Pinnacle Studio Plus Version 11 [OLD VERSION]

Customer Reviews

Drivers Programmed to Stop Functioning After Two Years

2008-07-29
Pinnacle's Serial Numbers and Activation Keys expire after two years.

This applies to all Pinnacle software, not just software downloaded online. Activation Keys bought online AND Serial Numbers for software bought in retail stores only work for two years.

It's in the fine print - which you can't even see until you rip open the box (thereby forfeiting your right to a refund) and click the "Yes, I Agree" button during installation.

If you have to reinstall the program (or any part of it) two years and a day after buying it, you will have to completely repurchase the software.

What's especially fishy about Pinnacle is how it will suddenly start crashing at 2 years after initial installation. My video drivers stopped working at a point, I'd later realize, coincident with the 2 year anniversary of my having installed the Pinnacle software.

In trying to fix the suspiciously-timed program crash I was mystified to learn that a number clearly printed on a CD sleeve was suddenly "Not a Valid Serial Number." The Activation Keys I'd bought online, and had on file, were suddenly incorrect.

I contacted Pinnacle, who informed me of the two year statement in the agreement. Here is an excerpt from their email:

"The reason you are not able to obtain a redownload of your purchase is
that the Extended Download Service was not purchased with your download
and the time to purchase this service has expired. Unfortunately, this
means that in order to obtain the product, you will need to repurchase
it."

Keep in mind - I was asking Pinnacle for no software. All I needed was a Serial Number and Activation Keys, because the Serial Number printed on the CD sleeve itself, and the Activation Keys I'd received two years earlier no longer worked.

Just something you might want to keep in mind before buying Pinnacle software.

Good editor, bad file conversion

2008-07-08
This program has a good editor for HD video. However, the file managment of this software going cfrom the camera to the computer, and file conversion from DVI to Window Media Player video is terrible. A ten minute video may take 30 minutes to upload. A file conversion from DVI to Window Media Player video can take hours. Very difficlt to be prodcutive with this software with HD video.

This product came a long way

2008-07-05
I've had several versions of this program and I'll tell you, having computer technical skills is a plus. However this version seems to be a lot more stable than the previous ones, the program is easy to learn but there is one problem I am currently working with, if I burn directly to a DVD, the finished product has no sound. I want to attempt a reinstall but I'm afraid to. My work around is to burn first to a video folder, then I use ImgBurn (a shareware) to burn the DVD, but other than that it's fast and easy.
My system: Asus Cosshair, AMD 64X2 Dual 6000, 4G ram
I'm not sure about jumping to version 12 I'm thinking more adobe if a reinstall doesn't work whenever I get around to it. . . nuf said.

Review update 8 Aug 2008
I brought the LG GGW-H20L Super Multi Blue - Blu-ray Disc Burner / HD DVD-ROM Drive w/ Lightscribe and it came with a blue ray/HD testing software for your computer to see if it's up to standard to play blue ray and according to the test, remarkably blue playing does require quite a bit of computing power including good processer, memory, graphic card and monitor. The graphic output along with the computer monitor also should have the new HDMI interface and for commercial movies should also support HDCP (High bandwidth Digital Content Protection) as some movies may not be viewable without it.
But the good news is I have burnt a few single and double layer disks onto the new BD for testing purposes and they burnt with sound without reinstalling Pinnacle 11. Pinnacle I found is also keeping up with the changes including vista and BD support (ver. 12). My future budget planes are now leaning more toward Pinnacle ver. 12 as I slowly migrate toward HD burning.

Beware

2008-06-23
Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! Beware! I can't say it enough.

This is the first review I have ever posted, because I need to warn everyone not to buy this.

Only buy this product if you want crashes, frustration, to reinstall your entire system, poor customer support, and to waste a lot of time, lose a lot of work.

I have spent over a week of work time trying to get this to work, as a solo business owner this has cost me a lot, in both time and money, trying to produce a DVD for students.

Pinnacle should not be allowed to sell this product, and they should be embarressed to do so.

It won't even uninstall properly, after running all the uninstall programs, (inculding one you have to download) it leaves 43.5MB of files and data on your pc. Hah! try and delete those if you can!

Unable to run application even though meets requirements

2008-06-10
I cannot recommend this product to anyone who has Windows XP. My system meets all requirements specified. For the past 4 weeks I have been trying to get Pinnacle Support to help me just to get this application to run. I get the message that my display adapter cannot be used for 3D display and when I press ok on this message, I get an Application Error window. When I press ok, the application itself disappears. I checked for the latest Graphics Display driver and I have the latest and I have installed the latest patch by Pinnacle with no positive results. I have even disabled the Virus and Security Software and that has not helped. I basically have wasted the $80.00 that I paid for this application.

Pinnacle bullies other software out of activated device menu.

2008-05-29
Pinnacle Studio Plus Version 11, the newest edition of the best-selling editing software, is all about innovation. It provides users with a complete set of both automated and advanced video editing tools in an easy-to-use interface. This full-featured, accessible tool helps video fans tap into the latest technologies -- without compromising ease of use. The scalable user interface is perfect for working on today's wide screen monitors. Pinnacle Studio Plus includes the latest technology such as a complete HD workflow, with native HDV and AVCHD editing, and HD DVD format disc burning. Improved performance and speed, a sleek new user interface, Hi-Fi audio music generation and automatic Web publishing also come together in Studio Plus Version 11, for a video editing experience like never before. Advanced editing, effects, and integrated DVD authoring, all within an intuitive interface Master sophisticated video effects like HD editing, custom key frames, Surround Sound editing,graphic overlays, scrolling titles, Picture-in-Picture or ChromaKey Windows Vista compatible

Would not load on my computer

2008-05-25
I am using Windows XP with SP3. This software would hang during install with no message. I went to Pinnacle's website and did all that they claim would fix installation with SP3 and still was not able to load the software. This included removing my old Studio 9 and doing recommended registry clean. I had studio 9 and 10 and terrible problems hanging during editing and rendering. I bought this because reviews said it was much more stable. Didn't even get out of the gate!

Pinnacle Studio Plus - STAY AWAY

2008-05-15
After having Studio 9 and dealing with latency issues galore.... I upgraded to Studio Plus 11. WOW is this horrible. The editing issue has been fixed, it only took a couple of years, but now there are issues with DVD burning from the program itself. It really is horrible. I've spent the last 5 hours trying to fix this, on the phone with Tech support for over an hour and a half and then they hung up on me... and still no resolution STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!!!

Pinnacle Studio Plus Version 11

2008-04-23
I have used Pinnacle for digital video editing since Version 8 and I have found this version to be very acceptable for editing. Its greatest assest is ease of use.

Don't buy this software!!!!

2008-04-13
If I could give it a zero star rating, I would. It is a horrible program. It keeps freezing on me all the time, I could not finish editing one single movie since I owe it, I am returning this to Amazon. A huge waste of money and your time.