MOVIEMAKER, is this program any Good? « Videomaker Community Forums

oceanblue
Member

I have found out recently my computer is loaded with the MOVIEMAKER editing program, what I would like to know is does this program hold up for editing video from a MINI DV Camcorder? and would there be any quality loss by editing on this beginner program.

Posted 4 years ago #
Ryan3078
Member

The program is fine if you are starting out with editing. You can import your video from the miniDV camcorder, and there is no quality loss. That depends on the settings you use for import quality. Go for it!

Posted 4 years ago #
matjusm
Member

It is an excellent program to start out with but the more you get into editing, the more you see how you can do hardly anything with Movie Maker. If youÃ‚Â´re truly interested, go for something a bit more professional like Sony Vegas.

Posted 4 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

A good editing program is one that does what you want it to do. It's that simple.

Movie maker isn't very powerful, but it does allow you to cut, fade, and add a soundtrack to your video if need be. For 75% of home users, that's most of what you'll ever need.

If you want to do more advanced stuff, like syncing and editing multiple videos on a timeline, using multiple bins/timelines, chroma/luma keying, etc, you'll need more than what Movie Maker has to offer. But honestly, I could probably do a good deal of what I do professionally on that program and find a way to make it work. It would just take more time.

As far as quality loss, when you're editing DV footage, the biggest determination of quality is the camera itself. The process of getting footage from the camera onto the PC is essentially the same in every program, from the free Movie Maker, to the vastly more expensive solutions like Premiere Pro 2. If you've got a crappy camcorder, you'll have crappy footage. If your camera is decent, ideally 3 chip (either 3CCD or 3CMOS), then you're really in business.

Posted 4 years ago #
oceanblue
Member

Any particular version of Sony Vegas, I see something called MOVIE STUDIO which seems very inexpensive, plus some others for approx $600.00

Posted 4 years ago #
matjusm
Member

Movie Studio is the more consumer version of Vegas while just Vegas is the pro one. Right now I'm personally on Vegas 7 but this weekend they'll release version 8 so I'll probably get that.

Posted 4 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

matjusm,

I've got to ask, because you probably know the answer to this: What advantage is there to being on the bleeding edge of video editing software? Seriously, I'm still using Vegas 6 and Premiere Pro 2.0, and I've got to tell you, for what I use them for, they're just fine.

Now, I know Vegas still had a long way to go from version 6.0 to get to the same sort of functionality as Premiere Pro, but what's the huge improvement between 7 and 8 that beseeches you to go out and drop a couple hundred on an upgrade?

Admittedly, I'm the frugal sort, and I'd rather spend my money on cameras and hardware than software. But many out there, yourself included, want to have the latest and greates, and I really just want to know, what makes it so great? :-)

Peace!

Jim

PS-Oceanblue, if you tell us what you're going to do with video editing, we can help you make a good decision in editing software. For a beginner, or even someone with experience but won't take advantage of the bells and whistles, spending $600+ on editing software doesn't make sense to me. Allocate that money towards a nice camcorder fund, and once you get a great camera and learn how to use it well, then get the better software. After all, the worlds best editing software with the world's worst camera is still going to produce the world's worst quality videos. But like I said earlier, I can make a video with my pro camcorders using the free software, and you won't be able to tell the difference between that video and one I put together in my $1,200 software program.

Posted 4 years ago #
oceanblue
Member

Jim,
Im glad to hear that the quality is not critical to the price! More functions seem to be the option on the high end software. Another problem I may be facing, is not having a Pentium Processer on my computer, I notice system Requirements on Sony Vegas don't seem to require it, Is that correct? Or do I absolutely need to upgrade my computer now!

Posted 4 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

Hang on a sec, and let's back up a bit. How fast is your processor? If you don't have that answer, how old is your PC? Any PC made in the last few years should be powerful enough to run almost any editing program (though some programs will trudge through like molasses on a cold winters day.) The bigger consideration is how much RAM memory do you have? When you render a finished video, your computer uses the RAM to store all the data while it's being written to the hard drive. That means you'll want as much as you can get. Again, most pre-built computers running XP will have enough to run a simpler program.

Like I said, if you're going to funnel your money somewhere, funnel it into your dream camera. Once that's done, then you can focus on computer enhancements/software.

Posted 4 years ago #
matjusm
Member

On a Roll Wrote:
matjusm,

I've got to ask, because you probably know the answer to this: What advantage is there to being on the bleeding edge of video editing software? Seriously, I'm still using Vegas 6 and Premiere Pro 2.0, and I've got to tell you, for what I use them for, they're just fine.

Well I'm not an expert but I don't think it matters so much. Unless of course you're editing HD or something else which is developing all the time, most of the updates will probably have little meaning to you. As for programs in general, I don't think it really matters what you use. Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, Final Cut Pro and Avid'd product line, well they all offer the same results. There really isn't much that you can do with one program and can't with another. Just use what you're comfortable with.
And speaking of comfort, I'm simply amazed by how Avid is the industry leader. I've tried both Xpress Pro and Liquid and I must say that both are extremely un-user friendly when compared to Sony Vegas.

Posted 4 years ago #
oceanblue
Member

Jim, in answer to your question my computer is only a few years old, it has 768 MB of Ram Memory with a CPU speed of 2486 MHZ, Video Memory 64 MB ....John

Posted 4 years ago #