PC Video Editing software recommendation

[Robert Lee]

Hi everyone:

As I'm starting to take on more complex projects, I really can't deal with the FC7 format problems, (ie
dealing with formating/conversion issues) that's been hampering my other projects, and leaning very very
heavily of working in a PC than mac enviornment for post production work.

Currently I work with Power Director, which I love, but recognize the need to upgrade to a high end software. Power Director doesn't have multicam and it is very funky, when ever I need to trim and insert videos. I'm unable to trim a video when I have to lock it in place. And when I unlock the vid to cut,
it often moves all the video when I trim....

Avid would be ideal, but it's a bit above my budget, A colleague suggested Vega, as an intermediate software to use, until I can save enough $$ to invest in Avid. Some had suggested Premier, but
mentioned it may not have the functions that I'm looking for (see below).

So I thought before I start going this route to invest another software, I wanted to get more info, and opinions. What better way than for me to ask everyone here for your recommendation of the best pc video editing software that handles the following with great ease. Here are the key attributes that I"m looking for in the software.

1) Multi cam editing.

2) No hassles working with different video format/codec,fp. Whether different cameras (working with SonyNX5U/Panasonic AG150, SonyNX5U /JVC Gy100, Sony EX1 with SonyNX5U, etc),

3) Little or no video conversion is needed.

4) Can be project interchange (work with different editing software if necessary, FC7, Avid, Adobe, Vega, etc)


5) Ease of triming or moving clips within the time line without worrying about locking/unlocking the video track, and run risk of moving tracks out of synch.

Thanks so much for your time, and your patience.

Sincerely,

Robert

[Mark Williams]

Edius for 1, 2, 3, 5. Don't know about 4 as I work with only one NLE. I would get the HDspark output card with the software for realtime output to a HDTV monitor. http://www.videoguys.com/Item/Grass+...333030363.aspx

[Burk Webb]

The Adobe Creative Suite is going to be a very solid choice. Premiere has gotten very good and the integration between After Effects, Photoshop & Audition is great.

It ticks all your boxes and it seems to be what FCP editors are migrating too. It also seems to be emerging as a bit of an industry standard so a fairly safe bet.

This is coming from a long time Vegas user as well. LOVED Vegas but the last few version have just been very unstable for me.

[Robert Lee]

Thanks Burke:

I had downloaded the free Vega pro 12 trial software and already I can see it doesn't accept the raw mov files from the JVC Camera, which surprised me, for I was led to believe it could read the file. Does sony have problem reading mpeg4/mov files, just as Apple's software have trouble reading raw Sony files?


Robert

[Robert Lee]

Thanks Mark:

I had downloaded the Edius version 6, and although I can see how it can accept both mov and AVHCD, the interface is not as intuitive as I thought would be for figuing out the editing and multicam. Have you tried 6? What do you think of it?

Robert

[Noa Put]

Edius 6.5, system requirements are a lot less then with adobe's products, going into multicam is a matter of pressing one button, it takes anything you trow at it with no conversion needed. One feature that's usually not mentioned but has been worth it for me and that's the field editing option, you can move your project between your desktop to a older and slower laptop and back, (and edit in realtime with intermediate files) perfect if you need to continue your editing on another location.

EDIUS Pro 6.5 | Grass Valley

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Robert Lee

the interface is not as intuitive as I thought would be for figuing out the editing and multicam. Have you tried 6? What do you think of it?

Edius is not as shiny as adobe's or fcpx interface but that's something you get used to quickly once you experience how fast and rock solid it can be. About editing in multicam, I just need to press one button and I"m off, like with any new NLE, you will need time to switch, coming from Fcp then premiere will most likely make you feel right at home as much is similar, Edius otoh requires much more time to adapt to. (I came from premiere so I know :))
There are however many great tutorials found on the internet with some very good ones about colorcorrection, 2 sites I have used a lot for reference are:

http://www.videoproductions.com.au/h...equipment.html
or this one: "https://vimeo.com/27292117"

and important, the Edius forum has been a Godsend for me, any question I had when I made the switch has been answered, it's a very helpful and active community

[Ron Evans]

I also vote for Edius. I have Edius, Vegas 12 and CS6 and Edius is the best multicam of the group by a long way. I have a button set on my Shuttle Pro V2 for multicam so I only have to press one button to go in or out of multicam. You can also just press F8.

Edius is my main video editor, Vegas for audio don't really use Premiere as I got CS6 for all the other applications like AE, Photoshop etc.

As Nao says the Edius forum is very helpful and there are several members who run Edius on MAC hardware running Windows too. The latest Edius codec package will run on MAC so file transfer to MAC software is a possibility. I am just PC so have no personal knowledge of this capability.

Ron Evans

[Robert Lee]

Sorry I feel like an idiot trying to use Edius

I'm having a hard time doing the basic of just importing the clips to line them up and start prepping it for multicam.

Each additional video I dump on the track, it wont stay in the same time frame but push back.
So for example if I put sony video on track one at time point zero. When I add the JVC in video track 2.
instead of it being placed on time point zero, it would automatically go to the end of where Video track 1 is (10 min) as it's start point.

And when I try to trim, or mark the inpoint of each video to line them up by the clap board sound, I don't see it being marked for me to make the trim.

Robert

[Ron Evans]

It would be useful for you to watch the training videos first.EDIUS - Basic Introduction Tutorial (Free)

You will see a video ( V ) and audio ( A) on the left of the timeline. These define where the video and audio files can be placed in tracks. At the top of that column there are also a ( v ) and ( a ) that allow you to bring in just an audio or a video file. The other thing to learn about is whether insert or overwrite is on as this will define how clips are added to the timeline. The other thing to note is whether ripple edit is on or off.

The basic training is worth looking at before you do anything else as this covers most of the fundementals.
Once you have learned the basics multicam is easy to move to.

Ron Evans

[Robert Lee]

Thanks Ron:

I'm downloading the video now, and hope this will do the trick.

Thanks!

Robert

[Mark Williams]

Robert, I had the same learning curve problem when I moved from Premiere 6.5 to Edius. I don't consider myself anywhere near a skilled editor. But after about a day of messing with Edius things began to come together. As others have mentioned there are many good Edius tutorials out there. My experience with Vegas was exactly the opposite. It just seemed completely foreign to me.

[Robert Lee]

I'll admit it's hard to fight this feeling of helplessness in trying to come up with a solution and appreciate the words of encouragement Mark.

[Chris Barcellos]

If you are into learning a new Editor, and don't want to spend big dollars, consider Lightworks.

Its free to about $60.00 for additional codecs. Actually designed by editors.

Lightworks

I haven't tried Edius lately, but with both Edius and Premiere in the past, I always felt constricted by GUI. I started using Vegas on a lark, but the user interface is so free feeling that I cnn't seem to get myself back to anything else. And, beginning with Pro 11, Vegas has adopted standards that allow many favorite plugins from other developers to be used.

[Noa Put]

Here's another blog I found with a lot of tutorials grouped, it seems it's not updated anymore but still useful.
Canopus Edius Pro tutorials VIDEOLINKMANIA

Originally Posted by Robert Lee

hope this will do the trick.

I heared fcp is similar to premiere in regard to interface and workflow, that's why you will have a hard time just to get the basics right with Edius, Edius works best with keyboard commands and using the mouse and with 2 pc screens for editing and a tv to get a full screen output using a spark pro card.

I had even trouble just to cut clips when I started using it, even-though I had been using premiere for a few years. For me it felt not intuitive at all but I stayed with it and with the help of the edius forum I got up to speed after a few weeks of intensive use and now I can edit as fast as I think. Edius does has it flaws, it's not that good in the audio department but it's a very fast and stable realtime cutter and is one of the best for multicam editing. It also doesn't require a cutting edge pc and it's not a memory hog. It might not be 64bit (yet) but it will give you realtime editing in the highest preview quality and with the right motherboard (so you can use intels quick sync) it will give you very fast h264 output.