Premiere Pro is a subscription-based tool, which scares some people. But, there are other tools that cost a one-time fee. Pinnacle Studio is one of those tools. How does it compare with Premiere Pro? The article does an in-depth review and covers Pinnacle Studio 24 vs. Premiere Pro.
Editing tools
Both software packages come with basic editing tools. The way both programs work is different. Premiere Pro asks to create a project before editing, while with Pinnacle Studio, a project can be edited before saving it.
Available options
Pinnacle Studio splits into four major sections. You can go into any on the top. The available options are:
- Home
- Tutorials
- Import
- Webcam
- From computer
- DVD/Blu-Ray
- Webcam snapshot
- Edit
- Effects: To make the video more dynamic
- Transitions: To transition between videos
- Sound effects: Short sound effects
- Titles: Text titles
- Templates: Saved templates to make the editing process faster
- Export
Compared to Pinnacle Studio, Premiere Pro comes with more workspace options. The tool is split into:
- Learning: Tutorials to get started and become a pro
- Assembly: To organise files and the project
- Editing: The main area to edit videos
- Color: Colour adjustment
- Effects: So many effects
- Audio: Audio enhancements
- Graphics: Text and graphics templates
- Captions: Captions section to create a caption track or import a file
- Libraries: Pre-made libraries to speed up the project time
- Metalogging: To optimise editing workflow
- Production: Helps manage large projects and complex workflows
- History: Edit history
Furthermore, Pinnacle Studio brings the combined audio and video tracks, while in Premiere Pro, both are put onto separate tracks.
Related: Adobe Premiere Pro vs. Corel VideoStudio | MK’s Guide
Video editing
In the next round of Pinnacle Studio vs. Premiere Pro, we are covering the video tools. Here the tools both software offer:
- Multi-track
- Separate audio and video
- Cut copy and paste clips
- Lock and unlock a track
- View and hide a track
- Keyframes
- Moving objects tracking (ultimate only)
- Titles
The table below compares the options both offer.
| Pinnacle Studio 24 | Adobe Premiere Pro |
|---|---|
| Sound effects Moe 3D effects Screen recording Audio ducking (Plus and ultimate) Unlimited tracks (ultimate) | Unlimited tracks Sequence management Pen tool Clip position Team collaborate Moving objects tracking |
One odd thing I found in Pinnacle Studio was the missing option to adjust the width or the height of a clip. I mostly screen record my mobile phone (portrait), and in Premiere Pro, I can double click on a clip in timeline view to adjust the size and position. With Pinnacle Studio, the screen recorded video fills the whole timeline (landscape).
Audio editing
Both offer quite many tools to enhance the audio. However, options do not apply to many users, it is good to see them there for occasional usage.
Some options both offer:
- Equalize
- Denoise
- Compressor
- Vocal enhancer
Text editing
What text tools do we get in both? Pinnacle Studio 24 comes with many titles to add to the video. Some are animated, and some aren’t. You can add a simple text and add those title effects later.
Related: Premiere Rush vs. Premiere Pro | The Final Showdown
Premiere Pro comes with a latency title option to add text and shapes. The tool also comes with so many titles in the graphics section. Like Pinnacle Studio, some are pre-animated, and some aren’t. You also can connect the software with Adobe Stock and purchase graphics effects and text templates.
Effects
Premiere Pro gets this round because the tool offers over 150 effects. Pinnacle Studio contrarily comes with about a hundred.
Both tools offer to edit effects, but it’s easier to edit in Premiere Pro because of its effects control panel. With Pinnacle Studio 24, you can double click on the clip to open the effects panel or follow the below steps:
- Right-click on a clip
- Hover onto effects
- Edit
- Select the effect to edit
- Edit effect on the next window
Export options
Both Pinnacle Studio 24 and Adobe Premiere Pro provide many export options. Premiere Pro already comes with 4K editing and exporting, while Pinnacle Studio offers 4K editing in the ultimate pack.
The table compares the formats both software packages offer:
| Pinnacle Studio 24 | Adobe Premiere Pro |
|---|---|
| H.264/AVC MPEG-4 Visual QuickTime Movie XAVC S Transport Stream (MTS) AVI MPEG-2 MPEG-1 DivX DivX HD Windows Media Flash Video 3GPP Audio only Image sequence Image | AAC Audio AIFF Animated GIF Apple ProRes MFX OP1a A5-10 A5-10 AVI AVI (Uncompressed) BMP DNxHR/DNxHD MXF OP1a DPX GIF H.264 H.264 Blu-ray HEVC (H.265) JPEG JPEG 2000 MXF OP1a MP3 MPEG2 MPEG2 Blu-ray MPEG2-DVD MPEG4 MXF OP1a Open EXR P2 Movie PNG QuickTime Targa TIFF Waveform Audio Windows Media Wraptor DCP |
Moreover, you get many presets in each format, but Premiere Pro comes with more presets in total.
Ease of use
If we talk about both separately, then both are confusing at first. It takes time and practices to master both.
If we talk about the ease of use in the Pinnacle Studio 24 vs. Premiere Pro article, Pinnacle Studio is a bit more complex than Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro’s workspace is easy to understand, and you get the effect controls all in place, making it easier to add and edit keyframes and adjust settings.
Pinnacle Studio comes with many options, but most of the options are hidden. For example, to see and edit effects, you double click on a clip which opens up a new window with the effects option.
Furthermore, Premiere Pro offers to edit and add effects to a clip before placing it onto a track. Pinnacle Studio 24 lacks this feature too.
Finally, if you search for tutorials online, you get more tutorials on Premiere Pro than Pinnacle Studio. This is also something to consider, especially for new video creators.
Related: Adobe Premiere Rush vs. Elements 2021 | MK’s Guide
Platforms
Pinnacle Studio is only available for Windows PC. Premiere Pro is available for both Windows PC and macOS.
Pricing
Both follow a different pricing model. Pinnacle Studio only charges a two-year one-time fee. You can use the software after two years, but you can’t download it again. The purchase of the software also comes with a backup DVD.
The image below compares the prices as of 22nd March 2021.
Which one is for you?
Pinnacle Studio is cost-effective, and the one-time cost makes it the editor to choose. If you only record and edit videos in landscape mode, I suggest going with Pinnacle Studio.
Premiere Pro makes it easy to edit videos by offering all the complex tools at the same time. You also get regular updates that bring new features. Overall, if money is not a concern, Premiere Pro is the video editor you need.
Crash issue
I don’t know if it was my computer, but Pinnacle Studio kept crashing. While testing the program, it crashed five times.
The timeline was also buggy. Most of the time, it did not play the video, and when clicking on the play/pause button, the software mostly took many seconds to respond.
A user also complaint about the crashing problem on their YouTube video, which got the highest likes.
Purchase
Wind up
Creating content takes efforts of learning the software and paying for updates. To get the most of your video editor, it is important to know the features it offers.
I hope the article Pinnacle Studio vs. Premiere Pro helped you decide. Thanks for reading it. Please let me know your final choice in the comments so other users can decide easily.
