My dad.. and his first steps into editing and converting..

[ByronFortescue]

Hey,

My dad has recently bought the new Canon FS100 camcorder, and he seems very content with it..
Now, as it is his first digital cam, he doesn't possess a lot of knowledge about digital editing and converting/outputting.
I do have this knowledge, but since I am a Mac user most of the time, and he works on a Windows PC, I cannot share my knowledge about all the stuff for Mac, since I don't know what there is and what's good or not on the Windows platform..
The cam came with ImageMixer SE or something, prolly software made by Canon themselves..
It's decent, but a bit weird sometimes and rather sluggish (when moving the playhead and in/out markers for instance), and since he has a fairly decent pc and videocard (should be better then my Mac, and my mac seems to eat that footage raw) I was wondering if there maybe is a better alternative for a newbie, which works easy and responsive (I'm talking iMovie '08 responsive)..
Besides that, the only option for outputting from this software is the same res as the original footage was in, which means gigantic files.. This is fine, if you're making a DVD, but not so when you want to upload your movie to YouTube or Vimeo.

So, two questions:

- Which Windows compatible editing software do you recommend for a newbie editor and which is responsive and rather simple to use, but has the basic functionality in it (standard but decent transitions (no weird bs) and maybe even multiple outputting options..
- If the editing software can't output in multiple formats, which conversion program is easy and simple to understand for a newbie, and has maybe options like on a Mac, just small, medium and large or something (like for iPod or AppleTV or YouTube)..

Thanks in advance! Hope to get some good recommendations..

Cheers,

Jesse//

[sherman39]

I use Ulead Videostudio 11.5+ and believe it offers good value and functionallity for a modestly priced video editor that is comparativelyy"easy" to learn.

I do not know what format your fathers camera records in but there is a downloadable (is that a word) try before you buy version which, although it is not the latest version will hopefully give a reasonable idea of its functionality.
Incidentally version 12 has recently been released in Japan so it would probably be worthwhile waiting untill that is available worldwide before purchasing, assuming the trial version gives a good impression.

There is also a very helpfull user to user forum dedicated to ulead products.

I assume your father/you have looked at Windows Movie Maker that comes free with XP and Vista.

Regards

[ByronFortescue]

I use Ulead Videostudio 11.5+ and believe it offers good value and functionallity for a modestly priced video editor that is comparativelyy"easy" to learn.

I do not know what format your fathers camera records in but there is a downloadable (is that a word) try before you buy version which, although it is not the latest version will hopefully give a reasonable idea of its functionality.
Incidentally version 12 has recently been released in Japan so it would probably be worthwhile waiting untill that is available worldwide before purchasing, assuming the trial version gives a good impression.

There is also a very helpfull user to user forum dedicated to ulead products.

I assume your father/you have looked at Windows Movie Maker that comes free with XP and Vista.

Regards

Thanks for the reply.. Yes, a check out of Ulead seems like a good idea.. And Windows Movie Maker.. brrrr..

The cam saves files with .mod extensions (but are actually just .mpeg files)..

[sherman39]

Your welcome.

Not sure if Videostudio 11 recognizes .mod files. in their original format
It occurs to me that you may need to convert/re-label .mod files to mpg before importing into videstudio but as there is a free trial download it will cost nothing to experiment.

Although I use the ulead product Pinnacle studio 11 is another reasonably priced editor that is worth a look at. As far as I know they also have a trial of an earlier version 10 as a free download. Your father may just prefer its interface. That said a common complaint about the Pinnacle product is the tendency to charge for add-ons that are included with the likes of Ulead.
Cyberlink Power Director is another similar product at a reasonable price.

Regards