Help Selecting A Video Editing Software

[adamjthompson]

Hello,

I am a newbie to video and need some advice on selecting a video editing software.

What I plan to do with the software:

I plan to create videos for YouTube and other internet sites for promote my business. The videos will be everything from product reviews to scenery shoots to movie shorts.

My hardware setup:

To start with I will be using my digital camera, which shoots quite decent quality 640x480 MPEG video. I may graduate to a digital camcorder later. I have a tripod for my camera.

I plan to use my computer and Audacity to record and mix as much of the audio as possible. I don't know how much of the audio I can record (then sync with the video) this way, so I think I may need good audio capabilities (multi-track, noise removal, mixing, etc.) in the video editing software.

My computer specs are:
AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-50 (1.6GHz)
1GB RAM
Windows XP Media Center

Need advice:

Based on my research, it seems that my best options are:
Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus
Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0 (Not 4.0)

Which of these options would be best based on what I plan to do with it? Or, is there another software option that would be better?

I would appreciate any advice of any type.

~Adam

[pijetro]

Welcome to the forums...

I'll chime in quickly..
I'm not too familiar with WEB based data and transmission, but can safely say, that using those two editors, is like pulling your teeth out just to remove a bit of stuck popcorn...

They were designed for working with DV (MiniDV cameras), and are very good...But you intend to feed it MPEG material and edit..
At this point, you'll be sorry.
I think your you-tube approach might need paying attention to..

Either that, or give some more specifics...

Good luck!!!

[guns1inger]

Most likely the video is actually mjpeg.

Frankly, if you aren't using at least a DV camera, you are just playing around. Then again, if it is for youtube, there is no point shooting with a quality camera when it will all be lost down the track.

Videostudio is probably all you really need at this stage.

[tmh]

You can get a decent used DV camcorder for $200 or less - why shoot crappy video? Also, the DV will allow for much better editing and creating the movie. I'd say get a miniDV camcorder and a fairly cheap esiting software and you're good to go for $250.

[vcdlover]

If it's a business (not sure what kind of business), you should do it professionally. Yes, Youtube quality is like crap, but most people don't look at the quality of the video. Customers will look for the concept of the video or the products of your business. I'd recommend you like I do for others, go get yourself an affordable MiniDV cam like SONY H and Panasonic PV series. Read reviews at camcorderinfo.com. They have a lot of info there. For the software, I'd go for SONY Vegas Studio which is quite cheap and can out put many kinds of formats. I think it costs less than $100. Have fun and good luck with your business.

vcdlover

[adamjthompson]

OK, well perhaps I should start by getting a MiniDV camcorder then...Thanks for the advice.