Recommendations for Video Editing Tools

[Bald Eagle]

I will be new to video editing. I just bought a Sony HDR-SR8 camcorder that records in standard and AVCHD formats. I want to edit video. I’ve been looking at editing applications and have gotten a bit overwhelmed. What do you suggest I use for an editing tool? I can handle most applications I've tried to understand, so I guess you can say I'm computer literate. Any help would be appreciated.

[Bald Eagle]

I thought that because so many lookied at it and none replyed that I was in the wrong thread.

[edDV]

I thought that because so many lookied at it and none replyed that I was in the wrong thread.

You should have done your research before buying that format. AVCHD is among the more difficult and lossy to edit and has the highest hardware demands.

Consumer Premium HD edit packages have recently added support for AVCHD. Check these out.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/product.asp?pid=447
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/features/

Check user reports to get an idea of performance and hardware requirements.

[Bald Eagle]

I am new to this forum and joined it because I thought it existed to help others. I was hoping to get ideas about specific editing applications from people that are actually using them, not comments on how dumb I am. If I were smart as eDV, I would not have asked for help.

I'll ask again. with more detail. Although I would prefer an app with AVCHD both in and out, my requirement is that I need an app that at least allows AVCHD in. Only one app, Nero 8 Ultimate has both in and out. Adobe has no capability; Sony, Pinnacle, Corel and CyberLink all have AVCHD in, but not out. Is there someone who uses any of these other apps that can help me decide what to get?

[edDV]

I am new to this forum and joined it because I thought it existed to help others. I was hoping to get ideas about specific editing applications from people that are actually using them, not comments on how dumb I am. If I were smart as eDV, I would not have asked for help.

I'll ask again. with more detail. Although I would prefer an app with AVCHD both in and out, my requirement is that I need an app that at least allows AVCHD in. Only one app, Nero 8 Ultimate has both in and out. Adobe has no capability; Sony, Pinnacle, Corel and CyberLink all have AVCHD in, but not out. Is there someone who uses any of these other apps that can help me decide what to get?

I use Vegas 8 Pro to get from AVCHD in to normal DVD or HDV or Uncompressed YCbCR or BluRay DVD or h.264 or VC-1 out usually using the Cineform intermediate codec because I'm mixing formats.

Why do you want AVCHD out or do you mean AVC h.264 in general?

Sony has the vested interest to see the AVCHD format succeed. The Vegas group has been tasked to support AVCHD and are probably the safest choice among those you listed but I'm welcoming input from those using the other programs. In case you didn't hear, most BluRay players will play raw AVCHD files from a data DVD without authoring.

[pippas]

I will be new to video editing. I just bought a Sony HDR-SR8 camcorder that records in standard and AVCHD formats. I want to edit video. .

If you want to edit video, stick to the 'standard' format -- AVCHD is really hard to edit, and then keep as an AVCHD output. Even the professionals have a problem - which is why Panasonic have introduced 'AVCHD Intra' for pro use - normal AVCHD is just too difficult to edit.

If you want to just cut out scenes, and nothing else, then AVCHD is fine.

If you really want to edit, add fades, titles, etc... stick to standard def, at least for the moment.

[Bald Eagle]

Why do you want AVCHD out or do you mean AVC h.264 in general?

I don't need AVCHD out. AVC h.264 is okay. I want to use Blu-ray for viewing the video.

If you want to edit video, stick to the 'standard' format

I do want videos to have a professional look to them. Am I correct in that I can copy from my camcorder to my hard drive in AVCHD, import to the editing app, convert to Std, edit, save as AVCHD or AVC h.264?

[edDV]

I do want videos to have a professional look to them. Am I correct in that I can copy from my camcorder to my hard drive in AVCHD, import to the editing app, convert to Std, edit, save as AVCHD or AVC h.264?

Essentially AVCHD needs to be decompressed at least inside the GOP (for a cut) or completely for full filtering. Decompression creates extremely large files. One way around full decompression is to use a digital intermediate format such as Cineform to convert to frames that are easy to scrub or size scale. Cineform files are moderate size.
http://www.cineform.com/

Output to MPeg2, h.264 or VC-1 is essentially a recode. That is, native AVCHD editors don't yet exist like they do for DV, HDV and MPeg2 formats.

Panasonic is developing a pro version of AVCHD called AVC Intra. AVC Intra will be an all I frame format similar to DV but based on intraframe AVC. Bit rates will be much higher than AVCHD.

Ref: These files describe AVC Intra but also discuss AVCHD issues.
FAQ_AVC-Intra.pdf http://www.lemac.com.au/sales/PANASONIC/PDFs/FAQ_AVC-Intra.pdf
www.serv.com.ua/img/zstored/File/AVC_Intra_White_Paper_Ver_1_3.pdf

[pippas]

Am I correct in that I can copy from my camcorder to my hard drive in AVCHD, import to the editing app, convert to Std, edit, save as AVCHD or AVC h.264?

Not much point in re encoding back to AVCHD (I'm not even sure you can!) once you have edited in std def. Might just as well make a standard DVD.

If you've converted the original AVCHD footage to Standard def carefully, you still get a pretty impressive output, even if it doesn't quite have the 'wow' factor of Hi Def.

[Bald Eagle]

Please let me know if I'm correct in my understanding of the situation.

I did make a mistake in going with AVCHD at this time. AVC-Intra is a much easier compression to work with.

At least for now, the easiest way is to shoot and edit in Std Def and copy to DVD. A couple of editing apps convert from AVCHD to Std Def for editing.

Or, I can shoot in AVCHD, import to my hardrive, convert from AVCHD to something like CineForm, edit in CineForm and copy to Blu-ray.

[edDV]

Please let me know if I'm correct in my understanding of the situation.

I did make a mistake in going with AVCHD at this time. AVC-Intra is a much easier compression to work with.

At least for now, the easiest way is to shoot and edit in Std Def and copy to DVD. A couple of editing apps convert from AVCHD to Std Def for editing.

Or, I can shoot in AVCHD, import to my hardrive, convert from AVCHD to something like CineForm, edit in CineForm and copy to Blu-ray.

You can also import AVCHD into Vegas Pro or Vegas Movie Studio Premium, edit in an HD uncompressed or HVD project format and then output render to MPeg2 or h.264 for BluRay or HD DVD authoring. Depending on the edit functions done, render times may be quite long with AVCHD. Vegas Pro will allow transfer to the Cineform intermediate format for easier and faster handling in more extensive edit projects.

[Bald Eagle]

Thank you, guys. You've been very helpful. I'll be shooting underwater video next month and editing it in March. Will let you know how it turns out.

[scott20]

You may also try to power director, it is a good one. I have used it before.