Pinnacle Studio Plus 11

Discussion in 'Software' started by insamaic, Jan 16, 2008.

  1. insamaic

    insamaic Guest

    Okay. I was having problems with WMM so, for Christmas, I asked for Pinnacle Studios. :)

    It's obviously a bit different to the simplicity of WMM. I tried to import some videos I downloaded awhile back (all different formats: WMV, AVI, some are even MKV - I don't know how to find out what codec they use though). When I drag them in it says that I need to Activate My MPEG-4 Encoding/Decoding thing. I already activated the program when I installed it.

    Why do I need to activate the plugin?

    I am having problems with my ISP lately so it takes a long time to activate it and a lot of effort. I am writing this at the library! :D

    Anyway, help please! How do I import videos without this damn message?
     
  2. insamaic

    insamaic Guest

    Bump-bump.
     
  3. gGrump

    gGrump Private E-2

    Pinnacle has a tricky little thing going on --- a number of the features must be activated ONLINE, and are not automatic. Some of those are free, and others are "premium" and require a fee.
    MPEG2 is free, not sure about MP4. AC3/Dolby sound is NOT free. Some of the fancy menus and transitions and filters are considered Premium, and are not free.

    I used Studio 9, and that pc had no online connection, so I had to go online from another pc, submit my Pinnacle "Passport" serial number, and they would issue an "Activation" code number.
    You can access the Passport / Activation window through the Help menu.

    OOPs, just realized you have Studio PLUS -- that means you get more features for free with the software (but others still require a fee), but you still need to activate them online.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2008
  4. insamaic

    insamaic Guest

    The strange thing is that none of my videos are MPEG-4, but it keeps wanting me to register it.

    I have to wait a few months before I can get access to the internet, that's the reason I'm trying to comprehend its need for MPEG-4.
     
  5. gGrump

    gGrump Private E-2

    I think possibly it is asking you for MPEG4 activation because that is the format that is currently selected in your Make Movie "Settings" window. I believe Studio keeps the last-selected format as "default" until you change it.

    I have Studio 9 and Studio 10, so I am not positive if my "make movie" page is the same in Studio 11.
    However ---
    When I go to make movie, and click the Settings button,
    it brings up a window with tabs for Make Avi, Make Disk, and Make Tape.

    Are you making a dvd disk?
    Click the Make Disk tab, and choose from the drop-down list on the left side.
    If at some point earlier you had chosen MPEG-4, that is what will be selected now. Just pick the format you want, and then adjust the bitrate settings and other settings as needed.

    My list shows (if memory serves) VCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DVD. (and some others I can't remember now).

    MPEG-2 is required for making DVDs, so you will have to activate that online. As I said earlier, you can write down or print out your Serial Number and Passport Number, and then go online from a different pc to get the activation code for MPEG-2.

    I do recommend the Studio users forum, I went there a lot when I was still using Studio, and there are lots of helpful folks there.
    http://forums.pinnaclesys.com/forums/70/ShowForum.aspx
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2008
  6. insamaic

    insamaic Guest

    It was on Windows Media. I changed it around to AVI and a few others but they all, when i want to import a file, want me to activate MPEG-4.

    Yes. I have it all written down but I need to wait before I can get access to the internet. I am renting overseas in a rural area without libraries and it has no internet in the areas i know of.
     
  7. gGrump

    gGrump Private E-2

    Oh my, I am sorry, I missed that very important word IMPORT.
    just a little granny moment, forgive me.

    Ok, I think you need to convert your avi before you import it into Studio. It probably can't handle Windows Media format until you activate Mpeg-4.

    I've had no experience with the formats you mention, but have had some luck with converting some formats using freeware VirtualDubMod. I installed the Panasonic DV codec from free-codecs.com, and loaded the video into VDubMod, set it to use the DV codec for compression, and "Save as Avi". Then I could load that DV avi into Studio with no problem.

    I also used Stoik converter a couple of times, but it hasn't been updated in a long time.

    I see some folks swear by MediaCoder
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/MediaCoder_d4987.html

    and some like SUPER
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5117.html


    You could give one or more of those a try, if you are able to download them. they are all free.
     

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