Avid Studio review

Pinnacle Studio has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. It was among the first consumer video-editing packages for PC, but it spent most of the last decade getting negative reviews from us – and countless user forum posts – for its reliability problems. The last couple of versions have been much more stable, though, and that possibly explains why its makers have deemed it ready for a rebranding exercise – and a serious injection of power.

There are four new versions of Studio, starting at £55 inc VAT for Pinnacle Studio HD 15. Studio HD Ultimate 15 (£75) adds Blu-ray authoring, animated titles, a couple of extra effects and more disc menu templates. Studio HD Ultimate Collection 15 (£95) bundles yet more effects and templates plus a 5×6-foot green sheet for chroma key effects. These three versions were all available as version 14 releases, and while they build on strong foundations, the new features are few and far between: there’s an archiving utility, MKV and YouTube HD exports, performance optimisation but little else.

Those looking to upgrade are better off turning to the new flagship version. It loses the Pinnacle brand in favour of its parent company Avid, going by the name Avid Studio. That’s confusing, as it’s still based on Pinnacle Studio and has nothing to do with Avid Vocal Studio or Avid Recording Studio, both of which are music-production packages. The rebranding exercise is justified, though. Although its relationship to Pinnacle Studio is clear, there’s enough that’s new to make it feel like a distinct product – and one that’s aimed at enthusiasts rather than casual users.

The biggest change is unlimited tracks. Pinnacle Studio has just two video tracks, so elaborate montages aren’t possible. Thankfully, Avid Studio’s unlimited tracks are backed up by impressive performance, so building complex scenes from multiple video clips needn’t cripple the preview display. It managed five simultaneous AVCHD streams on our Core i7 870 PC before it began to drop frames – a result that’s second only to Cyberlink PowerDirector 9 Ultra64 with its eight AVCHD streams on the same PC. Avid Studio took a few seconds to prepare itself for playback in these complex parts of the timeline, which could be frustrating when fine-tuning edits. However, once fine-tuning was complete, a background rendering function kicked in to ensure smooth, responsive previews, regardless of timeline complexity.

It’s great to see comprehensive ripple editing options added too. These dictate how edits affect the position of clips later on in the timeline; Pinnacle Studio’s fixed, default action isn’t suitable for all occasions. Avid Studio’s ripple options could be clearer, though, with three separate buttons and a convoluted relationship between them. Also new are tabs on the top corners of clips for fading them to and from black and adding dissolve transitions. It’s a neat time-saver that’s clearly inspired by Sony Vegas, but this implementation isn’t as elegant as Sony’s.

Double-clicking a clip brings up a full-screen effects editor that looks and feels a lot more grown up than the one in Pinnacle Studio. It’s no more capable, though. The large preview window is useful for adjusting effects settings but keyframe animation remains clumsy. Keyframes are generated per effect rather than per parameter, and because many effects combine a number of different processes, keyframes for one parameter clog up the timeline, making it hard to animate other parameters. The effects themselves are the same bundle that’s included with Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection, but that’s far from disappointing. As we discussed in our review of version 14, this is one of the best effects bundles available in a consumer editing package.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 10 gives it some stiff competition, though. Its creative effects aren’t as impressive but its colour correction is far superior. Otherwise, the two are hard to separate, with both offering sophisticated features and impressively smooth previews. Avid Studio looks more inviting for new users, but it can’t quite match Vegas Platinum’s streamlined efficiency – or its incredibly low price, currently at just £38 from Amazon. Sony’s editor remains our top choice.