film editing software question

[Ender[CotC]]

So I am currently a film major and am regretting the purchase of this pc laptop for video editing. Yes, I can play games and have them look sweet, but when it comes to schoolwork and projects, my lack of final cut pro pwns me like a headshot. I recently, through sneaky dealings, came into the possession of a editing program called Pinnacle Studios. It seems to be of the upper crust as far as pc editing software is concerned, and I'm not complaining too much as it came to me free of charge.... as much seems to do now that i am short on cash and Dark let me on to the secrets of the torrent. But, it seems to be lacking several capabilities that I feel are good to have, if not necessary.

My problem is: I can't seem to reverse a video clip and keep the sound. It will successfully reverse the video clip and I can watch it in all it's backwards glory, but in exchange, I lose the audio. Oh it's still there, or at least, the computer registers it as "there", but upon playing it, silence is my only reward. I'm currently trying to work on my sound editing skills, because I was somewhat lacking in that area last semester, and to not have to capability to reverse audio is slightly distressing.

I don't know if any of you know about this kind of stuff, but I figured I'd ask anyways. Am I not doing it right? Does this program simply not come with that capability? Or should I be looking to shell out some hefty cash for a better video editing program with more features... or even go to Mac? I realize that it would cut out all the problems, since I know that final cut can pretty much do anything I ask of it.... like a genie.

[Neophyte]

Not sure about Pinochle, but with Adobe Premier (which I do have some experience with) you have to set a negative value for the timeline speed of the clip to reverse it. For example, 100% is the normal forward speed, to reverse it I would edit the time and use -100% to play at normal speed but reversed.

I also have Sony Movie Studio, but I haven't installed it yet.

[Ender[CotC]]

Yeah, for some reason, when i go to "reverse" audio (you check a box to reverse it) it plays the clip at normal speed, just backwards.... and not joined by the audio.

I got super pissed at the program (and my lack of knowledge about it's usage) last night, and for five hours i tested, retested, and researched the method to do this "reversing of the audio" which seemed so foreign to Pinnacle Studios. I found out, after much fruitless effort, that Pinnacle Studios doesn't have the power to retain audio in it's reversed state.

I guess I didn't know that reversing audio was such a high-tech thing.