Editing Video, What Programs Are You Using?

[Greg Mein]

After managing to resurrect my old Dell PC and having it run better than ever I tasked myself with trying to get some programs reloaded. The old Cakewalk Pyro Audio Creator is never going to work again and I'll miss it but other programs are working more smoothly than ever before. Among those is a small collection of Corel programs (Paint Shop Pro, Video Studio Ultimate and a couple others). I've never done much with those before but now I'm feeling inspired to try creating some videos for my songs. With any luck I might get inspired to do some recording of the new stuff that's been rolling around in my head for a while as well.

 

My three MBP's have programs I can enlist as well; the gig MBP has the last non-sub edition of Photoshop (CS6 I believe), my oldest MBP has a couple older animation programs (Anime Studio and Poser) and my newest MBP has Photoshop Elements which includes a video editor.

 

I'm sure that between PSP and Photoshop I have anything I'd ever need for photo editing but I figure I'm going to run into some serious limitations with the video editing programs. At this point I'm essentially a beginner with all these programs, even though I've had most of them for a long time, I've never put serious time into them.

 

I have hours of video I've taken through the years, mostly from traveling throughout the country. I'm currently gathering it all together and sorting by categories. Some of the video is shakey and I don't think the programs I have can help with that but there are apparently programs out there that can.

 

I know some folks here have a lot of experience in the photo/video editing area and I'd be interested to know what some of the best programs are. I'd like to use the most capable and full featured programs but at the same time this is only a hobby for me and I can't go crazy on my budget.

 

I'd welcome any advice from the community here!

 

[nursers]

Hi Greg - never underestimate the power of iMovie that comes standard with MacOS. I use Final Cut Pro and love it, but it's overkills for most stuff use consumers do. I know a lot of people love Davinci Resolve but I've never checked it out...

[NewImprov]

I used Adobe Premiere for years, until Adobe went to the subscription model and I couldn't justify the subscription cost (plus, I dislike the idea of software subs, but that's another topic).

 

On researching for a video project that came up recently, I discovered DaVinci Resolve, and it seems like the free version is pretty amazing! I found  could do just about everything I needed in the free version, and the interface was very similar to Premiere (I'm not a fan of Apple's Final Cut Pro, but you're asking about Windows anyway).

 

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

[KenElevenShadows]

Davinci Resolve. It's easier to use than iMovie (for me at least, and I'm not a professional movie editor by any stretch), it's powerful, it looks great, it offers tons of options, it's deep if you want it to be, it has decent EQ, and much more. If that's not enough, the free version is so powerful that just about anybody here would feel it's more than enough.

 

You can ask this in The Big Picture Forum as well since that is where we discuss a lot of photography and video.

[Greg Mein]

5 hours ago, Dr Nursers said:

Hi Greg - never underestimate the power of iMovie that comes standard with MacOS. I know a lot of people love Davinci Resolve but I've never checked it out...

 

I'd kind of forgotten about iMovie. I've used that in the past and also had Final Cut Express years ago but I think it died with an OS update.

 

5 hours ago, NewImprov said:

On researching for a video project that came up recently, I discovered DaVinci Resolve, and it seems like the free version is pretty amazing! I found  could do just about everything I needed in the free version, and the interface was very similar to Premiere

 

4 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

Davinci Resolve. It's easier to use than iMovie (for me at least, and I'm not a professional movie editor by any stretch), it's powerful, it looks great, it offers tons of options, it's deep if you want it to be, it has decent EQ, and much more. If that's not enough, the free version is so powerful that just about anybody here would feel it's more than enough.

 

You can ask this in The Big Picture Forum as well since that is where we discuss a lot of photography and video.

 

After watching a couple tutorial videos it appears that Premiere Elements may have a lot more functionality than I initially expected. I'd not seen Davinci Resolve until this thread, thanks for the suggestions. I really need to dig in and see what's what, plenty of options if I'll put in the time!

[K K]

Vegas Pro does everything I need. Note that video rendering needs processing power so be ready to CPU temperature rise. 🔥

[marino]

I use the full version of NCH VideoPad. I opted for the subscription, it has very reasonable rates; actually, it's the only software for which I chose to subscribe. It more or less satisfies my (rather limited) needs, it's a bit confusing in certain functions but I have learned my way around that.

Premiere is much more complete, but a bit overkill for me. When I need complex video editing, I sometimes go to a friend who uses Premiere, and I see that even he gets confused sometimes...

I've tried DaVinci Resolve briefly, but my impression is that it's more or less equivalent to VideoPad, so I thought that it wasn't worth learning another program with very similar functions.

[Theo Verelst]

Depending on the use, there are a number of main processing goals, like accuracy (color spaces, High Dynamic Range, 4k (+)), processing speed (real time preview of 4k, real time adjusting of video effects), standards (does it read/write the formats you want, like h265, 12bit422, mov/mp4/avi, wavelet/VC9 etc), and many people will want strong effects for various purposes, like anti-shake/stabilize (e.g. sharpen, color grading, youtube preparation, blue screen, stereo). Then there is editing and (huge) file management facilities aimed a video/TV or film, and all these things require a pretty strong computer, and possibly a suitable graphics card to run smooth and up to speed.

 

Just a DVD hobby video is quite a different target, but all effects you might want still cry processing power (and sufficient cpu and graphics card memory). So to use DaVinci Resolve (a great free version), check the system requirements. There is also free and open source Cinelerra (might require Linux) and some other free packages with pro use power.

 

T

 

[The Real MC]

iMovie has served my amateur video needs.

Only caveat is with each update of OSX, Apple kept changing the interface and moving functions around.  I got tired of re-learning the app and that was one of the reasons why I froze my Apple computers at High Sierra.

[Anderton]

I use Magix Vegas Pro (formerly from Sony, and before that, from Sonic Foundry). People say Resolve is better, but Vegas started as an audio competitor to Pro Tools way back when, so it has solid audio editing capabilities, can load VST plugins, and is very much like working with a video DAW. It's not perfect, but there's a free trial, and subscription or purchase options. Magix also makes Movie Studio, which is a more consumer-oriented version that might be better for what you want. The Magix video software is Windows-only.

 

Just remember that video is hard on computers. What works well for audio may be marginal for video, depending on how complex your productions are.

 

 

[KenElevenShadows]

1 hour ago, Anderton said:

Just remember that video is hard on computers. What works well for audio may be marginal for video, depending on how complex your productions are.

 

This goes quadruple if you are trying to record multiple streams a la OBS. Whew....that is demanding on a computer. Up to this point, with Davinci Resolve and all, my 2017 iMac had done extremely well. But trying to record multiple streams and changing the views on the fly? It broke out into a cold sweat before finally pleading, "Uncle!!"

 

Much of this has to do with what video graphics card you use. Mine was not up to the task.

[Theo Verelst]

There's the speed of the CPU in terms of the power of a thread and that of all together, there's memory speed, cache size, even drive speed, and then there's accelerators and their power. Some cpu chips have video accelerators and graphics processing built in, and graphics cards have video encoders/decoders up to a certain standard, and general processing power (like NVidia Cuda) which can be used for (near) real time strong video effects like stabilizing or filters, or color grading.

 

I use a windows notebook with a 12th gen I7 and a RTX3070Ti card, and a Linux system with a 12th gen 20 thread I7 and a (at the time relatively cheap) RTX3060 card, with a Asus Prime Z690 mobo. Both run 4k fine and encode and decode video with simultaneous use of various accelerators when using the most recent DaVinci.

 

T

[KenElevenShadows]

I used iMovie for years just because it came with my system. It worked fine. I never liked the way it saved things or was configured, but it was fine.

 

For whatever reason, I began using Davinci. I can't remember why I did it. But the second I did, I thought, "Why did I ever put up with iMovie and its enormous limitations? This is so much easier to use, the output looks far better, I have far more flexibility, I can edit to the music much better, the text graphics look far more professional, I have usable EQ....and it's free! Best of all, it's easy to transfer the project to someone else in case that is required!"

 

I just wish I hadn't used iMovie for all those years.

[Greg Mein]

So far just getting my files categorized is a huge task, roughly 200 gig of files recorded with several different cameras and iphones over the years. Part of it is getting video into a format that works equally well on PC or Mac. Right now it appears that MP4 is a good choice.

 

A funny story, I was converting one at a time on a website called Freemake, very tedious. Later I went to the website from the PC and it had a downloadable "free" program. Well it worked a couple of times and then became unusable by just popping up ads. They advertised the program for $59. I didn't really want to do that, I went to un-install it but then it popped up an ad to buy it for $10. Well ok, I went ahead and did that hahaha.

[The Real MC]

On 8/16/2023 at 3:10 PM, Anderton said:

Just remember that video is hard on computers. What works well for audio may be marginal for video, depending on how complex your productions are.

 

Have you seen the market value for used Mac Pro 2012 towers with dual Xeon 6 core cpus?  They're commanding serious bux.

I bought mine new, a few years ago I upgraded the RAM to 192G.  It is a serious machine for video editing.  Apple hasn't built a machine that powerful since.

[Theo Verelst]

DaVinci free will not read all video formats, some popular formats are excluded, for instance the native files from a Sony cam I use, which are high q 100Megabit/s MP4 h264 4k files, though strangely enough the windows 11 (same) version does read them. Also, the increase in processing power of both CPU and GPU are specific and in some cases huge, like I used  a 12 threader overclocked second gen very well cooled I7 running (unleashed) at 4.5 GHz with an X79 mobo and fast 4 ch memory which, even though quite archaic in main computer development lines, can still act like a decent machine and even the graphics card is still worth money to some. However built in accelerators in the CPU are few, and the decoders and encoders in the older (10 years?) gaphics card are not up to newer video formats or sizes like 4k. So it runs Davinci but the newer machines race in certain ways that are incomparable anyway, even if there's just twice as many threads a bit more turbo speed and faster DDR5 claiming (per core/per CPU ?) possibly twice the bandwidth. You need enough fast memory in your graphics card to run certain video processing algorithms efficiently, and the PCI bus must be fast (later gens have quite higher bandwidth), also storing frames and high q intermediate clips, you need very fast drives. The modern day graphics processors have become a lot more powerful, like more Cuda cores, multiple video accelerators for complicated formats, more compute capabilities etc.

 

Also mind the cooling,  modern CPU might require more of it to reach it's potential, even though more modern is quite more power per watt, in many cases.

 

A free, well known, very powerfull video transcoder is "ffmpeg", which I use (mainly on Linux, but it runs on windows or if you prefer powershell or Cygwin or even linux for windows) for trans-coding to a format Resolve reads with the free Linux version.

 

T.

 

[PaulArtola]

I produce all my Uncle Chrome videos using Cyberlink PowerDirector21. It is PC only, but I rely on its ScreenCapture program, to grab my video stems then edit in PD21. Comes with enough effects and features to keep me challenged.

 

- Paul "Uncle Chrome" Artola
  Ellicott City, Maryland

[Nathanael_I]

Davinci Resolve (paid version) here.  Love it.  Used to use Premiere, but Davinci is much faster, uses the hardware more efficiently, and has simple, effective workflows.

[LindseyNorman]

Adobe Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve, and HitFilm Express. These programs offer a wide range of features and capabilities, but they can be a bit on the expensive side. If you're looking for something more budget-friendly, you could check out programs like Shotcut or Movavi video editing software for pc, which are free to use. Now, in terms of stabilizing shaky footage, you're right that not all video editing programs have advanced tools for that. However, there are standalone software options specifically designed for stabilizing footage, like Mercalli and ProDRENALIN. These programs can help improve the quality of your shaky videos. Since you mentioned that video editing is just a hobby for you, you don't need to go overboard with your budget. Take your time to explore the programs you already have and see if they meet your needs. If you find yourself wanting more advanced features, then you can consider investing in other software.

[Anderton]

Something new in SSS!! A spam post that actually contains useful information. Thanks, "LindseyNorman."

 

You don't need to click on the link if you're concerned about tracking, just go directly to www.movavi.com. I've heard that it's actually a pretty good program, although I haven't tried it myself.

[Bill Heins]

I'm trying to get into DaVinci Resolve but it just seems alien to me after years of using Vegas...I have Vegas Post 20 right now. I will say Blackmagic Design does allow you to d/l a lot of written material which is a definite plus

 

Bill

[Theo Verelst]

My vegas experience is from long ago, so I can't reasonably compare. Resolve is a bit complex, depending on your prior knowledge it is logical and powerfull. Otoh just getting the color profiles right for timeline, monitoring and output requires work and adjustments, retiming has fair defaults but counts on pro thinking if you want to do something non-trivial. And not everything just works with the free version, like saving 4k HDR.

 

T

[harmonizer]

I have been using Corel Videostudio on my Windows PC since 2016 to edit the videos I post on youtube of our covers band. I combine the video footage captured from 2 or 3 mobile phones or tablets, crop the video footage as needed, sometimes tweak brightness/contrast/gamma, sync the video captured from the multiple devices with each other, figure out when I want to switch camera views, and then overlay the audio mix made separately from the audio captured on my Zoom L20 multitrack recorder.

 

I chose Corel VideoStudio back in 2016 because it was relatively cheap, and I did not know enough about video editing to make an informed choice. It was probably worth the money I payed for it, and for the one upgrade I purchased for it since then. It is usable for me, but it certainly has its quirks. I follow certain habits to avoid problems in VideoStudio, and as a result I can't remember exactly what all its quirks are. Sometimes the audio-based sync of video footage captured from multiple cameras does not work properly, and I instead have to perform manual shifting or truncation of one or more video files to get them synced properly.

 

I would consider switching to some other video editing software (for Windows). There is an isolated cover video I am making of an old Chicago song, and it's going to be displaying either 9 or 10 tiles at the same time, and I'm not sure if Corel VideoStudio is the best thing to make that final version. Every other video I have made using VIdeoStudio has NOT had tiles - instead those videos show one view at a time, showing either the entire band or just a few players in the view. I'm still waiting for my son to record the trombone part, and I'm not sure when that will get done. I did prepare a draft in VideoStudio showing 9 tiles with one of them blank, and the result is kind of basic and I'm not sure if basic is a good thing or not. 

[Theo Verelst]

It's not always clear what various packages can do, how hard it is and what the resulting quality is gong to be.

 

For Standard Definition TV, you want different tools than for a 4k quality movie, for normal youtube flicks the required processing power and monitoring accuracy is far from a high bandwidth HDR master piece.

 

There can be special effects you're looking for, tracking objects, magical objects disappearing or drawn in, layer combinations, or even 3D scene inclusion for animation. I do not know how other packages developed in all these areas, DaVinci generally is pretty good.

 

I like Cinelerra  which I've decades ago started to use, it allowed accurate HD datapath, some unique plugins, interesting compatibility range of file formats, though only basic graphics card processing power. Open Source and free.

 

T

[Mike Martin]

On 8/16/2023 at 2:10 PM, Anderton said:

I use Magix Vegas Pro (formerly from Sony, and before that, from Sonic Foundry). People say Resolve is better, but Vegas started as an audio competitor to Pro Tools way back when, so it has solid audio editing capabilities, can load VST plugins, and is very much like working with a video DAW. It's not perfect, but there's a free trial, and subscription or purchase options. Magix also makes Movie Studio, which is a more consumer-oriented version that might be better for what you want. The Magix video software is Windows-only.

 

Just remember that video is hard on computers. What works well for audio may be marginal for video, depending on how complex your productions are.

 

 

 

I was a die-hard Vegas user. I worked at Sonic Foundry back in the day so it was hard not to like Vegas. So I had 15+ years invested in Vegas. I used to use Bootcamp on my Mac just to keep using Vegas. I used it a while after the Magix acquisition, then I tried DaVinci Resolve. Yes, Video is hard on computers but the first thing you'll notice with Davinci is that your project is rendering in mere minutes not an hour. Although the transition was a little tricky at first, everything I've done in the last several years has been with Davinci Resolve and I can't imagine going back. Only after using it for free for a couple years did I pay for the Studio version. Add the amount of great tutorial content on Youtube you'll be up and running quickly.  It's FREE, try it.

[Anderton]

Thanks, Mike. At the moment I can't fathom learning a new video program, I'm learning Bitwig Studio and FL Studio - both enormously fun and interesting programs, but also quite deep. Resolve is definitely on my to-do list, but as long as the videos I'm doing are short (social media) and for my own music, I don't need to go beyond where I am now...at least, I don't think so...