Looking for a good (easy to use) editing program that does more. . .

[Chris Mier]

I am looking for a program that gives me more options. I am currently running Pinnacle Studio 12. I cannot figure out how to crop the video. Is that even possible with Studio? Is there a better program out there that allows me to at least crop the image? I would prefer one that did nto break the bank, just yet!

[Bruce Foreman]

Click on the "Toolbox" tab and on the dropdown menu click on "add video effects". This may require you have the "plus" version that lets you use a second video track.

From the resulting options click on "Studio plus RTFX" and then select "Picture-in-Picture". Use the vert an horiz postion sliders to take the image to 0 and 0 (center position), then adjust the size with the next two sliders until the frame is filled, and follow that with further size adjustment and cropping adjustment with the next 4-5 sliders.

If you have only the basic version 12 then you need to upgrade to the plus version, shouldn't cost much more. Remember, if you are cropping from standard def DV video you cannot do much without rapidly losing sharpness, definition, clarity etc. If you are cropping HDV or AVCHD HD you do have more leeway. Other editing programs won't do much more for you in this area.

My main use of cropping on DV video has been to attempt to convert 4:3 to 16:9 widescreen. I put up with a slight detail loss (due to enlargement) to be able to use some old footage with newer stuff (at one point I had decided to shoot no more 4:3 even before I went HD) and I'm probably the only one who really notices.

Once I went all HD the only cropping I needed to do was where "overscan" (the viewfinder and LCD not showing all the lens sees) didn't show me the suspended mic edging into the top of the frame or the flower petal hood on a wide angle vignetting in the very corners. So a little bit of cropping helped there.

For Studio 11 and 12 I had ordered the Ultimate version, but never got around to installing the Ultimate content, so in effect I am running the plus version. I find this to be a very capable package taking one from capture to the computer, through editing, and providing all of the output options I need including DVD authoring and several computer file formats. It's always seemed to give me more "bang for my buck".

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Chris Mier

I am looking for a program that gives me more options. I am currently running Pinnacle Studio 12. I cannot figure out how to crop the video. Is that even possible with Studio? Is there a better program out there that allows me to at least crop the image? I would prefer one that did nto break the bank, just yet!

Try the trial version of Vegas Movie Studio, or Vegas Pro.

[Battle Vaughan]

You might like Adobe Premiere Elements, it does what you want with no bother and has all the video and audio tracks you might want...it does not have all the pre-made content and third party effects that Studio has but in my experience is far more stable to use.

We are teaching it to some of our reporters who may have to do a quick interview and edit in the field, and it is well received.

I had no end of problems with Studio, which was my first NLE, and gave it up in frustration at its constant instability, a problem I did not encounter with Premiere Elements, but I defer to Bruce on this as it must be working for him....I have since moved on to Premiere Pro CS4 and find it remarkably similar to Elements in the user interface.../Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team

[Chris Mier]

Battle,

What do you mean by stability/instability with the programs?
I am very new here (and new to video) and I am really enjoying all of the advice here.


I also have Avid liquid 7.2, this program seems very technical. I am sure that once I learn it I will love it, but right now trying to learn it is another story . . . any suggestions from anyone out there? Is there a good tutorial out there or something?

Chris

[Battle Vaughan]

Chris, sorry for the tardy reply, I've been on a project last few days...what I mean, without flaming anybody's favorite product, is in my experience with it, Pennicle Studio crashes, burns, hangs, fails, and the only tech support advice you get is to completely uninstall and re-install. Look at the user forums at Pinnacle Systems and you'll see.

Not to rant, but I ****canned Studio and it's cousin (same engine) Avid Liquid 7. There are people who LOVE these programs, but I found them viciously unreliable. (I am a Final Cut professional, but bought these for my personal PC to have something at home to play with). I gave up on 'em, bought Adobe Premiere Elements to get a taste of Premiere, and it worked. So I bought Premiere Pro and am a happy puppy. Your mileage may vary, etc. Now, Pinnacle has a lot of filters and corny artwork and a lot of stuff they they try to sell you as extra content, and if you need that, they have a lot of it. PE has a lot of consumer content but not a huge amount of it compared to Studio, if you need that sort of thing. Hope this helps some.../B Vaughan

PS: Avid, now Pinnacle, Liquid is an end-of-life program with no further updates expected, according to the Liquid site at Pinnacle forums. Last I looked there was talk of a new product altogether as a replacement. I found the user interface tedious, inefficient and frustrating but that's just me. As I say, these Pinnacle programs, which are very similar under the hood, have a ferverent niche following. You may get along fine. NLE's all do pretty much the same functions, some just work more reliably with a given system -- or owner --- than others, and that is a frequent topic of debate here. /bv

[Ervin Farkas]

I would take a close look at Edius, for at least three reasons: it's reliability and hardware independence is legendary, works a lot like PremPro (interface and general workflow), and the full version is available for a trial download for 30 days.