Forest Gump needs help video editing

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I’m a scriptwriter who is trying to learn film/video editing to serve my writing. I may be writing and producing online content but I have no training or experience shooting or editing film/video.

I will probably just be using a $200-300 camcorder at least until I can afford more.

I’m using XP Pro and I’m interested in free video editing software so I can become conversant in video editing jargon and techniques.

I was hoping there was a video editing software which was the equivalent of Audacity which is both free, very easy to use and learn and has a very helpful support forum.

Reading many articles online I did discover VideoPad Video Editor. I was curious if any others on the list have used this?

I also read a couple of articles about lightworks and Avedimux video editing software and I even joined their forums but I never received any responses posts to my questions about getting started with editing software.

I think Im too much of a newbie for those forums! 🙂

There’s a real learning curve to lightworks and I’m not the best at reading manuals then using software. I’m more visually oriented in learning.

I’m not sure where to turn for help but I thought this forum might have some insight.

Thank you very much for your help.

[Anonymous]

Free software is often worth every penny 😉 I would recommend spending a bit for something with an upgrade path, industry support and professional capabilities. Vegas, and Premiere Elements comes to mind. The biggest advantage is that you’ll be able to ‘graduate’ to the full professional versions should you want to, and get access to robust user forums.

You should be warned that a robust computer (lots of RAM, lots of disk space and a fast CPU) will make your life much easier.

All software will have a learning curve, but if you stick to the ‘big brands’ you shouldn’t have to go through the pain when you upgrade.

[barnacle]

And there are lots and lots of tutorial videos on YouTube. Just enter what you want to learn

how to do in the search box and voila. For example, once you have your software (I’m using

Adobe Premiere Elements 8 as an example), enter “adobe premiere elements transitions”

in the search box. Many videos will show up with that theme.

[Anonymous]

Hi Orem,

They sound like good programs as I’ve been reading about them.

I’m just short on budget but long on enthusiasm in learning video editing software.

I’m wondering if I can start with something free (and fairly easy to learn like Audacity) and then graduate to Vegas, and Premiere Elements?

OT – is there a way to activate a setting on this list to have e-mail notifications when someone has responded to this thread?

I didn’t see that in Settings.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

My vote is to ditch the Starbucks for a month and pony up for the good software. With good software (as with good hardware) you “buy and cry” once. With bad software, you’ll be crying more often. That being said, I have no experience with free edit software and if you found something that suits your needs, it will at least get your feet wet in video editing.

[Bruce]

I have to agree with the above posters. Video editing is a very complicated software task and the motivation to invest the required work to develop the functional equivalent of the entry level versions of the big name products is minimal.

I do however have another suggestion. If there is a community college with a video production program you can take classes that give you access to professional software you can use on your own projects as well as school projects. Having an instructor you can go to with problems is a great help. Another big benefit is the academic discount program. I bought the full Adobe CS5 suite for $845. The retail for that was about $2600. You can also get discounts on entry level products.

[billmecca]

YOu can pick up Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 11 on amazon for about $30 10 tracks each of video and audio, and it comes with DVD Architect as well. And unlike it’s big brother Vegas Pro 11, it will run on XP (Pro11 is Win7 only) sure you don’t have some of the bells and whistles the Pro version has, but for $30???? whaddya want? a RRRRRRuber biscuit? 😉

and for novices Vegas seems easy to understand.

[artsmith]

Charles,

I don’t think you could possibly do better, in your situation, than Magix Movie Edit Pro MX Plus,currently available from US sources for under $40 as a download, (new version pending sometime in the future). All editing software is a bit complex, for a start, but this has a moderate learning-curve and is both intuitive and easy to pick up. I’ve used this software in various versions since Video Pro-X 10 andin my view, it has consistently out-performed software of much higher prices. In fact, I have just installed the current Video Pro-X 4 in ‘The Beast’, my new Video-only computer. Now, I’m off for a test-drive.

Movie Edit Pro MX, basically, is a somewhat simplified version stripped of the options which might becalled for by a professional user. Unless you want input for nine camcorders, for example, or provision for exotic codecs for rendering, MEP will serve most people very well, and, at the current price, you won’t get anything within a bull’s roar of it at the price. Believe me, I’ve looked.

Ian Smith

Dunedin New Zealand.

[billmecca]

Ian’s right, Magix sofware is great, I use Video Pro x 2.5, and just picked up the Vegas Movie studio HD for another option. But Magix software is jam packed with features. I did a review of it on my Video QuickTips show… at my website.

[Author]

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