Video Editing Software

S

SmoothOperator

Gold Member
I'm wondering if there is any consensus on Video Editing Software? I'm not super into movie editing(I don't even like movies), however I would like to put some reasonable visual effects out there with my videos. In the past I sort of kludged it together, but I think movie editing has come a long way, and there may be some nice editors out there.

The initial research I did, seems to indicate PowerDirector to be a contender, looks like it has nice automated green screen(static background removal) effects. Another one I have seen are After Effects, which seems to be a nice product for generating visuals from music.

They are never super clear about the license, it seems I have seen there is a monthly but also a one time fee.

I know it gets away from music, but the drums are some of the most visual of instruments.
 
I would recommend you take a serious look at the Adobe Premiere Pro Suite. A little over a decade ago most people in creative communities were using Final Cut Pro for digital editing. Those who were editing film were predominantly using AVID. When Apple turned its back on the very group that solidified it as the “go to” nonlinear digital editing platform, the FCP crowd jumped ship and switched to Adobe Premiere. If you’re in the position of paying a monthly subscription fee for the Adobe Cloud Suite it will do everything you want and then some. The big benefit is if you want to hand off your files for special effects or colorization it will be very easy to do so.
 
Vintage Old School said:
If you’re in the position of paying a monthly subscription fee for the Adobe Cloud Suite it will do everything you want and then some.
Click to expand...
If anyone is going to pay for advanced video software I would recommend Davinci Resolve...,,,which is also industry standard but FREE.
However I agree with the above, for simple social media videos something free and simple is absolutely the way to go.
 
Resolve is good and so too is Openshot. Try them both, they each have positives and negatives.
 
I use Powerdirector. Its pretty fkn good..and easy to learn. I have made a lot of $$ with that program. A lot!
Most of the "Pro" editors take a college degree to figure em out..or a scientist to decifer..just too complex..and a lot of stuff you dont need..and will never use..
 
For anything involved - like the music/performance videos on my YouTube channel - I use Final Cut Pro.

For smaller stuff, I've come to enjoy using Camtasia. Of which, I know I'm only scratching the surface - but it is really geared towards screen-capture and making quick social media type videos. For me it's sort if like the way I split my use between Photoshop and Apple Photos - anything involved, it's Photoshop all the way, but for cropping and basic color correction, etc - it's just quick and easy to do it Photos.

As far as industry trends go - which really shouldn't matter to anyone, unless their needs make it matter - since the move to FCP X, the world is divided between those that love and have embraced it's absolutely unique approach to editing and.... everyone. Avid has always owned and continues to own the bulk of the upper end - big project - business. Just as it does with ProTools. And those that don't dig the magnetic timeline of Final Cut moved to Adobe, but now as Chris mentioned the big move recently seems to be to DaVinci Resolve.

As for pricing, Davinci has a free version, but the real version is $295. Final Cut is a one-time $299. And Premiere Pro is $20.99 (and up if opting for the Creative Cloud package) I see that Camtasia is up to $299 for a perpetual (one-time) license - though I remember paying far less for it on a sale.

Can't disagree at all with trying things out, starting minimally and working up to getting something no more powerful than your needs.
 
Take a look at Shotcut (free, open source).
 
Davinci Resolve is complex, although I use about 10% of it's features and have been using it for probably ten years now, so I know what I'm doing. The free version gives you pretty much everything you need. Only the more whiz-bang fx and very professional features are added with the paid version.
 
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