Video Editing Software

[Master Yoda]

Morning guys and gals! I am in desperate need some recommendations for video editing software. My wife recently got me a Cannon VIXIA and the only software I have is what came with it. Like most free software it is worth exactly what I paid for it. It would be fine if all I wanted to do was post video to youtube but it really seems to lack in editing features and saving the video to your typical formats (mp4, mov, wma, etc.)

What I am looking is some software that will make downloading the mts files from my memory card, trimming the video length, adjusting sound if needed, doing some minor cuts and then uploading to youtube and saving as a high quality format an easy process. I do not intend to make video production a major hobby or profession (ie I have no intention of becoming Martin 2.0) I just want a simple way to make park videos presentable.

I am currently using 1.6 dual core PC with XP and with any luck I will be upgrading to a considerably more powerful PC running Win 7 by the end of the year. So far I have been looking at Cyberlink Power Director Deluxe, Roxio, Adobe, Corel and Sony Vegas. I am leaning toward Cyberlink and Roxio because they appear to be much easier to use.

 

[Number_6]

I used to have the Roxio Media Creator, I think it was called. I enjoyed it and it was fairly easy to use and understand. I've changed computers a couple of times since the time I owned it. I always meant to go back to get a new copy, but I keep forgetting since I don't do a whole lot with it.

 

[tizzo]

<snip>

So far I have been looking at Cyberlink Power Director Deluxe, Roxio, Adobe, Corel and Sony Vegas. I am leaning toward Cyberlink and Roxio because they appear to be much easier to use.

I recently picked up a copy of Cyberlink PD8 as a replacement for Pinnacle Studio. I've been using Studio for several version. It has always had some stability problems, and I got tired of upgrading over and over again, at $100+ a pop, only to find the problems not fixed and in some cases made worse. Studio also was an incomplete product. I bought the full version, only to learn that certain capabilities, such as the ability to decode DVD format video from my DVD recorder (!) were "extras" for which I had to buy additional components.

Alas, aside from being considerably cheaper, Cyberlink isn't much better. Stability is comparable to Studio, which is to say very poor. It's at least consistent, in that if something you do makes the software lock up, the same activity will make it lock up every time. As long as it's not something you need to do, that's a good thing.

Support is a little better with Cyberlink - almost nil instead of just nil. Ordinarily repeatability of a particular problem would be a good thing, because it helps tech support if you can provide a scenario that they can use to reproduce the problem. Tech support did not really make any attempt to reproduce any of the problems I reported, however, instructing me to do things like replace my video card or uninstall other software from my computer.

In their defense, I'll say that some of this is surely Windows-related. Based on research I did trying to fix these problems on my own, I've learned that Windows (at least as of XP) tries to centralize access to certain services, particularly with respect to multimedia content. Video codecs are one example. Programs that use these codecs, including Studio, Cyberlink, and probably just about all others in this class, rely on Windows to provide them. This means that a codec installed by one piece of software really can affect the operation of another. I had a similar problem trying to use Google's Picasa photo software, which also handles some video formats. It runs a scanning daemon to populate it's database with metadata extracted from your photos and videos, and evidently uses codecs it gets from Windows to extract the metadata. When I got my Kodak Zx1 pocket video camera (similar to a Mino Flip), it came with software which I installed. The software included a codec of some kind that didn't work. Once that software was installed, the scanning feature on Picasa would crash every time it tried to process any video file. There was no way to fix it other than to remove the Kodak software (which, by the way, was no big loss).

Anyway, I'm getting a bit off topic. What's relevant to you is that I've only used Cyberlink and Pinnacle. Between the two, Pinnacle is a little more functional and a little more complicated to use, and a whole lot more expensive. Cyberlink is a little more simplified (which means fewer choices but also less work) and is considerably cheaper. They also have a downloadable free trial version, good I think for 30 days, which I'd recommend you try before buying anything. Most of my problems with Cyberlink have to do with DVD authoring. If you're not doing that, give Cyberlink a few points.

Cyberlink also has integration with YouTube. Though I haven't tried it, from looking at the UI it looks very simple. You don't need to figure out what format to encode to, nor do you have to save the output file locally and then log into YouTube and upload it. You choose YouTube as your project type, the options you're given will be limited to those suitable for YouTube, and I believe you can even provide your login credentials and upload right from within the app. There's at least one other video-enabled web community supported as well - I want to say Facebook but I'm not certain.

 

[diddy_mouse]

I've dappled in video editing for the past few years and I have come to love Pinnacle. I did obtain it through -- unconventional methods (i.e. the internet) but it works very, very well and it's easy to use. Currently I'm using Pinnacle Ultimate Studio 14 and I've put together short 10min videos as well as my epic hour and a half long WDW vacation video with no real issues. The nice thing about Pinnacle is it's a drag and drop format, which was similar to another program I was using (whose name escapes me...)

 

[tizzo]

I've dappled in video editing for the past few years and I have come to love Pinnacle. I did obtain it through -- unconventional methods (i.e. the internet) but it works very, very well and it's easy to use. Currently I'm using Pinnacle Ultimate Studio 14 and I've put together short 10min videos as well as my epic hour and a half long WDW vacation video with no real issues. The nice thing about Pinnacle is it's a drag and drop format, which was similar to another program I was using (whose name escapes me...)

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but I'm curious about Pinnacle. I'm currently on Studio 11 I think. I upgraded from 10 because of reliability issues, and 11 was no better. What I remember reading at their support forum at the time indicated that I was not alone in that assessment. It was because of this that I decided to forgo upgrading to 12 and 13, and I didn't even notice when 14 came out.

What I'm wondering is how you find the reliability to be (IE does it ever crash or lock up on you). I'd be most interested in how 14 compares to older versions - especially 11 - if you happen to have used it across multiple versions.