Pinnacle Studio Action Helps Kids Make Movies

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (Mar. 05, 2001) -- Pinnacle Systems, Inc. is now shipping Studio Action, an educational video editing package for kids that gives them the creative tools they need to make their own movies.

Studio Action includes the new LEGO Studios software, a special version of Pinnacle Systems' Studio video editing software, jointly developed by the LEGO Company and Pinnacle Systems. Studio Action combines the child-friendly LEGO Studios video editing software with a USB video cable. Kids can use Studio Action with any camcorder to make movies of their family, friends and toys.

With the LEGO Studios software, children can arrange their movie clips in any order and shorten scenes to include only the parts they want in the final movie. The software also makes it easy for kids to add titles and credits, sound effects ranging from the roar of an angry T-Rex to the meow of a kitten, transitions, background music, and additional fun effects such as a snowstorm, rain, or night vision. Once the movie creation is finished, it can be e-mailed to friends, posted on the Internet, or shown on a computer.

"Kids today are the first video generation, raised with video as a means of every day communication," says Bill Loesch, vice president of marketing and technology of Pinnacle System's Personal Web Video Division. "We've added Studio Action to our Studio consumer line of video editing products in response to parents' interest in giving their kids a fun and educational video editing tool that lets them express their creativity and enables them to communicate via video," Loesch added.

The LEGO Studios software is the video editing software included in Pinnacle Systems' Studio Action and in the LEGO & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set, which was first introduced in November 2000 (in the U.S.). Pinnacle Systems' Studio Action includes the video editing software and a USB video capture cable that can be used with a camcorder. The LEGO & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set is a LEGO Company product and includes the editing software, more than 400 LEGO elements, a PC movie camera for making movies and a book of tips and tricks.

"The Studio Action product allows users to translate their camcorder footage to the computer. We're thrilled that they now have the ability to use the LEGO Studios software to edit their movies," said Steen W. Reves, Global Brand Director for the LEGO Company. "Kids can now film LEGO movies with their camcorders and edit their footage using Pinnacle Systems' and the LEGO Company's kid-friendly software."

About Studio Action
Studio Action works with any analog or digital camcorder and comes with a USB video cable. Studio Action is available in computer stores for a suggested retail price of $69.

About the LEGO Company
The LEGO Company, a privately held firm based in Billund, Denmark committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough." For more information, visit LEGO.com. All of Steven Spielberg's proceeds from the LEGO & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set are donated to the Starbright Foundation and Shoah Foundation.

About Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
Pinnacle Systems' broadcast, desktop, and consumer products provide video professionals and consumers the sophisticated tools needed to create video programs. Pinnacle Systems may be reached at 650-526-1600 or on the World Wide Web at pinnaclesys.com.