Video editing software

[Younggun]

What video editing software do you use?

Right now I'm playing more with Windows Movie Maker and for free software it's not bad, but it's pretty limited in its audio mixing abilities.

I've also experimented with Lightworks which works great for mixing and cutting audio and video but is a pain in the ass and only allows exports to YouTube unless you buy the pro version (really expensive). It also doesn't give you any video effects options without upgrading. Found it has trouble with certain frame rates also and can't sync audio with 120f/s video.


Anybody got any recommendations for a low cost ($100-$200) video editing software that allows audio mixing of seperate clips, slow motion, and allows saving and opening in multiple formats?

 

[SIG_Fiend]

It's been awhile since I've used it but, I normally use Sony Vegas Pro. It has a ton of capability, and tons of plugins (some of which are quite expensive) to accomplish just about anything you can imagine. If by chance you are a "student", there are academic discounts you can get to buy it at various places for I think closer to $250-300. It's a fairly expensive program. The normal price is usually ~$700-800.

 

[Younggun]

I was looking at the standard Sony Vegas program as a consideration.

$700 is gonna be way out of budget for me, although that may mean I will have to pull back on expectations.

 

[Sugar Land]

Pinnacle Studio is what I used to use before I switched to Mac. Very user friendly. Quick and easy. Good luck. I'm sure there are a lot of choices out there.

 

[oohrah]

I also recommend Pinnacle Studio for Windows users. Easy to learn, a great forum for help, and a lot of capabilities of the high end linear editors.

 

[Younggun]

Thanks, will check it out.

 

[DarkwingDuck]

Windows Movie Maker is good (mostly for the price of free) if you want to do nothing more than add a title and/or stitch a few clips together. Anything more substantial will quickly outpace the capability of WMM. The export capabilities are rather limited, as you noted.

I heartily recommend something from Sony's Creative Software series. I've used both Vegas when it was Sonic Foundry and Vegas Pro after Sony bought them up. Nowadays I find that Sony Movie Studio Platinum is more than capable for my personal projects. Despite the positioning in the low end of the Sony lineup, Movie Studio Platinum is rather similar to Vegas Pro. Sony Movie Studio however is very simple and not much of a step up from WMM.

You are limited in the number of video/audio tracks which really isn't an issue unless you will be doing a lot of compositing -- at which point you should be looking at Adobe Premiere and After Effects. Other high end features (4K video, punch in recording, advanced project structuring, professional gear interfacing, etc.) are also absent. Unless you have some Blackmagic processors or RED cameras kicking about, you aren't likely to miss those things.

The great thing about any of the Sony CS software ... you can try it for 30 days with NO RESTRICTIONS. No watermarks, no export restrictions. After 30 days, if you like Sony Movie Studio Platinum, a license will only cost you $79. And if you ever decide to bump up to something in the Vegas series, Sony offers upgrade discounts from Movie Studio Platinum.

For more info: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro/compare

DWD

 

[Younggun]

I'll take a look at it, especially with the free trial.