LITTLEBLACKDOG.COM

Hey all

I'm looking to edit a ten minute video presentation and have it so it can be views on any PC. It's being recorded in 1080p (or so the camera says), so I'd like to keep that level of detail as well. Anyone hav any recommendations at all?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:09 pm Post subject:

How much do you want to spend?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject:

Even though Sony bought it out from Sonic Foundry, Vegas is still an excellent application.

They should still be offering 30 day trials.

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject:

gregw wrote:
How much do you want to spend?

Right now I cant' afford to spend a thin dime, but down the road I might be able to chance this.

Olive I'll give that a looksee along with other recommendatiosn if any.

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 4:33 am Post subject:

I haven't ever used any consumer-based editing packages, but I've used many prosumer/professional non-linear editors. I currently edit on an Avid Media Composer, which is a great NLE but probably not your best choice if you are just starting out.

I would totally agree with Olive about Vegas Pro ($550+). It is arguably the best NLE for the money. You can do pretty much anything you do on a high end NLE for a fraction of the cost. Sony also makes a consumer NLE called Vegas Movie Studio ($75) (and platinum $115) which I have never used, but are definitely worth a look - particularly the platinum version)

If you are used to Adobe's line of products, then Premier is certainly a worthy product as well. If you are an Apple fan, then Final Cut Studio or express are your baby.

I assume your camera is shooting HDV, correct? If so, you will need to make sure that the software can handle HDV editing. HDV editing is tricky as it has to decompress long-GOP MPEG-2 on the fly. You will also need a decent machine to run it on or you either won't be able to capture the footage or it will look choppy when you preview it.

Editing 1080 High Def also requires some thought as to your workflow. Have you considered the final format? Are you going to scale down and output to plain ol' DVD, or will you output to H.264 and Blu-ray? Either way, you will need an NLE that can either spit out the proper format for DVD or Blu-ray authoring directly OR you will have to use third-party encoders. Vegas Pro shines in this area, letting you output pretty much anything right out of the box, including burning directly to blu-ray.

Edit: after looking at the Vegas Movie Studio Platinum edition product page, I think this is the way to go. It can do a lot right out of the box (except burn blu-ray) and for $115 retail, that's really hard to beat. Plus, since it is based on Vegas Pro, you will be learning the features of Vegas and you can always upgrade toe full Pro version (usually at a discount) later on.

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject:

virtualdub is free (though it's limited in what it can actually do)

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject:

You may be able to find an old copy of Video Impressions. It was able to convert .MPG,.AVI, and I think .WMV into each others format as well as convert them into a self playable .EXE file that could be viewed on any computer that uses .EXE programs. The newer versions have DVD capability. Its not free but also not very expensive.

Video Impression

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:51 pm Post subject:

for converting between formats...

SUPER

yeah... that's what it's called.

go here:

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

converts near everything to everything else.

and it's free too.

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject:

I have Ulead Video Studio 11.5, which is normally US$110 (free for 30 days). It has hundreds of features I will never use, and all the ones I actually use, plus it is super intuitive. Very Happy

I suggest trying it just to complete this one task and say you have that experience.