Video Editing Software - What do you use?

[chumtini]

I've been evaluating several. Some just suck, others lose audio, and more just lack features. Hmmppfftt

[Madchark]

I am also looking for some feed back, hate to spend money on junk.

[Bite Me]

I use Pinnacle studio 10. About 60 bucks at Best Buys.

[chumtini]

PureMotion's EditStudio is decent until I rendered the video compilation. Time and time again, the audio would quit on the "production" DV. Not very useful.

I tried AVS Video Editor. The trial version didn't work well.

Ulead's trial version lacked features or I couldn't find them because the help function didn't work. Scratch that one.

I just started looking at Pinacle Studio. I like what I see. It's looks promising, lots of features, but requires XP so I haven't had a chance to kick the tires on it.

Any others?

[shoefish]

All of the videos that I have posted have been done on pinnacle. It certainly isn't perfect, but it's the best that's out there. I think that there is a 30 day trial download on their website so you could try it out before you buy it.

One thing to know, pretty much regardless of the software, is that programs have a very hard time with analog footage (vhs, 8mm, etc), for some reason it is a big sticking point when you render it, and many times we have had to re-import the same footage multiple times to get it right. So if at first you don't succeed, try try try try try try try again. It will eventually work.

Same goes for burning it to a dvd- sometimes audio will burn but not video and vice versa. If this happens, go out and get a few different brands of dvd-r, it sounds stupid but changing the brand is sometimes all it takes.

If you really have some money to sink into this, buy a mac, they are light years ahead of pc when it comes to any kind of media editing.

Shoe

[TROPHY SPORTFISHING]

SHOE WHAT IS A GOOD CAMERA TO USE I'M USING A MINI OR SUPER 8MM SMALL TAPES I GUESS I NEED A DIGITAL CD TYPE DON'T I POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

[flatbottom]

I use windows movie maker. I hear there is a major upgrade coming from Microsoft but I always her there is a major upgrade coming from microsoft. LOL Its is basic and easy to work with. No where near the studio 10+ software or Sony Vegas or adobe, but again it comes free with xp. Again movie maker is functional and basic and will give an average user like me an average movie.

I think many clips to choose from and content make it easier to sew a cool movie together with basic software. I am still in the infant stages on this topic. I find a good plan before turning on the camera is helpful. Writing down clips you would need to make the music come alive. There have been some fantastic videos around this site in the last months.

You can become real good with editing and versus will hire you on the spot...LOL

[shoefish]

SHOE WHAT IS A GOOD CAMERA TO USE I'M USING A MINI OR SUPER 8MM SMALL TAPES I GUESS I NEED A DIGITAL CD TYPE DON'T I POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

There are so many types and styles it's hard to say that one is the absolute best, but I will give you my thoughts. For starters, I would stick with a camera that uses miniDV tapes- digital recording, pretty cheap, and you can rewind and re-record if need be. The other types, dvd-r, and internal hard drive are not preferrable in my mind for a couple of reasons. The dvd-r recorders (it literally is a small dvd that you burn to) are not re-recordable, and have limited recording time compared to the miniDV tapes. The internal hard drive cameras are a neat concept- no media to record to- but are probably a few years away, and come with some things to consider. First, they record into a compressed format which leads to video that isn't poor, but isn't great as well. Also, because they have an internal hard drive you will need to dump your footage onto your computer so you don't end up filling it up- something that can take up a ton of hard drive space on your pc (as opposed to a stack of little miniDV's)

When it comes to the camera, like I said there are many different brands, and everyone has their own preference. I bought a new one this spring, and I chose a Panasonic GS150. The reasons why are: first, it is extremely ergonomic, and the controls can all be operated with one hand- something that is important if you have gaffing or netting duties to do with the other. Second was the size- it is very small and so is easy to pack, lug around, and use. Most importantly for me, is the lens. Basically there are multiple types of lenses, and most of the mumbo jumbo about them I don't fully understand, but what was important to me was a lens that wouldn't "wash out" with all of the bright sunshine that you see when recording on the water. The gs150 uses 3ccd technnology. Basically all this means is that the light that goes into the lens is broken up into the three primary colors and recorded. The result is cleaner, richer colors as compared to the normal lenses. The one draw back, however, is that because it is dividing the light it supposedly doesn't do as well at night. For me, I don't really have the need for that, so I ignore it.

Things to ignore as marketing hype- optical and digital zoom. Optical is farily important to have on land, but out on a pitching boat is less of a concern. Digital is garbage, it basically takes the same image and "zooms in", so is pixillated and not worth using. Battery life- this varies so much based on how you use your camera that you can throw out whatever they tell you. Most cameras have extended life batteries that you can buy as well. I always carry extra anyhow- it sucks to have low power when you're about to catch the money shot.

Not sure if I've covered everything you were looking for.

Shoe

[Bite Me]

Hey John, You don't need the mini CD's. Actualy, I've used them both. you can get a digital VHS camera @ the Wal Mall for about 250 bucks. They come with a fire wire or USB output for input to your puter. At 250 bucks it's a lot less paifull when you drop it overboard.
Make no mistake about it, digital is digital whether it's through the eye of a 1000 dollar unit or a 250 dollar unit.
Fact of the matter is, unless you are looking at making a High Definition movie, you can't tell the difference between analog or digital. Once the file sizes are chopped down for posting you will lose the high resolution anyway. I keep one high res version for me and send up a smaller file to Admin.

I suppose I made this about a s clear as mud.

This was done using a digital VHS http://www.sportfishermen.com/movies/fishing_videos/286

My home version is 1.5 gigs and has eye-poping clarity. This is probaly a 300 meg version of the same.

[shoefish]

I use windows movie maker. I hear there is a major upgrade coming from Microsoft but I always her there is a major upgrade coming from microsoft. LOL Its is basic and easy to work with. No where near the studio 10+ software or Sony Vegas or adobe, but again it comes free with xp. Again movie maker is functional and basic and will give an average user like me an average movie.

I think many clips to choose from and content make it easier to sew a cool movie together with basic software. I am still in the infant stages on this topic. I find a good plan before turning on the camera is helpful. Writing down clips you would need to make the music come alive. There have been some fantastic videos around this site in the last months.

You can become real good with editing and versus will hire you on the spot...LOL

Flat, that is such a good point. When we figure out a loose vision of what we want the video to convey, we think of good shots, quotes, activities, etc to get on tape. That way you don't end up with hours and hours of the same shot.