[jimtyp]

I'm looking for video editing software recommendations. Something fairly easy to use.

Main items interested in:
- remove a series of frames from a video -basically just to shorten it, but would like to be able to cut out of the middle too.

- combine different video clips of the same loco that were taken at different angles
- add text before and after video
- add text to a series of frames
- add music
- publish to youtube

 

[KVBarkley]

Mac or PC?

iMovie on the mac will do this. You may already have it. iMovie HD will give you the most control, the new iMovie 09 is easier to use.

 

[jimtyp]

PC - windows xp, but maybe time to get a Mac

 

[artgibson]

Pinnacle Studio 11 and now 12 will do it. Windows movie maker wwill do a pretty good job as well.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

I use Windows Movie Maker, and if you have XP, you already have it.

 

[JEFF RUNGE]

If you have a few minutes go to www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/ watch the demo movies this will give you a good idea how it works with a Mac. imovie 09 is an even better version and iLife 09 will only set you back $79.00

 

[Pete Thornton]

Something fairly easy to use


I use Pinnacle Studio, which my kids bought me a few years ago after some heavy hinting. It comes with a video interface with both S-video, uSB and RCA ports, so you can plug in a new digital camera or a very old VCR. I used it to digitize a bunch of old 8mm VCR tapes plus a couple of VHS tapes.

Nowadays I use my pocket canon camera to take video when I'm around and about. The following was taken last weekend. I added the title over a photo/JPG, added the sound on the titles (an old MPG file of a whistle,) faded the title into the movie, cut out the boring middle bit and then faded the front to black to the back, plus faded out the end.

 

[benbailey50]

Good Morning.

The program/software that I use and would recommend is Pinnacle Studio version 12. Pinnacle studio has quite a number of interesting features wich I like.

Ben.

 

[George Schreyer]

Yep, it's time to get a Mac. You'll never look back.

 

[lathroum]

I use Microsoft Movie Maker...

it comes free with XP... and there are lots of free plugins and extras available on the net...

its not the best, but... ITS FREE...

see this video below I did for the school where I work...

I faded, added text, cut, spliced, added sounds (our bells don't sound that good they were overdubbed)

not too bad and its fairly easy to use...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhWaeET_Pdk

sorry, don't have any good train videos... the plywood express is not ready for prime time yet...

Philip

 

[GnTRailroad]

I have used DVD complete and ShowBiz to do my video editing the only problem with ShowBiz is it is a memory hog and takes a reboot to free memory but it is a older version.

 

[CCSII]

Mac - iMovie


Hard to beat. 

 

[Tom Bray]

You can build a decent video with just about any software on any platform (I haven't figured out how to do it on Linux but I am still trying). It starts with getting good footage, if you have that, life gets much easier. If you are going for professional results, stay away from fancy effects, the pros cut straight from one scene to the next but you don't notice it.


The least amount of effort and most professional results always seems to revolve around the Mac. The basic IMovie has been great since it came into being. IDVD is also a great package. For the more serious there are now two flavors of Final Cut which allows you to do just about anything you can imagine.

I have one of the Sony packages on my PC but I have yet to really give it a serious test drive. My old G4 Mac with an older copy of Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro does all I seem to need, it has been running for 10 years now. When it finally dies I may be stuck and have to upgrade to new equipment but for now the cost isn't justified and it would take money out of the train fund.


I have used what is now Sony software on PCs for ages, mostly audio editing, their software has always worked for me.

If you need to do serious fixes on a frame by frame basis, a copy of Photoshop is invaluable ... I recently found a new copy of CS4 (not a student version) very reasonably priced on the web (I think it came from Amazon or one of its suppliers).


Tom Bray

 

[Dennis Cherry]

Check out my Videos using Windows Movie Maker, The Video and music separate and added together synced my moving the audio part. You can add all the test you want and chop sections out of the video.

Not the riches in features but has the basics most of use will only use.

 

[rsmproductions]

I use Sony Vegas. I have found it works extremely well and have hardly had any issues. It has it's own built in video capture software so I just hook up my video camera directly to the computer and begin downloading clips. A bit pricier than others but well worth it if you plan to expand in to larger projects with family stuff, etc. I use it in my classroom where my kids produce little music videos and I can quickly teach them some basics of video editing.

My wife and I used another editing software mentioned in this thread but came away very dissapointed especially with longer videos. A lite version came with her computer and although the transitions and ease of use was very nice we had problems at the time of rendering. I won't publicly name it but can shoot you an emal if you want to know. Our main disapointment came on a family event video about 12 minutes into the movie. We found out of sync issues started occuring every 12 minutes making family event videos a disaster. And it seemed about every 11 - 12 minutes it would get worse.

It was suggested by a distant relative to move to Sony Vegas and although the initial learning curve was steep it didn't take vey long to get the hang of things. We were able to correct the OS issues in the family video and everyone was very happy.

Good luck!

Richard

 

[rockymtnrr]

I use Nero Vision, a program which comes with Nero 8 on my PC with XP Professional OS. I have been doing Basketball Videos of my Grandson and editing Team Highlight DVD's and Individual DVD's for star players to send to colleges for the past three years. Unfortunately during this time I haven't been doing much railroading/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif. I also have Pinnacle 11 on my computer but find it more difficult to use. When a lot of editing is needed the Nero Movie Maker program is simple to use and easy to add story lines, music etc. I have experimented with Windows Movie Maker but return to Nero due to its ease of use. I guess it's what you're used to and comfortable with.
For conversion of old tapes to DVD, I have a set up using a Liteon DD-A510 which is connected to the TV, a VHS player and a Sony Video 8 player. Old VHS or Video 8 tapes can be re-recorded on a DVD+RW then imported into Nero on my PC to be edited. I can also burn directly off the TV to record special sporting events.
I hope this is useful as another point of view as to editing software. Very inexpensive and easy to use.
Bill