Advice for a Beginner Creating a Web Video

Hi,

I just bought a Sony HD cam and I want to create some videos for my website. What kind of editing software would you recommend for a beginner? Any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

I just have to subscribe as well. I have Ulead, Adobe Audition 2.0, Blaze Media Pro and Easy FX Editor - I have yet to figure this out myself. I have a 1G file that my roommate wanted me to see if I could edit for him (it was on his trip to Puerto Vallarta and of us swinking through the trees )

I have tried editing it with all of these and still I have no idea. It was a VOB file and I did convert it to a MPG but maybe some others will share their experience as well

 

I've been reading a lot about Power Director and would love to know if anyone has had any experience with that. Seems to be the way to go for beginners looking for ease of use.

 

If your going to be uploading HD Videos to your website, try get some software that can compress it. =)

 

I found Pinnacle Studio to be the easiest to learn, however it seems even after paying $100+ for the best version they still try to charge you additionally for every little extra (and often needed) feature after you install it. On top of that, it's quite buggy (freezes etc). Really could be great, maybe the versions above 9 are better now. I've tried Ulead and didn't care for it much, Windows Media Maker and it's too simple, and Adobe Premier which is way to complicated. Still searching for something like Pinnacle that's easy to use but more featured and less buggy.

 

I definitely will be putting on my web site so yes I'll have to do that. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Thanks for the advice. I've been reading a lot of reviews and it seems many of the complaints are that these programs are often buggy...is this because these programs are generally resource hogs?

Thanks for the advice.

 

I use Pinnacle Studio 10.7 myself for my home movies and aside from the "extras" that they try to get you to buy, I really like it. It does great for my home movie needs. My neighbor, on the other hand, who does video editing for a living, uses Adobe Premeire Pro. Quite expensive but really cool. I cant afford something like that so the $100.00 Pinnacle is just right for me.

I also found that if it seems to get "skippy", I just stretch the time line out a bit.

Just my 2 cents but it works just fine for me.

 

i kind of prefer sony vegas which is great for amateur-level web videos. However, if you want to do professional work, nothing beats adobe premier. While saying this, it does have a hefty price tag.

 

Did you find it to be buggy like mdvaldosta did?

 

I have not had any problems with it. The only problems that I have encountered were with it "skipping" and not keeping up with the sound. This happened on my old computer that was low on ram (512k) and short on storage space. When this did happen, I simply streched the time line and all was fine. I have not had any ptoblems with it on my new computer as it is set for ram (2 gig) and storage (250 gig). I would love to have Adobe Premier but I think it needs 2 monitors. My vid card only supports 1 monitor.

 

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

Your welcome. I never would have upgraded from ver 9 to 10 if I wasn't satisfied. I have to be able to justify the expence with my family. Good luck.

 

don't make the files too big, the bigger the file the less popular it will be because of loading time and bandwidth issues.

 

Hi,

Start with Windows Media Maker it's easy for simple videos

I stopped using my pro software Adobe Premiere and using Maker for youtube and goolge uploads.

It has important feature you can use maximum size.

With google and youtube you have max 100mb so it's very handy

Simple cut frond end

super your URL lower third

Everything thing you need

I don't think wen is ready for HD

Keep your videos away from your servers.

When I started streaming in 98 my domains where gone because of bandwith

Now hosting charge your credit card

That's why you see people crying on the forums with up to $1000 invoices for a month.

Mike

 

If you have the money Sorenso is very flexible, easy to use and powerful.
Expensive though $700+

 

MPEG Wizard is a great tool.

Cheap and easy to use.

 

If you have an HD camera the question is do you plan to deliver HD video to your audience?

If so, you'll need the HD editions of some software.

I use Adobe Premiere but most of my friends in the production world are on Macs and use Final Cut Pro HD. I read the entire thread and can't tell which platform you are on - Windows or Mac?

I agree with others that you'll want to compress your files with a high quality codec. I'd also agree that if you can output your videos in the latest release of Flash you'll end up with a very good blend of file size and quality.

But high quality in HD (high definition in case anyone did not know) will take up massive amounts of computer memory, storage and render time as you edit, to say nothing of the file size, even compressed, of the final videos.

You may be fine with digitizing at standard DV resolution and concentrating on keeping the quality high through the post production (editing) of your video all the way through compression and format (flash, wmv, mov, mpg, etc.)

Good luck!

 

yeah i suggest Sorenso for high quality stuff but pinnacle is the next best pick

 

Just an update, thanks for everyone's help. It turns out I went to the Affiliate Summit in Vegas shortly after I posted this question and just happened to get Pinnacle for free when I visited the OneNetwork Direct booth. Sweet!

I love it and it's just what I needed. Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Now I need to get that compression software.