Video editing - Recommend an app(s) to an amateur?

[The G Man]

Firstly hello everyone! This is a great site.

I'm an experience PC user but a complete video amateur who at the moment only really uses Nero Vision Express 3. I've tried things like Ulead Video studio etc (and other such apps) but these dont seem to do what I want and my machine is too slow for anything more advanced than chapters and titles anyway - even a 2GB DVD takes overnight to crunch.
However, I am soon to build a new machine, so I will have the power to be able to do what I wanted, I just dont have the video knowledge or experience, or program come to think of it:

Main effects I'm after (in order of priority)

Small area blurring- Like you see on TV - obscure vehicle licence plates, logo's on t-shirts etc.

Area focusing- again like on TV - where the rest of the picture fades/blurrs to highlight a small area "See this man in the crowd, watch his reaction ..." type thing.

Picture stabilisation- i.e. to make wobbly camcorder footage steady.

Picture in picture- i.e. the same footage from a different angle running at the same time in the corner.

I realise this isnt going to be a £$50 app by a long shot, my budget isnt fixed as I have no idea about this but it isnt infinate (whos is?),

I was thinking of the Adobe Suite or the Sony Vegas Suite.

Will either of these do what I'm after, and are there any decent guides for these. I was particularly interested in the Adobe, I've looked on the Adobe site but I wouldnt mind some more/better guides particularly or the above effects. Or is there anything else for a similar sort of price that may be better/easier to use.

Lastly, does anyone know if these would run in the new XP-64-bit windows, I currently use XP Pro SP2 with all updates. I couldnt see if it would on their sites.

My soon to be PC if it makes any difference (I couldnt find the gfx cards on the compatability charts):

Motherboard: Tyan Thunder K8WE SATA SLI
CPU : Dual AMD Opteron 252(E4) - 1MB L2 Cache CPU (940pin)
Memory : 4GB 400MHz DDR SDRAM (4 x 1GB (PC3200) ECC REG.s)
Graphics : 2 x XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra, 256MB GDDR3 PCIe 16x
Hard drives : 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB 7.2K SATA
+Hard drives : 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB 7.2K SATA
DVD Drive : Plextor PX-716A Dual Layer ± RW DVD-Recorder

Many thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry if this seems alot to ask.

 

[ArjSiv]

If you want to get serious about video editing, I'd recommend getting a G5 and Final Cut Pro. I've used Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro, the Final Cut Pro Suite is miles ahead in terms of functionality.

Macs have always lead in terms of graphical work.

 

[kini62]

Originally posted by: ArjSiv
If you want to get serious about video editing, I'd recommend getting a G5 and Final Cut Pro. I've used Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro, the Final Cut Pro Suite is miles ahead in terms of functionality.

Macs have always lead in terms of graphical work.

Not anymore. His dual Opteron will SMOKE any Mac in rendering/encoding video. And while the FCP suite is good, it's not the end all. High end Avid programs/solutions are better.

If you have that kind of money to spend on a PC then you must be fairly heavy into the video thing, so one of the 2 programs you mentioned would be very good.

Edit. Why the dual 6800s for an editing machine. They wont help. Get a Canopus, Pinnacle or some other type of real time editing card instead of 2 6800s if you are serious about editing and making videos/DVDs.

To me they are very expensive at $500 - $1000 plus, but it's your money.

I do just family video, an hour here and an hour there. I use Premiere Elements/Photoshop bundle. About $125.

 

[The G Man]

Thanks for replies, I'm afraid I'm a windows only person though. The dual opteron should cope well enough for my needs - I hope (£$).

I'm not especially heavy into video editing, just heavy into PC's and particular on what I want to achieve. I'm pretty creative so I dabbled with basic editing just because it was something that could be done on a PC and something to learn, I only really started with 'proper' editing and getting more interested when I got my own camcorder and had a real use for it. Now I always take my camera to events, shows, rallies etc and get dragged off to things just to video it for DVD for family/friends.

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a perfectionist though (wife says obsessive) and I've exhausted the likes of nero, video studio 8 etc. I would rather make a reasonable investment into a decent app or suite and be able to achieve more of what I want (as originaly posted), rather than be constantly trying different free/cheap apps. I've wasted so much time trying cheaper alternatives that now I've given up and just stick with nero for basics till I find a real app.

Being a novice though I dont want to spend that sort of money on an app and find it still doesnt do what I want. The trials are OK but without proper guides for what I'm after I'm pretty much fumbling in the dark. I dont mind the learning process after purchase, thats part of the fun, but only if I would know that I'd get pretty much what I was after at the end of it.

The 6800's by the way, are for gaming. I'm seriously into games, so far have collected over 300 games (wife is nudging me - 'obsessive').

 

[IamDavid]

I really like Cyberlink products for video editing/creating... The producer package is kick ass imho...Not sure if it does everything you listed though/..

 

[Rottie]

Adobe Premiere 6.5 is what I do with video editing.