What is a good editing software ?

[Jim Welker]

Hi, I'm new here, and new to DV Video, I just bought a Panasonic PV GS-250, and have a couple of questions.

1. How good is Adobe Premiere Elements for editing videos ?
2. What software do you like best ?
3. What are good Mini DV Tapes to use

Thanks in advance
Jim

[Curtis Rhoads]

1. I'm not sure. Never used it, never felt the urge to try it, either!

2. I use Vegas 6. Nice simple, straight forward workflow, IMO. There's the Vegas Movie Studio+DVD package ( http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/pro...ct.asp?PID=983 ) which is around $129.95 for the Platinum Version or $89.95 for the standard ( http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/pro...ct.asp?PID=977 ). It's the "consumer" version of Vegas.

3. I use Panasonic tapes religiously. DVM60's in my consumer cameras and DVM63MQ's in my prosumer cameras.

[Jim Welker]

Thanks Curtis, you've been very helpful

Jim

[Terry Thompson]

Jim,

I agree with Curtis. I use Vegas 6 (+DVD) as well and I'm amazed at how well it works and works and works. The program is very intutive and does a great job. I'm sure I don't use half of it's abilities but the ones I do make for good editing and viewing.

I shoot music videos and have to sync 2-4 cameras and do cuts or other transitions between them. The tools for lining up the different shots is real good. It makes doing a tuff job easy.

Vegas 6 is very good editing software! This is from a regular user with nothing to gain if you buy it.

Tery

[Young Lee]

Originally Posted by Terry Thompson

I shoot music videos and have to sync 2-4 cameras and do cuts or other transitions between them. The tools for lining up the different shots is real good. It makes doing a tuff job easy.




Tery

You mean you use Vegas 6's multicam feature?

[Terry Thompson]

Actually Young I did it with the picture-in-picture system I read about.

I did meet Edward Troxel who Co-Authored the program "Excalibur" but haven't bought or used it yet. Do you have it and have you used it? If so, how does it work and does it work well.

My first experience with sync'ing up different clips was on a linear Panasonic SVHS editing system. It was very hard to do precisely but did work and I still watch some of the older videos.

Jim, this is just one of the many great tools for Vegas Video. Another one I have used which makes a two static camera shoot look much more interesting is using the track motion and cropping. Our band did a concert where we had two cameras set up on tripods with no pan or tilt or even zooming to draw focus. With the tools in Vegas (which are easy to use) I combined the cameras with cropping and track motion to look like there was someone manning the cameras. While it's true that when you crop too much the video doesn't look crisp but it can be sharpened somwhat. When it's done right it can make a real boaring video interesting.

Tery

[Jim Welker]

Thanks for the replys, I have one more question about Vegas 6, do I need a firewire connection, or can I upload my camera using USB 2 ??

Thanks
Jim

[Terry Thompson]

Tuff question as I only have firewire on my camera. What cameras come with USB 2.0 connections? I know the speed is about the same so there shouldn't be any problem there but I'll have to check my manual.......

I'm back and under device for capture I show:

IEEE 1394/MPEG-TS Device
Blackmagic Design DeckLink

I think I may have seen a camera with a mini USB 2.0 jack but it also had a firewire jack so I would go with the firewire as it was intended for video.

Tery

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Jim Welker

Thanks for the replys, I have one more question about Vegas 6, do I need a firewire connection, or can I upload my camera using USB 2 ??

Thanks
Jim

You'll need a firewire connection. USB 2.0 isn't being used for video transfer.

-gb-

[Jim Welker]

Thanks Terry, and Greg, I have the Panasonic PV-GS250, and it has USB 2, and DV connection (iLink) 4-pin to 4pin, but don't have firewire card in my computer, so guess that's the next thing I need, and the cable.

Thanks
Jim

[Gary Bettan]

Hey Jim,
Gary from videoguys here. We have an inexpensive firewire card from ADS that are recommended by all our software vendors. Pyro PCI 64 $50.00

* Avid Approved for XpressDV/Pro & recommended for Vegas, Liquid Edition, Premeire Pro and all our other NLEs
* 64 bit PCI compatible
* Capture and Edit Digital Video
* OHCI-Compliant
* Three external 1394FireWire ports
* Transfer data at 400 Mb/Sec.
* Connect to Hard Drives, Printers, Scanners, Cameras and more
* Card only - no additional 3rd party software

If you have more questions about it, email or call me. We've got some great deals going on Vegas6 as well.

Gary