Which video software; Sony Vegas, Adobe Elements, etc. do you recommend?

[perkinscl]

I recently bought a Sony Camcorder w/ mini-dv and have started to dabble with video editing.

In my first attempt at turning a couple of dv tapes into a dvd that can be played on a stand-alone player w/ chapters, etc., it came out pretty well, but the process was very painful due to the software I used or have; Nero Vision Express 3. I found it to be difficult to use and buggy. In a nutshell, it made me want to get violent with my computer.

I've lurked on this site for a number of years now and have learned a lot, but now ask for some advice on upgrading my software.

I'm willing to spend $100 + or -.

It looks like the optiions are:
Vegas Movie Studio
Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0
Ulead Video Studio 10
Pinnacle Studio 10

I realize I can and probably should try the trial version of each software, but I thought I would ask the forum for advice first.

Thanks!

[robertazimmerman]

Premiere Elements (NOT Photoshop Elements)

Roberta

[ozymango]

Of the four programs you listed, I think that any of the first three (Vegas, Premiere Elements, and Ulead) are mechanically and technically good programs that will give you quality results; they all have a different "feel" so you'll need to try to see what "flows" best for you. Also there's the full-blown Vegas and there's Vegas Movie Studio, a "lighter" version that may be more directly comparable to Elements and Video Studio, you might wanna check that out.

I don't hate Pinnacle stuff, but I've had enough consistent headaches with any of their video editors that I can't really recommend them to others.

As for turning the edited video into a DVD -- I've not found an editor yet that authored DVDs to my satisfaction, i.e. I need more features than the built-in DVD creating options allow, for various reasons.

[GMaq]

Hi,
Save some money and headaches, check out Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD www.womble.com. It is well worth looking at and is stable as a rock, it is constantly being improved and exports to avi and MPEG-4 as well as DVD, and they are extremely generous with upgrades unlike Adobe.

[kevo777]

As I have no experience with it, I'll ask. The name "MPEG Video Wizard DVD" implies that it only imports MPEG files. Is this indeed true? If so, are there plug-ins or what not that can diversify acceptable input formats? perkinscl did specify using DV tapes. Can these be dropped into the Womble application directly?

[GMaq]

Hi,
MVWDVD will import anything you have the codec support for, the name is because when it first came out it was one of the few video editors that would not re-render MPEG files that you imported, other than rewriting a few GOPs where you had transitions or titles it simply copied your MPEG source without re-encoding, this of course is prevalent in other programs now but at the time was rare.

[A_51]

I recomend Magix movie edit pro. It is very intuitive, easy to follow and you can probably find it for about $35 to $50. Check the reviews on the tool section or on the net.

[ozymango]

I also cannot live without my copy of Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD. I upgraded from the non-DVD version and don't do any authoring with the program, but for MPEG editing it's fabulous, easy to use, very fast, only re-encodes when absolutely necessary, and did I mention I can't live without it?

[edDV]

Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD has it's place for editing MPeg2 but the OP has a DV camcorder and wants to edit DV format.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Premiere Elements, Vegas Movie Studio and Ulead Video Studio each have upgrade paths to well regarded higher prosumer versions based on the same code.

Pinnacle Studio was a separate acquisition (different company) than Pinnacle's higher end Liquid (different company yet) and doesn't share code or user interface with other Pinnacle (or Avid) products. There is no upgrade extension for consumer targeted Studio.

[BJ_M]

try out the demos for Premiere Elements, Vegas Movie Studio and Ulead Video Studio ... all have a lot of good features and are a GREAT value ....

[perkinscl]

Thanks everyone for the insight. Everyone seems to agree that MPEG Video Wizard is good, so I may start there.

Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD has it's place for editing MPeg2 but the OP has a DV camcorder and wants to edit DV format

I do have Nero Recode, so I assume that I could encode my DV with it and then edit w/ the Womble program.

The top 3 editors on this site seem to be Vegas, Premiere and Ulead. As suggested, I really need to trial each one (or maybe just one, if it fits my needs). I just kind of dread downloading each progam, learning and or banging head with it, then going on to the next program, mainly for the time consuption aspect. They are much worser things in life to worry about though! :P

I was really looking for a comparison between the 3, pros and cons of each, personal opinions, etc.

[BJ_M]

there have been many threads on this very subject (like this one https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=318768 )

a further search will turn up many more --

[GMaq]

Hi,
You could capture your DV with any app you like, Virtualdub is good as well or NeroVision Express, I wouldn't really suggest using Nero Recode to convert it to MPEG-2 though, MPEG Video Wizard has a good MPEG-2 Encoder built right in, so I would import your DV AVI, edit and apply any filters (MVW has great filters, transitions etc.) encode it to MPEG-2 and burn DVD. This isn't to take away from Adobe or Vegas etc. they are generally for the commercial professional market which is above the heads of most home video enthusiasts (including mine) they certainly all have their merits though.