software recommendations

[deftones]

hi,

im new here and i need your help guys,
i recently got into video editing for recreational purposes.
anyway, i want my videos to look somewhat professional,
some of the things i want:
- to be able to split screen in half or fourths and play seperate vids in each
- to cut out frames efficiently and make clips have a stop motion feel
- to import a transparant strip and place text over it

i just need something versatile (better than movie maker)
any suggestions are appreciated, thanks.

[guns1inger]

Most decent editors will do this type of thing for you. I like Vegas, some like Premiere. Both have consumer versions (Movie Studio and Elements respectively) and both can do most of what you want.

The only one I would question is the fake stop motion feel, which would not be done in your editor alone, but takes a combination of how you film the footage, as well as how you process it afterward.

My recommendation would be that you download the trial versions of both of these tools and see what suits your needs and way of working.

Other options include VideoStudio (Corel) and Pinnacle Studio

[deftones]

ah ok, thanks.
i guess ill look into those 4 programs.
edit: is focusing done with the camera or software?
example - focusing in on a person/blur background, vice versa and person blurs while background stands out

[guns1inger]

A focus pull should ideally be done in camera. It is generally far easier and optically more convincing.

It can be done in post production, but it involves moving masks and mattes, and it does not look as smooth or convincing. Anime often use techniques like this to add fake focus pulls. There is always something not quite right about the results.

That said, consumer cameras usually don't have the depth of field required to get convincing, long depth focus pulls anyway.