Help with OpenShot

[tl;dr OpenShot keeps shutting down on me. Need alternate software recommendation. Can I open an OpenShot project in other editors? Or do I have to start over from scratch?

Hello all. I'm new here, and new to video editing. I recently got back from a motorcycle trip to remote northern Quebec. I filmed using a GoPro Hero 5 Black in 1080p. I downloaded OpenShot and watched all the tutorials and got started. Why OpenShot? Because it seemed to have good reviews, it was simple, and the tutorials on YouTube made learning it very easy...

However, it's been a disaster ever since. I very quickly realized that my aging laptop wasn't up to the task of video editing. I knew I needed a new one anyhow, so I upgraded to a $500 laptop that the guy at the store recommended for my use, and found that to be quite sluggish as well. I read up a bit on the type of computer I would need, then I returned it and bought a Dell budget gaming laptop with the following specs:
Windows 10 64 bit
Intel Core I7+ 8750H 8th gen 6 core processor
24 GB total memory (8 GB DDR4 and 16 GB optane)
NVIDIA GeFOrce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB graphics card
1TB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive

It was still slightly laggy, but not bad. I was able to start editing with ease. However, OpenShot keeps freezing on me, and often closing. I had to save my work VERY frequently. Now, after about 15 minutes of semi-finished video (finished product should be about 70-80 minutes), an error message pops up that says the program stopped working and must close. It always happened at the same spot, at a transition from one video to the next. I removed the transition, and it played past it, but then did the same thing at the next transition.

At this point, I suspect that the video editing software is to blame. I did some more Google research, and it appears that these types of problems are all too common with this program. I'm beyond frustrated, as I've spent a LOT of time getting it to the point it is now.

I am ready to give up on OpenShot, unless someone knows of an easy fix to this issue. I'm a casual video editor at best. I will likely do one of these types of projects once every year or two. Does anyone have any good recommendations on free/inexpensive video editors? I need to be able to trim videos, add pictures, transitions, titles to some video segments/pictures, add music and voice-over tracks, and that's really about it. I will never use effects, advanced sound and color editing, etc.

Can I open my OpenShot project on other video editing software? Or do I have to start over from scratch?

Thank you all for your help!
 
Try Resolve, it should run fine on your specs. Open Shot is open source, which isn't bad in itself, but given how unpopular it is, it would make sense that it's not completely optimized. Resolve shows a lot of promise. There's also Avid MC First, but it's more geared toward making movies than videos.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! I spent my day off today reading reviews on different video editing software, and eventually settled on Power Director 16 Ultra. At only $60, it didn't break the bank.

Wow, did I make a mistake not buying this right from the start. It's SOOOO much faster, smoother, no lag, better transitions, and more control... And I've only been working with it for about an hour, and most of that time was figuring out how to use it. If I had just bought this right when I was starting the project instead of cheaping out on free software, I know I'd be pretty far into my project, instead of just starting out again. And at $59, it didn't break the bank either. I didn't realize just how bad OpenShot was until I started using this and found that I was doing a better project in a fraction of the time.

Oh well, live and learn.

First of all, welcome aboard!

Unfortunately, I can't help you with OpenShot (if I could, I would) but this thread may be helpful:

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=65156

Thank you! And thanks for the link.

Try Resolve, it should run fine on your specs. Open Shot is open source, which isn't bad in itself, but given how unpopular it is, it would make sense that it's not completely optimized. Resolve shows a lot of promise. There's also Avid MC First, but it's more geared toward making movies than videos.

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually already bought the other program before you posted here.
 
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Okay, I'm VERY pleased with this new software. This is going to work for me. I was actually getting disillusioned with this project on OpenShot because it was so miserable to work with. Now I'm actually having fun with it!

I'll make sure to post my video here once it's done. I'm sure it'll be a few more weeks, as I don't have a ton of time to work on it.

In the meantime, if anyone is interested in the content, here is a ride report from an adventure riding website that I wrote up. I will basically be turning this into a movie, with videos and pictures.

https://advrider.com/index.php?thre...n-north-america-the-trans-taiga-road.1328281/
 
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