video editing?
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video editing?
hey people got a ? about video editing since this is the show n shine do you know any video editing program that you can put music and effects rather than windows movie maker cause it dosent except my files i think its because i got real player anyways help a lil?
I use video explosion deluxe......easy to use. Like having a six track video editing studio on your desktop (3 video and 3 audio streams available). However, support for the program from the developer (Nova software) is lacking. Pinnacle Studios makes a good program too....can't recall the name.
Get anything that you can convert video to MPEG-2, which is DVD format.
Get anything that you can convert video to MPEG-2, which is DVD format.
i personally use final cut pro 7 hd...but i have a mac g5...if your using a pc and want some thing basic and inexpensive i would recommend ulead videostudio pro...they also have a more advanced one called ulead mediastudio pro....but the videostudio has the basics; effects, music, transitions....best buy or circuit city has a bunch of basic programs as well...(pinnacle, dazzle, and the videostudio i mentioned...)
Originally Posted by Mike@Accolade
adobe premiere
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From: Washington, DC
sorry for the long post...
I'm an Apple lvl2 Final Cut Pro instructor and I have my Avid Xpress certification and I'd honestly say nothing beats Final Cut Pro (I hate macs, and still love FCP). If you have any mac, final cut express (cheaper) is the program to get for what I think most of you want to do. It doesn't have the import/export functions of FCP or a lot of the deep features but edits just like final cut pro and is extremely full featured. FCP express also works in a native DV format so you really don't have to mess around with format changing if you're editing miniDV footage. It's kind of a pain if you expect to be able to edit every video format ever made, but most editors won't even open some of the formats FCP will let you put on the timeline (with lots of rendering, of course).
Apple is currently putting a huge push on FCP products to gain market share in the industry and they're doing it by offering software that's dirt cheap and has tons of features. It's an all out war and the consumer is gets to reap the benefits. Avid's prices have also come down as a result.
iMovie 4 isn't terrible for a cheapo program that will put clips together and will let you add a soundtrack and it supports keyframe leveling for audio (somewhat) so you can control sound. It does nice things like let you put mp3s on your audio timeline (not in most pro programs, theres a long boring explanation for this but professionals prefer not to use mp3s for sound) The transitions are ok and the rendering isnt a huge pain but the titling software blows. For the PC crowd avid free dv is a good no-cost editor but it is really only accesible to those who have experience with timeline editing and has absolutely no tech support. It's basically a way to suck you into paying for avid xpress so they really tone down the features.
imho, premiere is a huge waste of money. for that price you could have avid xpress (100 bucks cheaper), which is 100x easier to use and doesnt stress the trim edit window which scares the crap out of new users. Premiere is just coming out with features that avid and final cut had 3-4 versions ago and doesnt have nearly as many realtime features. i don't know a single person who edits on premiere professionally and I know a lot of editors.
in short:
best: Final Cut Pro HD 5 - Mac ($899), Avid Nitris DS (anywhere from $2.5k-150k, well out of the scope of anyone here), Avid Xpress Pro HD ($1695) great if you outgrow Xpress DV and want to stick with the avid system, a hell of a lot cheaper than Nitris but not as cost effective as FCP HD 5 but they are equally powerful.
better: Final Cut Express HD - Mac ($200 - this is an absolute steal at this price), Avid Xpress DV - PC/Mac get both with purchase ($450)
good with caveats:
Adobe Premiere Pro ($699) - playing catch up, too expensive, "unique" user interface is a poor ripoff of avid's in 1998. 200 bucks more for FCP HD if you have a mac is money well spent. There's no way i'd buy this over avid xpress DV if I were a home PC user. Most people have it because it is included in adobe's production bundle of software.
ok, but the price is right:
AvidFreeDV - Mac/PC (Free), iMovie 4 (comes with your mac or you have to purchase iLife ($33), which is a total ripoff for something that used to be free) Windows movie maker tends to just mimic whatever imovie is doing, but I havent used it for awhile so i reserve judgement. It's also free, and probably on your PC right now.
poor:
Anything that says Pinnacle. it was just bought by avid and it looks like theyre probably going to make it into a consumer-level product that comes free with cheap camcorders. maybe not, but the risk on buying their systems right now makes it a non-option. pinnacle studio 10 ($50) is really no better than imovie, avid free dv or windows movie maker which are all cheaper or free. be wary of any editing software that costs 50 bucks but promises professional features.
???:
Sony Vegas Video 6 ($450) - Don't know anyone who uses it. Has a truly unique user interface, which turns off most pros/old shcoolers. Looks promising in some areas but lacks a lot of the features of FCP and Avid Xpress, but it does have some very, very cool looking features. It supports Acid in-program which is kinda cool, like FCP HD supports soundtrck pro. It has 3D motion, which FCP only "sorta" has. It apparently has a ton of realtime stuff too which is always good. It's cheap for all those features, and yet I don't know a single pro who works in it or even talks about it. Perhaps because Sony's software is usually a bit buggy and unstable. Definately a wild-card, something to look at if you have no experience editing with avid/fcp and want something reasonably full featured to learn from scratch. Not a good crossover program if you already know/like FCP/avid. Knowing Sony, the support most likely blows.
hall of shame:
Media 100 - if you know what this is you know enough not to touch it with a 10 foot pole. It was just bought by Boris FX which won't help it any either. There's a special place in hell for whoever invented this product and it mystifies me as to how it reached version 8.2.
Ulead videostudio/mediastudio pro ($50 - $250) - Shameful and weird GUI, completely odd workflow (timelines nested in timelines should not be an absolute neccesity, DVD authoring is a joke). They're just doing their own thing and don't seem to care if there software a total mess. The price is ridiculous if you have ever seen any of their competitors. Should be free.
btw, jdizzy mentioned after effects earlier in this thread. I used to use it until I saw Motion now i'll never, ever use or teach it again. Apple motion is freaking incredible and supports round-tripping into FCP seamlessly. I'm in love with this program.
oh, and diiirk, FCP HD is on version 5 now.
I'm an Apple lvl2 Final Cut Pro instructor and I have my Avid Xpress certification and I'd honestly say nothing beats Final Cut Pro (I hate macs, and still love FCP). If you have any mac, final cut express (cheaper) is the program to get for what I think most of you want to do. It doesn't have the import/export functions of FCP or a lot of the deep features but edits just like final cut pro and is extremely full featured. FCP express also works in a native DV format so you really don't have to mess around with format changing if you're editing miniDV footage. It's kind of a pain if you expect to be able to edit every video format ever made, but most editors won't even open some of the formats FCP will let you put on the timeline (with lots of rendering, of course).
Apple is currently putting a huge push on FCP products to gain market share in the industry and they're doing it by offering software that's dirt cheap and has tons of features. It's an all out war and the consumer is gets to reap the benefits. Avid's prices have also come down as a result.
iMovie 4 isn't terrible for a cheapo program that will put clips together and will let you add a soundtrack and it supports keyframe leveling for audio (somewhat) so you can control sound. It does nice things like let you put mp3s on your audio timeline (not in most pro programs, theres a long boring explanation for this but professionals prefer not to use mp3s for sound) The transitions are ok and the rendering isnt a huge pain but the titling software blows. For the PC crowd avid free dv is a good no-cost editor but it is really only accesible to those who have experience with timeline editing and has absolutely no tech support. It's basically a way to suck you into paying for avid xpress so they really tone down the features.
imho, premiere is a huge waste of money. for that price you could have avid xpress (100 bucks cheaper), which is 100x easier to use and doesnt stress the trim edit window which scares the crap out of new users. Premiere is just coming out with features that avid and final cut had 3-4 versions ago and doesnt have nearly as many realtime features. i don't know a single person who edits on premiere professionally and I know a lot of editors.
in short:
best: Final Cut Pro HD 5 - Mac ($899), Avid Nitris DS (anywhere from $2.5k-150k, well out of the scope of anyone here), Avid Xpress Pro HD ($1695) great if you outgrow Xpress DV and want to stick with the avid system, a hell of a lot cheaper than Nitris but not as cost effective as FCP HD 5 but they are equally powerful.
better: Final Cut Express HD - Mac ($200 - this is an absolute steal at this price), Avid Xpress DV - PC/Mac get both with purchase ($450)
good with caveats:
Adobe Premiere Pro ($699) - playing catch up, too expensive, "unique" user interface is a poor ripoff of avid's in 1998. 200 bucks more for FCP HD if you have a mac is money well spent. There's no way i'd buy this over avid xpress DV if I were a home PC user. Most people have it because it is included in adobe's production bundle of software.
ok, but the price is right:
AvidFreeDV - Mac/PC (Free), iMovie 4 (comes with your mac or you have to purchase iLife ($33), which is a total ripoff for something that used to be free) Windows movie maker tends to just mimic whatever imovie is doing, but I havent used it for awhile so i reserve judgement. It's also free, and probably on your PC right now.
poor:
Anything that says Pinnacle. it was just bought by avid and it looks like theyre probably going to make it into a consumer-level product that comes free with cheap camcorders. maybe not, but the risk on buying their systems right now makes it a non-option. pinnacle studio 10 ($50) is really no better than imovie, avid free dv or windows movie maker which are all cheaper or free. be wary of any editing software that costs 50 bucks but promises professional features.
???:
Sony Vegas Video 6 ($450) - Don't know anyone who uses it. Has a truly unique user interface, which turns off most pros/old shcoolers. Looks promising in some areas but lacks a lot of the features of FCP and Avid Xpress, but it does have some very, very cool looking features. It supports Acid in-program which is kinda cool, like FCP HD supports soundtrck pro. It has 3D motion, which FCP only "sorta" has. It apparently has a ton of realtime stuff too which is always good. It's cheap for all those features, and yet I don't know a single pro who works in it or even talks about it. Perhaps because Sony's software is usually a bit buggy and unstable. Definately a wild-card, something to look at if you have no experience editing with avid/fcp and want something reasonably full featured to learn from scratch. Not a good crossover program if you already know/like FCP/avid. Knowing Sony, the support most likely blows.
hall of shame:
Media 100 - if you know what this is you know enough not to touch it with a 10 foot pole. It was just bought by Boris FX which won't help it any either. There's a special place in hell for whoever invented this product and it mystifies me as to how it reached version 8.2.
Ulead videostudio/mediastudio pro ($50 - $250) - Shameful and weird GUI, completely odd workflow (timelines nested in timelines should not be an absolute neccesity, DVD authoring is a joke). They're just doing their own thing and don't seem to care if there software a total mess. The price is ridiculous if you have ever seen any of their competitors. Should be free.
btw, jdizzy mentioned after effects earlier in this thread. I used to use it until I saw Motion now i'll never, ever use or teach it again. Apple motion is freaking incredible and supports round-tripping into FCP seamlessly. I'm in love with this program.
oh, and diiirk, FCP HD is on version 5 now.