Video Editing Software

[Bacco]

Can anyone recommend a video editing program that is capable yet not too overwhelming?

I just replaced my camcorder with a digital camcorder and also added a DVD burner.

If anyone can recommend anywhere from 1 to 3 programs I'd really appreciate it. I'm looking mainly to splice (I know, that's the old fashioned word) together different clips as well as add some text titles and possibly playing with the sound track.

Thanks.

[Don Tolson]

I've been reading Jason's book and he was strongly recommending Pinnacle Studio. However, after looking it up on Amazon.com and reading the attached customer reviews (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001AU6I0/702-5229580-5842453) I'm beginning to wonder. They seem pretty adamant regarding the shortcomings of this product and the lack of support they get from the manufacturer.

However, they also say that the concept is good, and there's nothing much better on the market.
Anyone else had experience with Pinnacle Studio?

[marlof]

Pinnacle has released a new version of Studio, they're up to number 9 now. 8 was a bit bugridden, but 7 (which I have used) was kinda ok. I still think it's one of the better programs out there, with an interface that is easy to understand. I don't know the extras (or bugs) you'll be getting with version 9 now.

[Gary Sheynkman]

adobe premier :lol: :lol: :lol: it might not be simple, and you need a super rig to run it well...but it's well worth the effort

[Bacco]

Thanks Guys...I'll download some trial versions and play around.

[Don Tolson]

If you find a way to get a trial version of Pinnacle Studio 9, let me know. I'd love to try this on my hardware before committing $100.

[marlof]

adobe premier :lol: :lol: :lol: it might not be simple, and you need a super rig to run it well...but it's well worth the effort

Yeah, Adobe Premiere Pro does give you tons of control over your editing. For casual edit, I find I get things done in Pinnacle Studio faster, but if I really need to control things, Premiere Pro is the way to go. And I don't even have a super rig. But I make a very decent coffee now!

[Suhit Gupta]

I am actually a huge fan of Adobe Premiere. Although, doesn't it cost an arm and a leg? The last time I checked, it retailed for around $700 and if Pinnacle Studio is only $100, then that might be the way to go. OTOH, if you have tons of money...

Suhit

[Bacco]

Anyone have experience with Ulead’s VideoStudio 7?

I'll download the trial version this weekend and try it out. I hope it supports the 16 X 9 widescreen format.

Bacco

[Bacco]

If you find a way to get a trial version of Pinnacle Studio 9, let me know. I'd love to try this on my hardware before committing $100.

Don,

What are your experiences with Pinnacle Studio in general??

I've read on many forums that the rendering time is very long and more importantly, the program is very unstable.

By the way, some of the users posting were complaining about Ver 9 as well as prior versions.

Thanks.

Bacco

[Don Tolson]

Sorry, Bacco... I'm a newbie to video editing and have no experience with any of the tools (except for maybe 30 mins with Windows Movie Maker 2). Jason is a big fan of Pinnacle Studio, but I've read a lot of very negative reports on Amazon.com with exactly the comments you mentioned.

People hear seem to think the comments are related to version 8, which was very buggy. So I was hoping to get a 'trial' version of 9, so I could try it out with my hardware before plunking down $100US.

[James Fee]

I've played with Studio 8 on my brother PC and it seems to have some issues. As others have said, Studio 7 which I do own works much better. If the upgrade from 8 - 9 was cheaper, it would be a no brainer for him to upgrade, but for whatever reason, version 8 is just really hard to use.

[marlof]

I am actually a huge fan of Adobe Premiere. Although, doesn't it cost an arm and a leg? The last time I checked, it retailed for around $700 and if Pinnacle Studio is only $100, then that might be the way to go. OTOH, if you have tons of money...

Praise the good people at Sony, for giving me Adobe Premiere LE with my first Sony Vaio notebook. Praise Adobe for enabling me to upgrade that to Premiere 6.0 for half price of the full program. Praise Adobe for enabling me to upgrade to Premiere Pro for 1/4 of the price of the full program. If I go on like this, I'll get my next upgrade for 1/8 of the price of the full program. ;)

Recently someone tried to persuade me that FCP (and even FCE) on a Mac would be much easier when doing movie edits. I don't know, I've never used it, but Premiere Pro works darned fine for me.

[James Fee]

Praise the good people at Sony, for giving me Adobe Premiere LE with my first Sony Vaio notebook. Praise Adobe for enabling me to upgrade that to Premiere 6.0 for half price of the full program. Praise Adobe for enabling me to upgrade to Premiere Pro for 1/4 of the price of the full program. If I go on like this, I'll get my next upgrade for 1/8 of the price of the full program. ;)

Recently someone tried to persuade me that FCP (and even FCE) on a Mac would be much easier when doing movie edits. I don't know, I've never used it, but Premiere Pro works darned fine for me.
Premier is fine on the Mac, though its just not going to be updated anymore. As for the PC, I'd love to see a Premier "Elements" for about $100. Wouldn't that be nice?

[backpackerx]

Anyone know about Pinnacle 8SE? is that second edition? That's what comes with the Camera I'm looking at. Is it better than 8.0?

[Don Tolson]

Pinnacle is now touting version 9 of Studio. I suspect 8SE is a 'special edition' of the bug-ridden 8, which was provided as part of an OEM deal.

[backpackerx]

That was kinda my guess too. I hope 8SE isn't too bugridden. If nothing else maybe this will qualify me for a cheaper upgrade to 9.0

[makicr]

One thing that I didn't like about Pinnacle 8SE was that I couldn't figure out how to cut video from the middle of a clip. I don't know if I am just missing something or what. Ultimately, I used a work around by including two copies of the clip, and then clicked-and-draged the edge to cut out the unwanted footage.

[If anyone knows an easy way to clip it, I would love to know].

[Don Tolson]

...I couldn't figure out how to cut video from the middle of a clip. [If anyone knows an easy way to clip it, I would love to know].

Me too... this is the one thing I've been hoping I was just missing because it was so obvious, but I haven't seen it in Windows Movie Maker either. It appears that they expect you to create a 'clip' around the frames you want to remove.

What I want to do is remove frames containing people walking in front of the camera or dead space in the middle of the clip.

[Crocuta]

I've used both Pinnacle studio and Adobe Premiere extensively. Of course, Premiere is the more advanced product, with tons of features that are lacking in Studio, but it's also very complex and not at all a good choice for a beginner who just wants to do some straighforward editing.

Studio has had stability problems and lots of people in the forums complain about it. I've had a few crashes myself, but not so frequently that I'd dump the whole program over it. Despite that, I think Studio is a great beginner's package. It is simple and intuitive to use and it has tons of features that you won't outgrow for quite a while. Most people would probably never outgrow it.

You could buy Premiere at about 7 times the price and spend a couple of weeks learning enough about it to actually start working on your own video, or you could buy Studio and be editing your video within the hour. I still use both. For a real project that I care about, I use Premiere. If I'm just tossing together a few quick shots with a few fades and dissolves and dropping a bit of music in the background, then I usually start up Studio.

[Crocuta]

...I couldn't figure out how to cut video from the middle of a clip. [If anyone knows an easy way to clip it, I would love to know].

Me too... this is the one thing I've been hoping I was just missing because it was so obvious, but I haven't seen it in Windows Movie Maker either. It appears that they expect you to create a 'clip' around the frames you want to remove.

What I want to do is remove frames containing people walking in front of the camera or dead space in the middle of the clip.

Sure, it couldn't be easier in Studio. Just use the razor tool sitting above the time line. You've dropped your clip onto the timeline. Put the scrubber line at the beginning of the section you want to remove and click on the razor icon. That splits the clip on that line. Now put the scrubber line at the end of the part you want to cut out and click the razor again. Once again, that has slpit the clip. Now there are three clips with the middle one being the material you wanted to remove. Highlight it and press Delete.

[gorf]

Can anyone recommend a video editing program that is capable yet not too overwhelming?

I just replaced my camcorder with a digital camcorder and also added a DVD burner.

If anyone can recommend anywhere from 1 to 3 programs I'd really appreciate it. I'm looking mainly to splice (I know, that's the old fashioned word) together different clips as well as add some text titles and possibly playing with the sound track.

Thanks.

New to this site but starting to get involved with some of the threads that affect my life. Forgive me for opening up a somewhat dated posts but I think all you guys are missing what HE wants to do with his dv. Ive evaluated alot of the software mentioned in this thread...and no question...there is some kickin tools out there...some expensive...some not....most of them are not very intuitive unless youve got alot of hours under your belt. I fall under the latter category. If all he wants to do is "splice" a few clips together with some basic text and music...there is NO better tool than the software that came with his computer...Windows Movie Maker. It does EXACTLY what he wants out of his dv and is even upgradable for about $20. Im not producing epic theatrical releases, or TV quality productions...just making what I call " Music Videos" from family outings where I take 3 of the best minutes of the day with a song and burn a DVD....along the way I throw in a few titles and fades. Sure...ya cant do alpha channels and chromakey....but unless your making another Star Wars Kid webstrvaganza......who needs it?

[Don Tolson]

The only problem I see with Windows Movie Maker is that it won't burn a DVD..(Unless I missed that somewhere).

[Don Tolson]

Welcome back!!! Well, I got a new 8X DVD Burner, and with it came a copy of DVDiT and ArcSoft ShowBiz. I've had an initial look at ShowBiz and it doesn't seem tooo bad -- it has most of the simple features I was looking for, but I'm just trying my first 'project' now, to see how things go.

Anyone had any experience with v1.2? Any thoughts on what makes it better/worse than other products, such as Pinnacle Studio?

Thanks.