Avid Pinnacle Studio 17 Ultimate Owner's manual

Pinnacle Studio

Version 17

Including Pinnacle Studio Plus

and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate

Your Life in Movies

2

Pinnacle Studio

Please respect the Rights of Artists and Creators. Content such as music,

photos, video and celebrity images are protected by the laws of many

countries. You may not use other people’s content unless you own the rights

or have the permission of the owner.

This product or portions thereof are protected in the United States by one or

more of the following United States Patents: 5,495,291; 6,469,711; 6,532,043;

6,901,211; 7,124,366; 7,165,219; 7,286,132; 7,301,092 and 7,500,176; and in

Europe by one or more of the following European Patents: 0695094 and

0916136. Other patents are pending.

by QDesign Corp.  This product is based in part on the work of the

Independent JPEG Group.

No part of this manual may be copied or distributed, transmitted, transcribed,

stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer

language, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic,

manual, or otherwise, without the express written permission of Corel

Corporation.

Corel Corporation

4400 Bohannon Drive

Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

Table of contents

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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

Location tabs ..................................................................................... 16

The Asset Tree .................................................................................. 17

Collections ........................................................................................ 19

Managing Library assets .................................................................... 21

The Browser ...................................................................................... 24

Thumbnails and details ...................................................................... 25

Optional indicators and controls ......................................................... 28

The Library preview .......................................................................... 31

Using the Library ................................................................................. 35

Choosing what to display ................................................................... 35

Tags .................................................................................................. 38

Correcting media ............................................................................... 41

Video scene detection ........................................................................ 42

SmartSlide and SmartMovie ................................................................ 44

SmartSlide ......................................................................................... 44

SmartMovie ....................................................................................... 47

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CHAPTER 3: THE MOVIE EDITOR 51

The project timeline ............................................................................. 55

Timeline fundamentals ...................................................................... 55

The timeline toolbar .......................................................................... 60

The timeline track header ................................................................... 67

Timeline audio functions ................................................................... 69

Editing movies ....................................................................................... 69

Adding clips to the timeline ............................................................... 71

Title Editor, ScoreFitter, voice-over ................................................... 75

Deleting clips .................................................................................... 76

Clip operations .................................................................................. 76

Using the Clipboard ........................................................................... 88

Speed ................................................................................................ 89

Movies within movies ....................................................................... 91

Transitions ........................................................................................ 92

Clip effects ........................................................................................ 98

Clip context menus ............................................................................ 99

CHAPTER 4: MEDIA EDITING: CORRECTIONS 101

Media editing overview ................................................................... 103

Correcting photos ................................................................................ 108

Photo editing tools ........................................................................... 109

Photo corrections ............................................................................. 110

Correcting video .................................................................................. 115

Video tools ...................................................................................... 116

Video corrections ............................................................................ 119

Correcting audio ................................................................................. 122

CHAPTER 5: MEDIA EDITING: EFFECTS 123

Effects in the media editors .............................................................. 125

Effects on the timeline ..................................................................... 129

The Settings panel ........................................................................... 131

Working with keyframes ................................................................. 133

Video and photo effects ................................................................... 135

Working with transitions ................................................................. 140

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Pan-and-zoom ................................................................................. 141

CHAPTER 6: MONTAGE 145

The Montage section of the Library ................................................. 147

Using Montage templates ................................................................... 148

Montage clips on the timeline .......................................................... 149

Anatomy of a template ..................................................................... 151

Montage Editing ................................................................................. 154

Using the Montage Editor ................................................................ 155

CHAPTER 7: THE TITLE EDITOR 157

Launching (and leaving) the Title Editor .......................................... 159

The Library ......................................................................................... 160

The Presets Selector ........................................................................... 162

Preset Looks .................................................................................... 163

Preset Motions ................................................................................. 164

Creating and editing titles .................................................................. 166

Background settings ........................................................................ 168

Look settings ................................................................................... 169

The Edit window ............................................................................. 173

Text and text settings ....................................................................... 175

Titles and stereoscopic 3D ............................................................... 180

The Layer List ..................................................................................... 181

Working with the Layer List ............................................................ 182

Working with layer groups .............................................................. 186

CHAPTER 8: SOUND AND MUSIC 191

The Audio Editor ................................................................................ 193

Audio corrections ............................................................................ 197

Audio effects ................................................................................... 201

Audio on the timeline ......................................................................... 204

Timeline audio functions ................................................................. 204

Audio creation tools ........................................................................... 211

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ScoreFitter ...................................................................................... 213

The Voice-over tool ........................................................................ 214

CHAPTER 9: DISC PROJECTS 217

Disc menus ...................................................................................... 218

Adding disc menus .......................................................................... 221

Previewing disc menus .................................................................... 223

Menu editing on the timeline .............................................................. 225

Timeline menu markers 225

Authoring tools 226

The Chapter Wizard ........................................................................ 229

The Menu Editor ................................................................................. 232

Menu buttons .................................................................................. 233

The Disc Simulator ............................................................................. 235

CHAPTER 10: THE IMPORTER 237

Using the Importer .......................................................................... 238

Importer panels .................................................................................. 240

The Import From panel .................................................................... 240

The Import To panel ........................................................................ 243

The Mode panel .............................................................................. 246

The Compression Options window .................................................. 248

The Scene Detection Options window .............................................. 249

The Metadata panel ......................................................................... 251

The Filename panel ......................................................................... 251

Selecting assets for import ................................................................. 253

Import from file ............................................................................... 253

Selecting files for Import ................................................................. 254

Import from Cloud ........................................................................... 259

Scan for assets ................................................................................. 260

Import from DV or HDV camera ..................................................... 261

Import from analog sources ............................................................. 265

Import from DVD or Blu-ray Disc ................................................... 266

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Import from digital cameras ............................................................. 267

Stop motion ..................................................................................... 267

Snapshot ......................................................................................... 269

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CHAPTER 11: THE EXPORTER 273

Output to disc or memory card .......................................................... 276

Output to file ...................................................................................... 280

Output to cloud .................................................................................. 289

Output to a device .............................................................................. 293

CHAPTER 12: SETUP 297

Watchfolders ................................................................................... 298

Audio device ................................................................................... 298

Event logging .................................................................................. 298

Import ............................................................................................. 298

Keyboard ........................................................................................ 300

Preview ........................................................................................... 301

Project settings ................................................................................ 303

Storage locations ............................................................................. 304

APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING ............................... 305

Contacting support ............................................................................ 306

Top support issues .............................................................................. 307

Compatibility with past content ........................................................ 307

Capture hardware compatibility ....................................................... 310

Serial number information ............................................................... 311

Error or crash while installing .......................................................... 312

Hangs or crashes while launching .................................................... 314

Troubleshooting software crashes .................................................... 315

Export problems .............................................................................. 320

Disc playback problems ................................................................... 321

Resources, tutorials and training ...................................................... 323

APPENDIX B: VIDEOGRAPHY 325

Creating a shooting plan .................................................................. 325

Editing ............................................................................................ 326

Rules of thumb for video editing ...................................................... 329

Soundtrack production ..................................................................... 331

Title ................................................................................................ 332

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APPENDIX C: GLOSSARY 333

APPENDIX D: KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 347

APPENDIX E: THE INSTALLATION MANAGER 353

The Welcome Screen ....................................................................... 355

Plugs-ins and bonus content ............................................................. 357

Equipment requirements .................................................................. 358

INDEX 361

Before you start

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Before you start

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 carefully-

arranged 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 file-

based 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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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.

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