Picking a Editor – Adobe or not?

[siscom]

Hi there

I am having some serious difficulty deciding which editing software to get. I recently bought a Panasonic HDC-HS300 camcorder. Although I am new to the video-making world, I am a fast learner and as such would like to purchase a rather powerful editor from the outset instead of upgrading later…

I was initially thinking of getting Adobe Premier CS4, but now I am confused as to whether it will run on my computer! Perhaps it would just be excruciatingly slow…

I would appreciate any advice as to which editing software to get, given my computer specifications (I cannot (currently) afford to buy a new computer):

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz
Memory: 6GB 800MHz RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB
HDD: More than enough space, with a 7200RPM 1TB HDD dedicated to video editing
OS: Windows 7 64-bit edition

Thank you ever so much!

[Cville]

A good place to start is with the November Issue of Videomaker Magazine with the article “Editing Softwarre Buyer’s Guide” I beleive you can access that article on the main page of this website.

One computer suggestion, you have plenty of disk space but it is preferable to have the video you are editing on a second drive and not the main drive for running the editing software.

[chuckengels]

I would recommend starting with Premiere Elements, version 7 preferably.
Second choice would be Vegas Movie Studio, you can always go to Vegas Pro later.

If you find a need to go to the pro versions you will only have spent about $70 and gotten a lot of experience that will make the move a lot easier.

Download the trials and see what works for you 😉

[siscom]

“have the video you are editing on a second drive and not the main drive” – thanks, I’ll remember that…

Regarding Elements 7 – It’s a bit more expensive in South Africa (will be about $180),but I’ll get the trial and check it out, thanks! Just wondering why you said ‘version 7 preferably.’ Is version 8 very resource intensive? Then again, I don’t see much difference with regards to their functionality, and both support AVCHD…so might as well get 7 since it’s probably cheaper!

Thanks again!

[XTR-91]

At the point you are now, I probably wouldn’t even consider an upgrade. I was evenimpressed by the fact that you had a 1 TB internal hardrive and 6 GB of RAM. 2.66 GHz for editing isn’t a bad place to start either. I’m editing with a 1.66 GHz dual core without any lag that becomes unbearable.

[Anonymous]

siscom,

I’d recommend Sony Vegas Pro 9.0. I’ve been very pleased with Vegas Pro. It’s quite versitile, not only for video, but audio as well. It’s a complete package, with many plug-ins, and the ability to burn Blu-Ray (assuming you have a Blu-Ray burner).

Since you have a 64-bit OS, you can install the 64-bit version of Vegas Pro, and access all of your 6 GB memory.

Ken

[chuckengels]

I still recommend the consumer versions to start with. Most people find that they are more than enough to handle everything they need.

I have Premiere Pro and still use Premiere Elements 80% of the time, it is more than enough for standard projects. I use is for personal and professional work.

Version 7 is stable and has plenty of features. I use version 3 mostly myself. Version 8 is kind of in question because it just came out and people are having issues with it. until the issues are resolved or a solution is found, I would go with the version that has proven to work well.

[TheWildlifeStudio]

I have a similarly specce’d PC, with dual core 2.5Ghz processor, 4gb ram (3.25 recognised) and a 1tb sata HD, with 512mb graphics.I’m also using a Panasonic camera producing AVCHD files.

I’ve found that ofall of the above mentioned software solutions, CS4 has the best workflow and speed (Although I’m possibly a little biased due to arriving from Photoshop) I’ve tried Pinnacle, Vegas and Elements trials, but found PPro does the best job in the easiest way for me.

HIH

[composite1]

Siscom,

Your system is more than adequate to run CS4 or Vegas for that matter. If you want to know more specific info go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/dvhdwrdb.html to see whether your specific hardware will support it. I’m not sure about Win7, but since it’s a ‘stripped down’ Vista it should work just fine. Just be aware you’ll have a funky time dealing with Adobe’s ‘FlexNet’ licensing and the User Account Controls in Win. Ultimately, you’ll just have to shut off UAC to have any peace.

The consumer versions of Adobe and Sony products are suitable if you don’t plan on doing any ‘heavy lifting’ with your editing projects. Simple to learn, simple controls, less expensive but much less powerful tools available.

[dlsweb]

Why is it suggested above to purchase Elements 7 rather than Elements 8?

[siscom]

Thanks so much to everyone!

I am very keen on CS4, but I found out now it’s going to be VERY expensive. A store in South Africa was selling it for R12 000 (which is about $1600) so I checked Adobe’s store, but they will charge me $1029 ex tax for the download version – the boxed one has an import tax of about 50%! So won’t be saving much by buying there…the problem with the download version is that it feels rather strange paying THAT much for something which you’ll only ever have digitally…plus I pay $10 per GB I download…

I mighttry and get a friend of mine who lives over in the UK to bring me a copy when he visits in December – this would cost me about R9600 (about $1250)…but that is still very very expensive…more than my Camera or computer! Otherwise I should just get elements, which only costs 1/10th of CS4 and is probably much less powerful, but then I’m not completely broke…

Thanks again!

[chuckengels]

In response to the question “Why is it suggested above to purchase Elements 7 rather than Elements 8?”

Version 7 is stable and has plenty of features. I use version 3 mostly
myself. Version 8 is kind of in question because it just came out and
people are having issues with it. until the issues are resolved or a
solution is found, I would go with the version that has proven to work
well.

Download the free trial of Premiere Elements, Magic Movie Edit Pro, or Vegas Movie Studio.

At least get a head start, the trials are usually good for at least 30 days. You won’t know what you need or what they do until you give them a try.

[Omtech]

Siscom, I am about quiting this career and do something esle. I am also from South Africa but originally from DR congo. I am in possession of all adobe versions till up to cs4. pinnacles up to 12and vegas up to 8. I was buying all these software when i was working because one program cant do everything. but I recommand you togo for Adobe and if you need help please PM me with your email 083 689 2817 maybe I can sell them to you as I am leaving the country. and i also have thier training cd i bought from VTC COMPANY

[Buzword]

I’m in complete agreement with chuckengels. Fact is, I use Premiere Elements and Premiere Pro CS3 on about the same ratio as he does. I also continue to use PE v7 since I haven’t seen any advantage right now to go to v8. V7 has everything I need right now. What I really like about PE7 is that it takes the hassle out of creating menus. It’s got some nice templates for many occasions. I’ve created menus using Adobe Encore but it’s time consuming and I only use it for original, customized projects.

I’d also suggest addingone other app to the list if you want to really create some nice, moreprofessional looks to your dvd’s and that is to learn Photoshop. You don’t need CS4 either. I have Photoshop CS3 but I rarely use it since I use Photoshop Elements 7. With Photoshop Elements you can create nice menus, slideshows, and disk labels and cases, in addition to editing photos. I’ve also used it to modify the Premiere Elements menu templates.

Good luck!

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