Video Editing Software?

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I’m planning to TRY to do some conversion of VHS-C to digital video and I want to make sure I end up with the best quality video possible – and, if possible, the easiest interface possible thrown into the mix – the video is of my kids growing up, so it’s very important to me.

I know of Pinnacle Studio, but some reviews give it 2 or 3 stars out of 5, for example, and I have Nero 6 Ultra – am I better off with Nero, or Pinnacle – or do I need to be looking somewhere else entirely?

Thanks!

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Hi Don,
While either Nero or Pinnacle will do what you ‘need’ to do – I’ve been using Video Explosion Deluxe for the past couple of years and it has served me well, especially if you need to do lots of cuts, crops, blends, etc..

Bob

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How familiar are you with video editing in general? It’s an important consideration: are you just getting started, do you have experience with editing, do you plan to continue editing in the future or is this a one shot project?

Based on your response there are a few different programs available. Pinnacle used to be the de facto standard, but anymore you can do a lot of basic editing with Windows Movie Maker, included with Windows XP. It’s limited but very good at what it was designed to do, which is basic edits.

CyberLink PowerDirector is a decent mid-level package with more flexibility. The learning curve is a bit steeper.

On the higher end of things, Adobe Premiere Elements is a great and powerful package, but has a steep learning curve. The upshot is that many of the techniques you would learn here are transferrable to other editing packages. If you plan to do more editing in the future, this is the way to go.

Avid may have a solution for you as well, but I think you’ll find their software a bit on the expensive side if you don’t plan to use the heck out of it (Avid and Final Cut are the tools used most often in film/television projects).

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Thanks, Bob and Mark –

Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, but things have been hectic in the real world.

I’m very much a novice – over the past few years I’ve made any number of plans, but never really gotten off the ground floor. I have a Dazzle contraption that I actually hooked up to my PC once, and using an old VCR actually watched a tape of my kids on the PC.
That’s about it. I don’t know what stage of the setup was responsible, but the replay was very jumpy and I wasn’t too thrilled about the prospect of going to tons of trouble converting VHS-C tapes to DV, only to have the results be garbage.
Admittedly that was with an LPT hookup, so the data transfer rate was pathetic – I should go out and upgrade to something with a Firewire connection, I guess – and I’ll see what Nero and Windows Media Player can provide me with, and also look into the recommendations you’ve made.
But I’m pretty confident that Spielberg has nothing to worry about.

Thanks again!

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No problem on responding earlier Don, besides “Time is on our side” .
I use a firewire card that came with Pinnacle (software leaves a lot to be desired but the card was pretty decent), and it has served me well considering that I only have a 933 mz machine. A decent DVD writer will no doubt be on your horizon.
All in good time Don, have fun (otherwise it isn’t worth it).
Bob

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Don, if that’s the case then I would suggest trying Windows Movie Maker. It’s straightforward, easy to use, and with Windows XP.

Firewire is definitely the solution to hiccup-free transfers. You might consider Pinnacle’s MovieBox DV as a solution. It’s a very thorough package; I just set up a system like this for a friend and he’s been very happy with the results. It allows nearly any video source in or out.

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Adobe Premiere for Windows

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