Please recommend video editing software

[ibex333]

Hey guys. I'm in need of your assistance again.


I made a video with my DV Cam for a friend of mine, and now I xfered it to my PC with Windows movie maker. Now I need to cut out some parts that didnt come out good. I tried doing it in WMM, but I cant understand how it's done there. The help file sux.
It says: "Drag a clip onto a storyboard below". I dont want "clips". I want to take my WHOLE video that I saved to "My Videos" folder, and edit that. I want to have the whole video onscreen so I can just drag the slider to the part I want to cut out and get rid of that. Is there such an option in WMM?

Mabe someone can tell me a simple way to do what I need to do in WMM or some other proggy?

PS: I'd also like to know what's the best quality setting to xfer videos from the camera to PC?
There are many options, but I always choose" Best quality for playback on PC". Is there a better setting for preservindg the original quality?
I mostly make Video CDs which I then play in a DVD player. The video CD quality is good enough for me so I dont bother with DVDs.

Also, in the future, I'd like to learn how to add effects/narrations/comments to videos to make them look more professional and I'd like to know if there's a way to brighten up the dark parts in videos. I know there's a way to make a dark photo brighter, but I dont know about videos... Are there any online guides for that which you can link me to? Thanx in advance.

 

[ibex333]

bump

 

[MustISO]

VideoHelp

 

[John P]

I've tried lots of different programs and I still use Pinnacle Studio 10. It's not the most powerful, but it is dang easy to use. I have not encountered any bugs so far using version 10.5.

And getting it for FAR + shipping from Fry's a few weeks back made it a no brainer

 

[episodic]

VirtualDub is free and easy

 

[theGlove]

i use either virtual dub or sony vegas

windows movie maker outputs to wmv which i think is not very good.

 

[Rottie]

how about easy to use Adobe Preimere Element?

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Bump... I just bought my first MiniDV camcorder. It didnt come with any software.

 

[plastick]

cool edit pro

 

[gsellis]

Highlight all of the clips, right click, and Combine.

With your video card, get the absolutely latest nVidia drivers if you get Pinnacle Studio. The latest drivers are passing the compatibility test better for the Liquid engine, so should work better with the Studio app.

Vegas Movie might be your cup of tea too.

As for the "clips", many packages call it "Scene detection" and break the video into clips based on detecting a scene break (around where on/off was). Some editors allow it to be off or allow you to change how agressive scene detection is. It is on be default in Pinnacle Studio 9, but you can turn it off. Do not know about 10 or 11. My advanced editor (Avid Liquid 7.2) has it off by default as how you "log" media is different (I can go through a tape marking all the pieces I want and then batch capture it).

 

[BigPete]

Originally posted by: Rottie
how about easy to use Adobe Preimere Element?

I don't know about easy to use by I give my vote to Adobe Premiere Element as well. It's certainly not super hard to use but it does have a bit of a learning curve. My wife was able to use it to make some decent videos and I'm sure if you have the time and knowledge you too can make something fantastic with it.

I have tried Pinnacle in the past and it was just crap. The program was slow as hell, would constantly hang, etc etc.

 

[Ryland]

I use Pinnacle Studio 10.5 for my home videos.

 

[Modeps]

iMovie is simple to use and comes with a Mac.