Sony Video Capture at DVinfo.net

Steve Meyers · May 2nd, 2010, 08:46 AM

Good Morning Everyone !!!

I just purchased a Sony HDR CX550. I am looking for some video editing software and have tenatively chosen Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. I am having trouble verifiying if Studio will import the m2ts video file off the camcorder. If not, is there, and which software would you recomend?

TIA !!!

Randy Sanchez · May 2nd, 2010, 12:22 PM

I absolutely despise pinnacle.. No other company have i ever encountered where i have felt so ripped off as i did with them a few years back.. I swore to never touch another item of theirs again and after the experience i had with them and the repsonses i got, well it still burns in me.. I wont get into it any further you get my drift.. Just be prepared to get ripped off big time with their stuff.

I would recommend Sony Vegas, its easy to and fairly powerful.. Im not sure if the basic movie Studio version edits M2ts but id be willing to be it does since its made to work with the cameras like you bought..

Sony Creative Software - Vegas video - ACID & Sound Forge audio editing

Ron Evans · May 2nd, 2010, 01:13 PM

Use the Sony Motion Browser(SMBS) software that comes with the camera to import to the PC. This way you will avoid having to deal with FAT32 files as the SMBS will bring in clips as defined by start stop on the camera. This will give you a good archive in both folder and calender view. You can decide where to store the files within the application and then use them with any editing program on the PC. That way you can backup from this archive and know that you have a current backup. The SMBS will also do simple edits and make both AVCHD and SD DVD's. For a more comprehensive NLE I would try Edius Neo.
Ron Evans

Rainer Listing · May 2nd, 2010, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Sanchez

I absolutely despise pinnacle.

Sony Creative Software - Vegas video - ACID & Sound Forge audio editing

You are well and truly not alone. I hear from reviews that their latest offerings do work, but I am never going to take the risk of finding out.

Chris Barcellos · May 2nd, 2010, 06:02 PM

Lets call Pinnacle Studio by what it is intended to do: Provide consumer editing and transcoding to DVD, including a DVD menu creator. It is limited to just that. It actually does a decent job of providing a format for making DVDs.. (as of about 2 years) But it should not be confused with a full loaded professional editing program. Pinnacle has tried to resolve the limitation by selling additional plug ins and filters--- all adding extra cost to you.

Vegas, if you can adapt to its free wheeling nature, will provide much more capability. If you come from a kind of strict editing background like what comes with Adobe Premiere, or with Final Cut, it is harder to adapt to Vegas, which gives you about 3 or 4 ways to accomplish the thing thing. Because of that, and before laying out for Pro, you might want to consider Vegas Movie Studio, which is an entry level editor, that is scaled back in features, but has the same overall GUI.

Dale Guthormsen · May 3rd, 2010, 08:01 PM

Good evening,

I would second what Chris said!!

I moved from penicle to premiere elements to premeire pro to sony Vegas pro. It has much more depth and is truly a versatile and powerful program and edits almost anything!

Bill Koehler · May 3rd, 2010, 08:52 PM

I am another Pinnacle Studio Escapee spending time with Vegas Movie Studio 9 Pro Pack before I probably end up with Vegas Pro. I used Pinnacle Studio versions 7 - 11 and it seemed like endless pain to use a feature for the first time, and then embark on a voyage of discovery for all the workarounds it was going to take to really make it happen.

Even if Movie Studio is limited (Is it? Hey, it works!), I am so much happier. The lack of crashing, the predictability of getting exactly what you thought you were doing, of not having to endlessly flog a seemingly dead horse to get to the desired destination.

And for all that it does, Vegas's footprint on your system is a small fraction of Pinnacle Studio's.

George Muir · May 4th, 2010, 04:26 PM

I have used Pinnacle Studio for years, (currently Studio 14), and yes,..it does indeed import m2ts files.
If you like long rendering times, and constant crashing,..stick with Pinnacle. Honestly, I must be some kind of masochist to even still have that program on my computer. I have Sony Vegas Pro 9 also and it's a joy to use after using Pinnacle.

I downloaded a trial version of CyberLink PowerDirector 8 a couple days ago just to see how it would import and render m2ts files. Soooo much better than Pinnacle. I TRIED to make it crash,..and couldn't. I imported m2ts files..added color corrections, light changes, particles,..transitions,..music files, audio files..etc etc....everything I could throw at it...and the program performed flawlessly. Zipped right through it in 1/10th the time Pinnacle would. I created several different files (avi,wmv,avchd, etc)...burned a few discs, and it performed quickly and with no crashes. If you're looking for a program to do just basic editing and effects, I would highly recommend that one.

May 2nd, 2010, 08:46 AM	#1
Steve Meyers Tourist Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1	Sony Video Capture Good Morning Everyone !!! I just purchased a Sony HDR CX550. I am looking for some video editing software and have tenatively chosen Pinnacle Studio Ultimate. I am having trouble verifiying if Studio will import the m2ts video file off the camcorder. If not, is there, and which software would you recomend? TIA !!!

May 2nd, 2010, 06:02 PM	#5
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Lets call Pinnacle Studio by what it is intended to do: Provide consumer editing and transcoding to DVD, including a DVD menu creator. It is limited to just that. It actually does a decent job of providing a format for making DVDs.. (as of about 2 years) But it should not be confused with a full loaded professional editing program. Pinnacle has tried to resolve the limitation by selling additional plug ins and filters--- all adding extra cost to you. Vegas, if you can adapt to its free wheeling nature, will provide much more capability. If you come from a kind of strict editing background like what comes with Adobe Premiere, or with Final Cut, it is harder to adapt to Vegas, which gives you about 3 or 4 ways to accomplish the thing thing. Because of that, and before laying out for Pro, you might want to consider Vegas Movie Studio, which is an entry level editor, that is scaled back in features, but has the same overall GUI. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 3rd, 2010, 08:01 PM	#6
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	Good evening, I would second what Chris said!! I moved from penicle to premiere elements to premeire pro to sony Vegas pro. It has much more depth and is truly a versatile and powerful program and edits almost anything! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

May 3rd, 2010, 08:52 PM	#7
Bill Koehler Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Alpharetta, Georgia, USA Posts: 760	Pinnacle Studio...You Can't Be Serious...No! No! No! I am another Pinnacle Studio Escapee spending time with Vegas Movie Studio 9 Pro Pack before I probably end up with Vegas Pro. I used Pinnacle Studio versions 7 - 11 and it seemed like endless pain to use a feature for the first time, and then embark on a voyage of discovery for all the workarounds it was going to take to really make it happen. Even if Movie Studio is limited (Is it? Hey, it works!), I am so much happier. The lack of crashing, the predictability of getting exactly what you thought you were doing, of not having to endlessly flog a seemingly dead horse to get to the desired destination. And for all that it does, Vegas's footprint on your system is a small fraction of Pinnacle Studio's. Last edited by Bill Koehler; May 3rd, 2010 at 09:01 PM. Reason: Better phrasing

May 2nd, 2010, 12:22 PM	#2
Randy Sanchez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 109	I absolutely despise pinnacle.. No other company have i ever encountered where i have felt so ripped off as i did with them a few years back.. I swore to never touch another item of theirs again and after the experience i had with them and the repsonses i got, well it still burns in me.. I wont get into it any further you get my drift.. Just be prepared to get ripped off big time with their stuff. I would recommend Sony Vegas, its easy to and fairly powerful.. Im not sure if the basic movie Studio version edits M2ts but id be willing to be it does since its made to work with the cameras like you bought.. Sony Creative Software - Vegas video - ACID & Sound Forge audio editing

May 2nd, 2010, 01:13 PM	#3
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Use the Sony Motion Browser(SMBS) software that comes with the camera to import to the PC. This way you will avoid having to deal with FAT32 files as the SMBS will bring in clips as defined by start stop on the camera. This will give you a good archive in both folder and calender view. You can decide where to store the files within the application and then use them with any editing program on the PC. That way you can backup from this archive and know that you have a current backup. The SMBS will also do simple edits and make both AVCHD and SD DVD's. For a more comprehensive NLE I would try Edius Neo. Ron Evans

May 4th, 2010, 04:26 PM	#8
George Muir Tourist Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Indio Ca. Posts: 2	I have used Pinnacle Studio for years, (currently Studio 14), and yes,..it does indeed import m2ts files. If you like long rendering times, and constant crashing,..stick with Pinnacle. Honestly, I must be some kind of masochist to even still have that program on my computer. I have Sony Vegas Pro 9 also and it's a joy to use after using Pinnacle. I downloaded a trial version of CyberLink PowerDirector 8 a couple days ago just to see how it would import and render m2ts files. Soooo much better than Pinnacle. I TRIED to make it crash,..and couldn't. I imported m2ts files..added color corrections, light changes, particles,..transitions,..music files, audio files..etc etc....everything I could throw at it...and the program performed flawlessly. Zipped right through it in 1/10th the time Pinnacle would. I created several different files (avi,wmv,avchd, etc)...burned a few discs, and it performed quickly and with no crashes. If you're looking for a program to do just basic editing and effects, I would highly recommend that one.