Want to create my own professional movies...

[mrspangle]

Hi,

I want to get into making my own professional movies as im goingon holiday in 5 months and want to make a club scene dvd - in the end.

I have experimented with making adverts with Ulead products, but suspect i need something more professional. I have briefly looked into Adobe Premeire and thought it was a little difficult.

What do you use and could you give me any alternatives or examples of some movies you have made?

Thanks

John

[Thorn]

Unless you have some videography experience, I'd suggest getting a tripod or a very steady hand . I've made many home videos with my DV cam, and the biggest problem is my cameraman skills (lots of rapid movement, shaky hand when zooming, bad position to get audio with internal mic, etc).

Depending on how professional you mean to be, a good camera is important. My old Sharp DV cam doesn't have the best optics. Prosumer cams have three CCDs that give better performance, but they get into the several thousand dollar range.

Editing isn't extremely difficult with either ulead or adobe products, but some people strongly support SoundForge's Vegas Video (it's supposed to be similar to premiere but it has great sound support). I personally use Virtualdub sometimes when little editing is required, and I prefer TMPGenc to encode to Mpeg2 for DVD. Do NOT let ulead encode anything with ligos, as I think it is a substandard mpeg1/2 codec. Newer ulead products may use the MainConcept encoder which is supposed to be very good (part of the big three encoders: CinemaCraft (CCE), TMPGenc, and MainConcept).

Anyway, there's a broad range of what people mean by "professional" since there's a wide range of prices and learning curves in products available. Keep working to find what you are able to afford (time and money) to devote to this and keep improving your skills. This is a hobby for most people and it's a long journey from newbie to semi-pro.

[donpedro]

What exactly are you looking for ? What kind of features ?

BTW...I never saw any fancy transitions in commercial movie

[Ndb;-))]

I use Ulead VideoStudio 6.0 to capture, edit and title (sub-title) my DV footage.

Then TMPGenc 2.510 to encode it to DVD std MPEG2 and GoldWave to tart up the audio.

The Ulead DVD Workshop 1.2 to author the DVD with motion menus/buttons etc.

This I use for Wedding/Birthday/Holiday videos etc and people pay me

Don't go out and pay tons for the so called pro stuff, just yet. Sonic DVDiT PE is supposed to be pro (i.e. PE = Pro Edition) which costs far more than all the above, plus can't even do motion menus.

The great thing about Ulead VideoStudio and Workshop is they both use the same layout and method etc, so once you learn one you know the other Plus DVD Workshop does not re-encode compliant files, unlike most other DVD authoring progs (i.e. Sonic crap)

The tri-pod mensioned above is a good idea, but may be hard in clubs. Try to lean on walls or chairs etc to keep steady, but it won't matter to much in clubs as all the action will hid a lot of it. Get yourself a minidisc recorder (i.e. Sony one are good) and a good external mic. This way you can get your mate to record sound from elsewhere (near the speakers ??) and add it in at the editing stage, this way you can use it to maskout any sad bastard that keeps shouting in your ear. Also use a camera with a big CCD and good low LUX or your Video will be very grainy (a 3xCCD one would be nice).

This is just my opinion Ndb)

[mrspangle]

Hi,

Thanks to all who have replied so far, some great things ive got to think about then!

Im ok in making main footage as i said ive been doing some adverts for my coursework at college and got some good reports back.

The main area i want to get right is the intro to the club movie e.g. motion graphics, embedded video etc. Does anyone know of any *affordable* packages i can do this in. Its the first time ive done anything like this and want to get it right before i go out on holiday.

Ive got two cams that I have been using for a few years now, both a Sony - im saving up for a DV camera as it will be easier in the long run for editing. Looking between Sony or JVC cameras (less than £400 or $750) to get me started. I want to get a cam that has the best visual quality, know of any in my price range?

Thanks for your input!

John

[BJ_M]

vegas video .. see also http://www.creativecow.net/index.php?forumid=24 for more info ... or if you are still in school - you can get avid xpress Dv for $450 (its $1800 normally)

[subclubkid]

software costs money?

[BJ_M]

software costs money?

well i guess everyone could stop paying for it -- then don't expect to much new software to show up ....

[Nelson37]

If you do go Ulead, take a look at Media Studio Pro for some nice video effects.

I saw a gizmo, not sure what to call it, but you wore it like a belt and it had a braced arm for the camera. Said to be great for stabilizing video like tripod while retaining mobility, I think it was around $300, might be the only way to do what you want. I can't see a tripod in a crowded club.

Also invest in multiple, long-life batteries and a camera that handles low and variable lighting well, speed of re-focus will be important.

[solarfox]

I'm not sure how "affordable" you'll consider this, but...

I use ULead Media Studio Pro 6.5 to edit my video, and have achieved pretty professional-looking results with it. You lay out your clips in a "timeline", where you can trim them, move them around, add video effects and transitions, and place both audio and video overlays on multiple tracks. It takes a little practice to get the hang of its more complex features, but IMO the results are well worth it.

The only downside? It costs about $400 or so. On the other hand, they do have a downloadable trial version, if I recall correctly...

[mrspangle]

Hi,

Thanks for you input, got a lot to think about.

I might give Ulead media studio pro a go ill have a look at the trial.

Thanks again

John

[trillium]

Unfortunately I tried Ulead Media Studio Pro, Sonic Video Factory, Ulead Video Studio, Main Concept Eve, Video Edit Magic, and Magic Video DeLuxe demos. I don't know why, but I have found the Magix software to be the less cluttered and most intuitive of the bunch, yet I see alot of "negative" comments about it.

I don't have the full version of Video Deluxe (I think it uses the Ligos MPEG 1/2 encoding) but the demo hasn't been all that bad and has allowed me to do what took me about an hour to figure out in other programs.

I have been a user of Magic Audio Cleaning Lab for quite some time successfully using it de-hiss/de-click some vinyl recordings I have had in order to archive them in a digital format.

Anyone have any comments one way or another for using Magix products? I'd be curious what others think if they have tried them compared to the others since I am seriously thinking about purchasing Video DeLuxe.

thanks

[DivXExpert]

Premiere is very good. I also like to make my own independent films. If you are a student you can get a discount from your college bookstore?

[DivXExpert]

I have a samsung DV cam that produces very good quality, a tripod is needed. I don't think that the camera was very expensive. Maybe, $800.