Im thinking of shooting some video with a D7000 that I recently added to my line up but I seem to have a problem -- I know NOTHING about editing video. So before I start I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me regarding software. What are my options?
Free? - Is there any free trial software out there that will allow for simple "editing" and by this I mean, allowing me to paste clips together and add audio tracks or whatnot.
Low Cost - In the event free is not available Im willing to spend less than a hundred bucks but would rather a "trial" as Im not sure Ill like it or become very interested.
Top notch - Say I get super into it after playing around a bit... What is the Bar none best video editing software out there? and by best I mean fastest processing and most "features"
It might be worth mentioning that my D7000 came with a "Red Giant / B&H Bundle" which includes "Magic Bullet Quicklooks, Magic Bullet Grinder, Magic Bullet Photolooks and Knoll light Factory" but from what Ive been able to see via google those are like plug ins for photoshop . . . ?
I would appreciate any help in getting me going in the right direction.
If you want a simple-to-use, basic video editor that's free, you should take a look at Virtual Dub (http://virtualdub.org/). While it won't do anything fancy, it does support cropping, resizing, adjust levels, hue/saturation, sharpening, etc. as well as basic editing (cutting, pasting). There are a number of third-party filters available for it that extend its features.
BobCollette wrote:
If you want a simple-to-use, basic video editor that's free, you should take a look at Virtual Dub (http://virtualdub.org/). While it won't do anything fancy, it does support cropping, resizing, adjust levels, hue/saturation, sharpening, etc. as well as basic editing (cutting, pasting). There are a number of third-party filters available for it that extend its features.
Great... this sounds like a good place to start. I really just want to see if I even take to the whole video thing.
Brit-007 wrote:
If you want to go cheaper then there is Adobe Premiere Elements. That is a good basic option. Another great program is Pinnacle Studio.
Thanks for the suggestion... Im going to try free fist, then Premier Elements if I find it at all fun.
If you use Adobe, you'd better use PC since Adobe's Mercury Engine playback technology is only available on PC thanks to Apple's resistance. Adobe's CS6 added color-grading component SpeedGrade, which is a quite nice program. On the other hand, Blackmagic Design's Davici Resolve is the industry standard for color-grading work. They have a personal version for free on their site. You may need to use Pr and Ae since Pr is similar to what Lr does, and Ae to Ps. Also, you may need to use Au for sound effects.
WAYCOOL wrote:
Another free option would be "Windows Live Essentials: Movie Maker"
haha...Everyone always warns you to search the forums before asking a question so as to keep you from wasting time asking one that has been answered countless times. Maybe I should have looked on my OWN PC before posting this thread as I just realized that I already have Movie Maker pre-installed on my PC.
Over the years I've helped lots of people learn to use 'simple' video editing tools, but we use Premiere Pro CS6 in house for our editing. There are others, of course, but we found that Premiere Pro CS6 has been the most productive by far.
It costs money.
Most things worth having cost money.
If it's 'free' then what's it worth?
Windows Movie Maker works for basic stuff. If that's all you want then you're good to go.
Premiere Elements works for the next level up.
Sony Vegas is a good contender.
Avid is a consideration for Pros, but not needed for most people - and complicated to learn.
On a Mac (for those looking who are on a Mac):
iMovie - good basic tools - lots of 'gotchas'.
FCP-X Great tool (nay, awesome tool) if it fits the type of shooting you do and editing style you choose. Not perfect for al types of edit though.
I ve just started on video myself use premier elements 9
Easy to use , just burned my first blue ray
Only comment I would make is that you don't seem to be able to do curves or levels ajustments on a sequence maybe you can but I've not figured how to yet
LCPete wrote:
I ve just started on video myself use premier elements 9
Easy to use , just burned my first blue ray
Only comment I would make is that you don't seem to be able to do curves or levels ajustments on a sequence maybe you can but I've not figured how to yet
Since I have Premiere Pro and not Elements I can't be sure, but check under the video effects settings. In premiere pro it's an 'effect', but it may not be included in Elements.
I have used Sony Vegas Pro for about 6 years now. I do less than a handful of projects a year, so I did not want to go with Premiere Pro. Vegas Pro offered a great package for the price, and was a lot faster on standard PCs than the premium editing packages at that time. Not sure if that is much of an issue nowadays. Also Vegas allows you to edit almost any media format natively --- I think Premiere also allows that, but back when I started with Vegas, a lot of packages required the media to be converted to be edited. I think Vegas is great for a hobbyist --- but it is a bit of a niche product. The learning curves are steep on these editors, so think carefully before embarking down a certain path. It is not trivial to switch to a different editing package.
If you want some simple editing, I don't think that you need some complex editors like Premiere Pro, which are usually expensive. I want to suggest one video editor for windows 10 which is simple to use and free, TunesKit AceMovi.
julieee wrote:
If you want some simple editing, I don't think that you need some complex editors like Premiere Pro, which are usually expensive. I want to suggest one video editor for windows 10 which is simple to use and free, TunesKit AceMovi.
julieee! That's a 9 year old thread...ok, 8 1/2 yo...how did you even find it?
Has no one mentioned DaVinci Resolve. Comes in a free and a pay version and the free version is more than enough for most, unless you're gonna need to process raw video files. Absolutely the best color correction (grading) tools in the business and now also comes with pro level audio tools as well.
Peter Figen wrote:
Has no one mentioned DaVinci Resolve. Comes in a free and a pay version and the free version is more than enough for most, unless you're gonna need to process raw video files. Absolutely the best color correction (grading) tools in the business and now also comes with pro level audio tools as well.
Absolutely second that! Resolve is not too difficult to learn, and yet extremely powerful. And it's free.
