A new version of Avid Technology’s Pinnacle Studio has been announced and is available for pre-order. Pinnacle Studio 11, like so many things these days, will come in three different versions. Pinnacle Studio 11 Basic will allow you to do all the basic editing functions minus HD support. For twice as much (yes, that’s $99) the Plus version will edit HD and even burn HD DVDs. Finally, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate will allow for chroma keying, better audio tweaking, and other various effects for $129. Also, there is a kicker to this announcement that will make many people very happy.

Pinnacle Studio 11 Plus and Ultimate editions will allow you not only to edit HDV video, but the ever-elusive AVCHD format, as well. As one of the first NLEs to support AVCHD, Pinnacle has placed themselves in a position to be the editor of choice in the short term, if all goes well. Pinnacle Studio will ship May 7th.

[ via Gizmodo ]