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Video Editing Software

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So, I've been working with Windows Movie Maker for the past few years, and it's been adequate for what I've been doing.

But I'm currently working on a project that will probably eventually require a better software than what WMM can do. The problem is I don't have a whole lot of money. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on what would be the best. I'm kind of leaning towards Roxio VideoWave or Pinnacle Studios Plus. Does anyone know specifically if VideoWave can do PiP?

Oh, yeah, also, if anyone else wants to discuss this stuff, go ahead and co-opt the thread for your own needs.

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I doubt I'm the best person to answer since I've never had to actually purchase any equipment myself. All the stuff I've used has been at the theatre department's editing room. That being said, I would swear by Final Cut. I'll see if I can get into more detail later.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Hands down, the best thing out there for PCs is Adobe Premiere. Only problem is it's about $800. I've never used the other programs you mention, but I would go with Pinnacle Studio Plus simply based on its features. If you're interested in doing a lot of editing in the future, especially if your plans include working with a lot of footage, I would seriously look into saving up for Premiere or even one of the Creative Suite bundles with Photoshop and After Effects.


I personally have used Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Avid, and a few others like iMovie and really old versions of Pinnacle Studio from 1999/2000. My favorite would have to be Final Cut Pro, followed by Avid, and then Premiere.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

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Would Premiere Elements, the cheaper version of Premiere, be a good buy?

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Yeah, I've used Premiere as well. I don't enjoy it quite as much as Final Cut, but, to me, they seemed to have a pretty similar interface and comparable quality.

EDIT: Reread your post more carefully. Not familiar with Premiere Elements, so I don't know if it'll work as well or not.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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I remember having to use some incarnation of Pinnacle at some point a couple of years back, and I remember it being a pain in the arse.

http://i.imgur.com/7N84TM8.jpg

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For the price, Vegas Movie Studio is a powerful program. It's basically just a stripped down version of Sony Vegas, and if you render out as uncompressed AVI, the quality is just as good as any high end program.

There are a couple limitations, though, like a max of 3 audio tracks at a time....

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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Ew, seriously?! You can only have one audio track? How many video?

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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One video track and a track for titles and credits.

There are technically two audio tracks, but one of them is absolutely impossible to separate from the video track. Even if it's silent.

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In that case, then, I would give Movie Studio a good look. What a reliable, powerful piece of software. Unlike Premiere, it is not a resource hog, and like I said, it is the stripped down version of Vegas itself, so the price is right...

I would lean away from Pinnacle, as everyone I know who's tried to use it has had problems with it crashing. Roxio Videowave I purchased before Vegas. It is OK, but very limited and slow. Very hard to do frame-accurate editing too.

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

Emperor Jar-Jar
“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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Okay, thanks! I'll give that a look once I've saved up enough money. It does allow two video tracks, right?

EDIT: I've downloaded a 30-day free trial for Vegas, and I'm fairly impressed at the surface. Several video and audio tracks. Many more options than Movie Maker. But I'm trying to figure out how I would make a video on track too appear as a smaller image in track one. For example, making a computer screen in the first video look like it's showing something on a screen in the second.

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This may sound foolish but I just want to ensure that it can do what I need it to.
It can edit DVDs, for fan editing, correct? I suppose I'll have to rip it with some other program though.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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None of those programs can rip DVDs. You might be able to work with VOB files in Final Cut, but that really doesn't help when trying to work with an encrypted DVD. You'd want to use something like Mac the Ripper to get your files off the disc. Once you have the files, any of those programs should do what you want editing-wise. Final Cut Studio uses DVD Studio Pro to author to DVD. iMovie will export to iDVD, but I personally have had awful experiences with its MPEG2 encoding. Though I may have just been a victim of the default settings.

My Projects:
[Holiday Special Hybrid DVD v2]
[X0 Project]
[Backstroke of the West DVD]
[ROTS Theatrical DVD]

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Originally posted by: Darth Chaltab
Okay, thanks! I'll give that a look once I've saved up enough money. It does allow two video tracks, right?

EDIT: I've downloaded a 30-day free trial for Vegas, and I'm fairly impressed at the surface. Several video and audio tracks. Many more options than Movie Maker. But I'm trying to figure out how I would make a video on track too appear as a smaller image in track one. For example, making a computer screen in the first video look like it's showing something on a screen in the second.


Its pretty easy. on the second video track right click on the video and select "video event pan/crop". a new window will open. there you can resize the picture to your needs and drag it around the screen to place it in the position you need. this works on its own it you are looking straight on but if the screen it at an angle you will have to use the deform plug-in. just right click on the video and select " video event fx" and select the deform plug-in from the list. then just adjust the settings to match the angle (make sure you first adjust the "amount" slider or you won't see any of the other settings affecting anything (something like 0.2 to begin with then you can adjust once you see the deformation happening)

I swear by vegas. adobe premier was too buggy for me and slow. Without Vegas and adobe after effects i doubt i would have ever got my edit done

ANH:REVISITED
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