A couple ??s from an S8 user.

Shaz wrote on 12/31/2003, 10:46 AM
Hi there.

I've been using Pinnacle S8 for the past several months, and haven't really had too many problems with it (though I realize many do). But finding out about this program has made me consider switching to use it, as some of the features sound really nice. I won't have a chance to try out the demo for a while, so in the meantime I've skimmed through the manual, but I'm still not sure about some things and would appreciate some feedback.

I understand there are two video tracks, the main video and a video overlay. Can these two tracks be used to do A/B rolling, with the audio from one track essentially locked while the video from the two tracks are mixed and cut in at different points?

I didn't notice anything in the manual about titling. What are the titling capabilities?

Apparently there is no menu/chapter creation capability without some workarounds, and the included DVD authoring program has gotten many bad reviews, but presumably I could export everything out of Screenblaster as an AVI, and then bring that AVI into Studio 8 and do the DVD authoring and rendering with menus/chapters in there, right?

Thanks,
Shaz

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 12/31/2003, 11:08 AM

Shaz--

Well, not only does Screenblast MovieStudio have two live video tracks, which are ideal for AB rolling, but the latest version has added a THIRD live video track! And, if you're like me, you'll find plenty of use for it.

There are also several other features that make tihs program perform almost like a prosumer level editor, including chromakey, pan/zoom, picture-in-picture.

And, yes, it does titling too. Rolling titles, fade-in/fade-out titles, zoom-in titles, fly-by titles. Nothing as cool as Star Wars titling, but almost everything else (since the titles can also be combined with some very nice video effects).

If there's a weaknes with the DVD authoring program bundled with MS3, it's that it's not very sophisticated. But it works fine for basic DVD authoring.

But, should you decide to use another DVD program (even Studio 8) MS3 will easily produce AVIs that you can open in other editors and other DVD authoring apps.

Lots of people are discovering this little gem of a program. For under $100, you really can't beat it!
Shaz wrote on 12/31/2003, 11:26 AM
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I was aware of the chroma and pan effects, and that's what initially got my attention when I read about them in another forum, but I wanted to check on these other things.

Boy, if I had this program a few months ago I could have saved myself hours of work. A/B rolling is possible with Studio 8, but only in a workaround kind of way that is both very time-consuming and not nearly as easy to do as when you can have two (or three!) video tracks visible next to eachother. I was doing a 2 1/2 hour project with A/B throughout. Oh, well...

Odd that there's nothing in the manual (unless I missed it) about titling, but perhaps it's intuitively figured out well enough in the program itself. I'm not worried about being able to use it, but I was just wondering if there even was any titling capability.

Anyway... It looks like I'll be much better off with this program, and as long as I can export to AVI to use something else for menus and DVDs, then that's fine. I'm looking forward to trying the demo!

Regards,
Shaz
mmreed wrote on 12/31/2003, 1:43 PM
Shaz:

You'll be happy you switched. If youve been reading the studio8 forums, youve seen some of my posts there <grin>

mountcon wrote on 1/2/2004, 12:15 PM
Mind if I ask a stupid question? I'm discarding my Studio 8 as it has given me nothing but problems. It doesn't work and their support staff quit responding to my requests for help. I don't see the voluminous postings in this forum complaining about Movie Studio, so I'm seriously considering it. My question, when I purchased Studio 8 it came with a PCI card that I could capture video from an analog VCR. Does movie studio come with a similar device, or is that something that I'll have to purchase separately?
mountcon wrote on 1/2/2004, 12:15 PM
Mind if I ask a stupid question? I'm discarding my Studio 8 as it has given me nothing but problems. It doesn't work and their support staff quit responding to my requests for help. I don't see the voluminous postings in this forum complaining about Movie Studio, so I'm seriously considering it. My question, when I purchased Studio 8 it came with a PCI card that I could capture video from an analog VCR. Does movie studio come with a similar device, or is that something that I'll have to purchase separately?
mmreed wrote on 1/2/2004, 1:08 PM
Pinnacle hardware is proprietary - they design it so that it cannot be used with any other editing app other than their own. I was in the same boat - I owned Studio Deluxe which came with a PCI card and even a breakout box that connected to it so I could set it on my desk and have the inputs there...however none of Pinnacles hardware will work outside their own product line.

If you want to use Movie Studio, you will need to capture via firewire for DV, or if you need analog input, you will need a capture device - that’s where canopus comes in.

Canopus also has a bundled solution called Lets Edit RT+ which has the hardware and the editing software - I hear the software is pretty good. I have not seen it, so I cannot say if it is better than Movie Studio or not. I prefer to stick with Movie Studio since it is the Lite version of Vegas, one of the industry standards and giants among videographers.

I use the Canopus ADVC1394 card. It captures analog (does not output to analog). If you need analog output, you will need to look atone of the other ADVC line of products..maybe the 100 or 300.
Steve Grisetti wrote on 1/2/2004, 2:33 PM
What mmreed says is true, if you bought the analogue version of Studio that came with Pinnacle analogue capture cards.

On the other hand, the firewire card that comes bundled with Studio's DV version is OHCI compliant and will work with MS3.
Galeng wrote on 1/2/2004, 3:39 PM
Hi,

Ijust happened to stop by this forum and saw your post and looked at ScreenBlast features. It appears to be much like Vegas 4.0.

You'll be happy you made the change. I went from Studio 8 to Vegas 4.0 about 6 months ago. Totally different ball game. Stability is the key word. And you can do so many thing, soo much easier than in Studio.

Studio still has its DVD authoring going for it. I am using DVD Workshop now and trying to learn it. But for speed and ease, I import my AVI clips into Studio and do the DVD authoring and burning from there.

Good luck. I am sure you will have no regrets about making a change.

Galen