Pinnacle Studio Ultimate

About this release

Pinnacle Studio has been around long enough that a lot of people learned to edit in it, and the Ultimate tier is the version with everything switched on. The timeline is unlimited track multitrack with keyframing on every parameter, the effect collection is large and includes the third party packs that usually cost extra elsewhere, and the whole thing sits at a price and a complexity point well below the professional suites.

Screen recording is built in, which makes this a natural choice for tutorial and demonstration work. The recorder captures a display or a region with system audio and microphone on separate tracks, and the capture drops onto the timeline ready to cut. Cursor highlighting, click emphasis and zoom to region are handled as timeline effects afterwards rather than being baked into the recording.

The Ultimate feature set adds the tools that usually mark the line between a consumer and a serious editor. Motion tracking attaches graphics or blurs to a moving subject, colour grading includes wheels, curves and scopes rather than presets alone, masking supports shapes and keyframed paths, and multi camera editing syncs up to six angles for interview and event work. Stop motion and time lapse capture round it out.

Delivery is straightforward. Export presets cover the common platform and device shapes, hardware encoding is used where the graphics card supports it, and disc authoring with menus is still present for anyone producing physical deliverables, which more people still do than the rest of the industry likes to admit.

What it does

Unlimited track timeline

Multitrack video and audio with keyframing available on every parameter.

Built in screen recording

Display or region capture with system audio and microphone on separate tracks.

Motion tracking

Attach graphics, text or a blur to a moving subject with a drawn box.

Multi camera editing

Sync up to six angles and switch between them live on the timeline.

Grading with scopes

Wheels, curves and waveform readouts rather than a preset list alone.

Large bundled effect set

Transitions, filters and title packs included rather than sold separately.

Changed in this version

• Faster preview rendering on stacked effect chains.
• Screen recorder handles high refresh rate displays correctly.
• New title and transition packs added to the bundled library.
• Improved stability importing variable frame rate phone footage.
• Export presets refreshed for current platform requirements.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a folder with room for the bundled content.
2. Run the installer and let the effect and title libraries deploy fully.
3. Launch once and set the render cache to a fast drive.
4. Import a short test clip before committing to a long project.

Worth knowing before you start

File details