It seems like Pinnacle just came out with Pinnacle Studio 11 last year and they are now releasing version 12. It comes in three flavors - Studio, Plus, and Ultimate; with Studio Plus and Studio Ultimate coming with more advanced audio and video tools, including a complete HD workflow. I've been very pleased with the stability, features, and ease of use in Studio 11, so I look forward to the 25 new features, some of which being:

• Pinnacle Montage - an innovative tool that makes high-end compositing and animation effects accessible to consumers.
• More titles, DVD menus, and templates have been added
• New professional audio and video controls
• Studio Plus and Ultimate now includes new Blu-ray disc burning capabilities in BD-MV with motion menus
• Multiple video layers
• Animated text and graphics
• 11 pre-defined themes with over 80 single templates
• Marker tools for the timeline
• Format compatibility has also been expanded to include photo import in Photoshop’s native PSD format and the GIF format
• Create MP3, Flash Video, WAV and 3GP files or upload files direct to YouTube
• Native HDV and AVCHD editing software

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12 is designed for the most serious video enthusiasts and includes a green sheet for Chroma keying effects and integrates three of the industry’s most highly acclaimed professional video tools:

• ProDAD Vitascene (a $399 value) – a complete library of highly customizable transitions and lighting effects. The effects include film looks, blurs, glows, sparkles, and glass effects. Transitions include film effects, ripples, wipes, sparkle and starburst dissolves, and many others.
• Red Giant Software Magic Bullet Looks (a $399 value) – a powerful tool for adjusting tone, color and focus to simulate the appearance of classic films or specific production conditions. Offers more than 100 simple-to-apply presets to match common looks found in television programs, commercials, and motion pictures.
• Boris Graffiti (a $299 value) – the 2D/3D vector title animation plug-in that includes text on a path, jitter, randomization, independent vector text, advanced type-on title animation and automated rolls, crawls, fades and zooms. Comes with hundreds of presets to streamline title creation.

While these features are going to be great additions, I believe Pinnacle has done what most other editors have not, that is to give video hobbyists a fun and quick way to create videos that are entertaining while being stable and simple to use.

Pricing & Availability
Pinnacle Studio - US$49.99
Pinnacle Studio Plus - $99.99
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate with full HD support - $129.99

If you have previous versions, you can upgrade from $69.99 (upgrade to Pinnacle Studio Plus) to $99.99 (upgrade to Pinnacle Studio Ultimate).

The Pinnacle Studio version 12 family is available now for pre-orders at the Pinnacle Systems estore, but will be released later this month.

For tips, tricks and techniques on all Pinnacle solutions, visit Pinnacle Life.