Video Editing Software

[systemoverblow'd]

Shoot I was talking Quicktime 7 on Mac. There is also a "quicktime player" that comes free now with macs and I assume it is the same as the windows version but I am unsure. With the player version the in and out keys don't work, you need to go to the edit menu and select the trim function. This should work the same way as I stated in the other post as long as the windows version is the same. Unfortunately I do not know if they are the same, sorry.

[bornincolorado]

Just downloaded Quicktime 7 and the "trim" function is grayed out and says you have to upgrade to $PRO.

Any other ideas?

[systemoverblow'd]

Shit I was afraid of that. Since I don't know what is available on Windows I won't be much help. But I did a quick search and this looks promising for your needs and it is free. http://www.x2xsoft.com/how-to/trim-v...lips-free.html

[bornincolorado]

thanks for your help system, I'll try that out for sure, but does anyone actually have any experience with that software? before I go and screw up (again).

history - last year I used windows movie maker to trim my video clips, but when re-compressing to wmv or whatever, I think the videos lost a lot of quality and also all my 60fps video was converted to 30fps so I lost all my slowmo worthy stuff.

[systemoverblow'd]

Well regardless of the mistake it should never have happened. We don't shoot tape anymore so data archive is extremely important. You should have 2 drives, 1 to store raw media and one to work on a duplicate from. You need a backup so things like this never happen. Back in the day, not too long ago, you needed to buy media (tape) every time you wanted to shoot something. That made it so you could always reacquire the footage had something go wrong. People who never dealt with this workflow don't understand the importance and how often you would have to go back and recapture media. back up, back up, back up. So if you are working on a copy, testing new software and ideas shouldn't be an issue because you have a copy. Remember, just to shoot we used to have to buy media, buy yourself some external hard drives, they are dirt cheap nowadays. Trust me, you'll kick yourself one day if you don't do this.

Happy editing

[bornincolorado]

so true
i made the mistake of giving myself only 1 month to turn 24 hours of raw footage into 1 hour of movie, including teaching myself how to use the editing software, while not overloading the computer.

and yes i had so much raw footage that i ran out of hard drive space and had to delete all my raw footage after making the wmv clips, and then realized my mistake.

the movie still came out pretty sweet, and my friends were all impressed (much easier crowd than TGR)

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I just bought a 750 gb external USB drive for $60. This is enough capacity to back up all of my images and video (I have very little video) for the last three years.

Just an example of how cheap this stuff has gotten these days.

I too found that Windows Moviemaker didn't preserve the quality of the video very well. Don't know if there are settings in it that could improve this. So, next up I bought a copy of AVS Video Editor. Actually, I bought the license that allows you to download all of their software for life, it was only like $80 and they have some useful programs. It works pretty well, but again I wasn't very happy with the quality of the output. So, I ponied up $99 for a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements. The quality of the output is very nice, the videos are smooth and no noticeable loss of quality. I hate the interface and have had a helluva time trying to figure out how to use it as the documentation really blows, but what I have been able to do with it came out nice and it has a lot of capabilities. If I ever devoted the time to really learning it I'd probably like it a lot better.

[Altmanator]

Question for the video guys. I'm just starting to play around with video on my 7D. I have iMovie but I recognize that eventually I will hit it's limitations. Just as I am glad I learned lightroom instead of using iPhoto, I'd like to invest my time learning a professional grade video program.

So, Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro X? I know there has been a lot of backlash regarding FCPX, but is there any good advice on how to decide which road to go down?

[systemoverblow'd]

Final Cut Studio or Premiere. Don't do X, at least not in its current form.

FCS3 is available again and hopefully with the backlash they will go back to developing for it. But for most editors for years, updating when something new comes out was the last thing they wanted to do. Once you have a stable system you stick with it unless you NEED to upgrade.

Straight cutting is not processor intensive so FCP not being MP enabled doesn't hurt you at all. If you want definite longevity I would say go with Adobe. But remember, they update their software every year as well (and that isn't free). There is no reason FCS wouldn't last you many more years to come, especially cutting DSLR footage.

If everything goes well today, I will be designing a companies production department at the start of the year. While I will be buying CS5.5 for Photoshop, AE and Illustrator I will probably recommend that FCS gets purchased as well. The $1000 cost is well worth it given Soundtracks royalty free library, compressor, color, DVD SP and of course the NLE itself. You could even play with the POS Motion if you wanted a toy of a compositing app.

But, Premiere is a very valid NLE now (not so just a few years ago). I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I was learning something new but I am just so fast on FCP the learning curve and costs associated with that would suck.

Note, most pro-grade NLE's work off the same basic principals. If you know one, you know them all in general but they all have their quirks. Speed comes with time but I'm sure if I sat down with Vegas, Premiere, AVID, M100, etc I could get the job done. How efficiently I would get it done and how much smashing my head into the desk happens remains to be seen. And if you happen to think of selling your services in the future make sure you use what the industry in your area favors.

[grskier]

I've seen less backlash lately with FCPX.. and you are new to the game, so it may not make too much of a difference....

[systemoverblow'd]

That's because everyone downloaded it when it came out and promptly went back to FCS3 or moved off of Final Cut. It has had one update which didn't even address anyones complaints. It still doesn't have standard features that have been in Final Cut for 6+ years and they are saying "sometime in 2012". Yeah, thanks for that assholes. It is 100% shit at this point and I wouldn't make my worst enemy use it.

Besides, it doesn't act like any other NLE so he may as well get used to conventions that every other NLE on the planet use and not this glossed over pile of shit.

[deciblast]

Final Cut Studio or Premiere. Don't do X, at least not in its current form.

FCS3 is available again and hopefully with the backlash they will go back to developing for it. But for most editors for years, updating when something new comes out was the last thing they wanted to do. Once you have a stable system you stick with it unless you NEED to upgrade.

Straight cutting is not processor intensive so FCP not being MP enabled doesn't hurt you at all. If you want definite longevity I would say go with Adobe. But remember, they update their software every year as well (and that isn't free). There is no reason FCS wouldn't last you many more years to come, especially cutting DSLR footage.

If everything goes well today, I will be designing a companies production department at the start of the year. While I will be buying CS5.5 for Photoshop, AE and Illustrator I will probably recommend that FCS gets purchased as well. The $1000 cost is well worth it given Soundtracks royalty free library, compressor, color, DVD SP and of course the NLE itself. You could even play with the POS Motion if you wanted a toy of a compositing app.

But, Premiere is a very valid NLE now (not so just a few years ago). I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I was learning something new but I am just so fast on FCP the learning curve and costs associated with that would suck.

Note, most pro-grade NLE's work off the same basic principals. If you know one, you know them all in general but they all have their quirks. Speed comes with time but I'm sure if I sat down with Vegas, Premiere, AVID, M100, etc I could get the job done. How efficiently I would get it done and how much smashing my head into the desk happens remains to be seen. And if you happen to think of selling your services in the future make sure you use what the industry in your area favors.

Are you really recommending that people who are currently using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie to spend $1000 on FCS vs $299 on FCX?

I have no problems with X and I love the workflow with my 7D. I already edited a wedding with it.

[systemoverblow'd]

Are you really recommending that people who are currently using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie to spend $1000 on FCS vs $299 on FCX?

I have no problems with X and I love the workflow with my 7D. I already edited a wedding with it.

Yes, he said he wanted a professional grade NLE. He mentioned Premiere which is $649. So obviously he has no qualms about spending money on something good. So for FCS you spend $1000 and get a professional NLE, a professional DVD scripting application, a semi-professional compositing application, a professional sound mixing application with a huge royalty free library of music and sound effects and bar-none the cheapest color grading option out there for professional work.

If he was making crappy youtube videos on a flip cam or one angle wedding videos, sure, you can go with a POS like FCPX. Some people have asperations to make their shit look good, mix the audio correctly, color grade it, add real lower 3rds, etc. He said he wanted a prolevel NLE which FCP X isn't. Ask any serious person who knows anything about video if FCP X is a viable PRO level app which he specifically asked about. If he wants to save money, I suggested going with Premiere which he brought up and will smoke even FCP six ways to Sunday. But the money isn't all the NLE it is the suite.

And since you need to puff your chest about your awesome wedding video accomplishment, I already edited 51 tv shows, many tv commercials, hundreds of web videos for clients with hundreds of thousands of $ budgets for 2 minute pieces with FCS and have been nominated for 2 Emmy's. I think I know just a little more about professional grade editing systems than you do. I've worked with smoke, flame, premiere, AVID, FCS, M100 and Vegas. If FCP X works for you, fantastic. But it in no way is a pro level editing application (at this time) which he specifically asked about. And no, wedding videographers who pump out the most lame video ever are not pro level editors. You could use WMM and iMovie for that trite shit.

Hope your clients like your cool transitions.

[deciblast]

Yes, he said he wanted a professional grade NLE. He mentioned Premiere which is $649. So obviously he has no qualms about spending money on something good. So for FCS you spend $1000 and get a professional NLE, a professional DVD scripting application, a semi-professional compositing application, a professional sound mixing application with a huge royalty free library of music and sound effects and bar-none the cheapest color grading option out there for professional work.

If he was making crappy youtube videos on a flip cam or one angle wedding videos, sure, you can go with a POS like FCPX. Some people have asperations to make their shit look good, mix the audio correctly, color grade it, add real lower 3rds, etc. He said he wanted a prolevel NLE which FCP X isn't. Ask any serious person who knows anything about video if FCP X is a viable PRO level app which he specifically asked about. If he wants to save money, I suggested going with Premiere which he brought up and will smoke even FCP six ways to Sunday. But the money isn't all the NLE it is the suite.

And since you need to puff your chest about your awesome wedding video accomplishment, I already edited 51 tv shows, many tv commercials, hundreds of web videos for clients with hundreds of thousands of $ budgets for 2 minute pieces with FCS and have been nominated for 2 Emmy's. I think I know just a little more about professional grade editing systems than you do. I've worked with smoke, flame, premiere, AVID, FCS, M100 and Vegas. If FCP X works for you, fantastic. But it in no way is a pro level editing application (at this time) which he specifically asked about. And no, wedding videographers who pump out the most lame video ever are not pro level editors. You could use WMM and iMovie for that trite shit.

Hope your clients like your cool transitions.

[systemoverblow'd]

I'm not mad, I'm a rational thinking human being. You mistake my calling you a dumb fuck for being angry. I'm laughing at you and proving you wrong.

He asked for a suggestion. He asked video people if he wanted to move to a pro level NLE what he should get. I answered his question.

I'm a hack photographer. but if I came here and said "Hey guys, I use GIMP but really want to get into more professional level photo manipulation, what you would guys suggest?" Do you think PS elements or Photoshop would be the more suitable answer? He didn't say "I have a $500 budget, what's the best I can get?" he asked for opinions on what he should get. I gave him the correct answer saying either FCS or Premiere. And I also said if he ever wants to work and sell his work he needs to think about his market. Not one single production house or agency in my city uses FCP X. Not one. Great suggestion!

The only thing I may be mad about is the influx of people who think editing is just something you do and not an artform we practice and get paid quite handsomely for if you are any good. Cheap NLE's and video recording for under $100, while making the internet a funny place has done very little in the way of art. FCP X is not only perpetuating that it is making it thrive. Every dickbox on craigslist wants their video shot for free or "2 days of editing, I have $100 to offer". $100, really? No editor worth anything is going to get out of bed for $100. Maybe if it will take 2 hours but nothing more.

Respect is given when respect is due. I answered his questions and you called out my ability to answer the exact question he asked. I rebutted. Common conversation structure no?

[bean]

Bumping this thread because Elements 11 just came out and I'm wondering what I should go with. I used Premiere Pro CS5 some but I'm pretty sure it was way too much for what I do. I'm also at a point where I'd rather just pay for the software, and $650 for PP CS6 is out of the question.

So

Premiere Elements 11?
Sony Movie Studio Platinum?
Something else I'm not considering?

[systemoverblow'd]

Since you are used to multilayer video tracks I think elements will feel odd to you. I'd look into Sony MSP would probably be more your speed although I have used neither.

You may want to check out Pinnacle Studio 16 Plus as well.

All of these software have free trials so download them and see what works best for you.