Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Best Buy Ratings and Reviews

Customer Reviews for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Model: 8210-30020-
SKU: 2327178
UPC: 613570227878
Start preparing your Oscar speech and get ready to strut the red carpet — creating Hollywood-style movies just got a whole lot easier. Harness the bold style and professional pizzazz of the blockbusters and turn your own videos into memorable multimedia performances that you'll enjoy for years to come with Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15. The power to create is right at your fingertips with this cutting-edge software's bevy of tools, effects and resources that are easily accessible in a drag-and-drop interface — you just add a little of your own inspiration. Tell your story in clear high-definition video and immersive Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, all backed with incredible technology from Avid, the same technology that's behind some of the world's most-watched movies. Transforming your videos from video cameras, digital cameras, DVDs and even phones is a snap with Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15, and performing editing techniques like fixing shaky camera shots and adding effects is faster than ever with AVCHD and H.264-based formats. Bring the sparkle of Hollywood movies to your own creations using professional Red Giant plug-ins, from ToonIt animation technology to Knoll Light Factory effects and beyond. Even add an Oscar-worthy score to your movie, producing soundtracks and fitting them to follow your film. Once Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 has helped you produce everything to perfection, get ready to go viral when you share your screen sensations with the world. One click of the mouse sends your creation to YouTube, where the entire Web community can marvel at your work. The options for sharing are as limitless as your creativity, including everything from Blu-ray and DVD to your video-game consoles. Are you ready for your time in the spotlight?Take a product tour.
Average Customer Rating:
3.571 out of 5
3.6
 out of 
5
(7 Reviews) 7
Open Ratings Snapshot
Rating Snapshot 7 reviews
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71% of customers would recommend this product to a friend 
(
5 out of 7
)
Customer Reviews for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows
Review 1 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Don't buy unless you have high powered computer

Customer Rating
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Posted by: HomeMovieMaker
from New York
on 04/11/2012
What's great about it: very resonable price
What's not so great: Needs a powerful computer to run software
I've used Pinnacle for many years making great home movies and I'm currently using version 9. But version 15 requires a lot of cpu and video horse power. My current computer is a Pentimum-4 2.8GHz with 3Gb ram running Windows 7 and a GeForce FX5200 128Mb but it's not enough for version 15. You will need at least Intel Core™ 2 Quad 2.66 GHz (AMD equivalent) or Intel Core i7 required for AVCHD plus 256Mb video card. I wish the requirements listed on the side of the box were more explicit and stated Intel Core2 or better then I would have bypassed this version all together.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
-1point
1out of 3found this review helpful.
Review 2 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Pretty good

Customer Rating
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Posted by: Lamp
from Rochester, MN
on 03/17/2012
Value for Price
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Usefulness
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: I can make HD videos!
What's not so great: Difficult to make menus at first (at least for me)
I am very pleased with this software. It works for me flawlessly; it has never locked up my computer even though mine has less performance than what is listed as minimum, like half. It calls for minimum 2.66 ghz quad core i5 or i7; mine is quad core i3 1.2ghz and it still works (although it is pretty slow when working with HD videos). I am pleased that I didn’t have to get a new computer. It has many options of putting videos together, transitions, sound tracks, and different formats too. (i.e. blue ray, AVCHD, DVD, file on hard drive, and more) Also, if you want to make HD vidos, you don't have to always use Blue Ray discs; you can put HD on regular DVD's using the AVCHD format for up to 35 minutes on a lower cost DVD! Great! Because if I want to send a home vidoe to someone, I wouldn't need an expensive four hour Blue Ray disc. The only reason I didn’t give it a five star was because of the learning curve to make the menus. It didn’t show very well how to make the menus work and it took me a while to figure it out. Maybe I'm just missing something. There is an option for it to make the menus automatically, but for whatever reason it doesn’t work on mine, so I just make them manually, which most of the time I would imagine most people would do anyway. Other than that it works great!
I would recommend this to a friend!
+2points
2out of 2found this review helpful.
Review 3 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Very user friendly

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: RetiredMe
from Burlington, MA
on 03/01/2012
What's great about it: Very easy to use
What's not so great: haven't found that yet.
I had switched from Pinnacle Studio to Adobe Premier Elements. Premier Elements required too much of using their set-up, and was not at all user friendly. To get additional menus or titles required purchasing upgrades. You could not design your own with the basic program. I switched back to Pinnacle Studio, and am very statisfied.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+2points
2out of 2found this review helpful.
Review 4 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Totally worthless and a waste of good money!

Customer Rating
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Posted by: Ghostrider147
from Rapid City, SD
on 02/15/2012
Value for Price
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Ease of Use
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Usefulness
1.0 out of 5
1.0
Ease of Installation
1.0 out of 5
1.0
What's great about it: uh... you get to waste money on it instead having to flush it down toliet?
What's not so great: It simply doesn't work...installs fine...works not at all!
Program won't run at all with the exception that it will install like normal and the program will start and sit there idle doing nothing. That it will do fine. Soon as you try to do anything, import any file to edit or try to do any task at all... the program freezes the computer without fail ... every single time. Your only option is to restart computer because it is locked up completely. Uninstalled and reinstalled 4 times. Every time same results. It installs and looks "pretty" when you start it... but try to actually use the program and it locks up the computer.
SO I went back to Magix... Movie Edit Pro MX Plus 18. It has always worked flawlessly for me and does once again in it's newest version!
I have always had problems with Pinnacle products on many different computers. I'll NEVER waste another dime on ANY Pinnacle product again.
Total waste of 99.99 plus tax! BEWARE!
Not like I can take it back to Best Buy and they'd give me my money back!! It's been opened and installed. Now it's completely uninstalled and sitting on the shelf collecting dust.
A 106 dollar paperweight! Thanks Pinnacle and Best Buy!!
Windows 7, Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770
4Gb Memory
XFX Motherboard with matching, dual, XFX GeForce GTX-280s in SLi
Yes I tried Non-Sli mode
And yes I know what 'm doing. I have built my own computers for a dozen years now and have built for several others I know as well.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+4points
6out of 8found this review helpful.
Review 5 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Grear video editor for the price

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Ham11
from Tampa, Fl
on 02/01/2012
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Usefulness
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: A very powerful editor for the price
What's not so great: Instuction on its use is not too good , but there is a instuction DVD shoing how to use all the tricks that is excellant
This editor will do all sorts of facinating editing
I would recommend this to a friend!
+1point
1out of 1found this review helpful.
Review 6 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Fairly decent video editing software

Customer Rating
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Posted by: Gospartans
from Okemos, MI.
on 11/09/2011
Value for Price
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Ease of Use
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Usefulness
4.0 out of 5
4.0
Ease of Installation
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: Easy installation, ease of use and the extras for the price.
What's not so great: Nothing so far.
I used Adobe Premiere elements previously and it was the most buggy program that I have ever used and frustrated me to no end. I decided to switch back to Pinnacle since I used it in the past. Great improvements on the new version, the rendering of your video is really fast, the ability to burn to Bluray is an added bonus, it is easy to use, the learning curve is not bad as long as you follow instructions. Installation went flawless if you follow the instructions precisely. The extras are good. Overall, it is a decent package for the price and in my opinion a much better product than Adobe Premiere.
I would recommend this to a friend!
+10points
10out of 10found this review helpful.
Review 7 for Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Version 15 - Windows

Great editing program

Customer Rating
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Posted by: Theje
from Washington
on 05/17/2011
Value for Price
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Usefulness
5.0 out of 5
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0 out of 5
5.0
What's great about it: It works with the newest Intel Core i series processors.
What's not so great: Clips won't merge and transition automatically, like in Vegas.
I've been through a few different programs to try and find one that worked for my brand-new notebook with an Intel i7 2630QM. Cyberliink's PowerDirector 9 gave me terrible lag and video issues, even with patches and video driver updates. Sony Vegas Studio HD would let me edit, but then wouldn't encode! What gave me confidence about Pinnacle was that it's a brand-new program (4/17/2011) and surely it would work with this processor, and sure enough, it does! Plus the preview performance trumps Vegas and PowerDirector (not Ultra64 mind you).
The program itself is very easy to pick up and I was up and running as soon as the install was finished and the effects are top-notch! Encoding works great and I've had zero problems. If you have a brand-new Intel Sandy Bridge processor, don't get any other program until they come out with new versions. Finding a program that would work was such a headache! Glad I found one though!
For reference, here's my system: Clevo P151HM1 - Intel i7 2630QM - Nvidia GTX 460M - 4 GB DDR3 RAM - 320 GB 7200 RPM HDD - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
I would recommend this to a friend!
+46points
49out of 52found this review helpful.