Hollywood in your home
Written: Mar 13 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Supports both analog and digital, easy DVD burning, multiple output options, cool scene transitions
Cons: analog VHS tapes with skipping makes audio and video fall out of sync in capture
The Bottom Line: Great solution for people who haven't gotten a digital camcorder but may do so in the future. Also for converting VHS and 8mm to DVD or other digital media.
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| mrbeck's Full Review: Pinnacle Studio Deluxe 7.0 Full Version for PC (21... |
While watching my pennies, I originally opted for one of Dazzle’s products, of which I wrote a review. It took me all of a week to figure out that it did not accomplish what I had set out to do, which was convert my collection of 8mm and VHS home movies to DVD.
Enter Pinnacle Systems’ Studio Deluxe package. Included was a capture card, a break-out box for my analog equipment, and some simple, yet powerful, software.
I do not own a digital camcorder, yet. But for a purchase like this, I needed something that would allow me to expand into that realm eventually. The break-out box allows me to connect my older model camcorder to the capture card. The capture card installed into my computer flawlessly, and I have since used it on two different operating systems: Windows 98 and Windows XP. In both cases I had no problems getting the operating systems to recognize my hardware.
For those of you who want to use this for 8mm film, I have had success doing this using my camcorder. But, you need either an older camcorder (late 80s, early 90s) or a camcorder you can adjust shutter speed with. You will know that your camcorder will not work for 8mm film when you see flicking and flashing in your finished product. 8mm rolls at 15 frames per second, and when you try to film it using a camcorder at 30 frames per second, this is where the flashing comes in. You need a camcorder that can adjust to 15 frames per second, or use an older camcorder that uses at 24 frames per second standard. (Preferably the adjustable, as even with 24 frames per second you still get a hint of flicker.)
There is only one small problem I have encountered with capturing from analog, and this is most likely to occur with any product like this that you may purchase. When capturing from VHS tapes that have breaks of snow in it, or have warped spots where the screen jumps and the sound is altered, I have noticed that the sound and video start falling out of sync when I capture. The more skips and jumps on the tape, the more out of sync the captured material becomes. Pretty soon it looks like a bad Kung Fu flick, with mouths moving and hearing the words a few seconds later.
The work around is simple. Just stop capturing when you see a jump, and start capturing again after the jump. This way all the audio stays in sync.
The software included in this package is Studio Deluxe 8. This software is fantastic, yet amazingly simple. My first piece I did using this package was a “mafia” movie I did with my niece, nephew, cousin and brother. I used the Godfather theme music in the beginning, and had our names fade in and out with white text and a black background, all set to the music. It looked so professional we couldn’t believe it.
Next I added in scene transitions. One of our favorites is the one where the screen looks like it gets cracked, then the pieces fall away to reveal the next scene. Another good one was a transition that looked like you turned the page in a book.
There are many more transitions to choose from, thanks to a Hollywood FX package that is included in the package. Some additional examples are: A) A snapshot of the final frame flashes on the screen as if someone has taken a picture, then it “develops” on screen. B) Video zooms out into a page of a book and the cover closes. C) Screen folds up into a paper airplane then flies away. C) Screen zooms out into a reel of film, then the next film cell reveals the next scene and it zooms forward.
What really added some spice to the movie was one scene where a couple characters were speaking “Italian”. (More like Pig Latin!) I added some English subtitles to the bottom of the screen, and it was incredibly easy.
At the end I was able to add in scrolling credits as the Godfather theme played again, and it really gave the entire production a great Hollywood feel. Everyone I’ve shown this movie to has been extremely impressed.
Editing is a breeze. My preferred method of editing is the timeline mode. You can shorten scenes, adjust background music to fit the length of a clip, and get a good feel of where narrations and background music fits into your movie. But the other mode, the storyboard mode, can be helpful as well. You can cut scenes into individual clips and use the storyboard more to rearrange the order of events in a snap.
Another neat feature about the software is its ability to generate music to fit a scene. There are many genres to choose from, and many tunes to use. What Studio Deluxe then does is tailor the beats, the introduction and ending to the song to exactly start and end as the clip does. It’s as if a composer wrote the song for your movie! This is perfect for doing 8mm films, since there are no words to the music, you can find just the right feel and it will fit your movies perfectly.
Don’t forget DVD menus. If it’s a DVD, VCD, or SVCD you’re making, Studio Deluxe lets you create custom menus for selecting scenes. You can really customize here, as you can create menus and submenus. I did a project for someone where they put both their children’s birthday parties on one DVD. We created a top menu where you choose which child to view, then submenus for each child where you can select individual scenes from each party.
One of the most important features of this package is the output. This is the whole point of buying a product like this. Studio Deluxe offers many different ways to output your work. Thanks to the break-out box that’s included, you can pump your work out to a VCR or your camcorder to make a tape for someone who doesn’t have a DVD. You can create a RealMedia file for RealPlayer software, a Windows Media file, or a standard MPEG. But most importantly, you can burn your DVDs and VCDs.
The DVD burning feature is fantastic. No need to understand MPEG technology. Just use the one of the default settings. Best Quality, Most Video on Disc, or Automatic are your choices. The first two are self-explanatory, but Automatic is my favorite, and the one I use the most. What it does is it calculates the amount of video you have and uses the best possible quality setting that fits on your DVD.
A word about video and burning DVDs – I do not recommend trying to squeeze more than 2 hours on a DVD. Anything more than 2 hours tends to give your video a “digitized” or “blocky” look, and the sound stars muffling. In a perfect situation, I would only put an hour on each DVD for the absolute best quality. But I have found that 2 hours only has a slight loss of quality for home movies.
Don’t have a DVD burner? You can use CDRs to burn VCDs and SVCDs. The difference between VCDs and SVCDs is quality. SVCDs are better quality than VCDs, but SVCDs take up more space on the disc. Both are lower quality than DVDs. The only real place you’ll notice a difference is in fast moving scenes or scenes that have shaky camera work. Those types of scenes will get that grainy, blocky, “digitized” look. Other than that, it looks like you’re watching a good VHS tape.
Something not covered in the software but is possible are MiniDVDs. When using the Make Movie option (which is where you burn DVDs, VCDs, make MPEGs, Windows Media files, etc) you can elect to create all the DVD files without actually burning a disc. Then you can use a program like Nero Burning Rom, or Roxio’s burning software to then burn the DVD files onto a regular CDR yet retain DVD quality. Only draw back is a CDR will only give you 15 minutes of DVD quality video. This is great for short projects or just to experiment and play around.
This package was a fantastic buy, and I have been extremely pleased with all of the options this product has given me. We have included a sample of what this package can do on our website. You can see it online by visiting: http://www.studiomagicbymike.com/samples/index.html
Happy filming, and maybe we’ll see you at the next independent film festival!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mrbeck
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Member: Michael Beck
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 30 members
About Me:
Michael Beck is a professional photographer and runs "Studio Magic By Mike".
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