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Table of contents
3
Table of contents
BEFORE YOU START IX
Abbreviations and conventions ........................................................... ix
Help and on-line help .......................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1: USING PINNACLE STUDIO 1
The Library .......................................................................................... 3
The Movie Editor and the Disc Editor ................................................... 6
The media editors ................................................................ ................. 7
The Player ............................................................................................ 8
Pinnacle Studio Projects ....................................................................... 9
CHAPTER 2: THE LIBRARY 11
Understanding the Library .................................................................. 14
Thank you for purchasing Pinnacle Studio. We hope you enjoy using
the software.
If you are new to Pinnacle Studio, we recommend that you keep the
manual handy for reference even if you don’t actually read it all the
way through.
In order to ensure that your movie-making experience gets off on the
right foot, please review the topics below before continuing to
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio. We also recommend
consideration of the product’s equipment requirements, which are
given on page 358 in Appendix E: The Installation Manager.
Abbreviations and conventions
This guide uses the following conventions to help organize the
material.
Common terms
AVCHD: A video data format used by some high-definition
camcorders, and for creating DVD discs that can be read on Blu-ray
players. Successful editing of AVCHD files requires more
computing power than other formats supported by Pinnacle Studio.
DV: This term refers to DV and Digital8 camcorders, VCRs and
tapes.
HDV: A ‘high-definition video’ format that allows video in frame
sizes of 1280x720 or 1440x1080 to be recorded in MPEG-2 format
on DV media.
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1394: The term ‘1394’ applies to OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394,
FireWire, DV or i.LINK interfaces, ports and cables.
Analog: The term ‘analog’ applies to 8mm, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-
C or SVHS-C camcorders, VCRs and tapes, and to Composite/RCA
and S-Video cables and connectors.
Buttons, menus, dialog boxes and windows
Names of buttons, menus and related items are written in italics to
distinguish them from the surrounding text, whereas window and
dialog names are written with initial capital letters. For example:
Click the Edit menu button to open your menu in the Menu Editor.
Choosing menu commands
The right arrowhead symbol () denotes the path for hierarchical
menu items. For example:
Select File Burn Disc Image.
Context menus
A ‘context menu’ is a pop-up list of commands that appears when
you click with the right mouse-button on certain areas of the
application interface. Depending where you click, a context menu
may pertain either to an editable object (like a clip on an editing
timeline), to a window, or to a zone such as a control panel. Once
open, context menus behave just like the ones on the main menu bar.
Context menus are available in most parts of the Pinnacle Studio
interface. Our documentation generally takes for granted that you
know how to open and use them.
Mouse clicks
When a mouse click is required, the default is always a left-click
unless otherwise specified, or unless the click is to open a context
menu:
Right-click and select Title Editor. (Or, one might say, “Select
Title Editor from the context menu.”)
Before you start
1
Key names
Key names are spelled with an initial capital and are underlined. A
plus sign denotes a key combination. For example:
Press Ctrl+A to select all the clips on the timeline.
Please refer to Appendix D: Keyboard shortcuts for a comprehensive
table of available shortcuts.
Online manual and Tool Tips
Immediate help is available while you are working in Pinnacle
Studio, via the User Manual and Tool Tips.
User Manual:
Click Help -> User Manual
Tool tips: To find out what a button or other Studio control does,
pause your mouse pointer over it. A ‘tool tip’ pops up to explain
the control’s function.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
1
CHAPTER 1:
Using Pinnacle Studio
For a simple outline of the digital movie-making process, you don’t
have to look any further than the central tab group of Pinnacle
Studio’s main window. The same steps apply to any type of
production, from an unpretentious slideshow with dissolves between
each frame to a 3D extravaganza containing hundreds of carefullyarranged clips and effects.
Pinnacle Studio’s main control bar
summarizes the movie-making process.
The Importer
Import, on the left, is a preparatory step. It involves procedures like
‘capturing’ video from your analog or DV camcorder, bringing in
photos from a digital camera, and copying media files to your local
hard drive from a network location.
The Pinnacle Studio Importer provides tools for these tasks, along
with a Snapshot feature for grabbing frames from video files, and a
Stop motion tool for building up video frame-by-frame. See Chapter
10: The Importer for details.
File menu import commands: Choosing Import from the file menu
has the same effect as clicking the Import tab: it opens the Importer.
The menu provides three other import-related choices as well. Each
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of these opens a Windows file dialog to permit import of files from a
hard drive or other local storage.
•
Import previous Pinnacle Studio Projects lets you load movie
projects created with earlier versions of Studio.
•
Import Studio for iPad App Projects lets you bring in projects
exported from Studio’s companion app for the iPad.
•
Quick Import lets you directly select ordinary media files – photo,
video, audio and project – for import.
Principal controls in the Importer’s Snapshot tool.
The Exporter
At the other end of the movie-making process is Export. By the time
you get to this stage, the hard part of the task is behind you. The
creative energy that went into making your movie has paid off in a
production that now lacks only one ingredient – an audience.
The Pinnacle Studio Exporter helps you over that last hurdle with
tools for taking your movie to its viewers, whoever and wherever
they might be. Create a digital movie file in the format of your
choice, burn a DVD, or upload directly to destinations in the Cloud
like YouTube and Vimeo, or to your personal Cloud-based storage
area in Box.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
3
Like the Importer, the Exporter opens in a separate window, and
returns to the main window after its work is done. Turn to Chapter
11: The Exporter to learn more.
Preparing to create a video file in the Exporter.
The central tabs
The three central tabs, Library, Movie and Disc, are where most of
your work in Pinnacle Studio takes place. The first of these opens
the main view of the Library, where you can ‘curate’ your media
collections.
The other tabs open the two project editors, one for digital movies,
and the other for disc projects, which are digital movies enhanced
with interactivity in the form of DVD menus.
The Library
The Library is a cataloguing and management tool for all the filebased resources – or assets – that you can draw on when authoring.
Almost all of the materials of your movie – video footage, music and
audio files, and many specialized resources such as transitions and
effects – originate as assets in the Library. Many Library assets are
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supplied with Pinnacle Studio, and are available for royalty-free use.
These include professionally-designed titles, DVD menus, and
Montages in both 2D and stereoscopic 3D.
The Library uses watchfolders for keeping up automatically with the
changing population of media files on your system. On the
watchfolders page of the Pinnacle Studio Setup control panel, enter
the names of your media directories, especially those that you update
frequently. Thereafter the Library will scan those directories
regularly for changes, and update itself as needed. See
“Watchfolders” on page 298 for details.
Main view: When you click the Library tab, the Library takes over
the main window. This ‘main view’ gives you spacious access to a
number of cataloguing and search tools, including those for
categorizing assets by means of ratings and tags, and those for
creating user-defined asset collections.
Compact view: The ‘compact view’ of the Library squeezes
virtually the whole functionality of the main view into a panel
embedded within certain other windows, such as the Movie Editor
and the Disc Editor. The primary purpose of the compact view is to
allow assets to be brought into a movie or disc project from the
Library by drag-and-drop.
The main view of the Library consists of navigation controls for
exploring the catalog structure (left) and a browser for examining
and selecting assets (right).
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
5
Player: The tools available from within the Library include the
Player, a viewer that works for all media types handled by the
application. When used from the main view of the Library, the
Player opens in a separate window. When the compact Library is
used, an embedded version of the Player appears in the same
window. See “The Player” on page 8 for further information.
Previewing a Library video asset in the resizable Player window,
with full transport controls including a shuttle wheel. You can
work in the main window while the pop-up Player is open.
For comprehensive coverage of the Library and its uses, please see
Chapter 2: The Library.
The next step
The next step, once you know your way around the Library and have
made any changes needed to the default set-up, is to start creating a
movie. There are two ways to go about this.
The usual way: If you want to exert detailed control over the way
media assets are used in your production, you will usually start
building your movie or disc project from scratch in one of the two
project editors. These are described below.
The easiest way: For ultra-quick results, the Library offers another
way. Clicking the SmartSlide or SmartMovie tools at the bottom of
the Library main view opens an extra tray of controls. With either of
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Pinnacle Studio
these you select some visual media assets to serve as the basis of the
project, choose music for a soundtrack, and make a handful of other
customizations. Then the software takes over, automatically
generating a full-scale Pinnacle Studio project containing the media
and options requested. You can export the project immediately, or
edit it further by hand as you choose. For details, please see
“SmartSlide” on page 44 and “SmartMovie” on page 47.
The Movie Editor and the Disc Editor
Once you have gathered your materials together and organized them
to your satisfaction in the Library, it’s time to get to work on a video
or a slideshow. If you are working on a disc production specifically,
you can immediately start work in the Disc Editor, which is just like
the Movie Editor but has extra tools for creating and setting up DVD
menus. The Disc Editor is described in Chapter 9: Disc projects.
If you aren’t planning on creating a disc, or aren’t sure, or if disc is
only one of the output media you are targeting, the Movie Editor is
the right place to start. Once your movie is completed, you can
export it to the Disc Editor and add the menus.
The Movie Editor and the Disc Editor exist side-by-side, but apart
from the export feature just mentioned, they do not interact. If you
want, you can have a regular movie project and a disc project loaded
simultaneously, and switch from one to another at will.
In both the Movie Editor and the Disc Editor, a multitrack
timeline occupies the lower part of the display. Most of the ‘clips’
on the timeline come from the Library; a few types, like automatic
background music, are generated with special tools.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
7
Both project editors include embedded versions of the Library and
the Player in addition to the timeline display. To build a project, drag
assets from the Compact Library onto the timeline tracks or
Storyboard area of the project editor, where they are known as
‘clips’. Both the Movie Editor and the Disc Editor can be used with
stereoscopic 3D as well as 2D material.
The preview type control above the Player lets you switch between
viewing the current Library asset (‘source’) and the current timeline
clip. In the Disc Editor, an additional preview type (‘menu’) lets you
use the Player as an editor for linking disc menus to points on the
timeline.
Timeline editing, a central activity in project authoring, is covered in
detail in Chapter 3: The Movie Editor.
The media editors
Additional windows are often needed for working with particular
types of media. In general, you can open an editor window
appropriate to any asset or clip by double-clicking the item.
Corrections from the Library: The editors for the standard media
types of video, photo and audio are particularly important. When
invoked from the Library (by double-clicking an asset), each of these
editors provides a suite of correction tools appropriate to its media
type. These tools can be applied directly to Library assets in order to
remove camera shake from video, trim unwanted material from a
photo, or suppress audio hiss, to give just a few examples.
When a correction is applied to a Library asset, the media file is not
modified. Instead the correction parameters are saved in the Library
database. They can be altered at any time, or removed, as your needs
dictate. The corrections you make in the Library are brought with the
asset when you add it to your timeline as a clip.
Corrections from the timeline: When you open one of the standard
media editors by double-clicking a timeline clip, the correction tools
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Pinnacle Studio
are again available, but in this context they apply only to the clip in
the project, not to the underlying Library asset.
Transitions and Effects: When they are invoked from a project’s
timeline, the media editors also offer a wide-range of enhancements
for all three media types in the transition in, transition out, and
effects groups.
Transitions let you punctuate the passage of one clip to the next with
anything from a barely perceptible dissolve to an audienceawakening flare.
Effects range from the practical (Brightness and contrast) to the
theatrical (Fractal fire). They can be animated with keyframed
parameters to any degree of complexity, providing innumerable
ways to add creative interest to your productions. Some effects are
particularly designed for 3D material, and it is even possible to give
a 3D appearance to 2D footage (using the S3D depth control).
Pan-and-zoom: The Photo Editor provides one more tool, pan-and-
zoom, of its own. Like the effects just discussed, pan-and-zoom can
be animated with keyframes to create any desired combination of
simulated pan and zoom camera moves within the boundaries of a
single photo.
The Correction tools, and the media editors in general, are the
subject of Chapter 4: Media editing: Corrections. The effects, and
the pan-and-zoom tool, are described in Chapter 5: Media editing: Effects.
The Player
The Player is a preview screen in which you can examine Library
media, play back your movie project, work on disc menus, and much
more. In each window or context in which it is used, the Player
exhibits somewhat different controls.
For an introduction to the Player and its basic controls, please see
“The Library preview” on page 31. The various stereoscopic 3D
viewing modes are discussed on page 34. For the use of the Player in
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
9
trim mode on the timeline, see “Clip operations” on page 76. For
information on using the Player with Montage, see “The Montage
Editor” on page 154. For the use of the Player in editing disc menus,
see “Previewing disc menus” on page 223.
Pinnacle Studio Projects
The movies and discs that you create in Pinnacle Studio are distilled
from the projects that you build on the timeline of the Movie Editor
or the Disc Editor.
To manage projects, Studio must keep track of everything that goes
onto your timeline, and all the editing decisions you make with
regard to trimming, adding effects, and much more. Much of this
information is stored in the project file, which is in axp (Studio
Movie) format.
In order to conserve hard drive space when dealing with files that
can be very large, the project file does not include the media items in
your movie. For these, only their location in the Library is stored.
The axp project file is the default file format for the File Open, File Save and File Save As menu commands. It may be the only
one you need.
Sometimes, however, it is convenient to have all the resources
recruited for a project gathered into a single, manageable unit for
hassle-free archiving, file transfer or upload. This is the purpose of
an alternative file format, the axx (Studio Project Package), which
contains in a single file all the materials your project uses, including
media items. Of necessity, files in this format are considerably larger
than standard project files.
Although it is not possible to directly edit a project in the package
format, Pinnacle Studio lets you open a project package with File Open by selecting axx in the file extension box. Studio seamlessly
unpacks the project, creates a new Library entry for the unpacked
version, and opens it for editing.
Chapter 2: The Library
11
CHAPTER 2:
The Library
The Pinnacle Studio Library, or simply ‘the Library’, is a
cataloguing and management tool for all the file-based resources you
can draw on when authoring. Its purpose is to let you choose and use
the video segments, photos, sound bites, transition effects, titles and
other ‘assets’ (as they are often called) for your movies as easily,
rapidly and intuitively as possible .
The Library’s classification scheme resembles what you might see in
a file-system viewer. While the viewer groups files under their
physical storage locations such as hard drives, the Library groups
The Pinnacle Studio Media Library
12
Pinnacle Studio
assets under their type – video, photo, and so on. In other respects,
the tree view concept for accessing subgroups of assets is virtually
identical and should feel immediately familiar.
In addition to audio, photo and video files in standard formats, the
Library includes specialized auxiliary media like titles and disc
menus. They are found, along with transitions, filters and other
effects, in the main category called Creative Elements.
The Library can easily manage large media holdings such as are
often found nowadays even on a home system. All of the dozens of
media file types usable in Pinnacle Studio can be browsed, organized
and previewed within its integrated interface.
Assets are displayed either as icons or text records within collapsible
folders that stack up in the Library Browser. The folders may
correspond either to real directories in your computer’s file system,
or to virtual groupings based on ratings, file type, creation date, or
membership in a user-defined Collection.
Adding assets to a project
Two views of the Library are found in Pinnacle Studio. The Main
view takes over the application window when you click the
Organize tab. It uses the full available space to provide as much
information as possible.
To open the Main Library view, click the Organize tab
at the top of the Pinnacle Studio application window.
The Compact view of the Library is a panel, either docked (as in the
Movie and Disc project editors) or floating (as in the Title Editor).
The Compact view retains the full functionality of the Library. Its
Chapter 2: The Library
13
primar y purpose is to allow you to bring Library assets into a movie
or disc project with drag and drop.
The current set of Library tabs, and the contents of the Browser, are
common to all views of the Library. For instance, if you are
browsing in a particular folder of disc menus in the Main view, that
same folder will be open in the Compact view if you now switch to
the Movie Editor.
Correcting media files
With regard to technical quality, media files are not all created equal.
Occasionally, you do come across the perfect photo, clip, or sound
effect. More often, though, the photo needs cropping, the video is
shaky, or the sound starts with an annoying hiss. Pinnacle Studio’s
media correction tools let you fix these and similar issues by
applying correction filters to a problem clip after you have placed it
on the timeline of your project.
Often, however, an even better solution is to apply the correction to
the Library asset itself, before adding it to a project. That way, any
production using the asset will start with the corrected version, not
the unsatisfactory original. Such corrections can quickly be made by
opening media editors from the Library. The file underlying the
corrected asset is not modified: instead, the correction parameters
are stored in the Library database and reapplied whenever the item is
displayed or used.
Instant gratification: SmartSlide and SmartMovie
In addition to the core functions mentioned so far, the Library offers
a matching pair of tools for automatically constructing a complete
project using media resources you specify. Just select some photos
or video sequences, enter a few settings, and start. You can output
the project Studio generates without further modification, or refine it
with manual editing as you prefer.
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Pinnacle Studio
The Studio Library lets you manage and efficiently use the entire
pool of media and other assets available for use in your productions.
What exactly does the Library contain?
The full range of assets that you can draw on for your projects is
summarized by the four main branches of the Asset Tree. Each
branch is further divided into more specialized subsections.
The All Media branch contains the standard media files on your
system in subsections named Photos, Video, and Audio. Many
standard file types are supported. The purpose of the fourth
subsection, Missing media, is described below.
The Projects branch of the Asset Tree contains your own Pinnacle
Studio movie and disc projects. You can open a project right from
the Library and begin editing it, or you can add it to the timeline of
another project to serve as an ordinary clip.
Collections are custom groupings of Library media. The more time
you spend on media management, the more you will probably use
Collections. They can serve as temporary holding places while you
work, or for classifying and setting aside media for later use.
Collections may be automatically
generated, but most are user defined.
Hierarchically-organized Collections are
also supported. The top-level Collections
in the hierarchy are used as subsections of
the Collections branch.
The Creative Elements branch is shown
open in the illustration at right, revealing
its subsections. Each is either a type of
special effect (Effects and Transitions), or
a special media type. Ready-to-use, royalty-free
collections of all seven types are included with Pinnacle Studio.
UNDERSTANDING THE LIBRARY
Chapter 2: The Library
15
Storage of Library assets
Every asset in the Library – every clip, sound, transition, and so on –
corresponds to a file somewhere in the local storage of your
computer system. The Library doesn’t ‘own’ these files, and never
modifies them unless specifically requested to do so. Rather, it keeps
track of their names, locations and properties in an internal database.
The information stored also includes any tags and ratings with which
you have annotated particular items, and the parameters of any
correction filters you have applied.
The database
The files that make up the Library database are st ored in a folder
with single-user rather than shared access rights under Microsoft
Windows. If Pinnacle Studio is used on your computer by multiple
users with individual log-ins, a separate Library will be created for
each.
Missing media
Operations like adding, removing and renaming a Library asset are
database operations that have no effect on the media file itself. When
you remove an asset from the Library, an option on the confirmation
dialog box does let you go one step further and delete the actual file
as well, but the option is off by default – you have to specifically
request the action.
By the same token, when you delete or move an
asset file in Windows Explorer or another
application outside of Pinnacle Studio, the
database record of the file continues to exist. Since
the Library can’t actually access the file, however,
an error graphic is added to the file’s listing. If the file still exists,
but has simply been moved to another folder or device, relinking it
to the Library is easy. Double-click the item to pop up a standard
File Open dialog with which you can point the way to the file’s new
location.
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Pinnacle Studio
Incidentally, to check if there are missing media anywhere in the
Library, look in the special subsection All media Missing media of
the Asset Tree. The Asset Tree is described below (page 17).
Location tabs
Editing a video project involves coordinating the various media and
other assets at your disposal. As you proceed, it’s likely that you’ll
find yourself browsing repeatedly in various parts of the Library that
are relevant to the project. No doubt you will also change your
viewing and filtering options from time to time, depending on the
material you’re reviewing.
Like a web browser that uses a row of tabs to allow flipping
effortlessly amongst multiple open web sites, the Library lets you
create and configure location tabs as you work. The tabs provide
direct access to each of the various locations in which you are
currently working.
Here three tabs give access to media required by different parts of
a disc project. The mouse pointer is poised to create a new tab. To
close a tab, click the x icon to the right of the tab caption.
To set the location of the current tab, click a name in the Asset Tree.
Changes you make to viewing and filtering options while the tab is
active are retained between accesses.
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