Customer Reviews
Do not buy this!! 
2007-07-12
The reviews are accurate. I used it for the first time this morning and it has crashed with blue screen EVERY time. Biggest waste of money I have spent so far on video editing. Believe the reviews!!!
Poor quality output. 2007-06-02
Video output at 100% quality is pixellated. The product mangles the raw footage when it brings it in. I have a Sony HD camcorder FX1 and it takes remarkable video. It might as well be a $500.00 el cheapo because of what Pinnacle does to it upon rendering.
Would rate it lower than 1 if I could. 2007-05-16
WORST... SOFTWARE... EVER! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME LIKE MYSELF AND SO MANY OTHER POOR SOULS DID! Read the reviews, cnet also. Go to the Pinnacle Support User Forum Site (pinnaclesys dot com) and read the countless people who can't get it to work.
This software just doesn't work, end of story. You will be more upset about your time wasted than your money, buy anything but this. Render error, render error, render error... you will have nightmares about crashes and render errors, no wait, they are real. The only person who should buy this is the smart lawyer who is going to start the class action lawsuit against Pinnacle for selling us something that is not even beta quality, it is pure crapware, try to make anything longer than 20 minutes with transitions and it does not work, period.
Like the Plague 2007-05-03
I wanted PC videocapture to record shows and VHS conversions, and I owned the Pinnaclesys PCI card and the USB (silver blue) hardware; I used Studio Plus 9.4 and 10.5.
I finally gave up on the USB box and Studo 10.5 on my P4 and went back to the previous 9.4, the only version that would halfway work; I used the PCI card with the red breakout box. Half the time the sound and video would be off, but I managed to re-edit the timelines. I spent 2 years with this product (Studio 9.4) and it worked, but 10.5 was buggy as all heck and unusable even with all the patches.
In short while the Pinnacle hardware PCI card was ok, the software was a complete disaster, and other programs like Premiere Elements wouldn't read the MPeg files created by Pinnacle or else the sound was a mile off.
I finally last month bought a Hauppauge USB Personal Video Recorder and tossed all my Pinnaclesys stuff in the dumpster (sorry, landfill!) I didn't want to even sell it for peanuts because that would be like selling a cheap car that would injure someone. With Ulead Studio plus, the Hauppauge is a dream come true comparatively.
My advice is, shun any Pinnaclesys product like the plague, unless you enjoy beating yourself up with inferior products. They keep releasing new versions that don't work or are worse than the previous versions.
Don't give up hope 
2007-04-30
Like many other users who suffered through Studio 9 and the patches, I was looking for another program. I endured countless crashes and freezes in the past while spending hours of my life editing. I was about to give up, when I bought Studio 10.5 last month. After updating it to 10.7 online I have had no problems at all. From simple to huge builds, the program hasn't crashed once and burns every time. I was looking at spending $1000's to get a new computer, but the Studio 10.5 saved me the trouble . I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes their Studio 9 and doesn't want to learn a new product.
Pinnacle's slogan should be "This is idiot proof software".... 2007-04-09
With Studio Plus Titanium, you'll have a complete library of video tools to make any home video and audio footage into a sharp, professional-quality presentation -- or even a feature-length film. An intuitive three-step process captures videos from a wide assortment of popular video devices, while the powerful search engine ensures video captures are done quickly. Work with your HDV, DivX and DVD footage, and add up to 45 unique effects to make your video stand out. Output options have also expanded beyond the traditional DVD players into the Web and onto mobile video players. New output options increase the number of ways home movies can be shared Capture video from many popular sources and formats, including the latest consumer cameras and devices Import videos from non-encrypted DVD's for added enhancement and re-mastering Compatible with many mobile video players, such Apple iPod video and Sony PSP
High Price & Low Quality 
2007-04-04
I have Sony camcorder that create AVCHD files. Thus, in order to burn to regular DVD I have to convert to mpeg2 files. After I converted all the files and used this software to burn it. It stopped 4 or 5 times and I had to give up. The files are still on my computer and I don't know what to do with them now.
A few other projects I had done successfully with this software. However, I think I need another software beside this to edit my DVD since I don't 100% trust this software.
What you pay here is very basic video editting. You will have to buy/upgrade for 5.1 channels and other features. Don't expect too much from this program.
Bloatware 2007-03-24
This is the biggest piece of bloatware I've ever seen. Just to give you an idea of how bloated this is, it installs its own copy of SQL Server (which by the way might screw up your existing SQL Server installations like it did mine). Whoever was the 'architect' for this product should be fired asap.
Pinnacle or Nadir? 2007-02-13
Among stiff competition, this has to be a contender for the worst software ever, particularly in its price category. Almost nothing works, options are preset and cannot be changed. For example, if you use a separate HD you cannot select it as an option. Forget about the monikers 'plus' and 'special' with 'extras'. If the package I got indeed comes with 'extras' the bare-bones software must consist only of an opening screen that says, "got you sucker...one born every minute". The software is counter-intuitive, doesn't actually work and it is very time consuming to establish this. If you bought it, uninstall it, toss it and cut your losses and buy something else. This will drive you to drink.
Downgrade form Studio 9!! 2007-01-24
Studio 9 worked but would occasionally crash. Thought I'd upgrade to 10.6. Installed the program, which took forever. Then installed the patch. Then installed the new driver. Now it will not show transition thumbnails, so it is like playing "Concentration" trying to remember which blank square holds which transition. Then, it refused to remove clips from the timeline, despite the fact that they were deleted from playback. It just made a frameshift, so that the timeline no longer matched playback. Then, it would not show any thumbnails in the timeline except those originally visible.
Don't waste your money. I may re-install Studio 9 or just bite the bullet and learn to use the more difficult but more predictable interface of Premiere Elements. Studio 10 is a very disappointing product.
