Video Editing Software

Leviathan41 · Jul 17, 2004

I am considering buying a DV camera so I can shoot-edit-burn my own DVDs. What I need is a suggestion on some video editing software for a good price. I know Adobe Premiere Pro is probably the best one out there but even with a student discount its $300 and I don't have that kind of money. Can someone recommend a good and powerful piece of video editing software for a good price, say. . .less than $100 or so, maybe up to $120. Thanks.

shill82 · Jul 17, 2004

I myself use Premiere but my friend seems to really like Pinnacle Studio. Its right in your price range is more user friendly and has some cool features that Premiere doesn't have. That said it doesn't have the power the premiere does.

Shawn

Stedeman · Jul 17, 2004

Pinnacle Studio is a good A/V editing package. I have used it a few times but from what others have said Ulead Studio may be a better way to go. I'll see if I can find a few links for you.
here is just one review of both
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/CD_DVD_Authoring/4540-6445_16-21002895-4.html

PS what exactly do you intend to do with your video? I myself have been using Dr.Divx to crunch my videos down to a nice size.

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

another vote for pinnacle. unless its your job or career i wouldn't really invest in premiere. pinnacle is very easy to get used to and is a lot cheaper. this thread makes me miss my canon gl2 ;(

Leviathan41 · Jul 17, 2004

Stedeman said:
PS what exactly do you intend to do with your video? I myself have been using Dr.Divx to crunch my videos down to a nice size.

I will want to edit it then be able to burn it to DVD to watch in a DVD player or like you said crunch it down to put on my computer.

b0bby said:
another vote for pinnacle. unless its your job or career i wouldn't really invest in premiere. pinnacle is very easy to get used to and is a lot cheaper. this thread makes me miss my canon gl2 ;(

Ahh you had a gl2, nice! I am looking at getting a Canon camera, maybe not that one though. What happened to it? if you don't mind me asking. . .

Some of the reviews I read about pinnacle said that it was unstable and crashed a lot, also that they make you pay to unlock some features. The good side to all this is that most of these programs have 30-day trials that I could d/l and try out, so that will help me make my decision.

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

Leviathan41 said:
I will want to edit it then be able to burn it to DVD to watch in a DVD player or like you said crunch it down to put on my computer.

Ahh you had a gl2, nice! I am looking at getting a Canon camera, maybe not that one though. What happened to it? if you don't mind me asking. . .

Some of the reviews I read about pinnacle said that it was unstable and crashed a lot, also that they make you pay to unlock some features. The good side to all this is that most of these programs have 30-day trials that I could d/l and try out, so that will help me make my decision.

nothing happened to the camera i just let my big brother use it for his trip. one of those 2 month long summer euro trips. i let him borrow my digital rebel too for stills. i would seriously cry like a girl if something happens to them on the trip.

back to the topic, forgot about the 30 day trials but thats a great idea. give ulead a try as well. let me know if you need suggestions for cameras. i work at a camera store part time so its kinda my forte.

Stedeman · Jul 17, 2004

Leviathan41 said:
I will want to edit it then be able to burn it to DVD to watch in a DVD player or like you said crunch it down to put on my computer.

What level of editing; simple like trimming and rearranging sections of video
or advanced like fades, transitions, subtitles graphics, ect?

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

Stedeman said:
What level of editing; simple like trimming and rearranging sections of video
or advanced like fades, transitions, subtitles graphics, ect?

heh i forgot to say that too and you beat me to it. if your primarily just burning the raw footage from the dv and just trimming, clipping, here and there then freeware apps will do that for the most part. if you wanna be your own director and add sounds, music, narration, captions, menus, subs, wacky transistions, etc, then you would need to buy.

Leviathan41 · Jul 17, 2004

@b0bby: Yes, I could definately use some suggestions. I'm still a couple months from purchasing one (I think) but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking at ones around $500 at the moment, but if I can save up some more money, I would consider a little more expensive one.

@Stedeman: Sry, I should have clarified that more. I would like to do some of the more advanced features like you mentioned, fades, transitions, graphics/titles, etc.

Stedeman · Jul 17, 2004

OK, if you where only doing the lite stuff I would have suggested TMPEGnc, DVDshrink, and NERO 6. But for the advanced stuff you will want something along the lines of Pinnacle Studio or Ulead Video Studio.

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

right now one of the best cams for the money is the optura line from canon. the 40 and 30 models. online pricing is definitely more affordable than my shop. if you don't have that much the higher elura models are also a good buy. sony has a few models right in your price range but the sad thing is 04 models haven't been as good as the 03 models they replaced. what sucks is all the dv cams have to include crappy still shots which make the prices too high for the crappy still resolution. if you own a good digicam you will see its a pain in the arse cause all the good video quality cams seem to be bundled with mid res. still shots which makes the pricing higher than desired. in a perfect situation the optura 40 would have no still shots and the price would be ~200 less but oh well. if your in no hurry keep an eye on prices cause it'll drop relatively soon. online is cheaper as always.

shill82 · Jul 17, 2004

i would definatly look into getting a camera with 3 CCD the diference in color is amazing. My friend has a 3 CCD Panasonic not exacly sure witch one. He got it about 6 months ago for 900. It truely looks professional.

You can check out a vid that me and him put together. The ones that don't pan were done on my other friends cheapy Samsung. The ones that do pan are on his Panasonic. The video was imported using Pinnacle and then edited in Premiere. Obviously the quality isn't that great as I had to compress for internet but you can still get an idea of what 3 CCD has to offer.

Video

Shawn

Leviathan41 · Jul 17, 2004

@shill: That's an awesome video man, it does look very good. Thanks for the link!

@b0bby: The Opturas are a little out of my price range, atm. But I could probably swing an Elura. What does Sony have to offer at the same price range as the Eluras?

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

shill82 said:
i would definatly look into getting a camera with 3 CCD the diference in color is amazing. My friend has a 3 CCD Panasonic not exacly sure witch one. He got it about 6 months ago for 900. It truely looks professional.

You can check out a vid that me and him put together. The ones that don't pan were done on my other friends cheapy Samsung. The ones that do pan are on his Panasonic. The video was imported using Pinnacle and then edited in Premiere. Obviously the quality isn't that great as I had to compress for internet but you can still get an idea of what 3 CCD has to offer.

Video

Shawn

your friend probably has the 120 model. i didn't recommend 3 CCD cameras cause that was out of his budget by a thousand bucks or so. panasonic has two 3 CCD models which i guess you can consider watered down economic 3 CCD cameras. while it has 3 CCD's, each of them are smaller than the single CCD others have. thats only a slight increase in video quality. a camera like the optura 40 will be identical in quality to an economic 3 CCD. imo if you were getting a 3 CCD, definitely don't be cheap about it. look to spend thousands. in his case he isn't shooting any indy films or documentaries so i doubt he needs that much juice.

b0bby · Jul 17, 2004

Leviathan41 said:
@shill: That's an awesome video man, it does look very good. Thanks for the link!

@b0bby: The Opturas are a little out of my price range, atm. But I could probably swing an Elura. What does Sony have to offer at the same price range as the Eluras?

opturas are about ~600-750 online. eluras around 100 less. sony has the hc20, 30, 40 all priced between ~400-650.

hit up camcorderinfo.com, and check out reviews.

Leviathan41 · Jul 18, 2004

OK, I'll do that. Thanks a ton for all your help, I will likely need more assistance in the future when I get closer to buying one.

Thanks again

shill82 · Jul 18, 2004

He has DV-953 got it for 900 Retail was 1500. It has now been replaced by the GS400 I believe.

Shawn

b0bby · Jul 18, 2004

shill82 said:
He has DV-953 got it for 900 Retail was 1500. It has now been replaced by the GS400 I believe.

Shawn

ahh that was a gem when we had it instore. this camera, aside from the big boys, was panasonic's gem. a lot of models from last year or so have been better than some of the ones that replaced them. great cam but hard to find these days.

Video Editing Software

Leviathan41

Member

shill82

Member

Stedeman

The Half Asleep Member

b0bby

Member

Leviathan41

Member

b0bby

Member

Stedeman

The Half Asleep Member

b0bby

Member

Leviathan41

Member

Stedeman

The Half Asleep Member

b0bby

Member

shill82

Member

Leviathan41

Member

b0bby

Member

b0bby

Member

Leviathan41

Member

shill82

Member

b0bby

Member

Similar threads