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  1. I will try to be succinct however I do not know video jargon.

    I have home videos (.mpg4 and .mov) . . . I want to simply cut out trivial segments . . . and then save to a DVD . . . and upload to blog (just my family blog post).

    For me, Windows Movie Maker is very simply and I can quickly "trim out" and save the movie. HOWEVER the playback on DVD or even an emailed version is terrible.


    I tried Avidemux but its not as easy as WMM.

    I don't mind buying a program . . . . it just has to be easy!

    AND !!!! just tell me what settings to use


    I BEG of you! Please help this stay-at-home mom.


    I can follow instructions REALLY well.
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  2. Hi Mom.

    Though you didn't specify, I'm going to assume your mp4s and movs are high definition.

    A step up from windows movie maker would be something like Vegas Movie Studio or Premiere Elelments or Pinnacle 17. (Personally I would encourage Vegas Movie Studio, it's well thought out and can usually be found at a discount for around $40.)

    You will be able to output your blog/online version directly from any of them -- they all have presets that are decent as starting points and can be tweaked as your discernment and ambition grow. They all have free trials

    As for making a DVD, which is always standard def and therefore not as sharp, there is a good free tool available here called AVStoDVD, you can learn more about it and download it by clicking on its highlighted name in this post. Sony's DVD Architect I find more difficult than necessary (though by no means unnavigable.) If you want to take a step up, I would recommend TMPGenc Authoring Works, not as cheap but well-designed and reliable. Again, all the paid software have free trials.

    The paid software will also output Blu Ray if quality is paramount.

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by smrpix; 5th Apr 2014 at 10:38.
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  3. Yes, the video is HD. So in my mind I had it backwards regarding the reason I'm getting blurry rainbow effects on the final "movie".

    In my mind I was thinking that the original HD movie was like a 5 gallon bucket of water, trying to be poured into a 1 gallon milk jug therefore NO distortion would resort since it's going into a smaller container . . . BUT if original movie was standard def and I was trying to save it to a blue ray, then distortion would result because you would be starting out with a 1 gallon jug of water (movie) but trying to fill the space of a 5 gallon bucket (blue ray) therefore more water (filler) would have to be added.

    I bet you've never had THAT analogy.

    Love,
    Mom
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  4. Yeah, that's the basic idea.

    When you're downconverting the software is looking at each molecule of H2O and guessing that some of them are HO , some are H1.5O, some are H2 and some are normal, so you're getting distortion (rainbows, etc) that way. Upconverting it's looking at steam and trying to figure out how to duplicate and stack the molecules to make water.

    Yours is definitely more poetic.
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  5. Dear Smrpix, thank you sooo much for taking the time to answer my question!

    HaHaHaHa!!! No one has ever called me poetic!

    I see references to Vegas Movie Studio quite often so I will take your word for it and try it out.


    Another question, what if I don't want to make a DVD but simply send a video (via DropBox) or upload it into a blog . . . after I do simple edits such as cutting out boring chit-chat I'm always confused as to which option to "save as". Do I choose x264 ????

    WMM ask do you want to save it to computer / email / etc etc.

    I don't know! I just want to save the blasted thing as the same quality as was orginally taken by video camera.



    Dear Tech People,

    You could make MILLIONS of dollars if you would write software for us non-techie people. For instance, have drop down menus choices that say . . . to save video for website blog that no one is going to read anyway "choose a" . . . to save video to email to Aunt Jan "choose b" . . . to save video to make a dvd "choose c" . . . . we don't know what bit-rate and frames and encoding and decoding and and and and . . .


    For the love of God and all the universe, our original home movie was perfect however we just want to cut out Uncle Frank's endless ramblings about his hip!!! We moms need SIMPLE. Treat us like first graders, it won't hurt our feelings, REALLY!!!
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