Anyone have Pinnacle System Liquid

[vicnewton]

I have Pinnacle studio version 9 and about to upgrade to the more professional liquid version just wanted to know has anyone had any experience with this editing software. Thanks

[David Jimerson]

I do.

It’s *nothing* like Studio. There will be a steep learning curve.

However, one thing Pinnacle does do right is that it has video tutorials – free – streaming from its site. They’ll be a big help.

[yellowdog]

I have version 5.5 of liquid edition. I thought it was fairly easy to use as an editor coming from an avid background. But it was very unstable in my computer. I had many issues with it, from editing to burning dvd's. I have since gone over to Vegas(I have version 5) and havent looked back.Plus Vegas offers true 24p support for your dvx, if you have one.Something Pinnacle does not. Having said that, ina nutshell, I liked the layout of Pinnacle Liquid, just too unreliable for me.

[yohenk]

Hi, I've been using Liquid Edition (5.5 and 6.1) for a few years now, and it is still my editing solution at the moment. The workflow is absolutely superb once you know the interface a little. But indeed, it will take some time to understand it. I liked it far better then Premiere which was completely unreliable on my computer.

Two problems for me with Liquid Edition, which keep me open to other applications in the future:
While doing bigger projects with including about 7 or more layers I sometimes encounter problems with the rendering (my computer is P4 2,4 with 1 Gig RAM). Two times, my total composition of layers was 'destroyed' by the software, having me start all over again on some sections. Not fun when you're doing home video, stressfull when you're on a deadline.
The second problem I have is with exporting files (simply to AVI for example) and burning DVD's; it hardly ever works. The DVD problem could also be due to the burner, because that thing sucks anyway.

All in all it is a very good program in my opinion and a joy to work with. But as with most final productions: it is not flawless. My guess is that you download a trial version, make a movie of about 30 minutes and by doing tutorials on Pinnacle's website, get to know some basics. This way you can test how smoothly it runs on your system. If it runs ok, there is very little reason to stay away from Liquid Edition!

Cheers!

yohenk

[vancouverguy]

I have been using Liquid Edition since version 4.5. I presently have version 6.1. I have found the program very stable and a pleasure to use. I am surprised at the claims of a steep learning curve because that has not been my experience. However to qualify, I started video editing using Studio 10 plus (the version prior to the digital Studio 7 version). I have not used any other editing program to produce a result, as I have with Liquid Edition. I have used Premiere but find it very slow and limiting. Note that there are some excellent video tutorials for Liquid Edition.

There are two drawbacks in choosing LE that I can see though. First it has been bought out by Avid. There is the risk of Avid killing the program as LE may compete with their product Avid Express. The other drawback is that it does not support 24p. I would suggest this is a "deal breaker" for most members of this forum since they own/use the DVX 100. I have the DVC 80 and most of my work is doc as opposed to film so for me not supporting 24p is not an issue.

[J.R. Hudson]

Just get Vegas. You'll be so stoked you did

[arielman]

I too have Studio 9 plus and i like it . I have LE6 and man I'll tell you it is hard to learn , i spend more time trying to learn it than what should be required .
I did try Adobe Pro 1.5 and found much easier to use , everything seemed to work much better . I have complained to Pinnacle about trying to get Studio users to step up . if you read most video mags almost all of them do not like LE6 . I have watched the tutorials Pinnacle has .Try importing your Studio project into liquid as an STE file ..no way ,it seems to import the captured version plus extras , never the project!!!. Again this is also mentioned in the mag write ups .
I have tried Vegas as a trial version..see John above ..I found this was also easier to use as well . Try trial versions first as has been suggested .

[Droog]

Not trying to jack the thread, but our system is Liquid Silver (4.02) and I am curious about editing 24P footage on it. Edition does not support progressive, so maybe Silver does not either. Is there a good work around? How can I capture 24p footage?

Thanks.

[vicnewton]

I asked a Pinnacle rep the same question and his response was that if my finish product was going to be DVD, that I was going to work on a 60i timeline anyway. I think he said something similar to that ... I hope I worded that correctly... as I am still fairly new with the different cameras and frame rates... He also tried to talk me out of getting me a DVX 100a saying that I would have to find other plug ins for capturing my footage if a record in 24p mode.. But all in all I need the same answer as Droog is looking for, now Im between the Sony PD 150 and the DVX 100a

[Barry_Green]

I asked a Pinnacle rep the same question and his response was that if my finish product was going to be DVD, that I was going to work on a 60i timeline anyway.

I hope no system rep said that, because that would be ridiculous. If you're shooting 24p, and planning on making a DVD, you most definitely *don't* want to be working in a 60i timeline. 24P DVDs look fantastic on progressive-scan displays. If you're shooting 24p, you definitely want to edit 24p and output a 24p DVD.