Studio 11 Plus is an odd upgrade. In fact, we’re inclined to describe it as more of an ‘update’ than a true ‘upgrade’.

The reason for this is that there are very few new features in Studio 11 that actually focus on the basic task of video editing.

The interface has been tidied up, now taking into account the increasing use of widescreen monitors; slide the necessary control bar and the various windows and tool panels will resize themselves to fit whatever monitor shape you're using.

Pinnacle has also improved its ‘SmartSound’ feature, adding more audio clips for generating soundtracks within home movies. Although nice improvements, they’re hardly major innovations.
The key areas of improvement are the new high definition (HD) and web publishing options. Like a number of rival editing programs, Studio 11 Plus can now import and edit HD video.

The problem is that few people currently own HD disc writers, which would allow HD movies to be burned to a HD disc. However, Studio 11 Plus has a clever way around this. It allows around 30 minutes worth of HD video to be written to an ordinary DVD, which will then play in any HD DVD player.

Obviously this will come in handy for home cinema buffs that are already equipped with HD camcorders and television, however, the slow adoption of HD technology in the UK means that these features will only appeal to a relatively small number of people right now. If you're one of these, a HD-less edition of Studio 11 Plus is available for £40.

The other useful new feature is the ‘web publishing’ option. This allows you to press a single button to automatically convert your edited video into a fo rmat suitable for the internet. It then uploads it straight to the Yahoo Video website. Although a quick and easy to use feature, its inability to support other video sites, such as Youtube, is an oversight.

And that is pretty much it as far as new characteristics go. There's a third version of the program - Studio 11 Ultimate - that comes with a whole load of extra special effects and audio tools, but you’ll have to pay an extra £20 for that.

There's no question that Studio 11 Plus is a good video-editor and is easier to use than its arch-rival, Adobe’s Premiere Elements too. It’s just a little disappointing that the core editing tools didn’t get much attention this time around.

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