Each time the capture process was stopped, it created a new preview file, also subdivided into individual scenes. Studio 7’s automatic scene detection broke this file up into individual scenes, leaving it ready to edit. The single compressed preview file had sufficient clarity for editing. Studio 7 gracefully handled surprises, like changes in the audio format from 16-bit to 12-bit or gaps in time code, by stopping capture and displaying a warning prompt.
An hour and a load of laundry later, a preview of our entire DV tape was captured to disk. And the whole procedure really was as simple as clicking a button. Pinnacle Studio 7 solves this problem by capturing a small compressed 320×240 preview of your DV tape, making an excellent editing reference in a fraction of the space normally required. Besides, who would want to hunt through a single, enormous video file looking for that perfect scene?
Add to that the infamous Windows file size limitations and you quickly realize that it is pragmatically impossible to simply click a button and capture an hour of DV to a disk (for more on file size limitations see the Size Matters sidebar in this issue’s Computer Editing column). Capturing an entire tape to disk is often not an option, especially for casual beginners capturing to their only hard disk. Even with modern disk drives measured in tens of gigabytes, you can never have enough space. Limited disk space is an issue with many video files. Pinnacle Studio 7 is a beginner-level application that delivers on the basics, but it also has an ace up its sleeve that may give it an advantage over the competition. With the standardization of DV capture boards, faster and larger hard disks and CPUs that are up to the task of editing video, reality is now authenticating those claims.
Marketing department mantras of "fast and easy" have left many of us jaded and skeptical. Beginners were overwhelmed by long render times, hardware conflicts, dropped frames and crashes that computer editing veterans had come to accept with a shrug.
Even with the best intentions and the finest minds in the software industry, these applications often fell short of their mark. Over the past five years, manufacturers have marketed novice-level video editing software to an unprepared public.