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  1. Member
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    What software are you using that is free?

    I want to be able to cut video clip, add music, and add pictures for slideshow into one.
    Windows Movie Maker is not function for me on Windows 10.

    Thanks.
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  2. Member Budman1's Avatar
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    Since you haven't received a reply yet, I thought I'd let you know that I use FFMPEG and/or AVISYNTH. These are CLI utilities and take a learning curve but there are several GUI front ends to use to make that less of a challenge. FFmpeg will do all that you ask, but may take several operations to accomplish them all, as perhaps some other programs.

    There are so many examples that a google search will most likely supply a script to do whatever you wish.
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    I want to be able to cut video clip, add music, and add pictures for slideshow into one.
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    I want to be able to cut video clip, add music, and add pictures for slideshow into one.
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    I'm sure there are many programs that will do whatever you want but Personally, I use my own front end to accomplish what you wish to do.
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  3. If you have a powerful system, both Lightworks and DaVinci Resolve are free and incredibly capable. Big learning curve on each.
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  4. Why does it have to be free? Was your computer free? Do you drive a free car?

    There is good free software, but for general purpose video editing, the commercial software is hard to beat. Most companies have entry-level versions that are only $50-$100. But, if you want to spend a lot more time doing your project, and end up with a result that doesn't have as many professional effects, then by all means use the free software.

    I personally recommend Vegas Movie Studio, but I got my start, over a decade ago, using Pinnacle Studio.
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  5. johnmeyer, I couldn't agree more. There is the old saying, "what is your time worth?" Learning how to use any editing program takes time. It sucks to find your favorite editor, that you know so well from long, hard experience, just won't do what you need to do now, and you have to start over with a new editor (right "cats"?) Stick with the big names: Vegas Movie Studio, or Adobe Premiere Elements. They are very reasonably priced and work well (Elements note: back up, back up and back up again. It crashes. But then, most video editors do.)

    On the free side, I have heard Blender, in addition to being a great (free) 3D animation tool, is actually a good video editor. I'm not sure that's true, and it would take a major investment of my time to find out. Similarly, there is Lightworks, a professional film-style editor; I tried it some years ago but found it didn't support any of the codecs I needed.

    I do like to edit with AviSynth, as mentioned by Budman1. I can't picture using it in a commercial setting though. You have to think more like a programmer, less like a video editor. If that describes you too, then you should look into it.
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  6. Hi Budman1
    Please, give the link to "Media Utility 5.96.25.12"
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  7. Member Heliooos's Avatar
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    I am using KDEnlive which should also be available for Windows but at least there is Shotcut. Both are free. For me learning to use it was similar to Pinnacle Studio so relatively easy.
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    Blender can be a very good editor if you have the time to use it. Basic video editing can be done quite quickly and easily in the Video Sequence Editor (timeline to most of us), but anything more complicated needs to be done in the compositor. The two are not directly connected, so each clip has to be worked on in the compositor and rendered out to be put on the timeline, or vice-versa.
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    I highly recommend DaVinci Resolve, the learning curve isn't as big as some people say, it's very straightforward & also extremely fast and robust, there is an excellent & free tutorial series here - https://www.redsharknews.com/tutorials. I was using Sony Vegas but have migrated to Resolve without any issues, I prefer it, there's nothing really as good free or paid AFAIC... It's like, say, Photoshop - it's as simple or complex as you want it to be. Blender is fantastic but the learning curve IS huge even for simple tasks and it is for 3D modelling first & foremost, video editing isn't it's priority function. The good thing about DaVinci Resolve, as opposed to other free contenders, is it's acceptance of multiple formats. Try it?
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  10. You can still download Windows Movie Maker from various places online, and it certainly worked OK on the Windows 10 that was around last Autumn (haven't tried on the current version of Win10). Having said that, Windows Movie Maker wasn't ever that good so I would definitely look for a better alternative.
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  11. If you are editing AVCHD content, then Davinci Resolve IS NOT the way to go (full disclosure: I am a heavy DR user), unless you enjoy endlessly transcoding your footage to DNxHD or ProRes. However, if you are shooting footage in DNxHD/R, ProRes, or one of the many Log formats that modern pro cameras shoot in these days, then DR is kind of a must over the dated/limited tools recommended on this forum. But, be aware that DR only runs under W10 and you need a fairly powerful computer to boot. And, unless you shoot in a flat/Log/Cine format that requires some LUT/grading, DR is really overkill. DR is a grading program first; it's NLE functionality is really a distant second.

    And then, on the completely opposite end of the spectrum is Windows Movie Maker. Does that even qualify as an editor? Horrific, IMO.

    I am with johnmeyer, just spend $50 on a decent NLE. Your experience will be so much better. If you find yourself spending hours editing video, look into subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud. Sure SaaS bites the big one, but it does make what used to cost literally thousands of dollars accessible to the masses.
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    You can re-wrap AVCHD stuff into a .mov container, and you shouldn't have any issues in Resolve. (Disclaimer: This is what I have read in their forums, haven't tried it personally). I am using Windows 7 with no issues whatsoever (yes they recommend Win 8.1 & up I think?), and my computer is pushing for mid-tier, it's no up-to-date beast. Resolve is still snappy & super-quick for me. I don't agree with the statement that Resolve's "NLE functionality is a distant second" to it's colour grading tools, it's as full-featured as what I was used to using Vegas Pro... but I can't really compare to anything else. I think anybody embarking on their NLE journey could do a lot worse than jumping aboard Davinci Resolve, it's state-of-the-art & super-fast.
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  13. Originally Posted by Bert09 View Post
    You can re-wrap AVCHD stuff into a .mov container, and you shouldn't have any issues in Resolve. (Disclaimer: This is what I have read in their forums, haven't tried it personally). I am using Windows 7 with no issues whatsoever (yes they recommend Win 8.1 & up I think?), and my computer is pushing for mid-tier, it's no up-to-date beast. Resolve is still snappy & super-quick for me. I don't agree with the statement that Resolve's "NLE functionality is a distant second" to it's colour grading tools, it's as full-featured as what I was used to using Vegas Pro... but I can't really compare to anything else. I think anybody embarking on their NLE journey could do a lot worse than jumping aboard Davinci Resolve, it's state-of-the-art & super-fast.
    Nope. You either haven't read the forums closely enough or don't understand the difference between rewrapping and transcoding. Rewrapping AVCHD will not fix the fact that DR is not optimized to decode h.264 footage like most other modern NLEs. Transcoding to an Intra-only codec like DNxHD/R or ProRes is the only workaround. I am not saying you can't edit ACVHD content, however playback is always choppy which is a deal killer for serious editors. DR does not index h.264 files and thus always relies on the cpu for decoding. Therefore, it is not a function of container, disk speed, RAM, number of nodes, or other potential bottlenecks in your system.

    If you are successfully running DR under Win7 on a dated non-workstation and still getting real-time playback (how many nodes?), all I can say is your experience is contrary to many others on the DR forum (including mine). You should really go on the DR forum and share your secret sauce.

    As for a second rate NLE, it is hardly a controversial stance. The number of gotchas are simply too many to mention; the DR forum is the best place to go, but the most glaring example is DR does not operate in YUV space. You may not think that is important, but IMHO that is a very basic requirement of modern NLEs. There are ways around that deficiency, but like I said, if you have no need to grade your footage and just need an editor, DR is a poor choice for many, many reasons. While I am a heavy DR user, I use it for very specific things in my workflow and rely on many other tools in my production pipeline.

    EDIT: I can't stress this enough: DaVinci Resolve IS NOT an NLE; it is grading software with NLE functionality.
    Last edited by SameSelf; 18th May 2017 at 10:53.
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  14. Originally Posted by SameSelf View Post
    I can't stress this enough: DaVinci Resolve IS NOT an NLE; it is grading software with NLE functionality.
    They are trying to re-brand themselves, and as you know have made strides that direction. But as it stands now, I completely agree.
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    How so? (Sorry, not necessarily disagreeing, just curious?). SameSelf has pointed out issues with AVCHD (which I tend to think is AVCHD inherent issues rather than Resolve's problem), and no YUV colour space support. But what are all the other things that make Resolve "a poor choice of NLE for many, many reasons"?
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  16. It still feels clunky to use even on a decent system.

    It's sort of a less efficient ripoff of Premiere -- down to the keyboard shortcuts.

    That said, it has a lot of functionality, even multi-cam and auto synching to audio. And it's free, which was the initial request of this thread.
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  17. Member
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    Fair enough. I was just genuinely interested what others see as it's negatives. I'm not involved in feature-length productions with multiple nodes & extensive colour grading etc... I make music videos. I use colour grading to mutilate a shot, not to achieve textbook perfection LOL. I do find it snappy & solid, even with my humble Win 7/i5-4690/16GB/GTX 1060 6GB set-up.

    I honestly think if the OP wants something free, runs on Win10, use for simple cut/edits etc, it's still more than a viable option. It can be as simple as he wants to use it.
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