How to use Pinnacle Editing Software

With today's explosion of independent filmmakers and technology which allow consumers to film their own project, having knowledge of at least one editing software can put you in the driver's seat towards beginning a career as an editor. Pinnacle software is a very effective editing software and is slowly gaining more and more respect in the entertainment industry. Its affordability, user friendly qualities and efficiency has made this software a favorite of many independent filmmakers. This article is by no means meant to replace the "help" manual which comes with your Pinnacle software. It is meant to guide you through the basic steps from capturing your images to burning your first test DVD.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pinnacle software 9.0 to 9.3
• Computer with at least Windows 98
• Mini-DV camera or VHS camera

1. 
    
   Capture Your images on the Dazzle DVC90.

   Connect the Analog to Digital USB Capture Device (Dazzle DVC90) to the rear of your computer tower. This adapter allows you to capture your images from non-digital devices such as DVD players, VHS players or cameras and any other analog device. If your footage is on a mini-DV camera or mini-DV player, you will need a "firewire cable or 1394 port" to connect your digital devices into the back of your computer as well. Double check the back of your computer to make sure you have a "firewire" input port. Many computers have several USB ports but do not automatically have at least one "firewire" port. If you do not have a firewire 1394 port in your computer, then you must purchase the "firewire (1394 port) " hardware and install it into your computer before you are able to do anything with your mini-DV camera or player.

2. Connect your source that you wish to capture to the USB Capture Device. Depending which model of Pinnacle you purchase, the USB Capture Device could have only the basic single video and two audio cable inputs and one S-video input or the more advanced model of Pinnacle has a USB Capture Device with a large variety of inputs to allow the connection of several devices at once. Connect the cables from your source accordingly. Note: If you're connecting a DVD player to your USB Capture Device you will immediately notice that those cables have a yellow video cable and two audio cables (red and white). If you are connecting a VHS player or camera you only have one video input and one audio input. For best results, simply connect a splitter to your one audio cable so that you will have two audio inputs and one video input as the DVD player.

3. 
    
   Capture your images on the Capture page

   Open your Pinnacle software. The default page that comes up shows your main editing page which shows several rows of filmstrips on the bottom half and a small monitor screen on the upper right of the page. At the very top of the stage you see three choices--"Capture," "Edit" and "Make Movie". Click on "Capture" and the page switches to another page with a monitor screen at the top half, and a picture of a manual recording device on the bottom half of the screen if you are using an analog device, or a picture of your digital camera if you are using your mini-DV camera.

4. Click on the "Settings" button next to the "Start Capture" button. You will go to a page to tell the computer which device you are going to use, the Pinnacle Dazzle DVC 90 (USB Capture Device) or your mini-DV source ( "Firewire 1394 port "). Since the Dazzle DVC90 comes with the software, let 's use your analog source. When you click on "Settings" a small screen pops up labeled "Quick Start Setup Options." Under "Capture Format" you can choose MPEG or AVI as your file formats. If you are capturing a large amount of info expecting to do very little editing, choose the MPEG file format. If you are planning to do a lot of editing, choose the AVI file format.

5. Click on "Capture Source." This is where you must always let the computer know which capture device you are using before you can download your footage. Click on "Dazzle DVC90" as your capture source. Then, right under that box you will see "Scene detection during video capture," which gives you four choices on how to capture your footage. Choose what you wish and then click "OK." As soon as you click "OK", push "Play" on your player to check your connection. If everything is correct, you should see your footage to be captured on the monitor. If you see it, now you're ready to capture your images.

6. Click on "Start Capture" once you have recued your footage, and a second small Capture Video screen appears which allows you to title your footage. Once you have titled your footage, click on the "Start Capture" button on the pop-up screen and the download begins. During this time pay attention to the small counter under the monitor which reads, Captured and Frames dropped. For an effective download, the Frames Dropped window should remain at "0" while only the Capture meter accumulates the length of time of the footage captured. If you get numbers accumulating in the Frames dropped meter, chances are your footage is going to be out of sync with sound and audio or the picture will have problems during playback in the Edit Mode. Once you have finished the footage to be captured, click on "Stop Capture" at the bottom of the screen and your footage is now in the computer as a digital file.

7. 
    
   Trial & error is the key to mastering your editing technique.

   Click on "Edit" at the top of the screen to return to the default Main Edit Page. Here is where you will spend most of your time during the editing process. Once this screen has returned, you should see a small icon of the file you just captured on the upper left of your screen. To check how the footage downloaded, click on the footage icon, then click the Play button under the monitor and you will be able to view your download. If you are satisfied, with your mouse, click on the icon and drag it to the first filmstrip frame on the timeline in the lower left half of the screen. Once your footage is on the timeline, any of your editing features can now be applied.

8. Take the time to click on all of the icons the upper left side of the the screen which includes your dissolve choices, standard title choices, photo choices, sound effects choices and menu design choices. If you click on the tool box just under the last choice another popup screen comes up which allows even more edits, which includes, from top to bottom, trimming your footage, custom titles to go in between or over your footage, custom menu design options, music video style setup, picture insert choices and video effects.

9. Examine all the drop down screens under each choice across the top of the screen which describes the different functions, to name a few: video/audio effects, ability to add music, choose the softwares musical selections, post lighting corrections, color corrections, add voice-over and more. Whatever effect of choice you make on some effects you must drag some to time line. On others, once you click on the frame of your footage you desire to effect, then just click on the effect you want and that effect is applied to that footage. By the process of trial and error, play around with all the features I mentioned to see what effects they have on your footage. Whether you plan to remain a novice in the field of editing, focusing only on personal home videos or are planning to get into editing seriously, your craft is truly honed during the process of trial and error. This is where you develop your style of editing, your confidence, your resume and your skills. Keep a journal of everything you learn as a result of taking this time to hone your skills. You journal along with the manual will be invaluable as you continue on as an editor.

10. Note this about the time-line: The default time-line is the filmstrip page which easily allows you to simply drop all your footage in to the time-line and drag all your dissolves as well. Under the monitor, you will see three icons which represent the three types of time-line you can work with. The first icon is the filmstrip icon, the second icon is the horizontal time-line which is best used for detailed, multi-faceted edits, and the third time-line is the time code time-line which allows you to easily record the time lengths of all of your edits.Since at this point you have only downloaded one strip of footage, you can divide that single strip of footage into several clips by clicking on the horizontal timeline. Click on "Play," let your footage run for about 15 seconds, then press "Stop." Then click on the razor blade icon which will divide your clip into two clips. Repeat this step 4 to 5 times so that you can have several clips to practice editing with.

11. 
     
    To burn your movie - click on Make Movie!

    Burn your movie onto a DVD. Click on "Make Movie" at the top of the Edit page. Along the left side of the upper half of the page you will see all the different formats you can choose. To choose burn DVD, click on "DISC." Then when you are ready to burn, click on "Create Disc" and the burning process begins. Now everything is in the computer's hands as it prepares your footage for the burning process. The first part of the process is rendering ( the preparation step). Rendering takes about two times the length of your footage to complete. Then the burning process begins and takes just a little less than the length of real time of your footage to burn. That means this process can take quite some times if your footage is more than 45 minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• It is best to experiment with a couple effects at a time in the beginning to avoid burnout.
• Editing is easy once you get the hang of it--it is your patience that makes an editor love or hate the editing process itself.
• As I mentioned earlier, the steps in this article are meant to guide you through the basics of Pinnacle in order to understand how it works from capture to burning the DVD. In corporation with the software's Help manual and hours of practice, you will soon be on your way to mastering editing techniques limited only by how much you wish to learn. New upgraded versions are now available which include the new HD format and more features. However, the overall process of how to manipulate your way through the software remains the same. Happy editing!
• A computer with too little memory available can cause your computer to jam during the DVD burning process.