NOTE: Right now there is no category for StudioDV on Epinions. For now, I'm stuffing it in the Studio 400 category.

For a hundred bucks or so, you get everything you need to get started in digital video editing--that includes the video capture card, the firewire cable, and the editing software. From hardware to software, there's a lot to discuss in evaluating a video editing package, so I'll just focus on a few pros and cons, and close by mentioning some system requirements.

PROS

* I've already alluded to the chief advantage of this package: It's cheap. It provides you with everything that you need to try your hand at digital video editing. Eventually, you may decide that you want to upgrade to a higher-end package, say one that includes Adobe Premier, but StudioDV will at least get you started.

* It's also easy to use, even the installation of the software and hardware. The included documentation makes all phases of use easy to understand and execute. Pinnacle also maintains an active users forum on its website where you'll find plenty of tips, solutions, and workarounds.

CONS

I have no complaints about the included hardware, but a few about the software.

* While it's functional, it feels a bit clunky and low-end, especially the user interface.

* Pinnacle touts that the software allows you to capture footage at a low resolution, saving you hard drive space, then edit in this low-res mode until your ready for final output. Prior to output of the final cut, the software is then supposed scan your tapes for the clips that made your final cut and recapture them at full resolution. This is a great concept, but I never got it to work for me--the software always seems to get lost while searching for the footage. (I always edit in full-res mode, which is fine.)

* In the final output to tape, some effects like dissolves have kind of a jerky feel.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

In spite of these cons, I would still recommend StudioDV to others. Just make sure that your desktop system is up to the task:

* You'll need lot's of hard drive space--400 MBs for every one minute of footage that you want to capture. (You might want to spend a couple of hundred bucks and install a big second hard drive as a nice clean space to dump all your footage.)

* I found that my editing went much more smoothly--without the constant grinding of my hard drive--once I upgraded from 96 MBs of RAM to 192.

* For best stability, you should be running at least Windows 98 SE. (I think StudioDV now supports Windows 2000, but I haven't tried it myself.)

Happy editing!



Recommended: Yes