Video editing software recommendations

Fearless Tower

Fearless Tower

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Fearless Tower
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Thinking about videoing some of my aviation exploits and am looking for some recommendations on editing software - needs to be PC based since I won't have any money left to buy a Mac after I acquire the cameras.

Basically looking for a program that I can merge multiple camera inputs into one video. Thinking about getting at least 3 GoPros (at least one for internal cockpit, one for forward view and one to mount externally on the belly) and then add clips from a handheld as well.

Does such an animal exist for PCs?
 
Well, you may be looking for more than is needed.

I'm out of the loop in terms of modern, digital video switching, but back in the day, I used to work part-time at a TV studio, and getting multiple cameras to play nicely with each other was more work than one might think. There were about a dozen settings on each camera that had to be adjusted the first time the system was hooked up, and then tweaked pretty much every time the cameras were turned on (and often during a taping, as well) because of "creep" in various values that affected their signals.

Also, all the cameras and other video processing equipment had to be "genlocked," which basically meant that everything had to be synchronized to a common heartbeat generated by one device (in our case, the Special Effects Generator).

I don't know how much of this is true nowadays. Maybe none of it. But I do know that even an el-cheapo video editing program can accomplish "switching" and transitions from files, as opposed to cameras. And if the files are all of the same format and dimensions, and the cameras all white-balanced for the existing light, the transitions can look quite professional. But it can be a chore splitting each output file into the sections that you want to insert in the video, because most of the less-expensive software won't let you edit multiple files at one time and insert them into a project.

Personally, I use a lot of stuff made by a company called AVS4YOU because it's cheap and has the features I need for the simple editing that I do. YMMV, but I think they offer a free trial.

-Rich
 
Challenged said:
Not sure what you're looking to spend, or if these would be overkill, but I've used Premiere Pro for years and I like it. I've also heard good things about Vegas as well.

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro
Click to expand...

Those are the two you'll find most recommended, and plenty of free tools and videos (search Youtube) on how to use them.

I just finished rendering a multi-cam HD version of my ride with Team AeroShell, and will be uploading it to Vimeo Plus in a few... I used Adobe Premiere Pro to do it. Good program, but get one of the latest versions (5, or 5.5...); the older versions don't handle HD as well, nor have as many presets for exporting (to make that job simpler). I literally can pick "Vimeo HD" as the export format I want to use.
 
Didn't know they had an App, but yes.

Any company doing web based videos that ignores millions of viewers probably wasn't doing it right.

They apparently figured it out. It's their call and their business model... How they do it for free is anyone's guess. Ads, I guess.

Are they profitable yet? Or just part of the next bubble? BTDT.
 
Maybe overkill for what you want, but I've used Pinnicale Studios in the past. I got it for longer length DVD production and not short length YouTube videos.
 
BillTIZ said:
Maybe overkill for what you want, but I've used Pinnicale Studios in the past. I got it for longer length DVD production and not short length YouTube videos.
Click to expand...

Is it easy to use? I don't mind paying more, but I need easy to use (don't have a lot of free time).

I'd like something that works like Ableton Live for audio/music recording, if anyone is familiar with that - ie click/drag/drop sections of different video files into one.
 
I use Video Studio from Corel.
For the specific needs you mentioned:
simple intuitive interface.
drag n drop scene building
audio balancing.
up to 7 concurrent video tracks
virtually any known output format (including 3D)
 
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