Ulead or Pinnacle?

[weshuang]

Hi, I just bought a Canon camcorder that has a rebate to get Pinnacle 8, but I also bought a Pyro firewire card that I believe comes with Ulead. I'm planning on doing only simple archiving to DVD, and am a total newbie. Which software would anyone recommend I use?

[ptmurphy]

You should try them both an see which you like.

Pinnacle software has a lot of features and is easy to use. The only caveate is that it is buggy for a lot of people. I have been lucky and and the software works good for me. Your mileage may vary.

I have personally not been a huge fan of ULead products, as I don't care for the interface tht much, but that is personal preference.

[pepegot1]

Ulead is more stable. Pinnacle is too proprietary. I agree the the above reply. I tried them both and Ulead won easily. PS-too buggy.

[mustang581]

The pinnacle version offered on the Canon is listed as Pinnacle 8 SE.
Is this a full version or simplied one.. I don't know? I just thought I would point it out.
in any case I have started to use Pinnacle studio8 without any problems so far, my biggest project so far has been around 96 minutes, captured,edited and burned to dvd all with studio. I am not familiar with the Ulead product but I can say that studio is very easy to use once you spend 20 minutes of playing around.

[mantisgeek]

SE means Starter Edition so it doesn't have all the features of the full version. I personally use Studio 8 myself without any problems. I find it easy to use and adequate for my home editing needs. If you are thinking of getting it, probably worth spending a few more pounds (or dollars) to get the full version.

[jarroyo]

On Pinnacle version 7, I started with the SE that came with some hardware. A friend gave me a copy of the full V7 and I could not see any functionality difference.

I have since upgraded to V8 and have created about 36 hours worth of home video. All I ever do is Capture, transitions, menus (with motion), and some (very few) titles. No problems. My largest DVD is 2 hours 15 minutes. One note is that I did not use it before the 8.5.21 update. I consider myself lucky because in the over 100 hours I have spent using the tool it has locked up or crashed only three times. I save my project often, so I have never lost much.

Another comment is that the Studio 8 rendering time, time to get the movie into the DVD format is huge, so I often do the conversion outside the tool.

Since you are probably going to spend quite a bit of time using these tools, it would be worth your while to do 1 full project in both tools and compare ease of use and quality of produced movie before your final selection. I suggest you make the project at least 1/2 hour long. That is why these tools offer free trials. I did that and settled on Pinnacle, but could have gone either way.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Pinnacle Studio has more effects but Ulead VideoStudio is more stable and encodes faster.

[xxiangg]

I have both Studio7/8 and Ulead (OEM). I think Studio is much easier to use.
It is true that Studio has some bugs. Studio8 w/o the latest patch is not usable.
But after I patched the program, it works fine for me.

[arcorob]

Not to be a bubble burster....but....

I have ULEAD , Pinnacle, And paid 50 bucks for sonic Foundry Video Factory 2.0

( I also have Adobe Premier and Vegas 4.0 + DVD but they are in a whle nuther catagory)

Pay the 50 dollars and get the Video Factor. WhY ?

1) Real time preview as you work ..no need to render EVER until you are all done.

2) VERY VERY easy interface

3) Much easier to work with clips as in splitting a clip , moving, etc.

4) Transition is automatic and then customize

Just a personal preferance I guess but having tried them all and doing this as a second business ...well.....I liked it so much , moved up to the VEGAS VIDEO ( Still sonic foundry , )

Hope this helps.