video editing

Avid or Final Cut Pro! If you're not editing with either of these programs you need too! All the major blockbuster films are being edited with Avid or Final Cut. I've even heard Final Cut may become the industries premiere editing system for the future.

http://www.avid.com/

 

Hey if you are new to editing a really good fun and easy program to use is sony vegas. Its easy to learn and you can make some decent edits with it. The learning curve for final cut and avid can be hard, not to bash on them or anything.
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Herb Scales

 

Digital editing

I can only speak for the Mac platform. iMovie (pre-packaged on any new Mac) is a cheap but limited vehicle for basic non-linear editing. The current iLife which includes other programs such as iDVD and Garage Band pricing from Apple is only $79, but you get about what you pay for. You can do titles, transitions, limited audio mixing (two tracks) including importing audio files and sound effects with iMovie, music authoring with Garage Band. Extra music loop packs are an added expense. It's not a bad place to get your feet wet, but it will sometimes be glitchy and you will eventually find it very limiting.

For $199 you can get into Apple's Final Cut Express which is a limited version of Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro pushes up around $1,299 but that includes Soundtrack Pro authoring music and sound effects loops as well as Live Type for animated text and graphics and DVD Studio Pro for finalizing your product. Avid Express supports both Mac and PC and Adobe's Premiere software supports both platforms as well.

While there are a variety of others out there, if you're serious about it, don't scrimp. Dabble with the cheap ones to learn the ropes, and then you'll know if you want to take the bigger plunge. FYI- Some software suppliers offer sizable discounts for Education based customers like students and teachers with proper documentation. Check with your college book store or at http://www.apple.com/education/store, or http://www.creationengine.com Compare these with your usual sources for publicly available software.

 

If you're PC based, you'd be better off with Adobe Premiere, or Avid. Final Cut Pro is only for Macs.

 

like everyone else said Final Cut if your using mac.... for windows probably Vegas.... there both pretty expensive though just find a crack

 

Yeah Vegas does has some great Editing Effects that are easy, but professional looking!

 

Adobe Premiere for PC. I have used this for HD video I have and while it is hard to learn, it does good work. If you just are doing simple edits it will work but to learn all the tricks will take reading or learning videos.

 

One final note

Don't go for a particular software choice based on just price or ''Special Effects Features'' alone. Go for ease of interface use, and of course learning curve. Less is always more. Special Effects are like salt and pepper, use too much and it diminishes the final product. Most editors worth their salt, rarely use many special effects. It's about the proper application of sound fundamental editing. As an example, how many Power Point presentations have you been shown where the presenter feels obligated to include audience applause on the sound track? Dumb, very dumb. If the presentation were worth applause, it would have been forthcoming from a far more genuine source. That's why more and more sitcoms have opted for live audiences during taping- the only special effect used is where the editors move the audience reaction around a bit for greater effect.

As an example, A former student of mine was the producer of a series for the A&E Channel called ''Random-1.'' http://www.random1.com has mini versions of his one hour long series of 10 shows. http://www.aetv.com/random1/ At the time he was featured by Apple Computer http://www.apple.com/pro/video/chester/ as the largest Post Production studio using Final Cut Pro and G--5 work stations: You can see samples of his work at http://www.johnchester.com where he's posted his portfolio. He moved to Santa Monica about a year ago and is about to release his latest Final Cut product called ''Rock Prophesies.''

 

When I produced MIA, I edited with Adobe Premiere. It is the Final Cut comparison for windows. If you want to just mess around and make some web videos then you really dont need to spend a lot of money - you can use some of the more basic programs out there.

Since laptops are now being loaded with enough ram, they are being used by producers outside of the professional studios for convenience. The last I have researched Avid and Final Cut Pro were really the leaders in the professional realm of software video production.

When I was working with Premier, there were a couple things I didn't like about it, such as the slow motion and titleing quality, but that was about 5 years ago, so I"m sure there have been some great improvements.

But again, for just making some web vids, start off with something cheaper. Most likely it will do everything you need. If you find you want to get more serious about it, then upgrade.

 

Cyberlink has a few programs and they are relatively cheap. And they have a youtube creation wizard too.
Just remember when working on a PC to save regularly, it will save you from breaking your hand when you punch your monitor when vista or xp decide to close because it has encountered an error.

 

Interesting

So what they say about Vista is pretty much true then. . . interesting.

 

Yeah CS3 AP has some serious power and tools. You probably used AP7 or 8.

 

If anyone here has imovie for the mac, is it possible to put a clip in slow-mo? i cant find anything that does it. Maybe im just looking in the wrong spot or something. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Ya brah you can hit that little gear thing on the bottom left hand corner of the clip then you gotta hit clip adjustments then click speed and do your thing from there

 

Wooow duh. thank you.