Editing Recommendation

[jcoleman]

A short time ago I had purchased the Videoh! USB 2.0 Media Center (AVC-2310). The Device came with Sonic My DVD(V4.5.2) , ArcSoft Showbiz (v1.2) and Intervideo WINDVR 3( for recording TV shows). I had read all the literature that I have and on each of the their respective support sites. I also applied all updates, includingg Driver updates from Adaptec. The literature I have to say for these programs are very vague and very confusing, to say at least. I also have Roxio's Easy Media Creator 7.0 and I cannot figure that program either for the same reason.
I am trying to remove commericials from a three hour show that I had recorded on WinDVDR3. I also read information on this site and since I am a newbe to video editing, I am more confused.
My questions are:
1. Is the software that I have is adequete to perform the job?
2. How do I perform this function?
3.. If not, what suggestions do you have for an user friendly software program, which is reasonably priced.
4.Any other suggestions that you believe that would be helpful

Thank you for you assistance in advance,
Jeff

Dell 8400 3.4 GHZ P-4
1024 meg of Ram
ATI Radeon X300 Graphic
Sound Blaster Live 24-bit
Dell E173P Flat Panel Display
80 Gig HD
Samsung CD-R/RW SW-252S
Phillips DVD+RW DVD8631

[wwjd]

What format are the captured video files? Are they avi or compliant mpeg?

I have a WinTV PVR-150 that I use to capture TV shows directly to mpeg. I edit the commercials out and author using TMPGEnc DVD Author. It is easy to use and very solid. It will only accept mpeg files so if your files are avi then they will need to be converted to mpeg. I have used Sonic MyDVD and ArcSoft and both in my opinion are pretty much useless.
You should look in the 'Tools' section of this site and see what others say about TMPGenc DVD Author, it will be in the DVD authoring section.

If your capturing to avi then I recommend CCE Basic for conversion from avi to mpeg or Ulead Video Studio 8. CCE Basic can be used to cut commercials and convert avi to mpeg, it is not an authoring program. CCE Basic is fast and does very good mpeg encoding. Not all software mpeg encoders are created equal!

Ulead Video Studio 8 is more universal, you can cut commercials, trim, add transitions, menus and then author. It can be used for mpegs but I recommend using it for avi. It does not do frame accurate cutting and trimming of mpegs.

[jcoleman]

Mostley Mpeg .
I am still confused.
Can anybody recommend a overall reasonably priced
editing program that is user friendly. Most of the liturature that I have is very vague and confusing . I don't know even where to start.
I have to keep the Sonic MyDVD and Intervideo Windvd v3 because my capture device is capatable with it. I do not like Sonic. Intervideo is okay, but it is for capture only. ArcSoft Showbiz v1.2 had came with my capture device, but I can't figure that one out either.
My plans are when I find a good , reasonably priced, editing program , I will transfer the file to that program to edit. I was thinking about using Roxio Easy Creator 7 to burn, if I can figure it out
I do have Roxio Easy Creator 7. Has anyone had any experience with Video wave. The liturature isn't good that came this program.
Any other program suggestions would be apprecated
Any additional suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

[thecoalman]

Learning how to do video correctly is a steep learning curve, having said that try Ulead Video Studio 8 . Get some RW's for making tests, I think I burned about 30 or 40 tests before I felt confident making anything to keep. Good Luck!

[glenpinn]

hi there jeff.

m8, when i first started out in dvd work, i also used sonic mydvd ans showbiz, they came with my dvd burner.
i very quickly learn after doing dozens of home videos that i was not getting the best i could, and have now created my own dvd beginners guide, outlining the basics, and the steps required in producing great quality dvd.

in this business, the only alternative is to get 3 or 4 seperate good quality
"stand alone" programs to carry out each of the 4 required process for making a dvd.

1. transferring (not capturing) your dv video to your pc in dv-AVI format
2. edit your dv-AVI file first then encode it to dvd mpeg-2 compliant format.
3. author your dvd mpeg-2 file then burn your authored dvd file to disc

each step above (to do it best) requires 3 or maybe 4 seperate tools to get the job done.

1. transfer using DVIO 1.32 (a free transfer tool that transfers only in dv-avi)
2. edit your dv-avi then encode using TMPGEnc 3.0 xpress
3. author and burn using TMPGEnc dvd author 1.6 (very basic but good) or DVD-Lab pro for top authoring and burning.

i know im going to cop some comments from those who use "all in one" programs, but im only adding my opinion here and im a lot more fussy about the quality of my work than to use any "all in one" program.

i prefer to do it the pro way, and if you would like a copy of my DVD GUIDE, please feel free to send me a private message with your email address so i can get it to u, its a great little guide, better than most u will find out there, and gives u a list of all the software that i use and recommend as well and where to get them.

thanks for allowing me to have a say, i know not everyone will agree with my thoughts on the software i mentioned, but hey, all TMPGE programs are without doubt the best and most popular lower priced software on the market, specially tmpgenc 3.0 xpress, dvd author and mpeg editor, and DVD-Lab is a brilliant author program to boot, one of the best u can get.

thanks everyone.....GLEN

[reboot]

Personally, I think your opinion is a good one.
I just want to add some details.
Capturing in DVIO is OK. I prefer virtualdubmod.
I edit all avi capture in virtualdub, and frameserve to my encoder.
Mpeg editing I do in Cuttermaran or Tmpgenc mpeg editor.
Encoding I do in Canopus Procoder, Mainconcept mpeg encoder, or tmpgenc.
Authoring I do strictly in DVDLab Pro, although the basic version will do nicely for a beginner.

p.s. Why don't you post your guide here?

[byteguy]

jcoleman,

Sounds like you and I have similar lives.

I have the VideOh board and went through all the same confusions getting started.

First off, the software that comes with it will limit you too much as you get comfortable. Go ahead and ditch most of it.

Here is how I do (most) everything.

1) If you are getting good quality go ahead and capture with the software that comes with the device. I had some issues getting started and Adaptec pionted me to MovieMill which also worked with my hardware.

2) If you JUST want to cut stuff out or trim your MPeg2s, give VideoReDo a try. This will work on the file without recoding the whole thing. It will save you hours of time and won't degrade the quality. If you are happy with the final file, you can skip to item 4.

3) For actual video productions, I use EditStudio; it has an impressive amount of features. You can do a simple story-board to get started and then switch to its "real" mode to produce some amazing stuff. Check out their discussion boards for lots of help. Also, the company is very open with their system; users have written a bunch of free add-ins and tools. Somebody posted a new one today that lets you take seperate projects and combine them all into one big project. Very slick.

4) Put all your videos together, create menu structures, and burn it all with DVDLab. Get started with the basic version (it is very powerful on its own) and then just pay the diffference to upgrade to Pro if you find you need it.

All of these programs have free trial-period downloads and the authors are more than happy to answer questions before you buy.

Best of luck.