Latest Television

Which video editing program is the best?

We have a Sony high definition camcorder with a built in hard drive. My wife is looking to edit the videos and make DVD's. Any recommendations to a novice video editor on which program offers the most for what we are looking to do. My appreciation is in advance!

Public Comments

1. A lot of folks will say, Adobe Premier. That's fine if you want a fairly basic system. Just don't expect to be able to get a professional look with it. As a professional video editor myself, I recommend Final Cut Pro Studio on a Mac G-5 system. The program comes with everything you need to do totally professional work at full HD quality, from the start of the cutting to the authoring and burning of the disks (provided you have a burner). The program package will run you anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000, and the computer will be anywhere from $1,500 on up, unless you buy the MiniMac for around $500. With this stuff, you'll be working with the same toys the Big Boys use.
2. If you're looking for a more cost-effective, novice-targeted solution (though stuff like Premiere and Final Cut Pro and Avid Xpress are great!), maybe check out stuff like Ulead Videostudio 11 or Pinnacle Studio. To step up, there's also Ulead Mediastudio Pro 8 (I use it, it's got a lot of great stuff, but a few bugs to work around sometimes). This software does work with HDV (I assume your camcorder uses the HDV format). Also give a look at Avid Liquid - used to be Pinnacle's upgrade to Pinnacle Studio, but now it's made by Avid, among the industry leaders in video editing. It includes everything from capture to output, and I think it's gotten pretty good reviews. I've also heard of, but not personally used, Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere. With any piece of software, you're going to need a lot of RAM, processing power, and hard drive space to work with HDV. You might want to take a look at http://www.videoguys.com for some info about how to build a good editing system. Personally, I have not worked with HDV yet.
3. Avid Pro is what everyone uses There is also Sony's program, Vegas+DVD It's a good program too.
4. I'd have to agree with NYC Fan. Avid Pro, Final cut studio, and Adobe premiere pro, are definitely not EASY to use video editors. While they can produce fantastic results, they take a lot of time to learn and are very expensive ( $300 and up!) Instead take a look at something like Pinnacle's Studio 11 plus. This program is great because it supports HD video and can convert that to DVD. One second while I discuss the difference between HD and DVD. When you go and burn a DVD with your computer what you are doing is making a SD video. DVD's are not HD and no matter what when you edit footage with your computer and then burn it to a DVD you will loose some quality. Continuing on, this program also will edit by using drag and drop clips or by using a timeline more professional interface, for when you get better at editing. Also this program will allow you to add effects to your video or even do picture in picture! On a whole this program is great for a novice beginner and will continue to grow up until you become a advanced beginner. Oh, on a side note Pinnacle is the consumer division of the television industry standard Avid so you know that it is a quality product. Good luck! Oh and because its HD make sure it is a dual core processor or a really fast ( 2.8-3ghz) P4. Plus make sure you have a MINIMUM of 1GB of memory. If you don't you will literally be waiting for hours, literally.