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"Didn't work for me" on by arcanjl
Pros: I have no idea
Cons: Built for New computers only
Summary: Here is my story:
First let me start by saying that I have used Pinnacle Studio since Version 6. Here is a run down:
Version 6 $80
Version 7 Upgrade ($80)
Version 8 Upgrade ($80)
Version 9 Upgrade ($80)
Misc add-ons ($50) (i.e., still picture panning)
Version 9 Plus ($50) (Includes Still Picture Panning)
I was just about to go to version 10. In all this time, I thought that I loved this program. It crashed all the time, films came out wrong, but overall – I still loved it, made great films with it, just taught me patience. Even upgraded my computer and software (operating system) just for it. I am really big into video editing, I have over 600G of Hard drive filled with AVI – and I do it semi pro. (I would be the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn) So let me go on…
Recently I have had some real problems, the videos were losing sound, just randomly, in the middle it will play for 3 seconds and then go a way. I always use Window Movie maker as a back to test my AVI’s and it didn’t have a problem. After a month of trying to get help from Pinnacle (again – they suck – I have gone through this in all my versions for one thing or another – but I don’t know if any other company is better), I decided that the thing to do (as always) is upgrade. But I was tired of it, so I started researching, and reading, and researching, and reading. Let me start off by saying Thank You for Trial Versions!!! After all the reading and reviews, and more reading I wanted to try an other program – seeing that there were other people unhappy with Pinnacle too – made me feel better. The 3 I chose to try (and the ALL had trial versions) were:
Cyberlink PowerDirector
Ulead Video Studio 9
Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0
Adobe seemed the most promising, but guess what – won’t work on my system. I read that but hoped it wasn’t true, so downloaded the 100MB Trial, and yep – won’t work. Even thought about upgrading my system for it, but decided (being not made of money) that I could not afford a $250 upgrade for a $100 program. In time I will have to upgrade anyway – so forget it. Thanks adobe! - NOT. (I have an AMD 2600)
Cyberlink was the one I was most hopeful about – It took me a half a day to realize I would rather stick with Pinnacle! There were not as many options, and not as intuitive, and some things were just too dang simple. And all their wizards made me feel like an idiot. Not to mention, the playback was crap, and the rendering was slow,) slower than Pinnacle – which I could not believe!) and the end product was crap too. After that I thought I was sticking with Pinnacle.
But what the hell, I will try Ulead. Yes Baby! What a program. It is simpler, but not stupid. It had every option Pinnacle had (and even the picture panning was fantastic!). It allows you to use smart sound technology, and filter out the ones you have with the ones you need to buy – none of the others did that – it was SUCH a pain – but Ulead – a simple snap! The Transitions were awesome (and even has a fade to black then next scene which Cyberlink didn’t!) What else, the capturing, and importing were fast and flawless, and the rendering was incredible! I couldn’t believe that I was banging my head the whole time with pinnacle. It even adjusted your screen (unlike Pinnacle that made it stay at 1280 x 1024). Everything I thought it couldn’t do – I figured out how to in less than 5 min after looking for it. The only thing I didn’t like was (minor) the lack of DVD menus – but I think that is because it was the downloadable trial. I don’t know for sure. This had features I only dreamt of too! Quick DVD’s fro DV – that is great those visiting guests - Burning only your audio, or EVEN ADDING TRACKS FROM A PREVIOUS BURNT DVD! – FREAKING AWESOME. I am purchasing this program, and never looking back. I could go on and on – but let me just end it with this:
Download the trials – and try it out for yourself. I believe that Cyberlink is good for fast editing, and Novices.
Adobe – No Idea.
Pinnacle – The Masochist.
Ulead – for me.
I hope that this helps some of you in your decision. – Good Luck! -
"Only truly supported input video format is DV AVI" on by SteveMak
Pros: Intuitive user interface, good DVD output, intuitive and convenient workflow, fully integrated with all components, professional Timeline paradigm can play with the pros, up to 99 video tracks!
Cons: Slow transcoding to DVD, only truly supported input video format is DV AVI, limited video effects, you need to buy Photoshop Elements to edit DVD menu template or create new ones
Summary: Premiere Elements 2.0 is a very capable video editing suite with strengths in user interface, workflow, stability, and Timeline editing that compares with the best professional apps, all while offering the ease-of-use that is expected in consumer-grade applications.
Although Adobe claims to support a variety of input video formats, only one (1) format, that being DV AVI (and it must be captured by Premiere Elements 2) can guarantee that it will work. Other formats or variations, though said to be "supported" by Adobe, are a matter of luck, being problematic or virtually impossible to use (visit Forums at www.adobe.com for details).
Conclusions: If your only source of video is your compatible DV camcorder, then you'll get satisfying results. If you plan to use other types of video in Premiere Elements, and you want to do it reliably, another tool is more appropriate -
"Best Video Editing Package In Price Range" on by chuckmsp
Pros: There is nothing you can't do with this software from simple slide shows to major productions
Cons: There is nothing I need that it doesn't have or do.
Summary: Moved up from V1 to V2 and I am even more please with this newest version. From importing video from DVDs to burning high quality DVDs, there is no better NLE out there, even at the $250.00 range. I have tried 6 other video editing programs and none come close. If you would like to see examples of what you can do with Premiere Elements check out some samples here;
http://www.chuckengels.com/PremierVideo
Click on the user name links. -
"Good program with some precautions" on by garrydelozier
Pros: Does what it says, very intuitive, reliable editor
Cons: Apple iMovie is better, all video clips play slow, import is even slower
Summary: I had a really old Imac 400mhz last year and the iMovie in that version could process videos FASTER than this program can on my new 3 gig-hertz Pentium 4 with hyper threading. If you can bear killing an hour per project to import the video and the VERY choppy video, all else works great. Worth the price I paid - $90 with the $30 rebate. I suggest getting AT LEAST 1.5 gigs of ram and a 256mb video card. My 128 mb card and 1 gig of ram isn't helping the video refresh rate. Good luck picking a program that suits your needs.
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"This thing is great, so would the people who are giving it ones, twos, and fives please shut up?" March 10, 2006 by FatherLeimeisei
Pros: Low price, easy DVD editing, tons of audio/video tracks
Cons: There are some minor bugs that I have noticed.
Summary: Do you know whats wrong with you people who rate this bad? You got these low-end computers with like 256 mb RAM and these old Pentium 2s and you expect this to work. That, or you are just dumb when it comes to technology and you are one of those people who goes and brags to other people about how you have a cool program called Windows Movie Maker (No seriously i have seen people do that. Sad isnt it.) Anyway, even with Pinnacle and those other ones, you are gonna need at least 512 MB RAM (but i suggest a gig or more). And you will need a Pentium 4 if you want it to work at the full potential. This is all for editing convenience. I mean come on, this thing must be thousands of times better than Pinnacle Studio 10. I saw it this way. I bought Pinnacle Studio 10 cause I wanted that set that came with the Composite video hookup thing. I was expecting much more than what the thing gave me. It crashed every time i pressed the DVD Menus button in the editing section, and it seems that everything there couldnt be used without me upgrading to Plus. Why did they even release the standard version? You cant do anything on it. So i went and downloaded the trial of this thing, and It was so much better than PS10 that I bought it. At least Adobe didnt use this program to advertise Premiere Pro!
Adobe Premiere Elements 2 user reviews
