Video Editing Software - Advice Pls

Inquitus

I have been messing aorund with Various editing software and wanted some advice on what is best. I am running Vista incidentally.

Sony Vegas 7.0e
Adobe Premiere 2.0
Adobe Premiere CS3

Uses:
1. Mini DV Family Movie Editing
2. Making Fraps Movies of Warcraft

Sony vegas: Ok I have tried Vegas, found it to my liking, but it doesn't seem too keen on Vista and is not stable enough for me

Adobe Premiere 2.0: Also tried Adobe Premiere 2.0 and also found it to be a relatively easy to use and decent bit of software. The fact that you can't render sound output to MP3 drives me crazy however, esp as I like to output DivX / Xvid to play on our DVD player

Adobe Premiere CS3 (free Preview): Just downloaded it and no comments yet as not tried it.

Any advice on any of these or any other programs I might try.

I like to put together a fairly professional output.

Inqui

extopia

Those are expensive options for what you want to do. Why not just use Windows Movie Maker?

Inquitus

Windows Movie Maker is too limited, and lets just say price is not an issue for which software I use.

lodgepole

Pinncacle Studio is a solid piece of kit, more than powerful enough for your needs and you can get it legally with full support for between seventy and one hundred and thirty quid depending on which edition you need.

Inquitus

Tnx, shame they don't offer a trial, I will trial it myself and if it's to my liking purchase a copy.

copacetic

Inquitus wrote:

Windows Movie Maker is too limited, and lets just say price is not an issue for which software I use.

then you need to be looking at final cut pro imo, or one of the avid solutions like media composer if money really isn't an issue or something from the xpress family if it is..

lodgepole

copacetic wrote:

then you need to be looking at final cut pro imo, or one of the avid solutions like media composer if money really isn't an issue or something from the xpress family if it is..

Regardless of money, FCP or Media Composer are far too advanced for his needs... Particularly since he's obviously PC based and moving to FCP would include the price of a Mac.

One option from Avid though, is Avid Free DV. It's a feature limited version of their DVXpress software. It's completely free, but i'd still recomend Pinnacale Studio above it for your needs, it's a complete suite, more functional and definitely more user friendly for a non-professional.

Dr. Seuss

Adobe Premiere 2.0

PM me.

extopia

Inquitus wrote:

Windows Movie Maker is too limited, and lets just say price is not an issue for which software I use.

Wow - that's quite a good position to be in, assuming all your software is legal. :eek:

I don't think you can do better than Vegas, which you seem to like already?

rogue-entity

Well students can get Adobe CS3 Production Premium, the windows version includes among other things:
Premier CS3
After Effects CS3
Photoshop CS3 Extended
Flash CS3
Ultra CS3
and some other stuff as well, for just €307 inc Tax and shipping The mac version has the same software, except for Ultra CS3 which is not included (its windows-only for the moment). Adobe Master Edition, which has every software package they provide for €499 for students.

So, if you are looking to get into serious stuff, and money really is no problem (or you are a student), you can get some pretty cool professional-grade software bundled for less then the seperate packages would set you back.

Still, I havent used any of these yet, so I wouldnt know how good they are, but I am looking to buy Production Premium.

okee

I'd never heard of it before but
MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 11 PLUS
is quite a good package, it's like a mid range
editor but with the price tag of a low end editor
I've seen nothing but good reviews about it.

okee

extopia

How about Avid Free DV? Pretty good for the price (i.e. free).

jennyrusks

Premiere Pro is excellent. I don't have CS3, I have 1.5 which I think is about 3 or 4 years old. There is a huge amount you can do with this program, nearly too much for when you're just getting started but I can certainly recommend it.

Another alternative is Premiere Elements, again made by Adobe but doesn't have as many features as Pro. However, I think it might be easier to get started with this one and a little less hair-pulling trying to get your head around it.

All the best,
Jennifer