Pinnacle Strikes Again

I've been working on a project that has taken its toll. I'm within sight of the finish line. Over two months, a thousand pictures, a couple of videos (unfortunately not usable). Oh boy, but in a moment of weakness, I decided to use Pinnacle Studio 11 (Plus, ultimate, whatever bullshit name they put to it. I happened to think their titler works pretty well; and my list of credits grows with every project.

Anyway, I like to keep things simple so I used a 10-sec black AVI vid I've used for the last five years, okay? Pinnacle wouldn't open it. Pinnacle thinks there's something not right about that file. But the file works just fine in my Sony Movie Studio and in Adobe Premiere Pro. It views properly -- IWO, there's nothing wrong with that piece of footage. But Pinnacle doesn't like it.

Their first possible solution was -- get this -- uninstall and re-install Pinnacle. Guess what? I'll do the first part but no way am I re-installing that rat bastard.

Okay, while I'm good and pissed about Pinnacle, I might as well say a few things about Pinnacle Studio: I think that any company that uses the word "Ultimate" in their product name ought to provide the ultimate (another word for everything) package. All inclusive. No crap to put up with. What's with all these activation codes? I would expect there to be several hundred nice transitions. I would expect there to be a reasonable array of audio and video filters. But no, you have to purchase them -- give them even more money than their product is worth. Now, I'll give the other side too. They do provide a few fundamental transitions and a couple video effects. But the transitions have no life or punch to them. They look like 50's film editing technology.

Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate does provide ProDAD's Vitascene. I have had very little success at getting it to do anything but their sample stuff.

I also want to mention that Pinnacle's still animation is a joke. You get an in point and an out point. Nothing in-between. I think even Muvee gives more flexibility than that. If you are thinking of using an editor to do "slideshows" but DVD videos are so much more than a slideshow, scratch Pinnacle Studio 11 (any flavor) from your list.

My gripe is that they sell you a package -- more like a bill of goods. The application is unreliable, clumsy and definitely not intuitive. And they always want more money.

Next time, I want to talk about editors but from the budgetary point of view.

If anyone reads these posts, I'd really appreciate a response. I know I wander sometimes but we pro-am video dudes have to talk and exchange ideas. That's exactly what I'm promoting here.