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Video editing program/application recommendations?
Lucid
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I've been getting more into found footage lately and would like to experiment/attempt to create my own found footage film. I'm not too familiar with video editing software however. I've been googling, and have found a bunch of different trial programs of which I'm unsure of how to discriminate.
I'm looking for ease of use and general efficiency, as found footage doesn't require very complex editing.
Any assistance that could be provided in narrowing this search would be very appreciated.
Here's an example of a found footage film I've watched recently to give an idea as to what kind of functions I'm looking for;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXxjtcd4-kw&playnext=1&list=PL40E9932B29BC2373
I'm looking for ease of use and general efficiency, as found footage doesn't require very complex editing.
Any assistance that could be provided in narrowing this search would be very appreciated.
Here's an example of a found footage film I've watched recently to give an idea as to what kind of functions I'm looking for;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXxjtcd4-kw&playnext=1&list=PL40E9932B29BC2373
Lucid on
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For that kind of editing, you'll need a full-featured editing program; a home-movie-maker probably won't cut it.
That video would actually be pretty easy to do in After Effects with a bunch of keyframes in time remap; I think it would be more difficult on a traditional editing platform like Premiere or Final Cut Pro.
Another thing to consider is how you're going to find your footage. If you have multiple sources with lots of different codecs (avi, wmv, mp4, mov, etc), things can get difficult. I've found that Premiere handles more video codecs than Final Cut (and AE can handle just as many if not more than Premiere).
On the more affordable side of things, I've heard good things about Sony Vegas, but I've not personally used it myself. And I think Pinnacle Studio is still going strong, too. Those would be the two I would look at if you can't afford the Adobe products. I do believe Adobe offers free full-featured trials for all their stuff, so you could at least get a feel for their programs.
My previous video experience is limited to using handbreak or virtualdub in the past for encoding which is something totally different than what I use Vegas for (home video editing) and things but even then my knowledge was lacking and I stumbled through it mostly.
With Vegas I can use it just fine and get done what I want to accomplish easily. I may have to hunt or use the help or google to figure something a little more difficult out, but as far as splicing and transitions, fade in/out, text title overlays, messing with the audio tracks it's all rather intuitive and there are some good little tutorials included that are straight to the point.
I think I picked it up from newegg for about $75 two years ago and it looks like Vegas 10 is out and the package I have is the same price for the new version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=sony+vegas
I figured out how to use it, so I'm sure most anyone can hehe
I used Cyberlink PowerDirector to do this compilation from part of our last Avlis meet:
(slightly NSFW - rude gestures!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRmEapCtUkE
PowerDirector lets you build a clip library for a project, splice them together, change speed, do the stuttering thing in the link you provided, adjust audio tracks separately and/or add your own, it does effects and transitions... pretty solid tool.
The basics aren't too hard to learn and they quickly become second nature
Well, looking at virtualdub.org, it looks like the software is primarily a transcoder/capture system, not an editor. So I would guess that VirtualDub has minimal editing features, if any. I'm on a Mac so I can't download it and check it out to give you a better response.
As price goes up on the higher-end systems, you get compatibility with higher end formats & codecs (Apple ProRes, Red's R4D, etc), compatibility with high-end hardware, and interoperability with other post-production software.
For example, Final Cut Pro can send an edited sequence to Color for final processing & color correction and retain all your edits. Premiere can send sequences to After Effects for special effects and color grading.
There's also a large base of 3rd party plug ins for the higher-end systems. Red Giant, The Foundry, GenArts, etc... they all expand the usability & functionality of the host application, and aren't available on lower end systems.
It's going to be an exciting week for pros, though... Next week at NAB, Apple has bought out all the other sponsors at a major event so that they have all of the stage time for their own presentation. They're bound to be revealing the next major upgrade to Final Cut Studio, which hasn't had a big update in years. I'm hoping they don't turn it into iMovie Pro... or I'll probably jump ship to Adobe Creative Suite full time...