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gadget — Episode 090 – Pinnacle MovieBox Ultimate
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The Pinnacle Movie Box Ultimate is really two products in one bundle. The first part of the bundle is the Movie Box hardware encoder. This palm-sized plastic device is really a very sophisticated analog to digital and firewire to USB convertor. The “input” side of the hardware device has RCA plugs for analog video and audio, a S-Video port for higher-quality analog video, and a Firewire port to connect the device to any IEEE 1394 device like a camcorder or DV deck. The “output” side has the same analog ports that can act as a “passthrough” for your video and audio, or as an output for pushing your finished footage back to an analog device.
Though it may not look like much, the hardware is actually quite competent. We tested it with both Windows XP and Windows Vista without incident. We were able to plug in Firewire cameras from Sony, Samsung, Canon, and Panasonic, as well as three different DV decks without so much as a glitch. We never dropped a frame while transferring over the Firewire to USB bus and both Pinnacle Studio and our installation of Adobe Premier Pro immediately detected the converter. We didn’t really use the analog inputs or outputs for our production work, but when we tested them the transfers were crisp and clear. The software component of the Movie Box is Pinnacle’s Studio Software and several supporting software packs. The evaluation unit we received had Studio 11, but Pinnacle has since released Studio 12 — a slightly more mature version of the suite that adds a few bells and whistles to the program. Pinnacle Studio 11 is a video editing suite that is very easy to use, but also has much to offer in terms of advanced features. For beginners, it has a “storyboard” view that divides your video into individual scenes and use a variety of filters and transitions to customize your video sequence. For more advanced users, a simple click will switch to the “timeline” view that gives you more exact control over audio and video editing. Speaking of editing, the Ultimate package also includes Hollywood FX — a transition and filter editor. This handy little program allows you to use any number of mind-blowing transitions and effects or even customize them to your own liking. |
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The Bonus DVD that comes with the Ultimate edition brings even more effects, filters, audio files and transitions into your editing arsenal. In fact, we could probably dedicate an entire show to just the elements of the bonus material that Pinnacle includes in the package. Needless to say, you’re probably going to find the transitions and effects that fit your needs.
One of the cooler features of the Ultimate package is that Pinnacle also includes a green screen backdrop for those who want to play with Chroma Keying. This is the editing technique that allows you to overlay one video on another. The kit makes it easy to do, but it takes a little practice to do it right, and you’re going to need plenty of uniform lighting on the green screen in order to avoid artifacting. It will take some time to get the right shot but it’s a blast to take somebody and superimpose them on the footage from a different scene. Aside from being able to import the standard formats like DV, HDV, and all the MPEG formats, Studio also has the ability to read the AVCHD format that is popular with many hard-drive based camcorders. This is a big bonus for those who previously had to use a third party convertor to use their AVCHD footage. Pinnacle Studio can output to several different formats, including Video CD, DVD, HD-DVD, AVCHD, iPod and Sony PSP MPEG-4, DV, HDV, AVI, DivX, Real, Windows Media, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2. The Studio Ultimate package also includes several additional software tools to maximize your editing option. Bias SoundSoap Personal Edition 2.1 allows you to clean noise from your audio or encode 5.1 Dolby Digital into your video. proDAD VitaScene can add ray effects or motion blurs, and StateTools lets you easily add pan and zooms to your footage. — All in all, the Pinnacle MovieBox Ultimate is really what it sounds like… a movie studio in a box. The Pinnacle Movie Box Ultimate is available online and at major retailers for less than $150. |
