Help -What pro video editing package

reece

Hi,
I've got some money burning a hole in my pocket and in a moment of weakness I'm considering splashing out on a pro video editing package (PC based). Can anyone recommend one and where it can be bought. The budget is around €1500 max. I've currently got premier elements 3.
cheers,
reece

Lump

Have you already got a decent PC that will run something, or are you looking for a new PC.

John

Lump

Avid Xpress DV is €700.00-ish an Avid approved Firwire card is about €65.00 and if you need extra Hard drive space, get a coupe of 200 Gig drives for €140.00 Each, get two of them. Then upgrade you ram to a gig or a gig and a half. €120 odd euro.

So, that's about €1020 and a damn good system, Buy a second Monitor.... If you have 17 inch one then a second will cost you €130 Euro... Gives you some change.

John

reece

Cheers for that lump, will order it,
sorted on the ram / extra hard disk situation front.

Lump

Ah, check the minimum specs for the avid software etc, www.avid.com You sound like you have a decent rig.

John

reece

Hi JOhn,
some quickie questions for you :

what's the avid express dv title generator like ?

The documentation mentions that it's got over 100
effects. Do you know of hand what the effects
are like (excuse the generalisation)?

cheers,
reece

Lump

The effects are fine, some take longer to render then others. It's not like you'll use all of them anyway. There's daft effects that most people wiuld never consider using, again it depends on the Genre you want to edit. For Drama etc, Hard cuts and dissolves are the only thing you really need

There are lots of effects that'd be good for music videos etc

As far as titling goes, it seems to be a bit of a black art to develope an editing system with a fantastic titling tool. Basically it's a very very rough word processor and can do daft things, but you can do rolls, crawls, or create still titles and then put effects on them in the main avid application. Don't worrk the dodgy titles aren't only on avid, any edit system I've used have the same type of format. In the industry titles are normally done elsewhere on an aston machine, or in a graphics house etc. But for bog stand titles, with some flipping around etc Avid copes fine.

John

reece

thanks for the advice john. The main thing i'm interested in is displaying seperate clips on the screen using a matte and having the left clip zoom out into full screen, reduce back to 2 clips, the have the right zoom out to full screen. Made a attempt at it in premier elements and failed miserably

Lump

Yea you can do that. I'll be honest, If I was going to do it. And you will only be using DV I would go for Pinnacle Pro Edition Version 6. You may have to upgrade a couple of Items, but it does real time 3D effects perfectly. I use it and I love it. The only reason I suggested Avid is because it's the Inductry Standard, so if you are going to invest you're as well to get that.

Have a look at http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=2452&Langue_ID=2

John

Loobz

Lump wrote:

Have a look at http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=2452&Langue_ID=2

John

Am I missing something here? Is that a 631 mb update for a registered version of Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6? Or is that a free trial of the product?
If its just an upgrade, where could I download the free trial for Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6?

Thanks.

Lump

Ah that was just some information on it. You have to buy it. Version 6 costs £600 odd. Can be bought here.

http://shop.pinnaclesys.com/openshop/pg.exe?000000000000000900edc9ef00000004000018d8

Also there are no free trials.

John

Loobz

Lump wrote:

Ah that was just some information on it. You have to buy it. Version 6 costs £600 odd. Can be bought here.

http://shop.pinnaclesys.com/openshop/pg.exe?000000000000000900edc9ef00000004000018d8

Also there are no free trials.

John

Thanks for clearing that up.

daveathome_16

Final Cut Pro

have this prog in college on the G5

not sure if u can get it for pc tho

Lump

You can't get it for PC. And needs a beast Mac to run it well.

John

reece

does Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6 have a color corrector tool ? nothing like sticking clips together and finding they don't match color wise.
apologies for all the questions

Lump

Yes, Primary and Secondary Colour correction. You can pick a colour from a picture and adjust that colour through out a clip. It's a rather extensive colour correction.

Version 6 also handles HDV (High Def) So it'll be future proof.

John

trekkypj

Hmmm saw this post and decided to reply, as I'm currently in a similar situation...

I've been learning to use programs like Pro Tools and next year I'll be learning Final Cut Pro. I'm really interested in getting involved in making films. I'm thinking of setting up my own A/V editing workstation at home to use for my personal pet projects. I want to be able to use MiniDV cameras like the Panasonic PD250 and do proper editing using industry-supported formats and programs.

So, what do I need to learn to use, what rig would I need computer-wise, and how can it be done without bankrupting me?

I know the basics of Pro Tools and I like the interface, but if there's a better program I'd like to learn that as well. And I'd like to be able to do sophisticated special f/x as well.