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Pinnacle Studio version 12 ReadMePinnacle – a division of Avid------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations! You are about to enter the world of professional quality movie making. If

you encounter any issues when working with Studio, Studio Plus or Studio Ultimateversion 12, please read the manual and this text.

Technical Notes

1. UpdatesWhen you run Studio or Studio Plus you may be prompted to install an update to thesoftware. We strongly recommend you go through this update procedure as it willenhance your Studio experience. You can also get the latest update fromhttp://www.pinnaclesys.com/support

2. Studio SmartMessenger ToolStudio has a built-in tool called SmartMessenger. This tool informs you of the latestStudio updates and insures that you get the best performance out of your application.This tool also gathers performance and stability statistics from your Studio program. Thisinformation is used for statistical analysis and helps Pinnacle make a better program.This report does not contain any personal information about you or your system. If youwish to disable the auto-run of Smart Messenger, you may do so by selecting Help /Software Updates within Studio and choosing “Prompt before checking for updates”. If your system is not connected to the Internet, we recommend you regularly check to seeif an update is available from http://www.pinnaclesys.com/support.

3. Graphics System Test

Studio and Studio Plus use the GPU on your graphics board for real-time videoprocessing and playback, so they are heavily dependant on the graphics hardware aswell as the display driver version. The first time Studio is run, it will check the capabilitiesof your graphics board and driver. In some cases, you may be instructed to update your display driver or graphics board.

4. Graphic Board MemoryStudio uses the Graphics board to render effects. The video resolutions that may beedited are determined by the amount of memory on the graphics board:

Windows XP

• 64MB – Standard Definition video only

• 128MB – HD up to 720p• 256MB – HD up to 1080 i/p

Windows Vista

• 128MB – Standard Definition video only

• 256MB – HD up to 1080 i/p

Using a board with more memory than rated above may increase the performance in

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HD. For the best experience with HD and using multiple Plug-Ins, we recommend usinga 512MB graphic board.

Some graphic boards reserve 16MB of memory for internal use so it may not be possibleto edit video at the expected resolution. For example, an NVIDIA Quadro board with128MB may only be capable of SD editing and a Quadro with 256 MB may only be

capable of editing HD up to 720p.

Shared Memory – Graphics cards that do not have their own dedicated memory andinstead use the system’s main RAM are not capable of HD editing. This includes Intelonboard graphics (i845, i860, i915, i940) and nVidia TurboCache graphics cards.

5. Monitor Resolutions Below 1024x768Studio 12 does not support resolutions lower than 1024x768. If your monitor is lower than this resolution, you will see scrollbars on the sides of the Studio interface.

6. Using content from previous Studio versions within Studio 12The Studio 12 Installer home screen includes the “Content Transfer” tool which movesexisting content from Studio 10 or Studio 11 installations so it can be used with Studio12. This tool will gather and organize titles, video and sound effects, transitions, DVDmenus, Plug-Ins, music and other content custom created or purchased from eStore or other sources.

Before starting the transfer process, it is required that Studio 12 be installed.è For the best user experience, we also recommend that you leave your previous

version of Studio 10 or Studio 11 on the system prior to installing Studio 12 andrunning the Content Transfer wizard.

After installing Studio 12, please click on the “Transfer Content” button on the main

installer page and follow the instructions.

The Content Transfer Tool is also available from the Start Menu after Studio 12 has beeninstalled.

7. Opening Old Projects in Studio 12When opening older project files in Studio 12, a project format conversion will take place.You will be asked if you would like to create a backup version of your original project. Toaccess the backup, simply open the version of Studio that you used to create the originalproject and import the backup file. For example, if your project is named “My Movie1.stx” your backup will be named “My Movie 1 BACKUP.stx”. The default location for these backup files is in the Windows personal Documents folder: …/ Pinnacle Studio /

My Projects.

8. Editing with AVCHD Files AVCHD is the latest High Definition format for consumer camcorders. It is based on theH.264 codec and offers high compression with minimal quality loss. The result is small,great-looking HD video files, but at the cost of a more complex compression schemerequiring more processor power and system memory. Please ensure you meet theminimum system requirement below:

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Systems requirements:

• Intel® Core™2 Duo 2.4 GHz or higher,

2.66 GHz for the AVCHD 1920x1080 format

• 2 GB system memory

• DirectX® 9 or 10 compatible graphics card with 256 MB or higher

•

Windows XP requires a UDF 2.5 driver to recognize an AVCHD DVD (or BD disc)

When editing an AVCHD production, project complexity has a major impact on how thesystem performs. Please take note of the following when working with AVCHD projects:

• When importing AVCHD clips into the Album, thumbnails may take longer to

render than thumbnails from other SD and HD codecs.

• When adding transitions between AVCHD clips, a preview may not be seen until

background rendering has completed.

• When using Montage themes or when adding a picture-in-picture effect (using

the overlay track), a preview may not be seen until background rendering hascompleted. An exclamation point in the Preview window may appear, indicatingthat background render has not yet completed.

• Motion backgrounds in DVD menus or chapter thumbnails are NOTrecommended when creating a DVD.

• Higher performance with low resolution preview and Mpeg-2 preview rendering.

(Setup/Video and Audio Preferences/Enable full-resolution preview = unchecked;Background rendering: set to Mpeg-2 preview).

• Higher performance with disabled background rendering: You may enable it only

for finishing the project.(Setup/Video and Audio Preferences/Enable background rendering =unchecked).

Important notice for playback AVCHD discs:Please do not insert AVCHD discs into any device that does not support the AVCHDstandard. The discs may not be ejected or the device may delete data on the disc after displaying a message prompting to reformat the disc.

9. Capture DevicesStudio should work with most DirectShow compatible capture devices. If you experiencedifficulties using a particular capture device, please test the device using AM Capture(found in Studio/Tools). If the device does not work properly with AM Capture, it is notDirectShow compatible and can not be used with Studio.

- Capture from the DV500/Studio Deluxe (AV/DV1) card is not supported. Thiscard is not a DirectShow card.

- The DC10 card is not supported under Windows Vista- TV tuner devices are not supported for direct capture within Studio 12. Pleaseuse the application coming with your TV tuner product for capturing, and thenimport the file into Studio 12.

- 3rd party hardware is not supported within Studio 12

10. HDV, DV and Digital 8 Camcorder SupportIf you receive an error message from Studio when you switch to capture mode, you mayhave to make a special setting in Windows to support your camcorder. From Windows

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device manager, select the "1394 Bus Controller" device (OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394Host Controller) and click the "Properties" button. Go to the "Settings" tab. Check thebox labeled "Support Non-Compliant Devices". Restart your computer. Windows shouldnow detect your camcorder when it is plugged in and load the appropriate DV camcorder drivers.

11. DV to MPEG Transcode at CaptureDV to MPEG transcode at capture is dependent on CPU speed and may not be possiblewith CPUs slower than 2 GHz

12. Dropped Frames During CaptureWhen capturing video, the player window displays a "Frames dropped" counter. If thiscounter shows any value other than zero, it means frames of your video will be missing.

A large number of dropped frames will result in poor quality video and audio output(choppy results). Dropped frames may be the result of poor computer systemperformance, often related to hard drive or graphics performance. If your system isdropping frames due to poor graphics performance, you may be able to solve this byturning off video preview during capture. To do this, go into the Capture menu in Studio

and turn off the option "Capture preview". (When the option is turned off, no checkmarkwill appear next to it in the menu.) Try your capture again, noting the number of droppedframes for signs of improvement.

13. MovieBox and 700-USB capture products: Multiple Capture SourcesDo not connect source camcorders and/or VCRs to USB-700 or MovieBox Deluxe1394/FireWire and analog inputs at the same time. Always disconnect one devicebefore connecting another.

14. Connecting or removing USB 2.0 devices during captureThe Pinnacle MovieBox and MovieBox Plus devices require high performance from theUSB 2.0 bus while performing Studio analog video capture or playback operation. It isrecommended that other USB 2.0 devices such as disk drives and digital or videocameras not be added or be removed from the bus during a capture or playback, as thismay cause a disruption in the video stream.It is not recommended to capture to a disk drive which is connected to the same bus asthe capture device.

15. Playing Video on a Second DisplayOn some displays, video may show an incorrect aspect ratio (e.g. vertically zoomed or squashed video) or be shifted off-center. This is caused by some monitors using lower refresh rates. To correct this, set your monitor’s refresh rate to 50Hz. If that setting is notavailable, adjust the monitor’s Scan Timing.

16. SVCD Discs and 16:9 Widescreen FormatThe specification for SVCD discs does not support 16:9 format videos. If you wish toencode your video into 16:9 and author onto an SVCD, you must manually change theaspect ratio of your display device in order to view the material in the correct widescreenformat.

17. WMV Export under Windows XPWMV export with Studio12 under Windows XP may cause an issue if a Windows Media

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Player older than version 11 is installed. Please update the Windows Media Player toversion 11 or higher.

18. High Resolution ImagesStudio provides a mode for scaling images to an adequate size for use within projects.If you want to use an image in full size within Studio 12, please rename the image file by

adding “_HQ” between the file name and the file suffix. As an example: rename“image001.jpg” to “image001_HQ.jpg”. Please keep in mind that using full sized imagesimply a higher memory usage and potentially lower performance.

19. Scorefitter Volume with a 5.1 Soundcard under VistaWhen you are using a 5.1 audio card under Windows Vista and you connect just twoloudspeakers, the playback volume of a Scorefitter song can be lower in the project thanit is in the Album.

20. Pinnacle Video Transfer Files in Instant DVD Recorder If you intend to use files captured with Pinnacle Video Transfer in the Instant DVDRecorder, please make sure that you have the Mpeg-4 codec pack activated withinStudio 12. The activation is free and just requires an internet connection. To initiate theactivation, use any Mpeg-4 function, such as the “Make Movie” tab by clicking the “File”button and selecting “Mpeg-4” for export. In so doing, the Pinnacle Video Transfer codecwill also be available for Instant DVD Recorder.