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Video Editing Software


trevcda

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I just picked up a Zoom Q3HD to record video from various events and gigs to be able to put them on a website. I took it out to a three peice outdoor acoustic show at a small restaraunt on Friday and it did a great job of capturing the raw audio and video. It really does pick up everything around it and in the semi-quiet environment we were playing in, although we sounded good, there was a lot of audience noise. It even caught some guy harmonizing a third harmony with us! Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a review of the product, but rather a request for suggestion for video editing software. The Handyshare software that Zoom has will allow you to cut clips out of a video but doesn't appear to allow bringing these cut scenes together or any transitional effects to polish them with. I was thinking about getting this:

 

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html?&r=1

 

I would get the deluxe version rather than the ultra, as I don't need 3D, but I thought I'd ask you guys what your using. I'd like to say I don't need anything super in depth, but I don't want to leave something on the table that I might want later. I will say I'm not trying to produce video for broadcast. Primarily editing clips with graphics for upload to a site like youtube for embedding into a website. Any suggestions?

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I just picked up a Zoom Q3HD to record video from various events and gigs to be able to put them on a website. I took it out to a three peice outdoor acoustic show at a small restaraunt on Friday and it did a great job of capturing the raw audio and video. It really does pick up everything around it and in the semi-quiet environment we were playing in, although we sounded good, there was a lot of audience noise. It even caught some guy harmonizing a third harmony with us! Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a review of the product, but rather a request for suggestion for video editing software. The Handyshare software that Zoom has will allow you to cut clips out of a video but doesn't appear to allow bringing these cut scenes together or any transitional effects to polish them with. I was thinking about getting this:




I would get the deluxe version rather than the ultra, as I don't need 3D, but I thought I'd ask you guys what your using. I'd like to say I don't need anything super in depth, but I don't want to leave something on the table that I might want later. I will say I'm not trying to produce video for broadcast. Primarily editing clips with graphics for upload to a site like youtube for embedding into a website. Any suggestions?

 

 

I started with Windows Live Movie Maker (turns out that it's a lot more powerful than you might think) and was fortunate enough to be able to transition to Adobe After Effects. I still use WLMM from time to time - especially when I just want to string clips together.

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I started with Windows Live Movie Maker (turns out that it's a lot more powerful than you might think) and was fortunate enough to be able to transition to Adobe After Effects. I still use WLMM from time to time - especially when I just want to string clips together.

 

 

After Effects for sure. That would be the perfect app for putting together 3 minute demos. It really is excellent for short form work with of course lots of graphic pizzazz. However, I recommend seeing that app as a destination because for a beginner, it is not intuitive at all. Like you did withthe Window app.

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EVERYTHING I've done to date in this video collection (see below)was done using iMovie. It isn't the greatest tool to work with as it's a deconstructive tool but it's quick camera to computer to video tool. I have a i7 PC with GB ram running Win 7, but I wouldn't imagine using anything other than my Mac for quick video production. But Vegas is good as Well as Adobe Premiere Elements. Save your money. Both those packages run $70-100 and are cutting edge. Cyberlink I've heard of, but I don't know anyone using it. It's not really a commercial or consumer product in my mind.

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Thanks for the advice so far. I am using PCs exclusively. I'm speculating that most of the footage I'll be using will from a single camera shot from the Zoom, at least initially. So two of the things I'm looking for in a program will be scene transition options and the ability to crop a shot for a little variety. I'll be shooting in at least720p to allow cropping to look decent in the end product. As I get more profficient I'm sure I'll incorporate some B-roll crowd stuff, but for now I'll be keeping it simple. The Windows Live Movie Maker looked close but I couldn't find anything about transitions and cropping on the website. I'm sure the Adobe product has that stuff, but I agree with Lee, I probably need the "bunny hill" of editing software to start as the last time I had any real hands on experience was quite awhile ago.

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Thanks for the advice so far. I am using PCs exclusively. I'm speculating that most of the footage I'll be using will from a single camera shot from the Zoom, at least initially. So two of the things I'm looking for in a program will be scene transition options and the ability to crop a shot for a little variety. I'll be shooting in at least720p to allow cropping to look decent in the end product. As I get more profficient I'm sure I'll incorporate some B-roll crowd stuff, but for now I'll be keeping it simple. The Windows Live Movie Maker looked close but I couldn't find anything about transitions and cropping on the website. I'm sure the Adobe product has that stuff, but I agree with Lee, I probably need the "bunny hill" of editing software to start as the last time I had any real hands on experience was quite awhile ago.

 

 

Try looking at the Vegas stuff. They are the closest paradigm to the audio world as its roots actually come from audio software. Vegas was originally a Pro Tools style DAW. Now the video has completely taken over but the feel of it remains very audio like. And they make starter versions on the cheap.

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If you're looking for free and easy, WLMM has plenty of transitions built in. You also use transitions and other effects/plugins designed by others. For cropping, you can use VirtualDub (also free) and import the result into WLMM.

 

It's a good starting point anyhow...

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I want to add that the software you use probably isn't as important as the footage that you are using. I wouldn't shell out bucks for a great editing package unless you have good footage to use with it. We don't, but I was able to get AE for free because I'm a teacher, so I did. It hasn't helped me shine a turd yet.

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I want to add that the software you use probably isn't as important as the footage that you are using. I wouldn't shell out bucks for a great editing package unless you have good footage to use with it. We don't, but I was able to get AE for free because I'm a teacher, so I did. It hasn't helped me shine a turd yet.

 

 

Couldn't agree more! I'm just hoping to roll a couple of ours in glitter!

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Huh... Well I found out I had a bad power supply in the pc I was using. Which somehow corrupted the data (one large file) on the card while trying to import it. Not a good start but I think Vegas will probably work fine for what I want to do right now. Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

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As long as it does what I need it to, I have absolutely no problem with paying for it, whatever it costs. I just hate finding out after I shell out for something that a)this version doesn't do that and b)we don't do returns on any software. Love the free trial downloads.

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Looks like this is a somewhat older thread, but I'll offer some experience anyway.

I also have a ZOOM Q3HD. I bought Adobe Premiere Elements 11 to use with it (I use a PC running Windows 7). I discovered that whenever I tried to edit the .MOV files, the audio would be garbled. This is apparently an issue specific to Adobe Premiere products. Pretty much any other video editing software will not have this problem. I looked up the fix for it (using a 3rd party software to put the video data into proper 'containers') and it makes editing more of a chore.

Adobe Premiere Elements works just fine with .mp4 files, like the ones used by the Cisco Flip video cameras.

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