Video Editing Software

I'm new to shooting video and am using my Canon 5DMII and Mark IV. I tried Camtasia but the software would not recognize my Quicktime videos. I researched a bit and it seems I have to convert them, but the videos aren't smooth. Does anyone have recommendations for a video editor so that I can put together video and still shot shows with audio?

Thanks!

Hi Carolyn,

Welcome to the world of video editing. I was in your boat about a year ago, and I still find what should be simple things to be confusing at times. I'm not familiar with Camtasia, but I've tried Adobe Premiere Elements, Sony Vegas Platinum, and now I'm using the Adobe Production Suite, which is excellent, but expensive.

Part of the answer lies in what OS you are running. If you're using a MAC, then you should be able to use iMovie or Final Cut Express (or Pro) with the files straight from the camera - they're Apple Quicktime files, so the MAC knows what to do with them. If you're on a PC like I am, things are a little trickier. The new CS5 version of Adobe Production Suite (you can also buy Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 standalone) can handle the files right out of Canon cameras regardless of OS. If you're looking for a less expensive solution, I would try Sony Vegas Platinum or Adobe Premiere Elements (both around $100.) However, these programs act funky with the Quicktime files from DSLR's, so you need to go through a transcoding process first, which means you need to convert those .mov files to something more windows friendly, like a .avi file. The best solution for this is to buy Cineform's Neoscene (another $100), which does a great job of transcoding to .avi files without losing much, if any quality. Here's a link to a post by Eugenia Loli-Queru (who seems to be an expert at this stuff) explaining how to use Neoscene with Vegas: http://eugenia.queru.com/2010/03/14/sta ... ony-vegas/.

I did the Neoscene/Vegas thing for several months, and it works well. I just got sick of transcoding and the extra hard drive space the converted files take up. But Vegas Platinum did just about everything I needed. You can see two projects I did using that combination here: http://vimeo.com/14776393 and http://vimeo.com/14450101.

About as confusing as copyright law, huh?

Good luck!

Carolyn, I have been using Adobe Premire Pro. A bit daunting to learn at first, but now it seems pretty straight forward. For smooth playback, having a fast computer also helps - I have a SSD drive and can take advantage of Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine and can get smooth play back. Jerry makes a good suggestion, trans coding your files to Cineform Avi can really help if you don't have the hardware.

I am still using Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate Collection. No transcoding required. Easier to learn than Adobe premiere, for me. You do have to make sure your computer is up to the minimum requirements!

Jerry - loved your videos. I've got a lot to learn about this! Thanks for the helpful suggestions!

Thanks Carolyn. Good luck and have fun!

I'm trying to download the trial version of Premiere Pro without luck. I've tried all of the suggestions that Adobe gives on its website, and I've had two different Adobe Customer Service reps try it via remote access.

Did any of you have problems? ARGGHH!!!

After trying to install it, I get a message that it didn't install correctly.

After being unable to install the trial version of Premiere Pro, I went with Eleanor's recommendation of Pinnacle Studio 15 Ultimate Collection (the new version). I had one week to get a show ready for a dinner party with friends. While I figured out some things at the last minute that I wish I had known earlier (and which would have saved me hours of work trying to synch the music with the images), I'm extremely pleased with the program!

along these lines I want to shoot video on a safari we will be taking in July. I bought a Canon M300 camcorder and have access to Premiere Pro can anyone recommend a book that can get me up to speed on PP ?

Lou

I just received Adobe PP Cs5 from Amazon classroom in a book

"The offical training workbook from adobe systems"

I took a quick look and like it..

It comes with a cd

$59.99 on the book but got iy for $34 shipping included

Final Cut, Premiere, and Avid MC seem to be the most popular of these programs.

I'm considering purchasing Premiere Elements, as Final Cut is Mac only. I want to switch to Mac, but for cost and environmental reasons, I'm considering sticking with my 2008 Dell M1330 laptop until it dies for real. Premiere CS5 is too expensive for me to justify when I know I'm switching to Mac once this computer dies. Once I switch to Mac, I'll probably just purchase the Adobe Master Suite and be up to date on everything.

Hi Carolyn,

There are a number of good video editors out there as have been mentioned. However, when adding stills and videos together in a show, along with audio and having ease of use and versatility, I would recommend you have a good long look at PicturesToExe version 7 which is now in beta but very usable as is.

PTE offers more useful tools and easy to use tools for combining a show than anything else I have used including Adobe Premier Pro, Sony Vegas and Cyberlink's Power Director. PTE is not a video editor, that is you can only do rudimentary editing such as determining the start and end times of your video, fade-in, fade out, muting, etc., but you have tremendous flexibility in the "display" of the video. You can add borders, use masking to combine multiple videos, play multiple videos simultaneously on the same screen with complete pan, zoom, rotate, 3D transforms, etc. You can easily use videos as a background for still slides or vice versa - the list of possibilities is amazing.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to go to the wnsoft forum and see some of the demo shows using video. Here's a link if you are interested in learning about a really great tool for combining video and stills to create both executable and video output.

http://www.wnsoft.com (just click on the forums link)

Best regards,

Lin

I've been trying demos of all the above mentioned software except Premiere PRO and have been having problems with them working slowly or inconsistently and crashes or the video quality after processing was not good. I have a high-end laptop with an i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro graphics card. I finally gave up on them and went to Grass Valley Neo 3.0 software, it really flies and the Video quality looks exactly like it came out of the Camera. They have a Pro version also. I didn't try Premiere Pro because I'm trying to keep the software affordable.

I started trying the software demo of Avid Studio, and it seems to be working well. It crashes when I try the import media button, but if I use the file import menu it works fine. It works really smooth and is easier to work with than the others I have tried. Once all my demos are over, I'll have to decide.

It seems to take the 5DmkII 1080p files natively as well as the Grass Valley software.