jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hey everyone,I am wondering what everyone used to create videos of their display, as far as the software goes. As of right now, I am using Windows Live Movie Maker to make all my videos, but it is kind of difficult to get a high quality video from something like Movie Maker. I have been doing a little bit of research, but I haven't found anything that would really work for me. I would love to have something like Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection or something like that on my computer, but I don't have that much money to spend for software that is only going to be used to make videos of my Christmas and Halloween light shows.So, my question is, does anyone know of good quality video editing software that is either free or is relatively cheap? Something that I can put customized text in and something that would make it easy to make a video of my display with different angles. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: So, my question is, does anyone know of good quality video editing software that is either free or is relatively cheap? Something that I can put customized text in and something that would make it easy to make a video of my display with different angles. I believe Windows Movie Maker allows you to add your own text and titles...And what is "relatively cheap" to you?I use Corel Video Studio Pro X4..and it's on sale right now for $49.00http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1175714228541#tabview=tab0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 It does allow me to add my own titles, but I can't do much with them as far as animation goes. I mean I am not wanting to do a bunch of crazy animation with the text, I want just enough control that I can control where it is, where it goes and when it shows up.And "relatively cheap" is $50-$100 or cheaper, maybe even $150, depending on which software it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: And "relatively cheap" is $50-$100 or cheaper, maybe even $150, depending on which software it is.See my EDIT's...Corel Video allows you to place the text anywhere (with lots of different effects such as fade in and out) PIP, insert audio...pretty much all the features you need...You can download a FREE full trial version for 30 days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim6918 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I use Corel Video Studio Pro X3 in my job occasionally to edit DVD's and other video formats. It seems pretty easy to use, but that's relative, since I have not really used too many other video editing programs. It does allow me to seperate out the audio track, mute it and overlay on a second audio track a different audio clip. This is helpful when I have videoed my show at night using just a boom box for sound. I then mute that audio track and overlay the original MP3 and I get sutdio quailty sound.I think the ProX4 version costs about $49.00 for a full version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Awesome! This is the kind of thing I was looking for, and its affordable for me. I'll download the trial and see if I like it before I buy the full version.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: Awesome! This is the kind of thing I was looking for, and its affordable for me. I'll download the trial and see if I like it before I buy the full version.ThanksJust to be clear..the trial IS the full version...anything you can do and save in the Full Version you can do with the trial...And if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to try and answer any questions you might have...Especially when you go to use different angles of the same video/sequence/song...I use a few tricks, that for me, makes it very simple and quick.My videos made with Corel Video Studio:http://vimeo.com/user2712339/videosQuality is not that great...as I was using a brand new camera and had yet to figure out the best setting...and I waited till New Years Eve night to shoot the video (all four different angles)...and my display was taken down the next day!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 I realize the trial is the full version, what I was meaning to say is I'm going to try it out before I pay for it. But I have it running right now, and it seems like a pretty nice software, but I am running a raw edit of my 4th of July show, which is over 12 minutes long, and it seems to run a little bit slow. But its an HD video and I don't know what the format of the video is, so that might be the problem.But other than that, so far this software looks good, but then again, this is my first time using it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: I realize the trial is the full version, what I was meaning to say is I'm going to try it out before I pay for it. But I have it running right now, and it seems like a pretty nice software, but I am running a raw edit of my 4th of July show, which is over 12 minutes long, and it seems to run a little bit slow. But its an HD video and I don't know what the format of the video is, so that might be the problem.But other than that, so far this software looks good, but then again, this is my first time using it I just got the upgrade myself...but on previous versions you could do something to the HD video to make it run faster...but it took a long time to convert the raw video...I forget what it was called...let me try and find itstill looking...but did find these tutorials:http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Content/1190317160694Found it..it's called Smart ProxyVideo Tutorial on it (even tho it is for Pro X2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 I have a video converting software, its called DVD Video Soft. I have the "FreeStudio" version and it comes will all types of software, you can convert photos, videos, audio, you and download videos from YouTube and you can burn CDs, DVDs and BDs. Their website is www.dvdvideosoft.com if you want to check them out. I haven't had any problems when converting videos with them. I use the audio converter to convert any of my MP3 files that have bit rates that are too high into WAV, and everything works out great with them.Anyway, thanks for finding the tutorial page, I think that is going to help me out a lot!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: I have a video converting software, its called DVD Video Soft. I have the "FreeStudio" version and it comes will all types of software, you can convert photos, videos, audio, you and download videos from YouTube and you can burn CDs, DVDs and BDs. when I mentioned "video converting", I didn't mean to a DVD format...it was for converting the HD to a lower resolution video format, so it is more easily editable...you mentionedit ran "slow".Using the Smart Proxy" will help speed up your editing process.When you render your final product in the editor, it will be in HD format that the original video was in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jem5136 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 DVD VideoSoft doesn't just write DVDs, it will convert things from your hard drive back on to your hard drive from whatever form you want it to whatever form you want it. And I think I am starting to get the hang of this software too. I edited down the video to only the song that I am editing, and it seems to be running faster.I do have 1 question for you though, what is the best way to get the different angles included? I'm putting them on the second track, but I'm not sure if that's how it is supposed to be done or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jem5136 wrote: I do have 1 question for you though, what is the best way to get the different angles included? I'm putting them on the second track, but I'm not sure if that's how it is supposed to be done or not?I had three angles and I put them on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tracks...This is what I do...add your different angles to the different tracks (as above...don't use the first track).Don't worry right now if they are synced.First, do your title (in the first track)...I usually start with a few seconds of black and then fade the title in and out with another short span of just black ( to fade into the actual video)After you are satisfied with your title now go back and sync up all your videos so that they all start at the same place after your title. (I find it easier to sync to when lights go on and off rather than trying to sync to the audio...you can get it very precise also).Now save this with a Project Name...just in case something happens and you want to start over, you still have it sync up...which I find takes the longest in this process. It's my preference to do cuts/edits per the beat of a song...so after I have all the angles synced, I start "cutting" the videos..and I cut all of them at the same place.After I cut the whole song, then I start physically moving the clips of video I want to use into the main track. If you haven't found out all ready, when you move a clip into the main track, it automatically goes to the left so there are never any gaps. In every other track (2 thru 6) the clips stay put..so when you remove a clip to put in the main track, a gap remains where you took that clip from.After I have completed moving all the clips I want to make a full song, I then save it with a different Project name...just in case after you view it you want to substitute a different clip somewhere in the final video.I am sure there a more details I am leaving out...I am sure you might find a different/better way that works for you...this is just how I do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'm putting them on the second track, but I'm not sure if that's how it is supposed to be done or not?Oops..I bet you are only seeing a second track, huh?You can add more Overlay tracks....DANG..wish I had my laptop so I could look and see how you add the extra tracks!!!Can you find the Overlay Track manager?see if this helps:http://www.ulead.com/learning/vs/vs10_01_1.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Mitchell Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I picked up Vegas Studio HD 9.0 for about $40.It seems to do everything I need and was fairly easy to learn.Here is one I edited with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulanator Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I have tried many video editing software suites and kept having lots of problems and none of them performed very well.I found Cyberlink Power Director 9 to work very well and to be pretty easy to use, they have great how to videos on using it, and the price is not bad.Another nice thing with the software is that if you sign up for a free account with them, you can get TONS of free video animation/title screens/effects that others create and upload.The great thing about this program is you can start with it with simple stuff, and get more advanced and fancy down the road.They do have a 64 bit version that is awesome if you have a 64 bit machine.The only caveat with this software, it does need a decently powerful system. I have seen reviews with people giving it bad marks, but it is all performance issues with slower, older machines.They also have a free trial download so you can see how it works. Looks like about $50 at Amazon. Here is a link to the company's website.http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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