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The capture tool includes timecode scene detection for DV equipment – analogue scene detection is provided after capture.
Creating a DVD no longer involves exporting your work and switching to a new application, and can now be done from the timeline.
Edition Pro 5 includes an effective real-time colour correction utility, though it lacks the one-touch white balance tool of the RT.X100 Xtreme.
Edition no longer takes over your entire desktop, letting you keep your taskbar visible during editing.

With the launch of Edition Pro 5, Pinnacle is jamming its banner into the sand and drawing up battle plans. Not only is it shouting challenges across the field at Adobe by withdrawing product support for the popular Premiere non-linear editing (NLE) software, but it’s going head to head against long-time foe, Matrox Video and its RT.X100 real-time digital editing board. It’s a bold move, particularly when you consider that rival Canopus also has its own NLE in the form of Edius, yet continues to provide driver support for Premiere with its real-time hardware.

So what makes Edition Pro 5 so special? Well, it’s clear that the engineers at Pinnacle have been working overtime on the software since it was bought with the rest of FAST Technologies two years ago, and Pinnacle has now teamed up with ATI to provide the required graphics hardware savvy. The end result is a complete digital video editor (DVE) that covers every aspect of real-time editing from capture, through edit, to output, and throws is some rather nifty features on the way.

What’s in the box?

In the box, you’ll find a graphics/capture card, a breakout box for analogue and digital I/O, a set of reassuringly hefty manuals, a 6-4pin FireWire cable, a DVI-VGA adapter, and the application/content CDs. Despite the Pinnacle sticker over the GPU, this is actually a customised ATI card, driven by the Radeon 8500 chipset complete with 64MB of RAM, much like the original Radeon 8500DV.

The card’s back plate is pretty cluttered, with a DVI-I port, FireWire port, audio line out, and a proprietary connector that hooks up to the breakout box. The fact that it effectively has two FireWire ports (one on the back, one on the breakout box) gives it an immediate edge over the RT.X100 Xtreme, allowing you to easily hook up additional FireWire devices like external drives.

While this all-in-one approach assures compatibility with Edition’s new features, we can’t help but be concerned about the longevity of this system. The Radeon 8500 chipset is well behind the leading edge for 3D performance, but upgrading your graphics card would mean sacrificing all your connections, the breakout box, and the ability to capture analogue video. It’s also worth noting that this arrangement also limits you to one display (preview monitor not included). If you want a second monitor, you’ll need to fit an additional PCI graphics card, unlike the RT.X100 Xtreme, which gives you the freedom to pick and choose your graphics card without losing any features.

Non-Liner Editing Software

Although there may be issues with the hardware, there’s a lot of good news on the software side. Where the RT.X100 Xtreme will have you hopping from one application to another, Edition Pro 5 gives you everything you need in one integrated package. As well as the more precise manual logging and batch capture tool, Edition now provides scan and capture by timecode for DV camcorders, as well as open-ended capture with scene detection for analogue footage. I also like the TC Shift function, which lets you synchronise footage from multiple camera setups by entering the offset between the two timecodes.

While the interface is still rather esoteric and takes a lot of getting used to, I’m pleased to report that Pinnacle has listened to criticisms of earlier versions. The application now resizes to fit UXGA monitors, allowing both source and master panes to be viewed in full PAL resolution, and Edition no longer takes over your desktop entirely, leaving the Windows taskbar visible if you want it.

But the key improvement is the inclusion of real-time previews, and this is where Edition stands out. Rather than relying solely upon the host CPU(s) to process effects and previews, Edition can also use your GPU, which is a more efficient use of available resources. This also means that when you upgrade your graphics card, Edition will benefit – another reason to be dubious about the supplied hardware. Should you exceed the capabilities of your system, the preview’s frame rate and resolution will drop, or will be rendered by Edition’s background renderer.

Edition 5 is also one of the first semi-pro NLEs to feature a truly integrated DVD authoring tool that allows you to work with material directly from the timeline, rather than exporting it to a separate utility. If you’re familiar with Pinnacle’s Impression DVD Pro, you’ll feel right at home here, as much of the conventions and authoring tools are the same. You get the full swathe of DVD features, including motion menus, animated buttons, transparency and highlights and, like Impression DVD Pro, menu graphics can be built as layered .PSD files in Photoshop then imported.

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