Video editing software suggestion request (user-friendly and affordable for beginners), finally got

Howdy,

After my house getting broken in to and all my good stuff stolen 2 years ago, I finally have a computer (screw you iPad!). My dad and I built it with gaming/audio/video in mind, and it sure is swell.

I'm running Windows 7.

I am wanting to get into video editing, start making my own "wake the heck up" videos. I am musician, so I'd like to have the ability to separate the audio and the video so that I can add my own music and voice-overs.

Any suggestions on a simple and inexpensive program for basic video editing? I'm not making movies, just wanting to start a youtube channel and share what I've learned. I come from the Mac world, but am comfortable with PCs.

Thanks y'all!

Your title of wanting a user-friendly and inexpensive piece of software reminds me of the old adage:

good - fast - cheap: Pick any two.

a reply to: raedar

Microsoft movie maker, it's free.

a reply to: schuyler

Ha! Yeah.

Let me change that title.

I don't want to sink hundreds of dollars, yet, until I can measure my passion by my progress. Know what I mean?

a reply to: Famouszor

I'm running with Sony movie studio platinum $70.00. I was using Sony Vegas at work but it's pricey. I do paid work with Sony movie studio great little package...Comes with DVD Architect 5...Can't miss IMHO

I have to agree with the Microsoft movie maker. It would definitely be good for you if you are just wanting to practice to get the hang of it. Will probably help you recognize features easier when you are ready to pay for a better ended program with more bells and whistles.

It is also pretty user friendly. And, like mentioned, it is free!

If you're serious about having good software for free, you should be running Ubuntu Linux, not windows or apple software.

Practically all software is free on the linux platform. If you're smart enough to build your machine you're smart enough to run Ubuntu. It should work just fine on the equipment that you have.

Kdenlive is a great free video editor that is as powerful as any other software out there. It lacks the comprehensive library of transitions, effects that after effects does, but it'll allow you to make great movies with smooth transitions.

originally posted by: voiceoreason
If you're serious about having good software for free, you should be running Ubuntu Linux, not windows or apple software.

Except you can get good free software on Windows also.
The beauty of modern computing is you can run Windows + Linux + OSX virtualized and find what works best for you.

LIke someone mentioned earlier, Windows Movie Maker does the job great if you are just starting out , it's free and since the user is running Win7 can be used now.

Here is the download for it: Windows Movie Maker

Never ever ever use Windows Live Movie maker. Windows Movie maker is alot better.

Once you feel like getting into professional software or better software, I suggest you use Sony Vegas Pro.

I don't want to bring piracy into the discussion. But if you want to try it, pirate it. BUT make sure you buy it if you want to continue the use of it. I think they have a free trial though.

il explain to you the path i took and then break down what i would do differently and il let you make your decisions off that.

i first started with sony vegas. used it for over a year. thought it was great. very easy to use..... not really. once i ventured out i realized vegas is a nuisance. the amount of time spent rendering was just insane. i couldn't get a good feel from the choppy previews. (on a great machine i still use with other software) so vegas to me was a waste of a year. i got familiar with things but i feel it would of been a much faster learning curve had i had a better laid out program.

a term you hear alot is workflow. i read a hundred reviews and didnt know/care what the F workflow was i just wanted to make professional looking edits. well work flow is very important to making pro looking edits. striking while the iron is hot creatively is the most important rule I've followed. if not projects can wane and die.

well since vegas I've used a couple programs and in the windows department i cant say enough for AVID or Adobe Premier.

AVID is set up very much like an Audio DAW (digital audio workstation) if you've ever worked with music or other audio AVID will probably feel very familiar. i know a few people that continue to use this program professionally just because of the time savings. i doubt you will win an oscar or whatever on an avid production with your windows 7 CPU but you can make some pretty epic youtube content thats for sure.

adobe premier I've used less but it felt very reminiscent of my baby Final Cut PRO X.

on to final cut. if you can get OSX to run virtually and use Final Cut you will be very happy. there is no video editing program that has such a streamlined workflow and comprehensive stock library of high quality transitions and other non cheesy effects. (Vegas and avid stock effects pretty well suck) Ive made several productions now using JUST Final cut. never using after effects to add anything fancy.

they even have mocha stabilization for final cut now. stabilization is the biggest reason people use after effects and being able to lock down footage and add that "Commercial camera handheld movement" makes such a huge difference. it adds this magic feel to things that almost ALL programs on TV have. very few things that look handheld are. final cut gives you this option with only 1 decently affordable plug in. no need for thousands into mocha and after effects.

all in all final cut has been an amazing experience and i go back to it more then any other software i own. I've spent near $10,000 on editors and plugins for them and the ones for final cut were worth every penny. most of the time half the cost of other programs and easier to use. i cant sing final cuts praises enough really.

you gotta be careful with it tho cause like any other editor there, there are traps everywhere. all kinds of plug ins to do things that the program can do itself very easily so make sure to read up on its capabilities before buying a plug in.

mac pro video DOT com is my go to for video classes on how to use it. if i recall its only about 20 bucks a month (been subscribed for years now) and its an amazing tool I've used more then anything. almost any digital creative program has a course or 2 there. most have several. very good resource.

along with final cut comes "Motion" (sold separately of course) but motion is a very cool program. if your creative at all then you can have a blast with it. motion is actually the program that "South park" is produced on. I'm sure they use many others but the basic animations and shapes being made in motion from what i saw in a documentary i watched on them. its a cool program that you can actually even build your own transitions and effects if your good enough. I've dabbled a bit but thats a whole side to this industry i haven't gotten into very deep.

i hope some of this helps. i don't mean to down talk vegas, i can honestly saw i haven' used the most current one but i can also honestly say that in a year i accomplished very little. it was like learning to walk in quick sand. (for me)

originally posted by: Kuroodo
Never ever ever use Windows Live Movie maker. Windows Movie maker is alot better.

Once you feel like getting into professional software or better software, I suggest you use Sony Vegas Pro.

I don't want to bring piracy into the discussion. But if you want to try it, pirate it. BUT make sure you buy it if you want to continue the use of it. I think they have a free trial though.

from what I've seen almost all of the major programs offer an out of date version for free to try.

I've always lived by the mind set of if i profit from it so should the tool makers that allowed me to do so. if I'm just entertaining myself and learning to possibly profit in the future well a little "testing" is in order i would think. careful on torrents tho too. video editing programs are BIG and ez to hide stuff in the files. I've personally got 2 bad viruses from getting "Test" software.

a reply to: raedar

Have a look at VirtualDub. It's free, & works with AVI & MPEG-1 video files, producing AVI's from either format. It will allow you to replace the existing audio on a video you shot with an MP3 of whatever music you want to add. I don't know if YouTube accepts AVI's for upload, but Freemake Video Converter (also free) has an option to convert a video to "YouTube". I've not used that option yet, so that's all I can tell you about that, but it's done an excellent job of converting other types of videos for me.

There's a link to the VirtualDub Forum on the main page linked above, where you can find all kinds of good info on using this amazingly capable free video software. Hope this helps.

You can also try Avidemux.

For editing that depends on the user, Windows Movie Maker comes pre-installed (usually) and it has basic video editing features. I think it suit you well.

Personally, I have been using AppGeeker video editor for a while, have always been happy with the results. You can cut, edit, merge, and trim clips. Add music and text, and even apply special effects if required. It has many of output options available for you to export files just for uploading to YouTube, burn to disc or transfer to device of your choice.

Have you tried Lightworks? It's a free NSE and has been used professionally in Hollywood for quite some time. The closest thing to something like Premiere, and much more professional than MS Movie Maker, VirtualDub etc.

a reply to: pissy

It's a possibility (I have it on my computer but haven't looked into it yet), but I don't think the parts of this thread's title that say "user-friendly" and "for beginners" apply in that case.

a reply to: ArMaP
I don't mean to be antagonistic, but how would you know if you've never tried it?

It's very simple to use. Learning the basics of NSE, even in something like Premiere, is pretty straightforward. Most of the sophistication with professional packages involves special effects, inter-operability, and asset collaboration. In fact, most of the professional (or similar) packages make basic video editing easier with things like simply being able to drag and drop clips, use rubber band fading, and applying things like slo-mo (which are as easy as applying an option). In more basic software that do no invest in these options, they force you to deal with framerates, etc., just to get something like slo-mo.

If you can learn how to use something like Moviemaker, Virtualdub, AVIdemux, etc., you can certainly use Lightworks. In fact, I would say it's much easier to learn and use than both VirtualDub and AVIdemux.

originally posted by: pissy
a reply to: ArMaP
I don't mean to be antagonistic, but how would you know if you've never tried it?

That was based on the comments I have seen about it, that it's much more powerful than the other free editors but, as is usually the case, more complex.

And I don't know if it is, that's why I said "I think".

If you can learn how to use something like Moviemaker, Virtualdub, AVIdemux, etc., you can certainly use Lightworks. In fact, I would say it's much easier to learn and use than both VirtualDub and AVIdemux.

Well, that means I have to try it as soon as I get some free time.

a reply to: ArMaP

give it a try, I realize it is only my opinion, and everyone has their own preferences, but you never know.

if you have any questions about it, or about video editing in general, I'd be glad to do my best to help.