Importing

• 1). Familiarize yourself with the layout of the Pinnacle program window. Locate the "Import," "Edit" and "Make Movie" tabs located at the top-left side of the program window. Find the editor toolbar running vertically along the left side of the screen.
  
  
• 2). Click the "Import" or "Capture" tab at the top of the screen to capture video footage from a camcorder or other device. Choose the appropriate device under the "Import From" tab located on the left side of the Import window. You should recognize the name of your camcorder, DVD player or any other device appropriately connected to your computer.
  
  
• 3). Set the storage location under the "Import To" tab located on the left side of the Import window. Choose the appropriate location on your computer using the small folder icon and pop-up Browse window.
  
  
• 4). Set specific capture settings, such as scene detection and file presets, under the "Mode" tab located on the right portion of the Import window. Title your video file under the "Filename" tab also located on the right side of the screen.
  
  
• 5). Click the "Start Capture" icon below the preview screen to begin capturing footage from your device. Your video footage should appear inside the preview window and along the film strip at the bottom of the window. Click the "Stop Capture" icon when you want to end video capture.
  
  

Editing

• 1). Select the video clip from the album in the center of the program window. Click and drag the thumbnail, or small image preview, of the video file down into the program timeline at the bottom of the screen.
  
  
• 2). Crop the footage by using the timeline slider to locate the exact moment at which you wish to cut the video. Click the Razor tool located on the upper-left portion of the timeline box to crop the clip at that exact moment. Click on unwanted portions of video footage to highlight and delete them from the timeline. Click and drag individual pieces of footage together to remove blank frames from your video.
  
  
• 3). Add transitions to your video by selecting the Transition icon on the program toolbar, indicated by a small lightning bolt. Click and drag transitions from the center of the program window down into the timeline to modify your video footage. Locate the two pieces of footage you wish to change and release the transition over the boundary.
  
  

Exporting

• 1). Click the "Make Movie" tab located at the upper-left portion of the program window. Select the appropriate media output from the vertical list on the left side of the Export window. Choose from "Disc," "File," "Tape" or "Web."
  
  
• 2). Select the specific location to which you would like to export your final video. Under the "Disc" option, choose the appropriate DVD type your computer's burner supports. For file exports, choose the appropriate hard drive or folder to store your video. For tape, select the name of your DV or hard drive camcorder. Choose between YouTube or Yahoo! under the "Web" export option.
  
  
• 3). Click the "Create" button located toward the bottom of the Export window to export your edited video file.