Sunday, September 8, 2013

What video editing software should I use?

video editing software gopro
 on Step 3: Adjust audio and video parameters
video editing software gopro image



Dingo


I just purchased a gopro with the intention of making some really killer videos, I was wondering what the best software to process the video files is? I'm fairly new to these types of programs so I would need a very user-friendly program. Thanks!


Answer
Are you on a Mac or PC? What is your budget? That would narrow your choices somewhat. If you are a total beginner, I would suggest starting with free or low-cost options like i-movie (Mac) or Movie Maker (PC). If you feel you need more, the choices become more about need and preference. Your definition of user,friendly may not be the same as others. On PC, I fin total beginners have an easier time with a program like Sony Vegas than a program like Avid. Also, the power of your computer will help decide. If you have a $400 pc, odds are high end programs like Avid Media Composer will run like molasses , if at all. I would suggest trying trials of various common programs:

For PC:

Sony Vegas (they have several variations ranging from entry level to what they refer to as "Pro") Unless you are doing this professionally, the most expensive version is overkill. Vegas has a reputation for being easy to use for beginners. They offer 30 day trials for you to see if it is right for you.

Adobe Premiere Elements or Premiere Pro. like the Sony equivalents, one is more entry level and the other is more professional. The price difference shows that. Elements is pretty powerful though and will save you about $700 over Pro.

For Mac:

Final Cut Express or Pro: same dynamic as previous programs but for Mac

Adobe Premiere Pro and Elements is also available for Mac


There are several other common programs but these would be the more popular ones with entry level variations. Avid is the most common editing software in Hollywood, but is not the most user friendly program and is very pricy. I would only recommend to someone planning on pursuing a career in the motion picture industry.

What editing software to use for taking a bunch of clips out of longer videos and put them together?




Eirik


I use a Gopro when driving motocross, and want to put the "highlights" together. The films are about 20-40 minutes long and i want to take out bits of maybe 10-15 secs and put them together ?
What will be the easiest way of doing this ? A tutorial of some sort would be great !

The Camera is a Gopro Hero HD 2 and i shoot in 720p and 60 fps. If this matters.
Thanks !



Answer
Nearly every video editor ever made can do this - that's what they do.

How the various editors visualize what you're doing is different though.

In editors like Windows Movie Maker you import the longer video into your project. You can preview it and split the video into chunks which appears as separate pieces of file. You then drag those down to the timeline and put them together.

In others, like Adobe Premiere, you import the longer video into the project then in the preview pane add in and out markers. When you drag the video from the preview pane into the timeline only that part between the markers is used. You can add the longer original video to the preview and add more markers as many times as you like.

Once you've got your viedeo clips put together and added your transitions, effects and titles you then render the finished video. All this means is that the editor takes all the clips and creates a ingle new video file. This is very intensive work for a computer and if you're using an older or middling one, this could take a while.

You can upload that file to Youtube or whatever or even burn it onto a DVD that you can watch using a TV. This usually means another piece of sofware that is capable of DVD authoring. Again these range from free like Windows DVD Maker and DVDFlick to the $800 Adobe Encore.

If you go to http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbWLzF5mVVFYQGxqZ_GCThA/videos you'll see a whole bunch of videos (11 of them) of a guy in a solo concert. All of those came from a single video file that was originally over an hour in length.

The Opal Book Club, The Bronconator, and My Beautiful SUV (one of my hobbies is off-road driving) are made from multiple video files that were edited together.

If you want to explore video editing then there's no reason to spend anything as there are some very good free editors around. Most compete very well with the sub-$100 commercial software.

Take a look at the tutorials for Windows Movie Maker at http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/Tutorials/ - it may be WMM is all you need. It really is foolproof except that it's picky in what file formats it takes and the lack of native support for multiple video and audio tracks are a definite disadvantage (but there are workarounds)

The version 2 series were probably the most versatile, you can find them here - http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/windows-movie-maker.html - but you'll have problems installing the older versions on Windows 7.

Other free video editors are...

Wax - http://www.debugmode.com/wax/ - this is also a compositor - a bit like Adobe's After Effects - - unlimited video and audio tracks
VideoLAN Movie Creator - http://videolan.org/vlmc/ - up to 64 audio and video tracks
TrakAxPC - www.trakax.com/software/pc/
VideoSpin - http://videospin.com/ - just 1 video track so you may as well use WMM
VideoPad - the free version - http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/
Lightworks - http://www.lightworksbeta.com/ - I like this one - unlimited tracks ?
Serif MoviePlus - http://serif.com/free-video-editing-software/ - unlimited tracks ?
Ezvid - ezvid.com/ - 32 video and audio tracks

VirtualDub, RAD Video tools, AVITricks and Avidemux are also good tools you should look at. Although not full editors like the others they have some useful features.

Lightworks and Wax together are a very good video editing system for free.

All are safe, at least from the sites I've linked to.

If you want to spend a little more then there's reviews of 14 editors under $100 at http://video-editing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Once you've explored the basics and think you've reached the end of what you can do with the free or low cost editors then there's software like Sony Vegas ($600) and Adobe Premiere and After Effects ($1,700)




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