I'd like to edit some home video I have shot on my travels. I could spend a heap of time reading about different programs on the net. However I would much rather take recommendations from you guys here that have used something you consider worthwhile.

ive been using windows movie maker

its simple, but thats all i wanted

im able to add star wipes to all of spook jnrs videos

Can you define 'edit'?

Do you want to add/overlay content or just resize/crop/re-encode/cut/merge etc?

(for the latter I just use VirtualDub .. for the former generally more commercial software is required)

last edited by parabol at 15:32:35 24/Aug/08

I've been using VirtualDub again; as parabol says its good for simple editing.

you guys are seriously missing out...

you guys are seriously missing out...

So what you're saying is that one has to first buy $2000-3000 worth of Apple hardware just to run the software you're referring to?

Sounds expensive, no thanks.

Ahh thanks for the replies guys I appreciate it. All I really wanted to do was cut up some footage I have and stick it all together to put it simply. Sorry I wasn't a little clearer about it.

I'll check them all out and see which one suits me best.

Again thanks.

if you have vista installed taipan, windows moofie maker is definately what you want then:

easy to cut stuff together and then reauthor it to whatever size/quality you want

easy to use, free

So what you're saying is that one has to first buy $2000-3000 worth of Apple hardware just to run the software you're referring to?

Nah, just pointing out that you're missing out.

If you'd moved onto the best years ago, you'd be right ;)

Yeh Movie Maker is great. I'd use it more often but it has some problems with the formats I use and I seem to get random crashes, but for really simple stuff it's good.

Final Cut Pro really is great, but you're a f***ing tool for recommending it in this situation.

Yeh, even though it is easier to use than VirtualDub...

But yeah, it wasn't like I was recommending anything, you've got a mac or you don't. If you do, it has iMovie, and you wouldn't be asking this question.

Do that many people actually have Mac's? I mean I have actually never met a Mac owner and I kind of thought they were like Big Foot. You know you hear about them but no one has any proof that they actually exist :P

Haha. I find them pretty common - everyone at my work has a mac laptop, so does my girlfriend, her sister... and they're all over the place here at my uni. Although work is a digital marketing agency, and uni is Queensland College of Art, so it makes sense (with macs being traditionally more common around 'creatives').

Market share in the US is getting pretty crazy - at some web conferences it's becoming a case of spot the three PC users in the hall. And apparently 40% of college students plan to buy Macs... Basically, you're going to meet a Mac owner soon enough ;)

Sony Vegas. Look into that if you think windows movie maker is a joke, and you're after something as powerful as your premieres and final cut pros, but much easier to use.

It is excellent for organising footage, cutting things togehter on the timeline, doing transitions for video and audio, all your standard video/audio fx (with support for plugins), and supports everything from ipod format to HD.

There is nothing you can do with avid or premiere that you can't do with vegas in half the time.

I would only use virtualdub to run your video through filters and stuff that can be done with programming, like transcoding, grading, or motion stabilising.

last edited by thermite at 11:56:22 25/Aug/08

(with macs being traditionally more common around 'creatives').

very true. useful people use useful computers, ie PCs.
/bait

I find them pretty common - everyone at my work has a mac laptop, so does my girlfriend, her sister... and they're all over the place here at my uni. Although work is a digital marketing agency, and uni is Queensland College of Art,

So trendy people buy trendy hardware. Nothing new here, certainly not warranting the description "pretty common".

It's like staying home all year, stepping out only during Mardi Gras and claiming Australia is full of homos :)

And apparently 40% of college students plan to buy Macs...M

Plan to buy hey? So not a reflection of actual purchases?

I'd love to see a survey done on what percentage of college students who were planning to buy a Mac decided not to after realising they couldn't afford one.

Now I don't really have anything against Macs, except for the part that people tend to think they're the solution to every problem.

last edited by parabol at 15:11:49 25/Aug/08

How many large scale businesses do you think use Macs?

We have ~ 4-5k laptops throughout Australia, and I can guarantee you that we wouldn't even consider Macs as a viable solution.

The fact that 40% of college students are planning to buy Macs hardly suprises me - notebooks for school are all about how fasionable they are. Mac's bread and butter.

There's trendy, solid and useful, then there's not using an os that hasn't improved significantly for close to a decade.. Sif not go for the best, especially when it isn't actually overpriced. Rofl I'm not baiting, honestly... Anyway on topic, I forgot about vegas - perfect choice here.

Windows Movie Maker will do what you need. Premiere is alright for middle ranged stuff if you can find a copy around somewhere, and is pretty easy to get a handle on.

As for the mac comments, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My argument here would be ~90% of Win fanboys have never tried OS-X, and 90% of Mac fanboys have converted from Win, so I would argue Mac fanboys are a lot less biased :).

As for larger businesses not switching to mac - of course, could you imagine dekstop IT support having to learn a *nix based OS? it would be a miracle of human achievement, Ohohoho.