Intel dual core, WinXP SP2, 500G SATA RAID 0 and a system dedicated to nothing other than Studio video editing. Studio 9 has worked perfectly for years, Studio 10 won't make a successful render.

Instead of getting so hard on the other readers I think you should realize you are one of the lucky few. Most reviews I've seen indicate Studio (any version) works great on a powerful dedicated system, lousy if not at all on the every-day average system. Pinnacle Studio is a wonderful program providing professional results with ease, however as it develops and gets more powerful it is less and less for the average PC user. To be successful a system really has to be "clean". Even professional magazine reviewers could not get it to run or in one case even load on a "typical" daily use machine. Only on a freshly loaded WinXP system with nothing else on it.

By: Opa

Opa — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:14:38 +0000

By: Opa

Opa — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:55:03 +0000

So, where do I go from here? I've been using Studio 9 since it first came out w/o issues. First on a minimum P3 1G system. Rendering was slow, but it worked. I must say this system was dedicated to video editing only. Only Win XP, Studio 9 and NTI CD/DVD burning software. then I built a new top of the line dual core computer, ran Studio 9 for another year … worked great!!! 3 days ago I installed Studio 10.8 & have not been able to create as successful project yet. Always has one issue or another with rendering. Since V10 is no longer supported I was going to buy V11. But after reading these posts I think I'll go back to V9 & stick it out until V12 comes down the road … if it does at all.

By: KManovich

KManovich — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:38:24 +0000

I'm amazed at so much whining from users on this forum. Of course you're going to have issues if your system only meets the minimum requirements of the software. This is true for Windows OS and any other program you may purchase.
I personally have a dual-core system with 4-gb's RAM, a separate drive for the editing and have NO problems whatsoever!! My video is an 8800 GT w/512 MB's RAM…. Upgrade your system hardware if you want a pleasant experience with such hardware intensive software.
And yes the previous versions have had usability issues, but I've been very happy with
Version 11….

By: Marcel

Marcel — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:18:51 +0000

I use version 10.7 without big problems. However, I bought a new Sony harddisk recorder rdr-hx950, and this player won't play DVD's created with version 10.7 if it includes a menu.
Does anyone recognize this problem and know if it is solved by upgrading to version 11?

By: Eddy

Eddy — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:12:51 +0000

I upgraded from Pinnacle studio version 9 to pinnacle studio plus version 11 recently. I used 9 for a couple of years with many headaches and frustrations & thought perhaps after some years of trial & error Pinnacle may have finally have got it right at last. Being a novice, I was looking for something simple to install and user friendly to operate. Perhaps I was asking for tooooo much! Version 11 what a load of ……!!!! I am so frustrated with all the bugs & glitches that I dont want this software anymore. The headaches & frustrations dont end there though. Guess what? I cant uninstall the damn software

By: Norman Moore

Norman Moore — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:50:55 +0000

Thanks to everyone for your reviews of Studio Ultimate 11. I bought it today because I got fed-up in that vs 8 could not write out to DVD above 750MB (support from Pinncale was nil – never answered 1 email I sent). I've not opened the box yet and will now be returning it to the store for a full refund. Point 1 – if I cannot use the software on multiple PCs / laptops, due to a single licence issue (not mentioned in any literature on their site though) then its of no use. I tend to travel a lot and in my spare time edit family videos – this new version makes this impossible (who wants to uninstall and install – its 2008 and not the 80s, thought we had moved on since then). Point 2 – vs 8 had bugs – I would have thought that by vs 11, the platform was stable ( what about beta testing – was this done, were issues raised resolved, or merely ignored due to launch committments)? I agree with a previous comment about the focus of Pinnacle. Focus is on launches, sales and finally to solve the bugs (their support budget must be small as their support is non-existent). Good luck resolving your issues – I'd get a class action together and sue for a full refund. That way Pinnacle will get the message where its most evident – in their pockets. The consumer comes first – first lesson in Business.

By: Mike A

Mike A — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:57:38 +0000

I have alot of problems with burning Pinnacle projects. When burning to DVD blanks, I can't get sound to burn. When burning to CDRs I get sound and video, but it has skips and glitches. This is a brand new cpu that meets all criteria set by pinnacle.

I also run into a "Cyclic Redundancy" message when I try to install my bonus discs for Studio.

I love working with this program and it has potential to be the best. I need these problems worked out though. Please Help.

Mike

By: Guru-emeritus

Guru-emeritus — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:48:45 +0000

Sorry for a long introduction. As an ex-owner of a software development company, working with Studio 11 brings back all the horror of dealing with software developers. I tell you, what you see in Pinnacle is a case in point of what is wrong with software development in general. Developers work only to impress each other, managment is pushing for new features and puts the product for sale as soon as it can be installed and more or less removed. There is really no one in the company who cares about the end-user. Pinnacle 11 is not ready for sale (I bought mine in December 2007 at bestbuy). In my case, in addition to crashes, the damn thing simply loosing files (projects disappear!), it forces me into soundsoap trial and when it expires it seems to locks some sound and at every start gives me a non finished popup asking to buy it for something like #299. The software is garbidge. Do not buy it if you can.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:04:12 +0000

I currently have S10 and despite a few issues have managed to get out some good projects. I have now purchased S11 plus and Ultimate. My question is on install it advises to unistall previous versions ( yet this is an upgrade??). When you ignore this it creates a new folder under pinnacle called 11, so can you have both installed, if not how do you keep your old projects , effects etc . I have all of my projects and film on a seperate drive, will 11 be able to open these???

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:36:32 +0000

I reluctently upgraded from pinnacle studio 9 to 11 as we purchased an AVCHD video camera and 11 supports this format. I had few problems with 9 and was very happy with it. As soon as I started working with 11 I noticed many problems that have been mentioned on this forum - hanging during rendering, not burning to disc, very slow to work with, etc. After many frustrations I have finally been able to make this program work for me. This is what I have done:
1. Upgraded my ram from 1gb to 1.5gb
2. Upgraded video card
3. Import all video files first and edit files before bringing in transitions, music and effects
4. Save finished project as an AVI file
5. Import AVI file into new document then add menu and chapters
6. Make movie by creating disc content but dont burn
7. Burn from previously created disc content

After doing all this I can honestly say that I now love working with Pinnacle Studio 11 and I have none of the problems that I previously had, or the many frustrations!

By: Andrew Tucker

Andrew Tucker — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:48:27 +0000

Hi,
I was thinking about getting Pinnacle studio ultimate version 11. First of all I have a intel core duo processor which is a 1.73 ghz and 1.5 GB of RAM. Is this enough to run it comfortably. Also, I have read about people needing to install more update to have it run better. But if I buy the ultimate studio 11 today as is will I need to install anymore updates. If someone could let me know it would be great. Thanks.

By: FRED

FRED — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:58:37 +0000

I had version 9 and 10 and it was horrible. I could never get it to work. version 11 ultimate is GREATTTTTT!!!! I make a lot of video for my second job in an after school program and i will be using this more than premiere pro cs3. Premiere does not offer any good transitions, just the baskic stuff. At least with this program right out of the box I have the good effects, DVD authoring off the timeline, great video effects with vitascene. I don't use the Ken burns moving effects that much in this version. It is nice but I have another program that does this. I would tell people just to get the ultimate box version. The reason why is because you get the green screen, the hardware to shoot directly into the harddrive and the extra effects and plugins. you can do this all with the USB on a laptop. I would say that I would never do HD on a laptop because I am sure you will drop frames.

If you buy this program I would get 1 gig of ram, 512 video card, dual core processor, and a good fast hard drive 7200 or 10,000. Pretty soon, if my wife lets me I am upgrading for 289 dollars to a quad core and I heard that this program will rock even more with a quad core.

Here are the advantages of this program over premiere and vegas
1. backround rendering (I like vegas, but man it renders soooooo slow)
2. More transitions and professional effects
3. Interface is nice
4. DVD authoring off the timeline is much better in Pinnacle Studio ultimate. I sell these things so i know.
5. music with sound score
6. Audio effects
7. Pro dad titling vs premiere titling is not even close. Prodad titling is GREATTTTTTT. It doesn't do 3d but for a simple and easy 2d titling program, this is great. That's why I say get the ultimate Box version. It is included.

What I like in Premiere over this product is:
1. more layers
2. handles big video animated background better
3. movement ( I love how you operate the movement in premiere, better than vegas, avid liquid, studio 11 and canopus. I try out all the products except for final cut pro.

Well, I hope this helps.

By: Rich Edgley

Rich Edgley — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:59:06 +0000

I would do a test with the demo footage that comes with Studio 11. See if you can reproduce the problem with that footage.

If it doesn't work, then maybe there is an issue with your computers config, like the graphics card driver being out of date or the Studio installation being corrupt somehow. Update your graphics card or uninstall/reinstall Studio 11.

If instead the demo file works then maybe there is an issue with the project you created or the files you are using.

Can you narrow the steps down that you are using that give the blank preview? If you can, then we could try to reproduce it here. For example, does it always happen after you apply a certain effect or perform a certain step?

Since all I can give is general advice, I would recommend contacting support so they can drill down on your problem.

Please go to:

http://www.pcle.com/selfhelp" title="http://www.pcle.com/selfhelp" target="_blank" ref="nofollow">http://www.pcle.com/selfhelp

then you can look at FAQ, submit an email or chat with an agent.

Sorry that I can't make this more specific but the detail are somewhat vague and I can't ask questions to you before giving my reply.

Regards,
Rich Edgley
Technical Support
Pinnacle Systems

By: J Al****

J Al**** — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:54:11 +0000

I had been doing all right with Studio 10 and had learned to work around various problems. I upgraded to 11 Ultimate – and it is driving me nuts – the major problem is that the preview window turns to black and there is no way to get out of this but to close the programme and reopen the file. I have tested it with a very short file – just a few jpegs and a short video, and it will work fine as I play through the editor and then when I try to do it a second or third time – it is back to black. I have tried changing all the usual things – hardware acceleration, background rendering etc. I am using exactly the same sorts of pictures and videos that worked with Studio 10. My computer exceeds the required specs. Any suggestions?

By: Rich Edgley

Rich Edgley — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:57:26 +0000

@ Unhappy User and @ Not Happy,

There isn't enough in your posts for me to comment on suggested solutions. Please email me at redgley @pinnaclesys.com and send me your incident #'s from support and I will research your cases. We can then see what is causing your issues.

We do have FAQs on rendering, installing, etc on our website but to be most helpful, I would like to narrow down the issue before giving advice.

Most customer's don't have the experiences you are having. That being said, some customer do experiece problems and we try to isolate the source of the problem and fix it.

Please contact me and I will look into your case.

Thanks,
Rich Edgley
Techincal Support
Pinnacle Systemns

By: Not Happy

Not Happy — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:27:38 +0000

Studio 11 Ultimate is one of the worst products I have ever used. I am testing the product for use in both my school district and by the state wide organization I am president of. We are looking for a new product to use in the district and I wanted something for my organization (30 teachers and 300 coaches)- this is not the product. I have had nothing but problems. Installing the product was a nightmare and that was just the begining. I have done more reinstalls for this product than for all the computer software I have used since 92 combined. I even contacted tech support and that was an experience unlike anything I have ever had. I got on their computer support at about 8:30 pm and spent the next hour waiting in line. At about 9:25 the tech service shut down and told me to send an email because everyone went home. Please note that they were to close at 10 pm. At that moment I was going to throw this out the window. I then began to wonder if it was my personal system (XP) and loaded it on Vista and other XP systems. If failed on every computer in one way or another. I am now playing around to see if I can get it to work. I finally did but now it will not render so that I can burn a DVD. At first it would not recognize my DVD burner then after shutting it downd and restarting the prodct it worked. I would not recommend all the reinstalling that tech support recommends in the user guide. I am now in the process of looking for another product that is simple enough for my teachers and coaches to use.

By: Unhappy User

Unhappy User — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:31:19 +0000

I've been searching the internet for a site that would allow me to put a review in. Pinnacle is one of the worst pieces of s…software I've ever used. I've had corrupted files, the system consistently crashes, and runs extremely slow when developing something greater than 6 minutes. I've currently been working on a project that is about 35 minutes long and it has been an absolute nightmare. Now I'm struggling to get it to render. I've had to divide the video into smaller segments (a nightmare task, because it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to open, then don't get me started on how much time it takes to delete and move clips). Then I have to delete and put back clips and effects, and try to render until it successfully renders to small segment that I've saved. I've tried working on two separate XP machines and a Vista machine with mostly the same results. The support for this product is also horrible. To sale a product this terrible should be a crime. The only reason I'm pressing on with the current project, is because I'm developing something for a client. When I finally get this done (if I'm fortunate enough to get it done), I will never use Pinnacle again. I will go ahead a spring for something a little more expensive, because what I'll save in time and sanity will be well worth the cost. If anyone is contemplating buying this software, please do yourself a favor, and DON'T DO IT. I wish I'd seen a review like this before I wasted my money and so, so many hours of my time. If you purchase this software, after this warning, you have noone to blame but yourself.

By: Chris Rinaldi

Chris Rinaldi — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:16:40 +0000

I own Avid Liquid 7 which is a Pinnacle product. I have had many other product from Pinnacle, some good and some bad. I was having issues with a recent upgrade to Liquid and needed to create and burn a dvd for an occasion so I bought Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate. I did this because it was faster than rebuilding the Liqid 7 PC. Anyway, I like it. It's very stable and geared towards power users. The dvd turned out ecxellent and it's easy to use. Feature wise it doesn't compare to Liquid 7 but for what it's worth it worked well.

By: Roelf Bruinsma

Roelf Bruinsma — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:02:14 +0000

Yep… me too ! I fell for it. I installed studio 10.8 onto my brand new asus/vista laptop……very very limited success.What bugs me more than anything else is the time that it costs me. Totally lost all faith in pinnacle…. never again
Do pinnacle care ?

By: Rich @ Pinnacle

Rich @ Pinnacle — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:37:50 +0000

Tom,

Vitascene will get unlocked when you install the disc called: “Pinnacle Studio Ultimate install CD”. If this disc is not installed, then there will not be an entry in Add/Remove programs for “Studio 11 Ultimate” nor “proDAD Vitascene” and in Studio 11, the VitaScene plug-in will be watermarked.

The comment you make: “when i go to edit it says not registerd run in read only mode” sounds more like a SoundSoap message. Are you sure this is not SoundSoap you are talking about? I can't recreate any message from Vitascene. It is either watermarked or not depending on if the Ultimate disc was installed.

If you need help authorizing SoundSoap, please see this FAQ

http://pinnacle.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pinnacle.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?&p_lva=&p_faqid=15854“ title=”http://pinnacle.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pinnacle.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?&p_lva=&p_faqid=15854“ target=”_blank” ref=”nofollow”>http://pinnacle.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/pinnacle.cfg/…

The SoundSoad key on a sticker in the packaging you have with Ultimate.

Regards,
Rich Edgley
Technical Support
Pinnacle Systems

By: tom nealon

tom nealon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:45:06 +0000

hi i have pinnacle 11 ultimate
i can not unlock vitascene
when i go to edit it says not registerd run in read only mode
and will not export to project.
can any one tell me where i can find the code to register vitascene

By: Don Huizenga

Don Huizenga — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:02:18 +0000

I went into BB and purchased a new computer to go do video only and bought V11…with the patch. Running 64 b Vista. This computer does it all, fast processor etc. But, EVERYTIME I create a disk, it crashes, in different spots at different times…sometimes at the very end of the movie. Very frustrating. The editing seems fine and works pretty good but I cannot make a single disc. Tech just told me that the software is NOT compatible with Vista 64 and I should return it. I wish I could….

By: Josh-Pinnacle

Josh-Pinnacle — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:48:50 +0000

Fred Lobster,

If you are talking about .dtl format files, it should be okay. Deko graphics (dtl-files) created with 8 or 9 should still work in 11.

If you are talking about HFX effects, then the you should be able to simply copy the “Effects”, “Objects”, and “Images” folders from the earlier HFX version to the “Hollywood FX for Studio\6.0” folder, or, even better you can simply Export to HFZ any HFX effects from the previous version, and then double-click the .HFZ files after Studio 11 is installed to make sure they get installed in there.

By: Fred Lobster

Fred Lobster — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:42:35 +0000

I had a questions I was wondering if someone could answer. I was thinking about getting version 11 but wanted to know will graphic templates that I made in Studio 8 or 9 work with studio 11? I have a couple hundred graphics that I made to use for my reoccuring projects and just wanted to make sure that they would work with the new version.

Thanks

By: Bertrand-Pinnacle

Bertrand-Pinnacle — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:49:51 +0000

Robert G.,
I already heard about this problem with FRAPS. This tool is using a very specific AVI encoder and Studio does not support it actually very well. One solution reported by some other customers was to convert the FRAPS AVI using any converter (as Virtual Dub) to a more standard format as AVI DV and then you can edit the file in Studio.
Bertrand
Pinnacle Systems

By: Robert G.

Robert G. — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:16:11 +0000

I made a movie through FRAPS and when I try to open it in Studio 11 it doesn't work properly. I'm running it on Vista. The preview shows the video very pixallated or doesn't show at all while the timeline shows movement and sounds work. Tried different things, but it still comes down to it not working properly.