muvee AutoProducer: The Best Damn Video Software on the Planet!

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.muvee.com?promo=jdunn' target='_blank'>http://www.muvee.com?promo=jdunn</a><br /><br /></div>I've been meaning to do up a full review of this software for some time now, because it's so amazing, but I just haven't been able to set aside the time I need to really get into it. When <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com">Digital Media Thoughts</a> launches, I'll do a full-blown review, but for now let me just say this much: if you want to be stunned into silence, <a href="http://www.muvee.com/download.php?item=lPage&promo=jdunn">download this software.</a> (affiliate) I raved about this software in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735618739/jasondunn-20">Faster Smarter Digital Video</a> (affiliate), and if you ask anyone at the Mobius 2002 event in Seattle last year, they'll tell you that I'm a very enthusiastic evangelist of muvee. I was showing it to everyone who was near me. :D <br /><br /><img src="http://cgi1.bellacoola.com/adios.cgi/816?http://www.muvee.com/images/muveeTech_logo.gif" /><br /><br />So what does it do? In a nutshell, it takes raw video footage (either already on the computer or from a Firewire-based camera), analyzes it looking for human faces, jittery footage, and many other things that you do and don't want, then comes up with a video based on the parameters of theme and length that you feed it. That's right people, it's automated video editing software. Say that to yourself a few times to let it sink in. 8O <br /><br />Let's say you have a 60-minute wedding video and you want a "trailer" that lasts only 60 seconds? muvee will slice and dice that video into a great-looking video - and you can even add background music for a compelling experience. You have a dozen vacation video clips from your digital still camera? Feed it through movie, pick a nice template, and watch the magic. I've used this software on a few different projects, and I've been consistently thrilled with the results. I took a 60 minute wedding video that I shot, fed it some Enya music, picked a black and white slow dissolve template, and had a wonderful three minute mellow video. I then took the same footage, picked an upbeat rock tune, selected the "music video" template, and had a three minute music video with crazy transitions worthy of being broadcast on VH1. I've never encountered a software tool that lets me be so creative so quickly!<br /><br />The software has its limitations - you can't select key scenes that you want to be included - but for 80% of the video footage out there, muvee is a Godsend. I don't give out that praise lightly - when I was working on the digital video book, I used more crappy software than I care to admit - it's amazing what sludge is out there. muvee was a like a bright shining gem...<a href="http://www.muvee.com/download.php?item=lPage&promo=jdunn">it simply rocks.</a> There are areas they could improve (like the titles), but overall this is an amazing tool for home video users.<br /><br />So why is this not in the "off-topic" category? Because they have Pocket PC templates for movie export! Yeah baby! :D Once you've created your movie, you can export it in a WMV 7 format that will work very nicely on any of the current Pocket PCs. <a href="http://www.muvee.com/download.php?item=lPage&promo=jdunn">Check it out by downloading the free trial version</a>. [Affiliate]

[Paragon]

Wow!!

I'm a digital media idiot.....this could work for me. :D

Dave

[ux4484]

Thanks Jason, I have been discouraged by the lack of anything "automated" for cleaning up video, I've got everthing from the kids latests concert to 8mm-to-VHS transfers from when I was a tot.

Hope this can take some of the tedium out of the job.

[pt]

jason turned me on to this, it's great stuff, worth the price.

cheers,
pt

[ux4484]

Jason,

Will "Faster/Smarter" publishing NOT let you produce an electronic version of your book?

Seems at cross purposes, no?

[Don't Panic!]

Say I have a Fly Grabber CF card that lets me view video on my iPaq, would I be able to use this software for on the fly recording to a CF or PC Card hard drive?

Don't Panic!
Bobby

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks Jason, I have been discouraged by the lack of anything "automated" for cleaning up video, I've got everthing from the kids latests concert to 8mm-to-VHS transfers from when I was a tot. Hope this can take some of the tedium out of the job.

It absolutely can, as long as you're looking for a "snapshot" of the memory, not a fine-tuned editing job. One of the things that muvee doesn't do well is pick out key scenes - let's say there's one exact moment you want to get, like a baptism where the child is dunked under the water. There's no way to tell muvee you want that exact scene, so the only way to get it is to let muvee have at it, and see if that scene gets included. If it doesn't, you can adjust the time up or down by a few seconds, and let muvee try again - it's random, but it usually works.

BUT...if your tape contains a bunch of random scenes, and random memories (ie: kids at park being cute for 20 minutes), muvee will work its magic. 8)

[Jason Dunn]

Will "Faster/Smarter" publishing NOT let you produce an electronic version of your book? Seems at cross purposes, no?

Microsoft Press owns the electronic rights to the book, and they aren't really into magic eVersions. I've asked them if I could take individual chapters and sell them, but I doubt they'll say yes.

[Jason Dunn]

Say I have a Fly Grabber CF card that lets me view video on my iPaq, would I be able to use this software for on the fly recording to a CF or PC Card hard drive?

I think you're misunderstanding what muvee does - it's not a video-recording program. It takes pre-recorded video, edits it automatically with minimal input from the user, then spits out a nicely edited video. That video can be saved to an source, including a CF card, but you seem to be asking for real-time automatic video editing and recording...which is something I've never heard of. 8O :wink:

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

My boss is quite the gadget freak himself (he owns an iPaq and just ordered the Dell X5)... so we'll often find ourselves in all sorts of gadgety discussions.

He's really big into digital video recently showed this off this application's capabilities to me. I was VERY VERY impressed at some of the cool effects he could apply to his own home videos as well as some of the unbelievably small sizes he could compress some of them to.

[Jason Dunn]

I was VERY VERY impressed at some of the cool effects he could apply to his own home videos as well as some of the unbelievably small sizes he could compress some of them to.

Yeah, it's a sweet app. :-) One of my favourite settings is the "Charlie Chaplin" preset - it speeds up the video by about 25%, adds sepia and noise filters, and you end up with a video that looks like it's straight out of the 1920's. :D

The newest version (comes out next week) also adds MPEG2 encoding, so you can prep right for DVD/VCD/SVCD (I haven't tried that version yet).

[Don't Panic!]

Say I have a Fly Grabber CF card that lets me view video on my iPaq, would I be able to use this software for on the fly recording to a CF or PC Card hard drive?

I think you're misunderstanding what muvee does - it's not a video-recording program. It takes pre-recorded video, edits it automatically with minimal input from the user, then spits out a nicely edited video. That video can be saved to an source, including a CF card, but you seem to be asking for real-time automatic video editing and recording...which is something I've never heard of. 8O :wink: I was thinking of something along the lines of Snapstream except for the Pocket PC. It was worth a shot asking though. When's the next Boston Pocket PC Fanfest?

Don't Panic!
Bobby

[sambeckett]

MovieMaker 2 has the same feature, and it’s free (windowsupdate.microsoft.com). I've used it and it works really well, not to mention the built in support for wmv.

[ux4484]

Microsoft Press owns the electronic rights to the book, and they aren't really into magic eVersions. I've asked them if I could take individual chapters and sell them, but I doubt they'll say yes.

bummer :?

too many filled bookshelves at our house already :roll:. Your's would be a sure ebook sale, just to have it handy while editing (for a different point of view). Killed enough trees in my lifetime already *sigh*

[ptolemyx]

More like "automated music video-creation software". Don't confuse 'creating something' with 'being creative'. Muvee has nothing to do with video editing (an art unto itself): it simply appeals to a certain demographic's insatiable desire for more of That Which Has Been Done Many Times Before. Why would someone want to make a video worthy of VH1, anyway? Whatever happened to originality? Next we'll see greeting cards with pre-written messages. Oh, wait...

[Jason Dunn]

MovieMaker 2 has the same feature, and it’s free (windowsupdate.microsoft.com). I've used it and it works really well, not to mention the built in support for wmv.

No offense Sam, but I don't think you've tried muvee then. :D The Microsoft version of "auto editing" is, well, not all that great. I'd really encourage you to take muvee for a spin and compare the two - there really is no comparison in my opinion...

[Bob Anderson]

When Digital Media Thoughts (http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com) launches, I'll do a full-blown review, but for now

For the love of God, Jason, PLEASE get that site up and running. I'm contemplating jumping into digital media (Buying the miniDV camcorder, editing software, et. al.) but I've been waiting for your site to help me navigate and learn what is a good expenditure vs. silly spending!

I've learned SOOOO MUUUUCCHH from this site... that I can't wait to learn as much about digital video from digitalmediathoughts!!!

Thanks!

[Jason Dunn]

Heh. I knew my post would draw out the video editing purists... :lol: Intellectual snobbery in any form is always fun to poke at! :wink:

More like "automated music video-creation software".


FWIW, you can retain the original audio track and not add music, so it's not just "music video making software". I suggest you try it.

Don't confuse 'creating something' with 'being creative'. Muvee has nothing to do with video editing (an art unto itself): it simply appeals to a certain demographic's insatiable desire for more of That Which Has Been Done Many Times Before.

If software only has one button, you're right, there's no creativity involved.

But as soon as there are two of more options, there's creativity. When I use muvee, I typically do 5-10 passes, selecting different templates, different music, and different lengths. muvee will often come up with a completely different edit based on 90 seconds vs. 80 seconds. I feel very much that the end product is something that I had input into, and I can feel proud of my work. Not the same type of craftsmanship pride that comes from manually editing a video, but I still feel it's an outlet for my creativity.

The wedding video I mentioned was edited into a 60 minute version manually as well, complete with titles, transitions, and everything else you feel is necessary to achieve "true editing".

Why would someone want to make a video worthy of VH1, anyway? Whatever happened to originality?

Why? Because it's cool, that's why! It's thrilling to see a series of memories turned into something exciting, dynamic, and professional looking. I've been editing video for several years, and I can honestly say that none of my work is as good as what muvee can produce. 8O That's a hard admission, but it's true - muvee has been programmed with the intelligence of people who are much better at editing video than I am.

Not everyone is an artist. Not everyone has the creative flair to make art from nothing. Not everyone has the weeks of time it takes to learn how to use Premier properly, then the hours of time it takes to edit the video. Most video sits unedited on the original tapes, because the task of video editing is so daunting.

Look at interior decorating - when someone decorates their home, have they created everything in it? Do they hand-craft the furniture, paint the wall hangings, and crop down the tree for the hardwood floor? No, probably not. But when you enter into a home that is well decorated, do you insult your host by claiming that because they didn't make everything themselves they are not creative?

muvee is not the end-all and be-all of video editing. I'm not suggesting that it's appropriate for all circumstances, but for 80% of the people out there with old footage sitting on a tape, muvee is a wonderful solution that will encourage them to archive those memories on DVD or VCD with minimal effort.

[Jason Dunn]

For the love of God, Jason, PLEASE get that site up and running. I'm contemplating jumping into digital media (Buying the miniDV camcorder, editing software, et. al.) but I've been waiting for your site to help me navigate and learn what is a good expenditure vs. silly spending!

Yeah, we've had some delays - we're still working on finishing key elements of the back-end system, and until that's done, we can't launch a new site (since they're based on the same engine). And we may in fact launch a new site before DMT...it's a budget thing. I was hoping that by Feb it would be launched, but several things have conspired against that launch, which is part of the reason why I kept it "2003". :D

Did you buy Faster Smarter Digital Video? That's pretty much a direct cortex dump from me, so if you read that, you'll get a good handle on what I think - and that will be a mirror of what DMT will be for the first while anyway. :wink:

[Gordo]

After reading Jason's book, I went out and purchased the product. I had used Movie Maker 2 from Microsoft, but was not satisfied with the results. After running some video through AutoProducer the improvement was considerable:
- Music video transition synchronization was amazing;
- Scene selection was perfect.
I showed one of my friends my first output from the product, and their comment was: “Wow, that could be a commercial for the restaurant”. That was the first time anyone has complemented me on video footage.

In the thread, I notice that it was mentioned a number of times that getting the “important” clip included was not part of the core product. Until this feature is available (Hopefully the next version) one of the tricks that I read about but haven’t tried was the following:
Make multiple copies of the important clip and this will increase the odds that AutoProducer includes the clip in the final product.

Looking forward to the next version.

[Jason Dunn]

Make multiple copies of the important clip and this will increase the odds that AutoProducer includes the clip in the final product.

&lt;smack> Now why didn't I think of that! :lol: Great thinking - I'll have to try that next time...

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I was VERY VERY impressed at some of the cool effects he could apply to his own home videos ...
Yeah, it's a sweet app. :-) One of my favourite settings is the "Charlie Chaplin" preset - it speeds up the video by about 25%, adds sepia and noise filters, and you end up with a video that looks like it's straight out of the 1920's. :D
Funny you mention that one... that was one of the effects we tried out. Loved it!! I believe it even added some subtle vibrations in addition to the noise effects... it really looked authentic!!

[Rob Alexander]

This sounds like fun; thanks for the suggestion. Following the discussion that's gone on here, I definitely see a place for something like this. I've edited digital video for a couple of years now and I've put the time into learning Studio, then Premiere. I also take great pride in planning, shooting and then editing something for myself, my friends or family. But sometimes, I just have some 'stuff' that I shot with no real purpose in mind other than that I had the camera and something neat happened. I wouldn't mind letting a program like this grab some of that and see what it can do. Sometimes you don't want to spend days editing up video into something more significant even if you can.

[Jason Dunn]

I also take great pride in planning, shooting and then editing something for myself, my friends or family. But sometimes, I just have some 'stuff' that I shot with no real purpose in mind other than that I had the camera and something neat happened. I wouldn't mind letting a program like this grab some of that and see what it can do.

That's *exactly* how I feel about this program Rob - it's just another tool on your belt, appropriate for certain situations. Sometimes you need a hammer, sometimes you need a nail gun. :D

[bblock]

So, Jason - this software sounds perfect for the 200+ MiniDV tapes stashed away in my closet over the past three years. However, unlike Rob just wrote, I have never planned a shot, and I'm scared that I have three years of video footage of poor camera work.

Does your book talk at all about how to shoot video? If not (which I understand), then what resources would you recommend for teaching me how to shoot video (mostly of family events or just day-to-day life with a 3 month old, 3 year old, and 10 year old) so it isn't *completely* mind-numbing without muvee AutoProducer?

[Jason Dunn]

So, Jason - this software sounds perfect for the 200+ MiniDV tapes stashed away in my closet over the past three years. However, unlike Rob just wrote, I have never planned a shot, and I'm scared that I have three years of video footage of poor camera work.

muvee will make it look better than you ever thought possible - trust me. ;-)

Does your book talk at all about how to shoot video? If not (which I understand), then what resources would you recommend for teaching me how to shoot video (mostly of family events or just day-to-day life with a 3 month old, 3 year old, and 10 year old) so it isn't *completely* mind-numbing without muvee AutoProducer?

Yes, chapter four has seven pages on "how" to shoot video. It's not something I'd say I'm a hard-core expert at, but I think it's helpful to pretty much anyone. :-) You can check out the table of contents to get a better idea of what's in the book. (http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com)

[ploeg]

Look at interior decorating - when someone decorates their home, have they created everything in it? Do they hand-craft the furniture, paint the wall hangings, and crop down the tree for the hardwood floor? No, probably not. But when you enter into a home that is well decorated, do you insult your host by claiming that because they didn't make everything themselves they are not creative?

Good lord, man, next you're going to tell me that you don't make your own water! (It's very simple: two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen.)

[Jason Dunn]

For those of you that do have muvee, you might want to enter this contest to win a digital camera:

http://www.muvee.com/website/contest_mm.php

[ptolemyx]

Heh. I knew my post would draw out the video editing purists... :lol: Intellectual snobbery in any form is always fun to poke at! :wink:
You didn't poke fun at my intellectual snobbery.

FWIW, you can retain the original audio track and not add music, so it's not just "music video making software". I suggest you try it.
FWIW, I have tried it.

If software only has one button, you're right, there's no creativity involved. But as soon as there are two of more options, there's creativity. When I use muvee, I typically do 5-10 passes, selecting different templates, different music, and different lengths. muvee will often come up with a completely different edit based on 90 seconds vs. 80 seconds. I feel very much that the end product is something that I had input into, and I can feel proud of my work. Not the same type of craftsmanship pride that comes from manually editing a video, but I still feel it's an outlet for my creativity.
I'm not impugning your ability to press a few buttons. The way I see muvee is this: it won't make boring video interesting, and it could very well make interesting video trite (Chaplinesque, let's say) or worse -- it could cut it out altogether.

The wedding video I mentioned was edited into a 60 minute version manually as well, complete with titles, transitions, and everything else you feel is necessary to achieve "true editing".
"True editing" is not the addition of titles and transitions. It's the art of sewing disparate and/or discontinuous video streams together into a flowing whole. It's the eye for good lighting, for subtly interesting scenes, for telling or poignant dialogue. And it's more than the sum of its clips -- something a piece of software will never understand.

Why would someone want to make a video worthy of VH1, anyway? Whatever happened to originality?

Why? Because it's cool, that's why! It's thrilling to see a series of memories turned into something exciting, dynamic, and professional looking. I've been editing video for several years, and I can honestly say that none of my work is as good as what muvee can produce. 8O That's a hard admission, but it's true - muvee has been programmed with the intelligence of people who are much better at editing video than I am.
It's still software that tries to make "creative" decisions -- with predictable results. It's a novelty now but in a year or two it will be no less common and no more appreciated than the oil painting effect applied to every poor digital image taken last year.

I disagree, by the way, that anything on VH1 (or MTV, or Much) is exciting, dynamic or professional-looking. Much of it appears to have been run through some big machine, an enormous hackneyed gewgaw full of flashing lights and solar flares, gold chains and wind machines. Or a computer.

Not everyone is an artist. Not everyone has the creative flair to make art from nothing. Not everyone has the weeks of time it takes to learn how to use Premier properly, then the hours of time it takes to edit the video. Most video sits unedited on the original tapes, because the task of video editing is so daunting.
I agree that not everybody has the time and inclination (not to mention cash) to set up and learn professional video-editing software. I also believe there is a reason most video sits unwatched on its original tapes.

Look at interior decorating - when someone decorates their home, have they created everything in it? Do they hand-craft the furniture, paint the wall hangings, and crop down the tree for the hardwood floor? No, probably not. But when you enter into a home that is well decorated, do you insult your host by claiming that because they didn't make everything themselves they are not creative?
A false analogy. The choice of furnishings, paint, wallpaper, flooring, cabinetry, appliances, art, knick-knacks et cetera is made by the home-owner, not the home-owner's computer.

muvee is not the end-all and be-all of video editing. I'm not suggesting that it's appropriate for all circumstances, but for 80% of the people out there with old footage sitting on a tape, muvee is a wonderful solution that will encourage them to archive those memories on DVD or VCD with minimal effort.
Then their memories will sit unwatched on the DVD rack instead.

[Fish]

This is pretty darn cool program (and a good thread as well). I dinked around with it last night and was VERY impressed. I was using pre-edited video, so I didn't really see it do any magic on raw footage. Tonight I'm going to try some linear unedited video and really see it work.

There was mention before about not being able to ensure a certain scene was included. There is a workaround. Plop the whole video sequence into another edting program. Crop out all but that scene. Save as new movie. In Muvee, add both the full-length video as well as the new clip (you can add a large number of video files to the Select Video dialog).

My only complaint about Muvee is the lack of WMV support. Most, if not all, of my clips are in this format. In order to get them into Muvee to play with, I have to convert them to AVI or MPG. Pain in the butt, and takes a LONG time. It may be that Muvee doesn't have the rights to the WMA decoder or some such thing, but man, would that make life easier.

[Jason Dunn]

Very clever idea for getting the "key scene" into muvee - never occurred to me. :D

My only complaint about Muvee is the lack of WMV support. Most, if not all, of my clips are in this format. In order to get them into Muvee to play with, I have to convert them to AVI or MPG. Pain in the butt, and takes a LONG time. It may be that Muvee doesn't have the rights to the WMA decoder or some such thing, but man, would that make life easier.

Yeah, I know. When I first started using muvee, that was the one gaping hole (well, that and text titles) - I've urged then to fully adopt Windows Media import and export...we'll see! 8)