I don't know if that will interrest somebody else, but if it can help one, that's good.

Thank to some contact, I just got the opportunity to try the new Studio10 from Pinnacle. I started using V.8 I got with my AIW9600xt and later, V.9 that is offered with the AIWx600. While there is reports that blame many instability issues, both has been running good. Sure enough, I got the latest patch for all.

First, if you don't know what is Studio, I suggest to go at pinnacle web site and learn a bit about it at <A HREF="http://www.pinnaclesys.com" target="_new">http://www.pinnaclesys.com</A>.

Ok, first thing to know before using Studio, you need a rock stable computer. Video editing is very memory and HDD intensive, so the smallest glitch in one of those subsystem can lead to crash or bug. The computer Studio10 was tested on is mine. A64 3000+ Win. core on a Gigabyte K8NF-9 motherboard with F2 BIOS and 1 gigs of RAM, Corsair TwinX 3200. Using XP with SP2, with nvidia RAID driver, installed on 2 Seagates 160 SATA HDD set as RAID0. I did not use the AIW, but rather a x600xt with an Asus capture/tv/fm PCI card and ondboard sound(for now). To me, this is only a good system for editing and while leeser computer can do, you'll have to expect slower rendering and a less responsive overall feel. A faster CPU, 1gig more RAM and faster HDD like the Raptors should give something faster. But I'm satisfied with my system for what I do.

The first thing to do, after installing Studio10, is to get the latest update. this will correct many bug and make the application to load faster. Because, even with the update, the loading time is not that fastest I've seen ... And be sure to turn off your firewall, or accept the use of the network. S10 use proxy for the rendering since it is based on Pinnacle liquid edition, a professional video editing apps. You don't have to be connected to internet, Studio10 and render manager need network access. If the firewall block them, it won't work.

The application will lest you capture, edit and create the movie. You can either create a file, a disk or outputting to tape. I always create a mpeg file to use with DVD creation apps. S10 has DVD creation capability, but I rather not use them.

Capturing is pretty easy. just select the source (can be composite in, TV tuner or s-video), then choose a format you'll want to have the file saved as and where you want to capture. You'll like to have a fast HDD here to avoid dropped frames.

Once done, S10 can auto detect scene. I love this feature. When you are inputting a home movie filmed with an analog camera, al the cuts are detected and marked. you can then only select the good scene from the one that has some kind of lines or scrambling. You can even fine tune single scene for entry and exit point.

One the clean scenes brought to the timeline, and the movie assembled, you can add title, transition, voice track... to make the final production. Then, the create movie screen let you create the whole file (or dvd, according what you choose).

Rendering time can be long enough. I rather save teh project, and start another and then, let the projects render when I don't need my computer.

In the use, V10 have been pretty stable to me. Only a few bug haunted me. The worst being one that make my audio track to dissapear. I have to rename the mpeg file to something else, bring it bac in the editor, clear it, rename it to the original one to be used with the project and hopefully sound is back. And sometime, the scene selector revert back to page one when selecting scene at any other page. I had to go thru the page until I reach the point I was.

Editing could be more responsive. There is some sluggishness you can feel when doing some action. And sometime, you have to stop to wait for the program to come back, as it is like you over speed it.

Will I consider getting it and using it? Well, I don't know for yet. My studio 9 is very nice and feels faster than this one. I don't have the bug I got with V10 and the rendering time seem to be almost the same. Studio 9, with all the update is a very solid product, and paly very nice with the AIWx600. Someone that consider doing some editing should really consider this combo. And nice enough, it is not tightened to ATI hardware. So, if you AIW end up in a less powerfull media center PC, you can always get a capture card to keep working with you more powerfull PC.

To this point, I would give Studio 9 with all the update a note of 9 out of 10 and a note of 7 out of 10 for Studio 10.

I will uninstall and give back the software for now. I'll wait for some update and patches and give it a try later. But for now, I think that, even if the program has some potential, it was not quite ready to be released. But, if you have to get one application for some home movie editing, and you have a faily powerful computer, the I would try it. It has potential to be something very good. And I'm sure that the programmers at Pinnacle are working hard on that. I don't know if there is a trial version, like V9 had. You could always check and try it to see if it is for you. To me, I'll keep V9 for some time again.

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(" )ώ(" ) This is my bunny..terminator!!!

I also use pinnacle. One nice feature of 10 is to keep your videos in their original form so to speak. The files are HUGE!!!! so be warned you will need plenty of space for them.
The only problem is that they are soooo big most pcs have a hard time dealing with the size. So unless you have 2 gigs of ram and raptors for hard drives dont use the native capture format. Set it to dvd quality and you will be happier and your machine will not cry.

it is also pretty stable for me..but i will have to reencode all those files again to make them usable.

I never capture in native format, always in dvd quality, as it is what I do. And to me, S9 is snappier and respond better to your input.

I had some bug with sound and capture. I did not take the time to fully investigate what could cause such behaviour..

I'll wait the next update to try it again..

I just saw an update for Studio 10. I will try it again and see if it is now up to par with 9 performance and stability

HA. S10 is absolute CRAP. Just as S9 was when it came out and took 4 updates to get stable; and even then it was still iffy.

The only reason i'm stuck using their crap software is because nothing else will recognize the DVC-150 i use. Go check their forums and see how many threads there are with recording problems for the DVC-150.

Honestly they have the most bloated application I've ever used. It seems that rather than making the code efficient they just add on until it becomes this bloated POS. It's unfortunate because it's incredibly simple to use and has plenty of features. They just don't work worth a crap.

I'm sticking with S9 except i can't render to WMV's. Why? Because i get the wonderful C++ abnormal termination error. Their reply in the tech support? "It is related to a memory leak issue, and we have no known fix."

I curse the day i ever decided to use their products each time i load Studio.

BTW, I have a 3GB HT, dual SATA's, 1gb RAM and the Nvidia 5200 agp video card and S10 takes almost 1min to load.

Fully agree with you for S10. A new patch is supposed to be out soon. Might try it, or simply read about it before if it really worth it.

But S9 has beed stable for me for everything I've thrown at it, but did not try to render to WMV. Could try it some day just to see.

You'e right about the ease of use.

On my computer, with the 10.1 patch, it loads in 45 second first start and 15 second one, .. there some crap remaining in memory after you quit the app for sure ... Did not try without the patch thou ..

Just an FYI...

I've downloaded and installed the new 10.1(though it should be 10.2, i thought) patch and its gone from CRAP to $HIT. It is a beta patch and the final release is due in Feb. They still have a ways to go it would seem.

I just installed the beta patch and it did bring the apps to somthing usable. I did not make a full project yet, but noticed a welcome improve in overall speed and responsiveness. I'll look forward to test it more later.

The beta patch really make it 10.2. So, maybe you don't have the beta patch installed.