Pinnacle Studio 10---Arrrgh, what a piece of (expletive)!

[randalllewis]

I have used Studio since Version 7 came on a computer. It was the only valuable piece of shovelware on that particular PC.

I particularly like Studio's Smartsound feature which is just pretty darn cool. I think I've used every soundtrack option and I even bought more.

I updated to Studio 9 when it came out so I could make DVD's and have not had any issues with it at all. I've upgraded Version 9 to Studio Plus 9.4 and I think the added features are deceent.

With this background I purcahsed Studio 10 when it came out. After several months, Studio 10 has been removed from the computer and Version 9.4 reinstalled.

I have had nothing but trouble with Version 10. It crashes with great regularity, and it crashes more frequently depending on the size of your captured video. Don't you dare try to page back and forth through your scenes if your video is more than a few minutes. I was saving projects after every edit for a while (which is a pain in the rump) and I still lost everything with one really nasty crash.

After the program updated itself to Version 10.1, new issues developed. Video which previously played fine now jumps and jerks and freezes. I don't know if they fixed the crash problems, because after seeing the crappy playback, I decided not to use the program at all. I did do the usual stuff like update my video driver, etc, etc.

I just have to conclude that something bad happened at Pinnacle during its recent acquisition and the new owners shoved this product out the door before it was ready. My experience was so bad I would consider abandoning Studio completely, but I made the investment in both Versions 9 and 10 and I will try to get my money's worth from 9.

I was really dismayed to see that Microsoft has partnered with Pinnacle. CompUSA is selling a version of Microsoft's Digital Image Suite 10 that includes Studio 10. I've never seen Microsoft bundle someone else's software like this before. They will live to regret it.

[Jason Dunn]

I'd have to agree...I haven't tried v10 yet, but v9 gave me a lot of trouble. v8 was very solid for me, but it was hell for a lot of people. I think Pinnacle has great user interface figured out, but they seem to have a problem with creating stable code. I'm using Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0, and while it's not as user-friendly, it doesn't crash, so I feel like I'm ahead of the game.

[randalllewis]

One other major frustration with Studio Version 10 is the incredibly long time it takes to start. Honestly, programs on my old Atari 800 computer booting from 5.4 inch floppies began faster than Studio 10.

I know with all my complaints about Studio, it is a little nuts to complain how long a bad program took to start. As I write this I am reminded of the old Woody Allen joke about two old ladies in a restaurant. One says "the food here is terrible" and the other adds "yes, and such small portions."

[Jason Dunn]

One other major frustration with Studio Version 10 is the incredibly long time it takes to start.

Definitely....though I have to say that Premiere Elements 2.0 isn't all that much better, it's a bloated pig as well and takes too long to start.

[Don Tolson]

I'll agree with Jason here on it taking far too long to start up, but Elements 2.0 is a memory hog (don't expect to do any 'multi-tasking' unless you've got multi-Gb of memory! and dual-processors + a separate video card) but it is stable and generally does a pretty good job.

I tried Pinnacle v9 for about 3 months and gave up in total frustration. It was jerky, produced garbage output and crashed on the simpliest projects. Elements v1.0 was a breath of fresh air. I kind of like the user interface and it was really easy to get the results I wanted. And the output plays on anything.

I'm still working through 2.0, but it is stable and being able to pull off and work with stuff from my old DVD's is tremendous!