Technical question for our community – video editing

General16

I hate to take attention away from the fantastic conversation going on below, but I wanted to reach out to you for some insight.

Please recognize that I am a complete novice with most computer items, particularly items of the multimedia genre. So, you may need to be a tad more simplistic and detailed in your replies — can you offer ANY advice related to digital video editing?

Basically, I have multiple digital video files from various sources and I would like to take a stab at EASILY cutting and editting it into videos for the internet. Additionally, I would like to be able to easily overlay voice/audio into the final files. Can you share anything about software packages that could help with this?

Of course, there is a preference for FREE (basic) programs…but, I would be willing to pay for the right package if it is worth it. Any little tips or advice would also be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much for your time!

– SFN

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

General

16 Responses to Technical question for our community – video editing

  1. spnee 02/23/2009 at 5:46 PM #

    Have you tried windows movie maker? I believe it comes with most Windows systems. Also Adobe Premiere seems to have a free trial though I do not know what it entails. (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/)

  2. DCStateFAn 02/23/2009 at 6:01 PM #

    If you have access to a MAC, iMovie would be a nice solution for you. It’s rather intuitive and simple but still powerful enough to accomplish your listed goals.

  3. turnoffthetv 02/23/2009 at 6:13 PM #

    I have used windows movie maker, pinnacle studio, and showbiz dvd. Showbiz was absolutely the easiest to use. pinnacle didnt cost that much($50 or so) and was also fairly simple to use and will do the most as far as simple and advanced editing. Showbiz came free with a printer I purchased. Windows movie maker comes free with windows. Also I think imovie comes free if u have a MAC. I have heard some good things about Adobe Premier Elements(In fact there used to be a trial version on youtube I think).

    Simple stuff like you are talking about— windows movie maker will probably work and it is free as well. Either that or like I say I think you can do some editing within youtube after you upload your video. I havent messed with video editing in a while so a lot has probably changed and gotten even easier. Hope this helps.

  4. turnoffthetv 02/23/2009 at 6:24 PM #

    I remember that Pinnacle had an Auto Movie feature that really produced some cool movies. You could easily add your photos and video clips and audio and boom, it would take all of it and put it together real nice. Windows Movie Maker will do this too I think but the final result wasnt as good IMO. Find something that it easy to use and that will easily produce auto movies because Manually trying to add this and that yourself on a video timeline can get very time consuming and stressful.

  5. Jamie 02/23/2009 at 7:04 PM #

    I bought a Pinnacle Studio Movieboard for my PC (I think it was around 60 bucks) with RCA inputs so that I could import old home videos,that came with Pinnacle Movie Maker. I consider myself a novice also, but found it very easy to use. You can put transition effects from pictures to videos, all set to any type of audio file you choose.

  6. LRM 02/23/2009 at 7:06 PM #

    You should look into what GoPack.com does. It’s like Silicon Valley over there.

  7. StateFans 02/23/2009 at 7:43 PM #

    ^LOL

    For the record, it would be for Windows.

  8. terry gannon 02/23/2009 at 8:13 PM #

    I’m also very much a novice at video editing but I recently made a video for the family pulling some YouTube stuff as well as a home video file and pictures for the family. I used Windows Movie Maker since it came with my laptop. Being the first time I had EVER done it, it was reasonably easy to figure out. I took the YouTube clips and trimmed them down the way I wanted them and it was very easy. I also pulled a lot of my mp3 songs to run over the video portions. It definitely took some trial and error, but overall it wasn’t bad. Again, I’ve only done a couple of projects so I am definitely no expert, but if you use Windows Movie Maker, I’d be happy to share what little I know if you want to e-mail me.

  9. Alpha Wolf 02/23/2009 at 8:25 PM #

    Premiere Elements would be my first recommendation.

  10. Sw0rdf1sh 02/24/2009 at 8:22 AM #

    ^^^Same here with Premiere Elements.

  11. PackBacker001 02/24/2009 at 8:53 AM #

    Camtasia is great, too.

  12. mushpack 02/24/2009 at 9:07 AM #

    Check out Motionbox.com.

    It allows you to upload multiple formats, make quick edits using the “mixer” and then export the video as a mp4. It also allows you to stream/embed video directly from their site and will allow you to archive our videos in one location.

    This tool is easy to use and all video all the time. If you want to add images or music to your vids, go in another direction. If you want a quick and easy editing tool. This is the best I’ve found.

  13. StateFans 02/24/2009 at 9:12 AM #

    ^ That is interesting. If that tool is so versatile, could one put the video together with that tool and then use a different tool to overlay audio?

    This is all very helpful. Thanks

  14. wpackman33 02/24/2009 at 9:52 AM #

    I’m not sure if you have access to a mac or PC but as DCStatefan said, using imovie on a mac is very easy. and as far as a voice/audio overlay, its just a click and a drag on your mouse. You can choose any songs that you have in your itunes library. Its very easy to edit too. But of course this is all with a mac, and if you are using a PC, than just ignore this message 🙂

    GO STATE!!!

  15. WW 02/24/2009 at 11:09 AM #

    Jumpcut.com is an online option. Not sure if they offer voice-over. Are these NCSU videos? If so, you could create a YouTube channel that readers could subscribe to, similar to the SFN RSS feed.

  16. packfanstk 02/26/2009 at 11:49 AM #

    I do it for a living, but you probably don’t want to pay my daily rate. 😉

    I hate how my very select professional skill has been somewhat democratized by software like imovie and WMM. They’re very low end and fairly featureless compared to say, Avid Media Composer. But now everybody’s an “editor.” ARGH.

Leave a Reply