Help Choosing Video Editing Software
Hi Fellow Sifters... I have a question, and the choices seem almost endless out there, so would like some help from anyone who has a clue.
I like to throw together home movies occasionally, or slideshows, or create stop motion movies with the kids, this was our last one:
Now, I've battled along with free software for too long now (first Windows Movie Maker, now Pinnacle's VideoSpin). It's getting increasingly annoying and time consuming to work within their huge limitations, so would like to step up to something with more ability.
I just did a search for cheap video editing software (For Windows... YES, I'm a Windows person, please don't tell me to get a Mac and iMovie), and found lists like this one which suggest things like Cyberlink's PowerDirector and the like.
But there really are so many suggestions, and I don't know which are good.
I would like something that doesn't have annoying restrictions like 2 audio tracks (I'm looking at you videospin, or you Windows Movie maker with your ONE audio track), and maybe features which make it easier to do stop motion animation... and has nice transitions and titles, will output to HD and so on.
I know we have creative people here, and others than those that use Avid or other top end products, do we have any that use lowly consumer grade stuff?
I like to throw together home movies occasionally, or slideshows, or create stop motion movies with the kids, this was our last one:
Now, I've battled along with free software for too long now (first Windows Movie Maker, now Pinnacle's VideoSpin). It's getting increasingly annoying and time consuming to work within their huge limitations, so would like to step up to something with more ability.
I just did a search for cheap video editing software (For Windows... YES, I'm a Windows person, please don't tell me to get a Mac and iMovie), and found lists like this one which suggest things like Cyberlink's PowerDirector and the like.
But there really are so many suggestions, and I don't know which are good.
I would like something that doesn't have annoying restrictions like 2 audio tracks (I'm looking at you videospin, or you Windows Movie maker with your ONE audio track), and maybe features which make it easier to do stop motion animation... and has nice transitions and titles, will output to HD and so on.
I know we have creative people here, and others than those that use Avid or other top end products, do we have any that use lowly consumer grade stuff?
13 Comments
Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)
[ahem] Get a Mac and iMovie.
Lightworks?
>> ^dag:
[ahem] Get a Mac and iMovie.
Shuddup Dag
>> ^thegrimsleeper:
Lightworks?
Holy crap! How have I not found this before? Downloading right now to see if it's as cool as it looks.
Thanks
[edit, remove my previous waffle]
So, it didn't initially click... this is actually Lightworks... THE Lightworks. This will probably take some getting used to, but being able to use an editing tool used on so many films is pretty bloody awesome.
Thanks again for the link. I just imported the pictures from one of our earlier animations and it automatically created clips based on scene detection using those pictures as frames. Very, very cool.
I've noticed a lot of windows users using something called 'Unregistered Hypercam 2'.
>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
I've noticed a lot of windows users using something called 'Unregistered Hypercam 2'.
Yes, that's a screen capture program... and it's free, but entirely not useful for me
I have to say that after playing with it for a while, and watching some videos on Lightworks... this is going to take some getting used to.
^That was supposed to be a joke.
Final Cut Pro - check it out
Not Final Cut X (I have no opinion on the new version)
>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
^That was supposed to be a joke.
Damnit... stupid interwebs and their lack of subtlety detection
I've decided that as awesome as Lightworks is, it's a little too heavyweight and time consuming to use for just my home projects.
I'm leaning towards something like PowerDirector or Premiere Elements. Things like that give me the ease of dragging and dropping photos/videos on, and yet the flexibility to control everything I want... and have all the fun bells and whistles like titles and being able to output to a DVD/BluRay with menus etc.
*quality
Awarding spoco2 with one star point for this contribution to VideoSift - declared quality by UsesProzac.
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