Customer Reviews:
Promising software if I achieve stability
I started using Pinnacle with version 8, then version 9. For some these have worked well. I had mostly favorable results for my limited use. Version 10 received a "no" vote in most of the reviews I read and held out for Version 11. I liked 11 for creating photo slide shows, but had limited success editing raw video, in particular the format from my Sanyo Xacti. I eagerly upgraded to Studio 12 Ultimate as soon as it was released to put it to work based on the promise of new features, including newer digital video formats. I have all but abandoned the software at this point due to the lack of stability (crashes/freezes) on any of my test installs, both Vista SP1 32-bit and Windows XP SP2/SP3, 2+ GB RAM. I will give it another try after hearing 12.1 is coming up. Otherwise, this is the last time Pinnacle will see me as a customer.

Excellent buy
I've just used Studio Ultimate Version 12 to capture and edit 55 hours of home video, stretching back more than 50 years on a PC running Windows Vista. I was easily able to navigate through 220 GB of data to create a memorable and professional looking montage video with music, menus, sound and video effects, and awesome transitions. My friends are amazed at the final product. The format is very user friendly and intuitive. If you are familiar with other common programs, such as PhotoShop and/ or PowerPoint, you will find that to complete most tasks, you automatically have a sense of how to do it, even without reading the documentation. I highly recommend this software.

Buyer Beware
I have been attempting to use the Pinnacle Studio products since 2004 with little or no success. After much frustration we contacted Pinnacle last summer. They told us to update our software, we did. Then they gave us specifications on a computer, operationing system and video card, we did that. Now 5 months later, we still cannot get it to operate effectively or effectiently. The technical support, if they can be called that, are only able to offer assisstance from a written text. Even though I got the Ultimate package, I still am missing vital portions of the program. Now they say the program files are corrupted. How did they get corrupted, well when I downloaded Pinnacle's latest patch. Do not be swayed with all Pinnacle's glitzy add ons, they do little good if they do not work. I spend more time trying to get it to work than I do producing DVDs. I hightly recommend looking elsewhere for you video editing software.

Very Robust Feature Set - A Great Value
THE COMPETITION: I downloaded several evaluation copies of various video editing programs for Windows. Most were limited and buggy. 2nd best to this is Adobe Premier assuming you have 20-15 vision for the tiny text user interface and infinite patience for slow start ups.

STUDIO ULTIMATE 12: There is a lot of bad history out there and rightfully so, so let me give you the quick take on it. Version 10 was a buggy nightmare and version 11 was the fix. Ergo, version 12 is what 11 should have been if 10 had not been such a filthy miserable pig of bad coding.

My sympathies to 10 users. Get over it and get 12. They finally got it right this time. The new standard feature set in Ultimate 12 is so robust, you can do things you never imagined. I got this version and bought the title extreme add-on so I could do vector graphic CGI. I'm happy.

The company is also doing free online video seminars and they are really helpful. Pinnacle's efforts to educate their users on how to use their product to its full advantage is a big plus.

Crashes constantly
I bought version 11 that says Vista ready on the box
(which crashes constantly in Vista) so I stupidly gave them ANOTHER $125 for version 12, which crashes only half a much as 11.

The easist editor to use BUT KEEPS CRASHING DURING EDIT.
Don't use it with Vista.

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