Posted to Video Editing Articles 2009-03-04
Video editing was once the purview of only highly-skilled individuals working in the television or film industry. Today, most anyone can create and edit their own video. Editing software has become a hot consumer item. With such software, there is often an attempt to balance functionality with user-friendliness. Two of the market leaders in video editing software are Adobe Premier Elements 7 and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12.
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 does a decent job of balancing power and usability. Titles can be added with little technical knowledge and basic effects can be used to enhance home video. The weaknesses are usually found in how much customization of the effects is possible. While the premade effects are nice enough, not being able to tweak them exactly to one's desires can leave them looking a little less than professional.
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 does have some very convenient features built into the system which incorporate the most commonly-used and cutting edge video applications currently available.
• The system allows users to seamlessly upload videos to YouTube. The videos, once uploaded, can be viewed in standard or high-definition.
• The system interfaces with Blu-ray discs and can burn onto that media. There are separate options for older or newer players
• Editing is intuitive and easy to learn but not as powerful as is a professional's demands would require.
Adobe Premier Elements 7
Adobe software has long been an industry standard for graphics and multimedia creation and editing. Adobe Premier Elements 7 is designed to allow consumers to enjoy many of the features available in professional suites without the technical knowledge required to operate those systems. Like Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12, it features streamlined ways of creating special effects and some unique features.
Adobe allows users to create a movie with little effort by including automatic editing and formatting options. It also allows users to get video from the latest high definition video devices on the market and to output to Blu-ray format. Be aware that outputting to Blu-ray format, on either program, requires more processor power than outputting to older formats.
Adobe Premier Elements 7 also allows users to output videos into Adobe's Flash Video format, a highly-compressed format often used to include video in websites. It allows users to format videos for video-sharing sites, as well, including YouTube and MySpace.
Because both of these products include very similar features, the choice between one and another is likely to be guided by user preference more than anything else. Adobe's software integrates with its other popular packages, such as Photoshop, which may be desirable to users who already use Adobe software.
