34 replies to this topic

[M.E.G.]

Now that I have my Sony HD Camcorder (love), I need some software to do editing. I will use it mostly for family type stuff. Don't plan on going professional, I will stick with my day job.

In the past I have used Roxio and Nero. I liked Nero. But don't want to spend a fortune. Any recommendations?

I will want to be able to save it to different formats for different uses, I think?

M.E.G.

[Dave Burrell]

Now that I have my Sony HD Camcorder (love), I need some software to do editing. I will use it mostly for family type stuff. Don't plan on going professional, I will stick with my day job.

In the past I have used Roxio and Nero. I liked Nero. But don't want to spend a fortune. Any recommendations?

I will want to be able to save it to different formats for different uses, I think?

M.E.G.

Sony has a great editing software package called Sony Movie Studio and its sold at Costco for around $50

Here's the info: http://www.sonycreat...com/moviestudio

[Revolutionist]

Sony has a great editing software package called Sony Movie Studio and its sold at Costco for around $50

Here's the info: http://www.sonycreat...com/moviestudio

microsoft moviemaker? free with windows.
imovie? free with a mac.

[Dave Burrell]

microsoft moviemaker? free with windows.
imovie? free with a mac.

microsoft = inferior buggy product, not even worth free
imovie will cost minimum $1500.... to get the Mac with it (heh)

[jtroiano]

Now that I have my Sony HD Camcorder (love), I need some software to do editing. I will use it mostly for family type stuff. Don't plan on going professional, I will stick with my day job.

In the past I have used Roxio and Nero. I liked Nero. But don't want to spend a fortune. Any recommendations?

I will want to be able to save it to different formats for different uses, I think?

M.E.G.

Pinnacle 12 studio The studio version is $50.00. Easy to use - you can even download a free demo for 14 days.

[JLS]

I'm guessing your not a mac user so the best option in my opinion is this:

http://www.adobe.com...cts/premiereel/

[UncleVinny]

My 2-cents . . .
Been working with video for over a year now.

Standard is MUCH better than HD.
HD files are HUGE, and most programs under $500 cannot handle the file sizes easily.
I think you will find yourself converting the HD to standard, unless you can afford a super-computer and a pricey software package.
Beside, you go through all that quality video, then post it on YouTube, and it gets condensed so it looks like crap anyway.

I use the free Windows MovieMaker and PowerDirector, but I am thinking of switching over to Adobe Premiere Elements.

[seriesrover]

First post and going to have to disagree with you UncleVinny - sorry! If you've bought a Sony HD (as in AVC HD) camera don't capture Standard Def - you'd have wasted your money. Once you get your editing software record something with a lot of detail (go down to the river or something) with both HD and SD and then play it back on an HDTV or your computer and see the difference.

HD files aren't that bad in size; consider you can buy a 1 TB drive at Frys for $100 - get a couple of those so you have a back up. Capture video at the highest rate and down res when you need it. If you capture at the low res to begin with you'll never be able to get up to the high res.

For video editing go Adobe Premiere Pro or Elements.

[UncleVinny]

First post and going to have to disagree with you UncleVinny - sorry! If you've bought a Sony HD (as in AVC HD) camera don't capture Standard Def - you'd have wasted your money. Once you get your editing software record something with a lot of detail (go down to the river or something) with both HD and SD and then play it back on an HDTV or your computer and see the difference.

HD files aren't that bad in size; consider you can buy a 1 TB drive at Frys for $100 - get a couple of those so you have a back up. Capture video at the highest rate and down res when you need it. If you capture at the low res to begin with you'll never be able to get up to the high res.

For video editing go Adobe Premiere Pro or Elements.

Good points, Rover. Thanks.
I agree with the idea of shooting in HD, then if needed to down-grade resolution.
His original post mentioned not wanting to spend a lot of money.
SO yeah, a terabyte drive is good, but now the cash starts flowing.

The 4 software packages I've used with HD ALL crashed or shuddered when you try to manipulate large files. Sure, you can finally get a HD disk made, but the frustration level is enormous. Mmm! Maybe if I had a $10,000 work-station!

[seriesrover]

Hi UV - would be interested what software you used. You're right you need *somewhat* of a beefy machine, a modern mid-high range processor should see you fine for personal usage, but don't need $10K - I assume you were exageratting a bit - key ingredient though is RAM.

[GFFmatt]

Now that I have my Sony HD Camcorder (love), I need some software to do editing. I will use it mostly for family type stuff. Don't plan on going professional, I will stick with my day job.

In the past I have used Roxio and Nero. I liked Nero. But don't want to spend a fortune. Any recommendations?

I will want to be able to save it to different formats for different uses, I think?

M.E.G.

M.E.G.,

Welcome to the world of editing--and to the world of HD! Nice, isn't it?

My personal opinion is that Pinnacle Studio 12 would be your most user-friendly solution. I do this for a living, and while I have recently graduated from the Studio line to more advanced software, I can definitely say that Studio is very easy to use. In fact, you can see our work at grayfamilyfilms.com and EVERY clip posted there was done in Studio as I have not posted anything from the new software yet.

In Studio 12 you'll be able to save your project in just about any format as well as upload to youtube or yahoo video (I prefer Yahoo). When I used Pinnacle Studio (even recently) I still built my DVDs in Nero, but as for easy capture, editing and rendering I suggest Studio.

You may want to download a trial version of it to check it out!

-Matt

[GFFmatt]

My 2-cents . . .
Been working with video for over a year now.

Standard is MUCH better than HD.
HD files are HUGE, and most programs under $500 cannot handle the file sizes easily.
I think you will find yourself converting the HD to standard, unless you can afford a super-computer and a pricey software package.
Beside, you go through all that quality video, then post it on YouTube, and it gets condensed so it looks like crap anyway.

I use the free Windows MovieMaker and PowerDirector, but I am thinking of switching over to Adobe Premiere Elements.

UncleVinny,

HD files aren't terribly larger than SD, but yes they take up more space and you must make sure the software used supports HD. Many consumer level software around $100 can handle HD---the question would be having the processor and RAM to easily allow for HD editing and rendering. Saying that standard def is MUCH better than HD may be an opinion related to the ease of use in a lesser computer but I don't know who's worked with HD that would wish to go back to SD. Even at the greater expense of HD tapes I'll never go back to standard. I shoot on twin Canon HV30s and the quality is amazing. Besides, with standard def televisions becoming obsolete it is almost painful to look at standard def on an HDTV.

You don't need a super computer or pricey software as long as there is 2-4GB of RAM on the computer and a 2+Ghz CPU. Obviously you're not going to output true HD to DVD without a Blu-Ray drive but even the standard DVD compression is clearly better than not using HD. For around $100, Pinnacle's Studio 12 handles HD very well.

You can post HD to youtube and the results show, but perhaps you haven't learned the process. And while I don't prefer youtube, when I output to Yahoo Video the quality maintains fairly well depending on the size of the file.

I've been producing professionally since 02 and it took me a good 4 years to finally crossover to HD because I now feel like they've got the hardware and software right AND at affordable prices.

My current PC is a 3.4Ghz single CPU with just 3GB of RAM and a 4 year old video card. I handle HD very well on Sony Vegas Pro 9 and Pinnacle Studio 9 & 12. The build I'm working on is a monster, but my point is that with my 4 year old PC I can do anything I want with HD footage. Its not as out of reach as you may think.

-Matt
grayfamilyfilms.com

[JLS]

I've also owned a wedding video company since 2002. I gave it up a while ago to give me more time to work in the wonderful world of VFX. I've used just about every video editing software there is as well as most the VFX software.

I'd still use adobe or apple's suite over others. They offer stripped down versions that should be able to handle everything a hobbiest could want.

The world of HD. I had 3 Canon XL2's that I shot everything on because I couldn't deal with HD at the time. It was still a technology that needed some work. Now its taken over so I would jump at the chance to buy a couple of the new Canon HD camcorders should I find the interest in shooting again.

Anyways, I guess none of this matters except for the fact that I agree... 2-4 gb's of ram and a decent processor. They don't recommend using external FW drives for best results but if you had to they are pretty cheap for alot of space.

If you ever had questions on a system upgrade or HD I would send you quickly to:

http://silverado.cc/shop/home.php

Been working with them for years and there is nobody as knowledgeable or helpful as them in the surrounding major cities I can assure you

[seriesrover]

Assuming you have a good enough processor and GPU sink any spare money into RAM for rendering out. Because AVC HD is mpeg based (or more accurately interframe encoded) it makes editing a little bit more tricky. But above all have fun!!

[UncleVinny]

Sounds like we have some real expertise here now.
I'm just a tinkerer myself, so I appreciate your input.

(Thanks, MATT et al!)

Yeah, the extra RAM is a key factor. 3 or 4 GB would really help in video editing.
I use the free MovieMaker and PowerDirector.
I am now switching over to Adobe Premiere elements.
Adobe makes good software.

Here is a site for video editing software reviews:

http://video-editing...tenreviews.com/