When it comes to editing video at home, there's
no product better than Pinnacle Systems'
Pinnacle Studio version 8.0. The product
maintains everything that was strong in the prior
version (our review of version 7.0), which includes
powerful video-editing and enhancement tools and
an intuitive interface. In version 8.0, the product
adds integrated DVD/VCD/SVCD creation tools
and real-time transcoding from DV to MPEG2,
which make it easier and faster to burn video onto
discs. While the new features are useful, they aren't
enough to warrant an upgrade from all users.

Studio 8 maintains the intuitive storyboard and timeline functions that let users easily organize and edit video clips and it continues to offer excellent titling and audio-editing features. We particularly like the program's ability to adjust sound volumes on tracks and create music that exactly fits the duration of a video segment to a tee.

While most video-editing programs ask users to handle video-editing and disc-authoring as separate steps, Studio 8 offers a seamless editing/authoring environment. It can create Hollywood-style DVDs that have menus, looping background music, moving video backgrounds and moving video in the menu buttons. Users can also create multiple linked and nested menus for complex interactivity and finished projects may be burned to a DVD or CD by clicking the Make Disc tab and selecting the VCD, SVCD, or DVD options.

Without a doubt, Pinnacle Studio version 8.0 remains the best video-editing software on the market for entry-level users. It's not necessarily worth the upgrade for current users of version 7.0. But if you're looking for video-editing software, look no further than Pinnacle Studio.

Studio 8 - $99

4/2/03 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff

video-editing - Pinnacle's Studio 8