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Video-Editing Software

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With HD video now available in D-SLRs, we take a look at the best affordable programs for producing video portfolios of images, movies and multimedia projects

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Pinnacle Studio Version 12

Available in three versions—Studio, Studio Plus and Studio Ultimate—Pinnacle (the consumer division of Avid) provides editing solutions tailored to any level of video enthusiast. With Studio, you can edit photos and standard-definition video together with titles and animated graphics. The Pinnacle Montage feature provides 11 themes and 81 templates for fast editing, including Instant Photo, Love, Season, Sports, Video Wall and others. A Pinnacle Score fitter automatically generates soundtracks to match the video’s length.

Studio Plus and Studio Ultimate step up the program to HD and Blu-ray compatibility. Ultimate also includes a green sheet for chroma-keying effects, the ProDAD Vitascene library of customizable transitions and lighting effects, Red Giant Software Magic Bullet Looks for adjusting tone, color and focus to simulate classic film and production styles, and Boris Graffiti, a 2D/3D animation plug-in for creating exciting titles. List Price: $49 (Studio); $99 (Studio Plus); $129 (Studio Ultimate).

Sony Vegas
Available in three editions, Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio 9 offers standard-definition video editing, slideshows and DVD authoring with transitions, titles and special effects, including greenscreen capa bility. Editing is nondestructive, so you can return to your original video at any time, and it’s performed through simple dragging and dropping of frames and effects. Videos can be output with custom menus, buttons, backgrounds and navigation, or you can utilize any of the 44 included DVD themes. Two Project Wizards are also provided to help you through the process.

Movie Studio 9 Platinum Edition builds on the basic edition to add HD video editing, 5.1 surround-sound mixing and encoding, and primary color-correction tools for restoring video. The surround-sound mixing and panning tools can be used to create soundtracks, and audio can be encoded in AC-3 stereo or 5.1 mixes for best suiting your stereo system. The Platinum Pro Pack bolsters audio editing further with the inclusion of Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 software for recording, editing, encoding and mastering sound, including digitization capabilities for records and cassettes. The Pro Pack also includes Cartoonr video effects, more than 100 3D transitions, Cinescore themes for soundtracks and more than 1,000 royalty-free sound clips like explosions, sci-fi effects and more. List Price: $54 (Vegas Movie Studio 9); $84 (Platinum Edition); $114 (Platinum Pro Pack).

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