video manipulation

[Victor Hen]

What software is available for video manipulation? I would like to be able to take two home videos and place people from one video into the second video.

[thecoalman]

That's impossible (unless you want to spend the next century doing it) without shooting it with a solid background color.

That being said you would need a good editor such as Ulead Media Studio Pro, Adobe Premier or Sony Vegas.

Edit: unless you want to do it with a static image.

[Victor Hen]

Remember "Star Wars Kid". Several people took an original home movie and doctored it up. It was quite entertaining and some of the videos that were manipulated were very creative. I was just wondering if there was some software made for that purpose (video manipulation). Most of what I have found deals with adding menus, splicing two films together, adding music, etc.

[guns1inger]

You need to look at compositing software. Something that supports spline masks would be best. At the lower end, you could look at After Effects or Combustion. At the higher end you have Shake (if you run a Mac or Linux), Digital Fusion (my personal favourite) or Nuke. Goig up beyond that is the likes of Inferno, which requires custom hardware and serious $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

While I think Coalman is being a bit negative in saying it is impossible, it is not easy, and requires a lot of patience.

[lordsmurf]

Adobe Premiere + After Effects for PC or Mac
Final Cut Pro for Mac
Avid for PC or Mac
Vegas Video for PC

Pick one. Work great.