New to Video Editing!

McleishMcleish Aberdeen, Scotland
edited June 2006 in Internet & Media
Hi there I had a look through the forums but I may have missed this question/s being asked!

what it is, is I am going to be starting video editing on my home and captureing footage from my video camera.
the computer specs I got is:
amd barton 2500+ xp,
512mb ddr ram
1 160gb harddrive primary drive
am gonna setup a secondary drive which will be 2 80gb drives made in to a raid system!
windows XP, BUT I dont like XP and will be putting on 2k instead!
dvdplayer + dvd writer (old one though)
radeon 9800 pro 128mb ram


Ok I aint askin about the hardware of what I need but it is the software side of things I am hoping you could let me know about!

I am looking for some software which will be able to capture the video image's, possible to compress them.
once I have them on my system is there software which has an easyish layout? maybe where you can see the timeline of the video so u can select certain lengths of the video cut/copy it and relocate it to another part of the video.
also maybe have some basic special effects where I can make it fade from one shot to another!

along the lines with the timeline, also maybe be easy to incert sounds etc!

I aint to bothered about which format to convert it to at the moment.

also was hoping for the program to be free (very unlikely) or not to expensive! (due to me being a student :P )

since Im new to this a basic program which is easy to use would be great as I can learn from that and after time I will want to get more professional!



I am finding it difficult to explain but i am doing my best!

cheers!

Comments

  • GunnyGunny
    edited February 2004
    OK, first off, how will you capture the video? A TV-in card, USB or firewire?

    I would guess that you want to output the finished product to DVD

    Free stuff - Windows Movie Maker for XP - not good, but a good place to start out with and play with video capture, adding titles, etc, just not real good finished product and it will only output in a windows proprietary format. But it will give you an overview of video/audio capture, editting, etc

    www.DVDRHelp.com has great forums and lots of good information. Go there, read through what they have, then start making a decision on which program you want to try.

    I don't think that either DVD Shrink or DVD Decrypter support input, but they are free.

    Several decent (note decent) programs out there for $100 or less,

    Pinnacle Studio 8 (if it's still available) fairly good, easy to use, gives good output to DVD (AFter reading your post again, I would recommend this, it is what I use, you can add music, cut, splice, etc)
    Roxio Easy CD & DVD creator, really easy to use, doesn't give a good output to DVD (small screen
    Roxio VideoWave (if still available) was OK once you downloaded all the patches to it, good output.

    Fun stuff, but take this project on a crawl, walk, run approach. Plan on wasting a few blank DVDs until you get it down, then you'll have a blast
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    I am using Ulead Video Studio. It isn't too bad.
    It isn't free either. But I am importing from a digital camera, so I bought a SIIG 1394 card and the basic software came with. It was a whopping $50. For about $30 they let me upgrade to the full and newer version. So, not a bad deal.
    I am sure as soon as MM sees this you will get more info that you ever expected.
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited February 2004
    There are several posts on this subject of editing. Use the search button and look for terms like MEDIA100 or EDIT. :)
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2004
    In order to get video into your computer, you will need more than just software, you need some hardware to enable the capture.

    As Gunny said, your choices are generally going to be:

    - external capture card (like a TV in card, or an editing capture card

    - Firewire (if your camera supports firewire out, which it should if it is a DV cam, but likely will not if it is an analog format cam)

    - USB (some DV cams support USB instead of firewire.)

    If you have an analog based camera, you will need an analog capture card. Several video card manufacturers produce these, and they come with all the software you need to caprture and edit. High end ATI All-In-Wonder cards do this, or you can purhcase capture-specific products from companies like Dazzle ( http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=1427&Langue_ID=7)
    or Matrox (MediaMan did a great article a while back on editing using the Matrox RX10, which is a bit more expensive then you are likely going to want, but comes with higher quality hardware and software: http://www.short-media.com/article.php?98.0 )

    Let us know about your camera first, then we will help you pick the hardware and software to get you where you want to be.

    Dexter...
  • McleishMcleish Aberdeen, Scotland
    edited February 2004
    as mentioned I aint to bothered about the hardware side of things at the moment! it is the software side Im really interested in so that I can check out the software and see how good it is and all, but since u need some more detailsI can easily do that


    the camera I have got is a JVC GR-DVL9800 which has DVin/out which has a firewire connection which will go in to my pc.
  • GunnyGunny
    edited February 2004
    Mcleish wrote:
    as mentioned I aint to bothered about the hardware side of things at the moment! it is the software side Im really interested in so that I can check out the software and see how good it is and all, but since u need some more detailsI can easily do that


    the camera I have got is a JVC GR-DVL9800 which has DVin/out which has a firewire connection which will go in to my pc.

    Then you're halfway there. Start with Windows Movie Maker, learn how to properly capture, Windows MM has some capability to edit, then you can save your project or burn it to disc.
    After thinking this thing over, and considering your experience, I think I would recommend Pinnacle, it's easy to use, has a host of abilities and several plug ins available. There are lots of DVD burners that come with a Special Edition of software and I've seen several with Pinnacle 8 SE. You might run across someone with one of those "freebies" and try it out.
  • G-manG-man
    edited February 2004
    Some options you might want to look into is :
    Pinnacle studio moviebox version 9
    Pinnacle studio moviebox USB
    http://www.pinnaclesys.com/Category.asp?Category_ID=1&langue_id=7&Family=0

    http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketlist.html?PHPSESSID=cef6dfae737fa7891be85eeac373b5cf&qk_srch=pinnacle&qs_platform=
    Being a student you can get a discount!
    www.studica.com as well

    I have ordered the Pinnacle studio Moviebox version 9, so I can capture VHS analog tapes Hi-8 etc... this is more practical for new users, but there is always a learning curve on any of them. Also you can capture Digital video as well
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Adobe AfterEffects is awsome, but beware of it being at least $1000, that is what I work with.
  • DexterDexter Vancouver, BC Canada
    edited February 2004
    RWB wrote:
    Adobe AfterEffects is awsome, but beware of it being at least $1000, that is what I work with.


    But After Effects does not do video capture, you need something else to get the video in to the computer first.

    And as far as editing goes, AE is not a very good editor, as it was never designed to be an editing program. It is a kick-butt compositor, effects engine and 2-D animator, but not a very good editor, and I would not recommend it to someone who is just getting into editing for the first time.

    Dexter...
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Do what Gunny suggested: Learn the very basics with Windows Movie Maker, since it's free. Then, when you are more educated about the process and your needs, you can make an informed choice between a lighter suite such as pinnacle or something more professional such as Adobe Premiere.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited February 2004
    Windows Movie Maker 2 is your best choice to start with. It's free, but you can do some good things with it, like set the bit rate anywhere you want.

    MM2 only outputs files in a .wmv format that requires Windows Media Player 9 (Or Winamp) to play, but there's no excuse not to have the latest version of WMP on your computer anyhow.

    I've been using MM2 for a year now for my webshow and like it. It's easy to deal with. I'm sure the fancy stuff could be better, but I keep things simple and don't do much fancy editing. No need for it.

    See the work I've done at the address in my signature. Start with #39. Even now, a few months after its release, it still gets a lot of hits.
  • LiluLilu
    edited June 2006
    Nice try, tovarich. :wave:
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited June 2006
    I tried several progs to do my vids. They all did some of what I wanted but I couldn't find a prog that would let me do everything, IE, create menus, add my own audio and burn a DVD etc, until I found Roxio Easy Media Creator. It isn't too expensive and comes with around eight progs that'll do everything. It is a superb bit of software for the price. Have a look.
    http://www.roxio.com/en/products/emc/family.jhtml
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited June 2006
    Note to self, check date of posts and look in reported posts before spouting, fool.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    wow, talk about a thread from the dead.:D
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