How do you take an award-winning piece of software that is considered the industry leader for mid-level video editors and make it better? This was the challenge facing Pinnacle Systems with the upgrade of their editing and composition software called Studio. Their answer--give more features to high-end users; make it easier for mid-end users to take advantage of the advanced tools; and make it even easier for low-end users to get started.

Users of the previous software will find that very little has changed in the look of the software. Pinnacle has kept their easy workflow intact, making the transition from version 8 to 9 seamless. However, Studio 9 has a whole host of features which improve upon this interface.

For the low-end user, there is the addition of Smart Movie™. This step-by-step wizard will guide a user through the sampling, editing, and production process. It also allows you to add titles, sound and video clips, effects, and menus for post-production. The final output is a completed movie ready for play or burning to disk. This movie is saved as a Studio Project so if you want to go back and change items later, the movie is completely editable on many levels. While the feature is not fast--a single smart movie can take from five minutes to an hour to generate depending on the machine--it is a welcomed interface for people who quickly want to get video off a camera and generate a movie or slideshow without getting bogged down in the details of the program.

For the mid-end user, Studio 9 builds on the already complex set of tools presented to this user while making the software simple for them to use and navigate. The most welcomed additions for this type of user are 16:9 widescreen capturing and surround sound control.

Most mid-level digital video cameras will allow you to shoot in 16:9 widescreen, but few mid-level editing programs will allow you to use this format to create a movie. Sampled video would be forced into 4:3 television size and wouldn't hold the true format in the way the video was shot. Studio 9 will allow you to capture this format and edit without modification. This will allow aspiring film buffs to use the same format that most major films use to tell a more movie-like story.

Surround sound control is the icing on the cake for the mid-level editor. Until now, software that would sync audio with video and let you separate tracks for 5.1 surround sound were very expensive and complicated to use. Studio 9 simplifies the process by creating 3 distinct audio zones which are balanced by a sound mixer. Studio then modifies the audio tracks to provide the desired effect. A layer sound of a car speeding by can be balanced from the back to the front and Studio will apply the proper levels to the proper speaker in sync with your video. One simple control lets you do this in a way that is intuitive for the editor.

High-end editors will love the number of customizations they can add to a project. While not as robust as an Avid studio, many of the features and functions of an Avid studio either exist in Studio 9 or can be added in with a new plug-in feature. Already in the software is the ability to clean video; auto correct color balance and levels; reduce video noise; and stabilize wobbly video. However, more effects, transitions, and tools can be added as plug-ins to the software, making it as easy or robust as you want it to be.

Certain features that video creators have always loved are still here. DVD menu creation that is integrated with the movie timeline is better than ever. They have even improved the editing interface for the menus, which makes creating and modifying them much easier. Still captures have been greatly improved upon and produce a better quality for use in menus to other features. The streamlined interface that puts all the tools of Studio at your fingertips has not changed from the pervious version, making it very easy for upgrade users to transition.

Studio 9, like the previous version, will still allow you to output directly to DVD, VCD, S-VCD, AVI, MPEG, Real Video, or Windows Media formats. However, we would recommend that if you are creating a disk--output the project to your hard drive and let software like Nero do the burn for you. It's easier to check the disk this way for errors than it is to find them later on a completed disk. We would have liked to have seen Studio 9 support Flash and Sorenson compression or speed up the rendering process in some significant ways. However, machines are much faster now than they were two years ago, which will make the software seem faster and the huge additions to the editing interface make up for the lack of new output types.

Starting at $99, Studio 9 is still the leader in home video editing. It truly is software that can grow with you if you are interested in creating movies.