By video editing I don’t mean I want to create AVATAR II or TOY STORY IX. Basically I want to be able to edit some camcorder and webcam videos and do things like the following:
Fix the timing if the voice and video are two seconds out of synch
Be able to voice over a slide show
Be able to record a-v of myself or others in something like a vlog or interview but insert photographs or perhaps video snippets during the talking without interrupting the audio track
I own a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements 8 which supposedly does this. The problem is that it is easily the least intuitive program I have ever come across, the ‘tutorials’ are absolutely useless, and the main how to guide is published by Adobe and costs more than I paid for the program which I resent spending on general principal.
So any decent simple video editing software you can recommend that does the above and runs less than $100 (the more less the more better obviously)?
I like the Roxio Creator series. I haven’t used the current version, but the older suite I have is easy, intuitive, and pretty powerful for the price. In addition to letting you have multiple audio tracks (so you can sync to the video like you mentioned), it lets you do things like crop video, zoom in or out, pan across a portion of the video, etc. It comes with a ton of filters and transitions. It even has a “chroma key” application so you can do “green screen” overlays. You can get the basic 2010 version at Best Buy for $60, and there’s a “Pro” version for a bit more–I don’t know how their range of features compare to the older version.
Okay, I just read some reviews for the current Roxio Creator on the Best Buy site and Amazon and they are mostly negative. Sounds like they have had problems with adapting it to Windows Vista and Windows 7. So ignore my previous post!
I use Cyberlink Power Director, up to vs 8 now. It will do everything you require, but not everything a more professional prog does.
It seems to have one flaw. It may stop working without warning and close without saving a working file, so be prepared. Making backups isn’t something to be taken lightly, no matter how reliable a program may be.
Vegas Movie Studio 9 is just a few dollars more, but has more professional features, which means it is harder to learn.
I have an older version of Nero Burning Rom which worked pretty well. It’s version 6, the new version is up to 10 now, and they have a Nero Multimedia Suite 10. I don’t know about the new versions, but the old one worked pretty well, so I imagine the new ones must be petty good to.
The Multimedia Suite is normally $99.99 but has a $20 instant rebate. Nero Burning ROM 10 is down-loadable for $49.99. Wow, in stores it sells for between $80 and $90.
I know it takes time but I really think you should download some 30 day trial versions of any software - usually available from their sites and audition them.
That’s what I did to find a budget video prog a while back. Reviews help but they can’t replace actually trying them out yourself.
Sony Vegas got some good reviews but I couldn’t get on with it.
Cyberlink was Ok to use but didn’t have something I needed to complete a project ( I can’t remember exactly)
I found Ulead Video Studio did what I wanted it to do at the time.
But the versions I used are about two years out of date and since have been updated.
I recently purchased a basic edition of Sony Vegas for fanvideo creation - I’m not sure, but I think it can do most of what you want. If you like, I’ll look at it in more detail.
My wife uses Magix Movie Edit Pro 15. I originally bought version 12 for free (after rebate) and she got used to it. When I gave her the option for Premiere Elements, she hated the interface and I went and got the latest version of Magix. They have updated again to version 16, but the feature set and interface is pretty good for the neophyte consumer video editor.
Sony Vegas is what I use for all the movie editing stuff I do. I’m not positive about the power point voice over, but power point itself has that option built into it, you’d probably be better off using that. It’s not extreamly easy to use, but if you’ve messed around with video editing a bit, the you should be able to figure it out pretty quick.
Yep, at least try something you probably already own that can do the things you want before spending money for a bunch of features (i.e., complications) you don’t need.
A friendly tip if you have Windows 7: Windows Live Movie Maker is not an upgrade from Windows Movie Maker. In fact, it has far less functionality. Fortunately, you can install Windows Movie Maker for Vista and it will work just fine.
Windows Movie Maker is a buggy piece of shit and easily the worst thing on anybody’s computer. I don’t really like Power Director, either. It crashed on me all the time. I’ve recently tried the 30-Day trial for Corel VideoStudio Pro and I love it. It’s less than $100, it doesn’t crash every five minutes, it is very intuitive and easy to learn, and I’m really impressed with the overall functionality. I have tried a lot of different 30 day trials for various video editors, but this is the only time I’ve been impressed enough to buy it (plus the 30 day trial is a full version, so that’s nice).
That’s fair. I gave up on WMM for fanvidding because it took forever to load my Heroes S1 rips and kept crashing in the middle of browsing through videos. But what the OP wants may be less strenuous.
And, strictly as an FYI, Sony Vegas does have a 30-day online free trial. Just sayin’.
Depending on how good you want this to be, you may find it difficult with just the video editing tools. I can’t speak directly to all the low-end Windows editing software, but I’ll guess that you won’t be able to directly edit or align the audio with the best precision.
But it may well be good enough. If you find you don’t like how it comes out, you can edit the audio and then mix it back in using a free audio editor (I like Audacity - not the greatest UI, but very powerful for free software).
I second this suggestion. I’ve used VideoStudio (used to be made by Ulead, now Corel) since version 7. It’s now at version 13 (or Pro X3 as marketed by Corel). A solid piece of software for way under $100, quite intuitive to use (never had to read any manual), and will edit or create all the common video formats. And you can first try it for free.