It’s a good time to be a video editor as not only there are tons of job opportunities for video editors out there but also the cost of becoming a video editor has been on a constant decline over the years. No longer you are required to invest hundreds of dollars into what were considered to be good video editing programs as now you can get very capable video editing programs for prices well within the hundred dollar mark. When I think of a true budget video editing software, there are two that instantly come to the mind. The first is the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum while the other one is the Pinnacle Studio.

Before we test out both of these programs to see how they perform in real life, let us first check out their specifications and hardware requirements. You can find all the relevant details in the table attached below.

As you can see in the table above, both VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum and Pinnacle Studio require almost the same hardware to run. It’s clear that hardware is not a restriction while choosing between the two. That said, when it comes to the software specifications itself, you will notice that the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum is a bit more powerful than the Pinnacle Studio as the former supports more simultaneous video tracks than the latter. It means that if you want to handle a big project, VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum will be a better solution for you. That said, not everyone needs to handle a project which uses more than 6 video tracks. So, let’s see how each one of them perform in the real editing and exporting circumstances.

User Interface

Both VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum and Pinnacle Studio have their own take on the user interface of the software. While on the surface, both of them will look like any other video editing software, dig a little bit deeper and you will find that their user interface is strikingly different from each other. When it comes to the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum, the company has tried to put all the editing tools that you need right in your hands. That means, you are always just a few clicks away from the tools that you want to access. VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum

When it comes to editing, there’s no doubt that VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum is better than the Pinnacle Studio. In my testing, the former completely outperformed the latter whether you consider the ease of access to advanced tools, rendering the effects while timeline editing, or performance. I tested both these softwares using a 9-minute 1080p video and I constantly found the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum to be a better editing environment. That said, it’s considering the fact that you are using advanced editing tools such as multiple timelines, multiple effects and transitions, animation presets, color correction, and more. VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum

Exporting

For the export test, I used the same 9 minute 1080p video and exported it into an H.264 encoded video format. To make sure that both the system were using the same files, I didn’t use any fancy tools and kept the editing to a minimum. Finally, I added a background score which was a small .MP3 file and hit export. In our export tests, VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum once again out-performed the Pinnacle Studio, that said, the performance difference was not as pronounced as we have seen in other sections of this comparison. VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum

When it comes to pricing, you can get the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum for $79.99 while the Pinnacle Studio is available for $59.95. As you can see the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum costs a bit more than the Pinnacle Studio, however, the features offered by Vegas more than justify the price difference. Both these pieces of software are available to buy right now from their respective websites which are linked below.

As it is clear from the article, both the Pinnacle Studio and VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum are capable entry-level video editing software. However, depending on your needs you might prefer one over the other. If you are just starting out and need a video editing software which you are going to use for home video projects and have no intention of learning advanced video editing skills, the simple editing interface of Pinnacle Studio might appeal to you. However, if you need a video editing software that’s advanced, fast, supports unlimited tracks, has customizable workspaces and more, the VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum is a better choice for you.

Buy VEGAS Movie Studio Platinum: starting from $49.99