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Edit Review — Pinnacle Liquid Edition Pro 6

Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Frank McMahon

This suite works as a basic, easy-to-use editor and also excels as an all-around editing powerhouse.

Pinnacle's Liquid Edition has blossomed into a very handy suite of software. You can now import just about anything into it, as well as export multiple SD/HD formats and DVD. At its heart it's a desktop editor, one that comes in at a really good price point — $499 for the regular software and $999 for the pro version (reviewed here). The pro version includes a USB 2.0 breakout box with tons of inputs and outputs covering just about every analog and digital format.

The biggest news for Liquid Edition Pro 6 is support for native HDV. Liquid can easily import native HDV with no conversion needed. It smoothly and seamlessly incorporates an HDV MPEG-2 transport stream right into the mix. During export, no MPEG-2 frames are decoded and encoded except for at cut points and in effects sequences.

As a matter of fact, this desktop editor allows you to mix all kinds of formats in one timeline. I was able to easily mix HDV, DV, and MPEG-2 footage, and all worked together in one timeline. Go ahead and toss in just about any SD or HD clips and edit them all together.

With the breakout box you can also bring in older analog clips and settle them into the same timeline. The breakout box allows various flavors of digital, component, composite, and S-Video to be brought into Liquid for the ultimate in format flexibility.

Even though I had my FireWire DV deck hooked into the Liquid breakout box (which plugs into a USB 2.0 port), I could still access the deck from within other desktop editor programs and capture. It's also worth noting that there are no special ties from the box to the software. Liquid the standalone program is the same as the Liquid Pro program, which is merely the combo of box and program.

Liquid is a desktop editor with lots of bells and whistles, including thousands of realtime effects. I found that all worked with my HDV footage while I mixed different formats in the timeline.

One of the coolest features of the program is the multicam editing mode. I was able to take many different clips and sync them all up via timecode, or just via clip start. Once they are all synced, you can preview them in the software all at once in smaller windows. From there, you just shuttle, click to camera one (or rather clip one), then shuttle and click to clip three, and so on. Liquid keeps track of all the switches. Once you are done, you can click once to bring the whole thing into your timeline, where it plays back flawlessly, switching right where it should.

Also new is the interface, which has been redesigned. It's kind of a mix of a Pinnacle GUI and a Windows XP GUI and takes a little getting used to — many things are not where you would expect. But it won't take you long to get rolling. As a matter of fact, this program is one of the easiest desktop editors I have ever used.

The program now has a completely redone audio engine, with a new mixer, full support for 5.1 surround sound, and VST plug-in support. If you're like me, you do a lot of music scoring and have many stacks of VST plugs. It's great to be able to use them within your desktop editor.

Also new are better designed keyframe effects via Bezier curves. The curves panel is right next to the preview screen, where you see your footage flipping around in 3D. These work together very well. It's easy to make changes and see them happen in real-time. The improved input wizard now includes various easy ways to get your clips into the program. The software also includes a complete DVD mastering program, so you can create menus and make professional DVDs right from the interface.

I have to say I really fell for this program. The new version is so well designed and nicely put together, it is easy to get into and start using. It also feels like a standalone turnkey system, not like a “Windows desktop editor.” It is designed and performs more like a box you would add to your studio. As such, I highly recommend it if you have employees who don't have a lot of time to learn. If you know editing, you could be up and running with Liquid very quickly.

There are a only a few problems with this current version. For one, a lot of stuff is either toggled off or not readily accessible. For example, I had to hunt around to finally figure out how to add VST effects, mainly because the VST button was toggled off. The same goes for multicam. There are lots of buttons for working with this mode, but good luck finding them. I had to create my own toolbar via the preferences to even get it rolling. Also, a lot of the buttons are big, and some don't even fit on their own toolbars. However, this is also part of the charm and ease of use of the program; it's all laid out fairly simply with big buttons and minimal room for error.

Finally, I had a DVD project come up while doing this review, and it was on a very tight deadline. The project was pretty simple, too: rotating stills for a giant video screen. I was determined to use the DVD features of Liquid but ran into many problems.

First of all, I wanted the stills to play automatically and loop, with no play button and no menu (which the program is capable of). I found I could not toggle off the play button for the DVD, and even when I did, Liquid's preview player showed it for a split second and kept showing it after every loop. In addition, the mastered DVD show — again, only rotating slides — exhibited some video interference. I could not figure out why it was there. I ended up switching to another program. I think the DVD output section of Liquid needs a few tweaks in the next update.

Aside from those speed bumps, Liquid Pro really won me over. I find it very hard to get excited about desktop editing suites, but something about Liquid Pro just seemed to make so much sense. It was easy to get into, did awesome special effects in realtime, allowed me to throw in all sorts of footage in different formats, and had some really robust audio support that made working with the program a real joy.

There is a lot to learn (the manual is a huge brick), but the beauty of the program is that you can get as deep as you want. Liquid Pro works as a basic, easy-to-use editor and also excels as a powerhouse of editing, digital effects, and audio sweetening.

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BOTTOM LINE

Company: Pinnacle Systems
Mountain View, Calif.; (650) 526-1600
www.pinnaclesys.com

Product: Liquid Edition Pro 6

Assets: Smooth multiple-format import, multicam editing, new audio engine, improved keyframe effects and input wizard.

Caveats: Some features are toggled off or not readily accessible.

Demographic: Editors looking to edit multiple formats together.
Price: $999

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.