Video Editing Packages

On my new PC I have been using Windows Movie Maker to put things together but I hanker for something that is a little, well, better, and also exports to something other than Satan's Format, WMV.

I'm more used to the Mac situation, which seems to be a lot better for the casual (read: cheap) video editor, but I notice that there are several "consumer" packages out there such as Pinnacle Studio, Ulead VideoStudio, Adobe Premiere et al.

I wondered whether residents might care to share details of what software they use, almost certainly for the second time or more since this is bound to have been done before, but the software market changes so frequently....

I've not had a reason to use Jahshaka, but it's looking like a nice editing/fx package. If you've not tried it, might take a peek (and let us know what you think).

http://www.jahshaka.org/

Wish I could help you. Definately haven't gone the cheap route.

I did actually download Jahshaka but... for a start the installer give you a shortcut to, er, the installer, which is not a good start, and even when you make your own to the .exe the program is positively baffling. I'm not exactly a complete beginner with these things but I couldn't make it do anything at all.

I've used all those (Pinnacle not recently) and I will say:
WMM is easy but limited.
Ulead is user-friendly and simple (I used it when I taught small children how to make and edit simple animation) but has more scope.
Pinnacle - well, I'd say the same, but I haven't used it in so long I should say nothing.
Adobe Premiere - MUCH more scope and complexity, and cost.

I've been blowing things together with WMM as the things I'm making are really simple, however it is starting to vex me that it has such limited scope.

I think you can't go wrong by committing to a cheap program like Ulead at first, then move up to a better program such as Adobe Premiere later EXCEPT that there a free AvidDV that you might wish to try before you do anything.

Hi All!!
I discovered Magix MovieEdit Pro from a friend at work, and found its a pretty darned good program.. I had been using Windows MovieMaker, but the Magix program blows MovieMaker out of the water, in my opinion.. And the price is right, $29-$59.. $59 from the Magix website, and $29 from Fry's Electronics, when I bought my copy...

Tas

Avid. Everything else is just not worth the time.

more info

I've used several for personal & professional use:

Adobe Premiere/After FX.... Pricey, but easy to use if you're used to Photoshop, etc. Does some decent work. Exports to a lot of formats.

AvidDVXpress... Kicks ass too, but can be a hassle at times. Like where it has to load the video, analyze it, etc etc.

Windows Movie Maker- its "ok". Nothing too great.

Jahshaka.... Not bad for Free.

Ulead/Pinnacle/others.... Weren't too difficult to figure out either.

I find if they can export AVI, WMV, or MOV, then I'm happy as I can use something else to convert them to whatever other format I need (Mpeg, DivX, and so on)

Final Cut or Final Cut Express on the Mac. Or just cut and paste clips in a Quicktime window for free editing. However, Ordinal, I see by your movies you are more ambitious than that.

And it was inevitable you would get at least one Avid freak. I've edited on Avid for almost 15 years professionally. Fine for TV, unnecessary for this. Even Final Cut is overkill but I'm used to it.

Would love to help on this - IM if you need more info. And please come by Xibalba on Day of the Dead and fire off some flares!

Cheers. What is unnecessary is to purchase a program when you can get avid free dv.

While the debate is still out there for some between final cut and avid, dismissing an opinion based on this annoyingly stupid debate is quite typical. While I do agree something like avid xpress pro would be overkill for the majority of things done in SL, avid free dv is a much better program than windows movie maker, Imovie, and most of the cheaper editing packages. Even if only for the tutorials, keyboard set up, and the amount of help on the community forums.

Question for anyone who has been using Avid free. Fraps made video .AVI files from SL apparently need to be converted to .mov or .DV or MPEG before they work with Avid Free.

Using some of the conversion demos the end results have had some blocky results. I am wondering if QT Pro can do this conversion without the blocky results or if people have figured out how to use the .avi files from Fraps/SL without converting. Maybe there is a different QT Codec that gets around this issue?

Also, does anyone know if Avid Pro also require conversion?

It may be the Inexpensive converter (ConvertMovie 4.1) produing the blockiness but the conversion is an unacceptable degradation of quality.

Anyone overcome these issues using Avid?

i use Jahshaka

its has the chance to be a powerfull package

it has some decent Open GL effects for video

but my overall verdict on it is ..

cons

1 it doesnt know what it is going to run on:

the program is developed in linux / unix enviroments, ive yet to get it started on nix...
its main focus as of 1.9 whatever has been on windows, it uses none of the windows formating, filesystems are centered around the Jahshaka program, and uses a dos like folder browser

in 1.9 the forced interface is a nightmare, rc 2.1 is much better

the interface is just plain ol confusing .. ive been using it for almost 2 years and still get messed up

framerates and encoding are off , you have to mathmaticly figure out this for things like SL animation sheets

it crashes ALOT, save often

it screws up ALOT, start an animation ... add a start keyframe and a end keyframe, then try to add keyframes between the 2, its either a crash or a dead animation (which you have to quit and reload)

the interface is just plain ol a PITA, want to goto 2.36 seconds? it has a number box punch it in ... sry no you have to deal with micro-notch sliders ... 1mm = the wrong damn number

the website brags on and on about Version 3 ... its the full feature set (its all there in old versions, if it doesnt work it either doesnt tell you or it crashes, fun) this has been on their website since alpha 1 release canidate 2.1 is the newest version

text animation gives you some basic xyz controls, nothing great
animation gives you some candy, basicly a over gloified sprite / splash screen editor
effects gives you even more candy to mix with, nothing more than basic tho
paint is a joke, ms paint + video clip ...
ive never gotten the editor to work right
you can import 3d models, but you cant texture or pose them

again it has its chance to become something wonderfull

as of right now its only for the truley tolerent and the extreamly computer geeky

The free program called virtuadub. Converts anything to just about anything else.

I use Canopus EDIUS Pro 4 and Stormbay, hardware that takes a load of work from the PC enabling realtime effects while editing. Rather expensive, but working reliably under Windows XP (Professional). I work in HD and 16:9. I have to use DV for editing though. My next (expensive) wish is real HD editing. My PC is up to it (3GHz, 600Gb raid disk etc.) but a dualcore processor will probably be the next thing.
I worked with Studio from version 6, Moviemaker etc. etc. I did try AVIDFree but found the free version too limited to compare with EDIUS. I admit I never seriously tried Adobe Premiere. I choose the Canopus hardware/software solution in stead.

QT Pro will not open the Fraps video, codec issues. Avid Pro will open other formats than QT, but it is not free. You would end up spending about the same as Premiere. I been using Photoshop since '92, so Premiere was an easy solution to grasp (especially at student price of around $150).

I've just been using Movie Edit Pro 11.

Best I've ever used.