Like its direct competitor Ulead DVD MovieFactory, Pinnacle Express can be used to create VideoCD and SVCD discs as well as DVD titles. Unlike Ulead's program, however, it supports slide shows as well as video. Installation is a simple process and firsttime users are given the option of checking Pinnacle's Web site for patches and software upgrades.This is worth doing, as a version 1.04 upgrade now exists, providing better support for Windows XP and Pioneer's DVR-A03 DVD-R/RW drive.

Express' interface is laid out in three parts: capture, menu authoring and disc burning.Video is captured from DV sources via OHCI FireWire ports with device control, and captured video can be divided into scenes according to breaks in date/time stamps or by sudden changes in video content. Alternatively, scene detection can be turned off.Under Windows 98SE or Windows Me there's a time limit of 18 minutes on captured files, due to a 4GB file size limit under the FAT32 file system.With Windows 2000 and XP with NTFS-formatted hard disks, no such limit applies. If scene detection has been selected, video will be seen to capture directly into a basic menu screen in Express' main authoring interface. Otherwise, video is brought in as a single file and represented by a single button when you first come to the author menus.

DV video and graphics files can be imported from elsewhere on the system, and a basic editor allows media to be trimmed, split, grouped or deleted to create the correct running order and menu structure for the disc.

Grouping still images allows the creation of slide shows, accessible from a single menu option. Creation of chapter points is done with real-time playback.This is a fundamental feature shared by Ulead DVD MovieFactory, but absent from some higher-end programs such as Roxio VideoPack 5. Each individual element defined within the editing interface can have its thumbnail icon set to any video frame or slide show still.

Express' authoring interface features a video monitor, preview control and drop-down panel, providing style options for menu screens. There's also an indicator at the bottom that shows how much data will be burned to disc. Here, the type of project - be it DVD,VCD or SVCD - is specified and the type of media defined. Express does its own compression to MPEG, and defines the capacity of CD and DVD media according to the duration of video that can fit on the disc - 63 minutes for VCD format, 33 minutes for SVCD and 83 minutes for DVD.

Each media element is already loaded into a basic menu structure, and a drop-down panel of menu templates provides a means of choosing a backdrop and layout to suit your project. Most of the pre-made menu styles are occasion-based, with reference to holidays, weddings and births. Fortunately, Express provides some good control over menus, allowing you to select your own background image and music, as well as choose from a small number of text fonts. Button borders can be selected from a small library, and a reasonable set of options is available to determine the layout of buttons.The biggest letdown here is the range of text fonts available and the fact that their size and colour can't be changed by the user.That said, the level of control over menu styles is far greater than that offered by Ulead DVD MovieFactory.

Previewing projects is easy with the onscreen remote control. Unlike Ulead's offering, this preview interface has a good selection of preview commands, including skip forwards, skip back and picture search controls. Once finished and approved, video files are encoded and the project is burned directly to disc. Express' built-in MPEG encoder works slowly and produces average results.Video is on a par with that created by Ulead DVD MovieFactory, but not as good as the results from dedicated MPEG encoders.

Also, as Express won't import MPEG files into its projects, users have no choice but to accept the quality offered by Pinnacle.DVD, VCD and SVCD titles worked well but I found a momentary pause between chapters - something that shouldn't occur, especially on DVD titles.

On the whole, Express is excellent value for money and clearly beats Ulead's program in terms of authoring features. But its inability to import MPEG video files and unnecessary division of video files at chapter points could make DVD MovieFactory a more attractive program for many.