Since I'm new to this great hobby i have a couple of questions to ask the experienced. I'm an avid outdoors activist and love to film others who hunt wildlife. Well, I have many hours of recorded hunts and would like to edit some of the hunts and put together a video for some friends. My question for the experienced is, what is the best editing software that is user friendly for a PC? I've heard alot about getting a rewinder for a mini DV and will possibly invest in one as well, but I would like to do voice overs and possibly mix in some music. Could someone list some great products that would complete a task as i listed above? Anything suggested will be greatly appreciated. Take care and have a blessed holiday!

David Ellis
Active Duty Air Force
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Out of all the NLE's currently available, I found Sony Vegas the easiest to learn.
It will also allow you to record voice overs into it, edit the audio and mix in music with great effect.
And the price is very reasonable

David,

If cost is an issue I recommend going with premiere elements and a good firewire card. Take a look at http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/main.html
to view the features. I think it retails under $100. Also why not try before you buy. Most NLE software has fully functional free demos you can use for 30 days.

Regards,

Mark

sounds great! Do any of you know of any great min dv rewinders, or should I just buy another camcorder and use it only for rewinding? I've noticed some sony walkmans that lets you edit your mini dv and many other options with this little device, but I would like to see what yall think about this. Take care!

David Ellis
Active duty Air Force
Wright-Patterson AFB

you can get minidv camcorders with firewire ports for almost $200 these days... use that for a capturing your footage and rewinding tapes.

David,

I have used several editing suites, I must say that adobe elements offers the most for the buck. If you do some reading you will find that many of the premiere pro short cuts also work on elements. I also film wildlife and hunting based film, Elements gives excellent color correction to use when you have less than perfect footage. I have adobe pro and elements. I still use elements all the time for short or quick projects!!!
I recomend the book Adobe elements for dummies by underdahl.

OH YEA, YOU CAN GET AVID FOR FREE OFF THE NET. I found it a bit combersome in comparison to elements.


Gus