What is your favorite video editing software?

[Marc Austin]

What low-end video editing platform do you prefer? I have been using a very cheap program called Magix Movie Edit Pro. It's very user friendly and I've had some good results. I've tried Vegas, which has good FX, but I have trouble with sound on my burned DVD's.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I have had good luck with Pinnacle 8 before making the recent switch to Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5. I'd stay away from Ulead. I couldn't capture DV with Ulead Video studio. I try Pinnacle on the same exact computer and don't drop any frames.

You mention DVD. I for one wouldn't plan on using much of anything for all in one aps. I won't even use Premiere Pro 1.5 for DVD encoding. For that I have been using TMPGenc software and probably always will. It just does too good of a job not to and it isn't expensive at al(can even make the files if you do it in a 14 day trial period.). I've shown others that product and they were rather glad they made the switch to it for encoding.

Is Vegas low-end? Maybe they have some lite version(seems I heard they do). Before Fred posts I'll cover it for him. USE VEGAS! lol hi Fred.

 

[Marc Austin]

Is Vegas low-end? Maybe they have some lite version(seems I heard they do).

Yes, the version I was using was a low-end version that costs $100, but for some reason, the included DVD encoder had a lot of trouble encoding the sound files with the video files and there were notable problems with the video quality of the DVD. I was very suprised that the cheaper software I was using, Movie Edit Pro, performed much better with regard to burning DVD's and making DVD menus. Do you know of any websites for the encoding product wich you mentioned or could you recommend any other products used solely for DVD authoring and not video editing?

 

[John Diel]

Pinnacle Studio 9, is a "decent" starter. Studio 9 Plus, is a little bit more expensive, but allows you to do more. It's still all cookbook and limits your creativity though. The Pinnacle stuff is prone to crashing at unexpected moments as well.

Studio 10 is out, but I've been reading about various issues that I'm not sure have been resolved as yet. I'll wait to upgrade to that once it gets the bugs worked out.

Sony Vegas 6 is a Professional set up and takes a learning curve. Remember that. It's not the easiest, but once you learn it, it becomes routine. You will also pay more for it. Sony DVD Architect 3 is the companion to Vegas as that's the software where you create your DVD, menus, sub menus, and over all structure. Using Vegas alone, while it probably can be done, is much harder to create a playable DVD. You WILL burn a few coasters!

Here's another thought for the professional software. You can find Pinnacle's Liquid Edition 5.5 at a reasonable cost. Liquid Edition 6 is the current level. There is a lot you can do with the Pinnacle Liquid software, but again, there is a steep learning curve.

Adobe has Premiere Elements, which seems to have some good reviews.

Sony has there Movie Maker (?) based on the Vegas, but is a consumer level series of software.

If you're having sound issues, check your capturing. Some capture software will allow you to "Lock" or "Unlock" the sound track from the video. Other times, your cature may be out of sync all by itself. This can esspecially be true if you are capturing in MPEG2 via USB or even Analog.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/te3xp.html

That is to the one I'm currently using to encode files to mpeg2. It is a lot more adjustable than most other aps(much more-so than even Premiere Pro 1.5). The noise filter reduction can be really quite good. If you have full size files edited and rendered and ready to go you can download the free trial and just use that. They also offer the DVD author programs too which have worked well enough for me.

I save files in their native format(capture and edit in full DV and then save those as full DV segements/chases) and encode them with TMPGenc(or pegasys as it seems to be now).

I used their encoders at the same exact bit rate as some cheaper "all in one editors" and it was like night and day even though they were the same rates. It is probably slower than many but the extra time is worth it for creating those mpeg files for your dvd authoring.

 

[Gaetan Cormier]

Sorry to bring back this topic but I have a question or two!

I have a Hi8 cam recorder with Digital Signal. I have no trouble doing basic editing using Windows Movie Maker. The cam is plugged to the computer using S-Video cable.

Are the popular video editing software compatible with my kind of camera or do they work only with Mini-DV's? I know next to nothing about this and I'm looking for some guidance

 

[fplowman]

Hello, Here I am.. lol

As Mike stated Im more than passionate about a great product "Vegas Video".

I have to say Im kind of biased and somehwat out of the loop. I have used Vegas sooo long 4 - 5 years that I really am un aware of what the "other guys" are doing lately.. I have read plenty of reviews on each product from time to time..

Anyways, I was saying that as I liked how John was able to articulate all the different products available. Im sure one of these lower end apps including Sony Movie Maker will suit most here just fine.

As far as Marc's issue with the Movie Maker dumbed down version of Vegas.. Im unsure why it wasnt working for him, as Vegas software has worked great for me and many many others on a professional level.

The video and also scores etc, are inserted on a timeline/storyboard and edited and rendered in Vegas and then the DVD is created in DVD Architect an also excellent piece of software. The newer version DV Architect 3 can create quite professional DVD's.

Back to Marc's issue Im sure there is a fix and solution to his issues. If I wanted a lower end app knowing what I know I would certainly use the Sony Movie Maker. Of course though there is the licensing issue with the software. If I remember correctly you cannot use it to create for profit works. And besides its limitations of tracks would create quite a barrier to makeing complex pieces. But for simple editing and burning.. I think it would work great. I am curious about Marc's issues though.

Good luck guys I can imagine how hard it can be with a learning curve finding the right software for you...

Fred

 

[John Diel]

Are the popular video editing software compatible with my kind of camera or do they work only with Mini-DV's? I know next to nothing about this and I'm looking for some guidance
[/b]

Gaetan,

All of the "popular" video editing packages are able to edit various forms of video. Most will do MPEG2 and All should do AVI. As long as you are able to "capture" your video into a common format, you should be able to edit without too much issue.

There are lots of options available out there. There are even a few "Freeware" or "Open Source" editors out there that are pretty good. No real support for them, but still pretty good. I haven't used it extensively, but Microsoft's little freebie editor isn't bad for what you pay. It's way limited, but better than nothing!

Just remember that the key is in the capture. Capture in AVI format if possible, and MPEG2 as the second option. Once you've captured into a format that your editor will use, everything else is gravy.

John Diel

 

[John Wetter]

Gaetan,

All of the "popular" video editing packages are able to edit various forms of video. Most will do MPEG2 and All should do AVI. As long as you are able to "capture" your video into a common format, you should be able to edit without too much issue.
[/b]

This will be the issue though. Most of the editors expect to be capturing via Firewire from mini-DV. I haven't had any decent luck capturing video that isn't through a firewire connection. If you're wanting to just import stuff to make your DVD, you could borrow a friends mini-DV camera that allows pass-through and use it that way...

Otherwise, I'm afraid we're going to help you spend more money... On a cheap MiniDV camcorder. Even the cheapest of those are better quality than Hi8. Having finally jus tbeen able to aford the switch this year to MiniDV, I can attest to it.

-John

 

[John Diel]

Most of the editors expect to be capturing via Firewire from mini-DV. [/b]

Hi John!

In this I will have to disagree. "Most" low end (or high end for that matter) don't really care where they get the video from. Most commonly, it's either USB or Firewire from the camera. However, there are other option that the video capture comes from. Capture Cards are popular. Many of these are TV Tuner video cards that accept a COAX connection for cable TV. Simply hook your VCR into this, your camera to your VCR and Viola! Away you go into capture land. There are a few options available for capture from Analog to digital. The former Pinnacle has a couple of lower cost options in the Dazzle series of Capture boxes and I believe Avid has a couple of their own (They are the guys that bought out Pinnacle). There a couple more, but I can't recall them right off the bat.

As long as your choice of Video Editor supports capture, just check the specs to find out what it does support as far as capture device and you will be fine. As a general rule, USB capture is proprietary or MPEG2. USB 2.0 has a few that claim AVI format, but it's a stretch. Firewire (IEEE1394) is generally AVI or proprietary format.

Now that I have all that out of the way, Analog capture requires some sort of capture device. As mentioned above, there are a bunch out there. I've heard good things about the Dazzle series of devices, I have a Pinnacle USB capture box that is alright, and there are various cards that allow this.

Read reviews. Go look at the different cards and find reviews on your search engine of choice. Ask people what they think. Go to the web sites and find out what they can and can't do. Most of all, have a blast making your videos! The best video I have is of my daughter "tagging" a base runner out in Softball. It's all of 30 seconds long, but I had a blast putting in the sound effects and music. She had the ball and the base runner just kept running right at her. Like a football blocker, my daughter prepared for teh collision and knocked this poor kid flat on her keester! Then she stood over her with a look that said, "You asked for that one!".

John

 

[Eric Flescher]

Regarding Hi-8, these can be converted to digital like I did on My Macs. I would recommendtrying to find a digital 8 dv camcorder. It uses the same size as Hi-8mm and you play withthe camcorder and passit out to a new tape tocaptureon digital video which is nicer and easier to edit etc. Once to DV your copying is the same from tape to tape and there is no degradation.


****

This will be the issue though. Most of the editors expect to be capturing via Firewire from mini-DV. I haven't had any decent luck capturing video that isn't through a firewire connection. If you're wanting to just import stuff to make your DVD, you could borrow a friends mini-DV camera that allows pass-through and use it that way...

Otherwise, I'm afraid we're going to help you spend more money... On a cheap MiniDV camcorder. Even the cheapest of those are better quality than Hi8. Having finally jus tbeen able to aford the switch this year to MiniDV, I can attest to it.

-John
[/b]

 

[John Wetter]

Regarding Hi-8, these can be converted to digital like I did on My Macs. I would recommendtrying to find a digital 8 dv camcorder. It uses the same size as Hi-8mm and you play withthe camcorder and passit out to a new tape tocaptureon digital video which is nicer and easier to edit etc. Once to DV your copying is the same from tape to tape and there is no degradation.
****
[/b]

That's how I converted my old Hi8 stuff to digital. Worked very well.

-John