Which software to choose for video editing

[pinero]

I recently got a bunch of software (thanks to BF deals)
I now have
Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0
Pinnacle version 10.7 and 11.0 Plus
Sony Vegas
Nero Ultimate Version 7 and 8
Ulead Movie Studio

I have used Pinnacle, nero and adobe. I have no experience with sony or ulead. Both of them have very good reviews.

I am planning to use only one or two.
which is the best one to use?

I some how did not like premiere. it takes lot more time to encode than pinnacle. I tried to make some flash movies they did not come good. I got it for the advanced features. but guess what I am not using any of them.
I actually liked the chroma key and PIP. but some how either I did not do it properly or some other problem, my video does not look good.
Nero is not at all good (vision 4). so that is ruled out.

I like pinnacle because of its easy manipulation. I really like the shift of chapter when a scene is cut. where as in adobe it will not reposition my chapters. I have to manually do it. It is PITA.

I want rich features and ease of using. I saw vegas has some 300 effects and 60 transition (correct me if I am wrong) that is much better than other fellows.
one more info. I am not going to do any HD video for the near future. I have mini DV camcorder and will stick to that for few more years.

I only do home video editing. I am not an expert like many of the folks around here. but I am neither a noob.
I am leaning towards vegas.
any suggestion is appreciated.
TIA.

[Marvingj]

Sony Vegas all the way

[JohnnyMalaria]

Absolutely...I LOVE Sony stuff. Vegas is fantastic.

[lordsmurf]

Encode time is dependent on the settings you chose and the speed of the CPU. The MainConcept engine used by Premiere is pretty fast, actually.

[pinero]

Encode time is dependent on the settings you chose and the speed of the CPU. The MainConcept engine used by Premiere is pretty fast, actually.

I am using standard settings. nothing etc.
Mpeg 2/DVD format with best quality.
as I said pinnacle renders the same in shorter time.
same CPU. AMD X2 3800+ /2GB ram.

[guns1inger]

Full disclosure - I use and love Vegas.

That said, don't pick an editor because it has more transitions or effects. Most of these will be crap, and there are only 3 or 4 transitions that you will ever need to use.

Choose and editor because it is

1. Stable. Video works a system hard, and you want your editor to be able to handle it.

2. Predictable. If I apply this effect or this change, I want to know it will give me what I expect.

3. Suits your working methods. Each of these editors uses a different interface and a slightly different model to do essentially the same job. You need to find the one that works best with your brain. When you are editing, you only want to be thinking about the job, not how to use the tools. If you brain is being wasted trying to remember obscure shortcuts or which button is which, you have chosen the wrong tool. That said, expect a learning curve. Quality takes time, and learning how to produce it using any tool requires effort on your part.

4. Quality of output. As stated previously, quality takes time. LS has already pointed out that mainconcept is pretty quick as far as good encoders go. But in the big picture scheme of things, the fastest is rarely the best if quality is your major concern. If you don't care about quality, just buy WinAVI and be done with it (but don't come back here looking for help).

If I were to rank the apps you have listed, it would be

Vegas
Premiere Elements
Ulead Movie Studio

and the rest don't count.

[pinero]

Full disclosure - I use and love Vegas.

That said, don't pick an editor because it has more transitions or effects. Most of these will be crap, and there are only 3 or 4 transitions that you will ever need to use.

I got lot of free hfx transition from a french site (de****) for pinnacle. so for me it does matter.

since I have not used it I said it had more TS (vegas).

Choose and editor because it is

1. Stable. Video works a system hard, and you want your editor to be able to handle it.

I have no issues with pinnacle/adobe/nero. all of them were stable after upgrading to dual core.

2. Predictable. If I apply this effect or this change, I want to know it will give me what I expect.

may b I am asking some thing more. but viewing the effect on the preview panel is what you will get in dvd right?

I haven't had a bad experience with that yet. touch wood.

3. Suits your working methods. Each of these editors uses a different interface and a slightly different model to do essentially the same job. You need to find the one that works best with your brain. When you are editing, you only want to be thinking about the job, not how to use the tools. If you brain is being wasted trying to remember obscure shortcuts or which button is which, you have chosen the wrong tool. That said, expect a learning curve. Quality takes time, and learning how to produce it using any tool requires effort on your part.

I spent lot of time learning these things. thats the reason for upgrade/changing the software. I want the best out of anything. I love to play with the things/settings to see what the end result is.
so I am ready for it.

4. Quality of output. As stated previously, quality takes time. LS has already pointed out that mainconcept is pretty quick as far as good encoders go. But in the big picture scheme of things, the fastest is rarely the best if quality is your major concern. If you don't care about quality, just buy WinAVI and be done with it (but don't come back here looking for help).

may be my eyes are not good enough or the TV is, I did not see any noticeable difference in making a DVD with adobe or pinnacle.
but I did see difference with nero though. so thats why I made the comparison for render time between adobe and pinnacle.

for most of the time I leave my pc on overnight when it renders. so it does not affect me when I make a full 1 hr or 2hr(DL) dvd. but it does affect if I have to make a 15 min or 30 min project.
in most of the times the whole project roughly takes 5 hr in pinnacle where as the same one takes 6 or more hr in adobe.

If I were to rank the apps you have listed, it would be

Vegas
Premiere Elements
Ulead Movie Studio

and the rest don't count.

thanks for the detailed info.