Corel Launches First Pinnacle Video Editing Tools Since Avid Buyout

Corel on Tuesday rolled out Pinnacle Studio 16, the first Corel-branded product to be released since the company's acquisition of Avid's consumer video editing software tools in July. Corel is now discontinuing the Avid Studio product family, but it will continue to sell Corel VideoStudio Pro, another video editing software suite.

The chief reason for eliminating the Avid Studio line-up is to clear up confusion among customers, said Andy Panizza, product manager for Corel, in a briefing for NotebookReview. "Pinnacle Studio is a better known brand than Avid Studio, anyway," he maintained.

Pinnacle Studio and Corel VideoStudio Pro each have loyal users but among different customer bases, according to Panizza.

It's clear, though, that both products are geared to folks ranging from novices creating their first digital home movies of vacation trips or family reunions all the way up to more advanced users. At the same time, Avid keeps targeting the top end of the professional video editing market with its remaining line-up.

Corel is offering three editions of the latest generation of Pinnacle. Pinnacle Studio 16 carries an MSRP of $59.95. MSRPs are $99.95 for Pinnacle Studio 16 Plus and $129.95 for Pinnacle Studio 16 Ultimate.

Box.com Project Sharing, Plus an iPad App

Key improvements across the family include extensive ease-of-use enhancements; cloud-based media and project sharing through a new partner, Box.com; the ability to create "Project Package" folders for easy archive/restore across devices; stereoscopic 3D editing with advanced NVIDIA 3D Vision support; and faster editing through 64-bit optimized/NVIDIA CUDA and Intel Quick Sync Video hardware acceleration.

Users now have a choice of working with an easy-to-use storyboard, or of turning off the storyboard and inserting their video clips directly into a timeline.

In conjunction with the Pinnacle Studio 16 launch, Corel has also done a major update of Studio for iPad, an iOS app which previously supported Avid Studio. The iPad app will continue to work on a standalone basis, too, but it will now "integrate seamlessly" with Pinnacle Studio 16, Panizza contended.

In a demo, Uwe Pfizenmaier, product manager, showed how you can start a video project on an iPad, transfer it via Box.com, and then finish it up on your laptop or desktop PC in Pinnacle Studio 16.

All editions of the suite also offer one-click video sharing to Facebook, YouTube, Xbox, and Apple TV, for instance. Other features include DVD authoring; a Scorefitter music library for custom-fit soundtracks; a media asset library; a transition editor and trim editor for source clip in-out points; and more than 1500 2D/3D effects, transitions, titles and montage templates. Corel is also bundling in a two-hour training DVD from Class on Demand.

Tons of Other Video Editing Features

In version 16, Corel has increased the number of video/audio tracks in the entry-level Pinnacle Studio from two to six. "So you can do a little more [with multilayer editing], without things getting too complicated," Panizza noted. The new Plus edition offers 24 video/audio tracks. In the Ultimate edition, the number of tracks is unlimited.

The Plus and Ultimate editions each add more effects (including keyframe-based effects), along with capabilities such as Blu-ray authoring; import/export of Dolby 5.1 surround; and master/source dual preview.

The Ultimate edition also includes a green-screen background sheet, plus a Red Giant Filmmaker and Motion Graphics Toolkit containing seven plug-ins.

All three editions are available immediately in 17 languages. The software can be downloaded online or purchased through Corel's reseller partners.

Meanwhile, Corel released the most recent edition of its VideoStudio Pro family last March, adding new features that include HTML authoring, a built-in screen recording tool, and a new "trading community" for downloading free and premium movie templates. Pricing is $49.99 for VideoStudio Pro X5 and $99.99 for an Ultimate edition of that suite which comes with plug-ins from proDAD, Boris and NewBlue.