advice for good editing software

[dsenart]

I am just getting into putting my home video onto dvd's.

I have done this twice. I have a Canon Elura 40mc Mini DV camera that I plug in via fire wire to my computer. The first time I made a dvd I used MySonic DVD and I did no editing at all, i just put what I had on my tape onto the disk.

More recently MySonic stopped working so today I plugged it in and apparently my machine has DVD BUILDER by Roxio, so once again I basically just put what I had on my tape.

Now I have 2 video's that I would like to put onto 1 dvd, the problem is they are about 4.9 gigs together so i need to edit out some things to lower the size of these. I have tried Roxio but you can't really do much editing from what I can tell. I tried to use windows movie maker but it only wants to save things in wmv and I still had a hard time editing. Someone said Virtualdub was pretty good, but that one isn't the easiest of softwares to use.

I am no in the process of downloading the trial version of ULEAD. Does anyone have any suggestions on some software that is 1 Hopefully freeware if not relatively inexpensive, 2 easy to use. I am not a computer guru nor am i overtly technologically inclined so I need to take baby steps.

Thanks for your help.

[daamon]

Hi dsenart,

VirtualDub would be of use if you only want to do basic editing - like trimming off beginnings and endings, and joining clips together. There are plenty of guides and it's quite simple once you've got the hang of it. It's worth persevering...

You can do other stuff too with VirtualDub (things you wouldn't care for at the moment) - but things like transitions can't be done. Info: A transition is a way of going from the end of one to clip to the start of another in a"nice" way, rather than just in a harsh end-to-start fashion.

I've not used the following, but they have broader editing functionality and are (nearly all) free, and sound like good programs. How easy they are to use - not sure...

I've tried to list them in order of suitability based on what I've read about them, but no guarantees.

AviTricks
Avid Free DV
Wax 2
Zwei-stein
Adobe Premiere Elements (*)
Ulead Videostudio (*)

* Note: These are both US$100. Premiere Elements is a cut down version of the full blown Adobe Premiere editing tool, considered one of the top editors. Using "Elements" may be a good start if you want to progress on to something like Premiere later on...

[Karate Media]

Windows Movie Maker will export to DV .avi, which is the native file format for the video on your miniDV tape -- so there is no additional compression. So edit in WMM, export as dv .avi, then input that file into whatever program you use to make mpg2 files and burn DVDs. Or, if need be, you could export your edit back to tape (via firewire into your Canon DV camera), then capture that footage into your DVD buring app like you would any other video.

[edDV]

Hi dsenart,

VirtualDub would be of use if you only want to do basic editing - like trimming off beginnings and endings, and joining clips together. There are plenty of guides and it's quite simple once you've got the hang of it. It's worth persevering...

...

AviTricks
Avid Free DV
Wax 2
Zwei-stein
Adobe Premiere Elements (*)
Ulead Videostudio (*)

* Note: These are both US$100. Premiere Elements is a cut down version of the full blown Adobe Premiere editing tool, considered one of the top editors. Using "Elements" may be a good start if you want to progress on to something like Premiere later on...

To that list in the $99 category I'd add Sony Vegas Movie Studio which is the consumer version of Vegas 5.
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/Shopping/item.asp?PID=280

[hiptune]

Pinnacle Studio 8 or 9 is a great basic editor. Clean and exceptional quality. Transitions are pro looking, and fades are easy to toss in. You might hbe able to find Studio 8 very cheaply on ebay now that 9 is out.

This package has a poor reputation, but that reputation is due to the DVD authoring package with this program being very buggy, and due to Studio 8 (and 9) being easily crashed with long projects (over 1 hour) with many cuts and transitions, and all. If you are doing simple edits and joining, and a couple of fades, this software will deliver the quality just like the best of them.

Just don't try to make your dvd here, or push this program too far. I have used it for 2 years, the final avi (I encode elsewhere) this program produces from your edits will look wonderful.