Editing!

B

bruff

The first thing I'm going to have to confess is that I'm a newbie plain and simple. I've been looking at many other posts and just some of the terms everyone uses makes me completley loss. Anyways I'd like to learn more about anything and everything so if there's a beginners handbook to cameras, shots, angles, and editing systems I'd love to see it.

OK what I really came here to say is that I'm an aspiring director (who isn't now right?) of a movie that my friends and I have been filming. Since I didn't know much about cameras when I chose a camera to buy i basically just picked what i thought in my mind looked good. I ended up getting a Sony Digital 8, HI 8/8mm playback. We filmed some scenes and are now using just your plain old windows movie maker to edit it. I'm wondering if their is a really good but cheap editing software out there that would fit with my camera.
 
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Here Ya Go Dude!!!!!!!!1!!1!!!!!!1!11!!

If you're starting out, try Video Wave, or Magix.

There's pros and cons for everything, but this is the kind of stuff we started on and we're working our way up to the pro stuff. Check out the sites for more details and pick the one that suits you best. I'm sure others will post a few more suggestions, and they might be better, so take a while to consider, and don't get too hasty with the ol' plastic friend.

Good Luck!!

Video Wave:
http://www.roxio.com/en/products/videowave/index.jhtml

Magix:
http://site.magix.net/index.php?id=411


-Logan-
 
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Sony Movie Studio is a reasonably priced ($100) NLE that has some excellent features plus its bundled with a decent DVD creator. Plus Movie Studio is a pared down version of Sony's Pro Package Vegas. So when you are ready to throw down the big bucks you wont have to completely learn a new program.

But don't trust me, download some demos of different consumer grade NLE's to decide for yourself. I tried out a couple before deciding on Movie Studio.
 
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Adobe makes a newbie-friendly version of their more powerful Premiere Pro.

It's called Premiere Elements and costs about $100.

Nothing wrong with the vanilla MovieMaker, mind you, especially if you are just learning the basics of editing.

"The 5 C's of Cinematography" is recommended by many people as being an informative read. I have not read it myself, but I've seen that title mentioned a lot.

Don't worry about not knowing what terms and abbreviations mean, if you haven't heard of them before. You just need to ask, and there will be someone on the boards that can explain and clarify. :)

How did your scenes come out?
 
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Mikey D said:
Sony Movie Studio is a reasonably priced ($100) NLE that has some excellent features plus its bundled with a decent DVD creator. Plus Movie Studio is a pared down version of Sony's Pro Package Vegas. So when you are ready to throw down the big bucks you wont have to completely learn a new program.

But don't trust me, download some demos of different consumer grade NLE's to decide for yourself. I tried out a couple before deciding on Movie Studio.
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Most video editing software producers make a professional version ($500+) and a beginner/home user version (~$100). Note though, that sometimes the different versions from the same company are developed independently so they use completely different controls. For example, I used Pinnacle Studio (beginner version), then tried the demo of Pinnacle Liquid (pro version). The two programs were NOTHING alike, so it was like trying to learn a completely new program.

I'll side with MikeyD on this one. I use Sony Vegas Home Studio and think it is GREAT! As he mentioned, it is pared down version of the more professionally robust Sony Vegas. AND, I believe the Home Studio version uses the same program structure as the full Vegas version, just with some advanced features removed. So if you learn Home Studio...transitioning to the full Vegas should be easy. Also, Sony offers an upgrade program--so if you register your copy of Home Studio, then decide to upgrade to the full Vegas, you can get Vegas for $100 off (what you already paid for Home Studio). I know they used to offer this and I think they still do, but you may want to verify.

Regardless, most software editors are available in demo/trial versions. So download them and test them out. Then pick the one that you like!
 
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Also, Sony offers an upgrade program--so if you register your copy of Home Studio, then decide to upgrade to the full Vegas, you can get Vegas for $100 off (what you already paid for Home Studio). I know they used to offer this and I think they still do, but you may want to verify.
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I can't say how big of a selling point this was for me. I just hope the folks at sony don't change thier mind before I am ready for an upgrade.
 
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thanks everyone, i checked out the Sony video studio and i think that's what i've decided on. The scenes have came out pretty nicely so far but sometimes when I watch them there is just little things that I wish I could change. Some scenes may need to be reshot.
 
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A great prouduct for those interested in moving beyond Windows Movie Maker is Avid Free DV. It's not as powerful as some of the other options out there, but it is (as the name implies) free of charge. Very basic, very streamlined editing, but it does the trick.

Otherwise, download some trial versions of various software and find something that suits you. It seems like almost everyone offers something in the $100-300 range these days.
 
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