Pinnacle Studio 22 or Studio 22 (as it’s popularly known as) is the youngest member of the Pinnacle Studio family and primarily built for entry-level movie makers.

The software has the potential to impress a specific group of editors – mainly those who are ready to compromise with the number of features for user-friendliness and price – but is nowhere near Studio Ultimate, the other member of the Pinnacle Studio family I’ve reviewed in one of my previous posts.

Now, does that mean Studio 22 doesn’t worth your money?

Of course, not. There are some areas where it shines, and in the following section, I talk about each of its qualities in detail.

So, let’s dig in.

Pinnacle Studio 22 Pros

#1. The biggest breakthrough of this tool is the clean and straightforward interface which is classified into three different tabs – Import, Edit, and Export – for efficient functioning.

As the name suggests, ‘Import’ and ‘Export’ tabs are for importing and downloading projects, respectively, while most of the work is done in the ‘Edit’ tab.

When you switch to ‘Import’ from ‘Edit’, you see a plain interface with a ‘Timeline’ at the bottom of the screen, a previewer at the right side and a toolbar at the left side of the screen.

Now, whatever you want to do whether it’s to add a clip or effect to your project, a mere drag & drop movement would do.

And once you’ve done with your movie, you can save it as a template (by going File > Save Movie as Template) so that you get a headstart on your future projects.

And you know what’s more?

Pinnacle Studio offers a wide range of tutorial videos and guides so that even beginners could make the most out of this tool.

#2. Developers have simplified the color grading function in the new version of Pinnacle Studio.

Some new additions include the ability to highlight a single color and pushing rest as black & white, Hue, saturation, and luminance color control, etc.

The color grading facility, combined with the 1500+ effects and transitions that it offers, make the videos look more dynamic.

However, I was still missing that sharpness of 32-bit color correction that you get with Studio Ultimate.

#3. After doing all the altering and manipulating work, you can move to the ‘Export’ tab and share your projects on YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.

For disc lovers, Pinnacle Studio offers 15 templates to extract projects on Blu-ray discs or DVD.

Pinnacle Studio 22 Cons

#1. Many of the features that Studio 22 has are either in their infant stage or it completely lacks the features that you can find in the superior version – Studio Ultimate.

For example, with Studio 22, you can add only 6 tracks to your projects, whereas in Studio Ultimate, there is no such limit.

Similarly, Multicam editing is limited to only 2 cameras, and you can’t export videos in 4K UHD resolution using Studio 22.

A few other attributes that are entirely missing in Pinnacle Studio are motion tracking, audio ducking, painting effects, three & four-point editing, Premium NewBlue FX effects, etc.

#2. The 3D title generator works fine and lets you create 3D titles for your project, but the tool is unable to work with 3D motion objects.

Apart from that, it also lacks 360° editing and exporting support. That means you can’t trim, enhance, or add effects to the clips shot by a VR camera.

In fact, you can’t even export videos as VR format or use video stabilizer to stable the shaky footages.

#3. Device compatibility is another major concern with this tool. You can’t use the software on Mac and Linux computers.

However, they have a separate program for smartphone users called ‘Pinnacle Studio for Mobile’ but that, too, can be used only by iPhone and iPad users. The Android version of the program is yet to be released.

Pinnacle Studio pricing plans and payment options

Like VideoStudio Pro, Pinnacle Studio also has a one-off price tag for its software, and it’s a bit cheaper than the former software.

It is priced at $49.99 for those who are buying Pinnacle Studio for the first time.

And unlike Studio 22 Plus and Studio Ultimate, there is no upgradation plan for users who are running the older version of the software but want to upgrade to the latest version.

In other words, you will have to upgrade to Studio 22 Plus or Studio Ultimate, if you’re still owning an older Pinnacle Studio program.

And finally, when it comes to payment methods, you have the option to pay through PayPal or Credit Card to complete your purchase.

Do I recommend Pinnacle Studio 22?

Unfortunately, I am not very impressed with what Studio 22 has to offer.

For someone who has worked on Studio Ultimate and other better alternatives like VSDC and OpenShot, Studio 22 looks bland and incompetent.

The developers should have included, AT LEAST, 3D and VR editing to make it worth 50 bucks because one of its close competitors (in terms of pricing) – VideoStudio Pro is just 4 dollars costlier but is packed with all the essential features.

So, I would rather go for VideoStudio Pro instead of investing in Pinnacle Studio 22.