Railfan Technology > Video editing software question

I currently use an older Olympus Stylus SP-820UZ camera
for all my videos. I have vista on my computer. I'd love
to find something...anything that's better than windows
movie maker to edit my videos with? The camera shoots in
MOV and I have to convert every video I shoot to avi in order
for it to work in movie maker.

Also I can't import music into movie maker any more for some
reason. I only use music on my urbex videos but it's so frustrating
when I can't finish a video because of no music. Is there any video
editing software out there that is affordable AND easy to use as I'm
not computer smart. Thanks for any help, I appreciate it!


Jay

Benched_it Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I currently use an older Olympus Stylus SP-820UZ
> camera
> for all my videos. I have vista on my computer.
> I'd love
> to find something...anything that's better than
> windows
> movie maker to edit my videos with? The camera
> shoots in
> MOV and I have to convert every video I shoot to
> avi in order
> for it to work in movie maker.
>
> Also I can't import music into movie maker any
> more for some
> reason. I only use music on my urbex videos but
> it's so frustrating
> when I can't finish a video because of no music.
> Is there any video
> editing software out there that is affordable AND
> easy to use as I'm
> not computer smart. Thanks for any help, I
> appreciate it!
>
>
> Jay

Unfortunately, Vista's MovieMaker does not support Quicktime files (MOV) natively as you found out. If you've purchased Apple's Quicktime Pro license, the conversion might be a little easier between formats.

Since MOV files are supported natively on Macs, you can always buy a used Mac, and use iMovie. If you shop carefully, you should be able to get a used Mac cheap (under $200, in my case, under $100) with iMovie already installed (part of iLife, which usually comes bundled with Mac OS X).

I had a copy of Pinnacle System's Pinnacle Studio video editor on my Vista machine, which was able to import many different video formats. It's usually bundled with inexpensive USB video capture boards, so that's one way to buy a copy.

Many people, including TO members have had good luck with Sony's Vegas Pro, which is known to support many formats natively. I haven't used it personally, but I'm sure people will chime in now that I've mentioned it.

If you were able to import sound/music into MovieMaker before, but not anymore, something happened to the codec settings on your machine. There is a way to enable/disable codecs within MovieMaker, but if you claim to be not computer smart, I'm hesitant to show you how to do it. I've had no problems importing MP3 files into MovieMaker to add soundtrack to my video.

If you want to make your video workflow more efficient, you'll have to bite the bullet and get a newer Windows or Mac OS X, where HD videos (AVCHD, to be specific) can be imported into MovieMaker or iMovie directly from your camera or the SD card. Keep in mind MovieMaker that runs on Win7 and Win8 (often called "Live MovieMaker") is different than the version native on Vista. I still prefer the Vista version.

This is all good information which I plan on printing out
and reading over several times. You time and effort on this
is greatly appreciated, thank you!


Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/14 10:30 by Benched_it.

Jay,

I have been using Sony Movie Studio 13 off and on along with Windows Movie Maker on Windows 8.1 for all of my video editing. I purchased the Sony Movie Studio suite a few months ago on a deal through Dell's website and Amazon has the standalone for $40 regular priced or you can jump in on the wait list and hope to get it for their daily deal $20 price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HRQB108/ref=gb1h_tit_c-2_6282_47789fda?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_s=center-new-2&pf_rd_r=1RVVQGM5J24N3KVC366R&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_p=1980506282

The Sony software does a lot that Windows MM can't do, such as rotate videos that aren't level and process 4K videos. Of course, I only get 4K videos when I use my phone to record if I don't have any of my cameras with me so that usually isn't an issue. The Sony software does have a bit of a learning curve, but looking up some videos on YouTube has helped me along the way, including learning how to rotate the unlevel videos.

Or, consider buying a Ipad, then at the Itunes store download the free Imovie software. I use it, it's simple enough, and yet gives me what I need. And, the Ipad takes great video too. You can buy a bracket mount to attach it to the head of your consumer grade tripod, so there is your camera and editing, all in one shot!

chico

I've been using Roxio's excellent Easymedia Creator Suite for a number of years now and probably won't consider using anything else. It's loaded with features and VERY intuitive and logical to use; I was able to jump right in and start editing without having to go through an extensive learning process.

The current version, Creator NXT3, is regularly $99.00, currently on sale for $69.00

http://www.roxio.com/

All of my videos uploaded to TO were edited with Roxio's software:

http://www.trainorders.com/train-videos/index.php?category=0&search=thecurator&author=on

This is all great info. I've printed it out and will study it
tonight while sitting trackside. I have an Ipad so that is
nice to know about that as well. Many thanks for all the help,
I really appreciate it and I hope everyone has a very
Happy Thanksgiving! :)


Jay

Jay,

Here is video I captured with my Ipad. The mount on a tripod is a must, that's a 20-30 dollar investment, if you already own a tripod. I-movie is a free download at the Itunes app store. This video was edited with it, basically a "envelope" (fade up/fade out" was added to it), I like videos that have nice tight editing (on runbys), and a nice fade in-fade out, those are the only things I usually do. My goal is :30-:45 second clips. You can also do this with your Iphone. The vid quality on the Ipad is 1080p and I'm not producing professionally. You can play any of these on your big screen "monitor" (TV) and they look (and sound) great.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3548093,3548093#msg-3548093

chico



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/14 08:05 by chico.

That was very impressive Chico, thank you! I have a couple
of tripods so all I would need is the mount. I learn something
new every day...


Jay

yup, just google searches for "Ipad tripod mount" or something like that, read the reviews. I wanted a mount which would work on a mic stand for my musical endeavors and simultaneously a mount which would work on the tripod. I went with the tripod mount, and I'll get a dedicated mic stand mount later. but, you already have what you need when you get I-movie for your ipad, and the learning curve is not too steep. you can spend over 50 bucks on a mount, but they are also found for substantially less, so shop around. Most mounts will be adjustable so you can mount an iphone or droid too.

one caveat: be sure to save all your video files AFTER you create in I-movie, if you delete them then Imovie won't be able to access the files, even if you have created the video. So save your video files, move them to dropbox or elsewhere off your ipad, then re-load them if you need the files.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/14 14:36 by chico.