Video and Sound Editing Software
 

Just wondering what the best editing software programs are out there?

Adobe Premiere?
Adobe After Effects?

Sound Forge?

need some tips on what programs to use.

Howdy from Texas,

"Best" is a highly relative superlative. What's best for someone else may not be best for you... you'll have to find out what's best for yourself.

Each of the programs you mention are for different kinds of editing (Sound Forge is for audio, for instance... After Effects is not editing software, but image compositing software).

The good news is that demo versions of most of these programs are freely available for downloading and using for a 30-day trial. Ulead MediaStudio Pro, Adobe Premiere and Sonic Foundry Vegas Video are three PC-based video editing programs that are available for trying out before you buy. Hope this helps,

What are you planning to use it for?

Have you already got the hardware?

Premiere 6 - Used in the industry has a lot of effects - I.E Blue screen, Green screen, wide screen, add 99 lines of video and audio, etc, etc, etc. (DV200, DV500+, DC1000 - pinnacle systems, also bundled with other cards - Matrox etc)

Studio DV - Low end consumer model - add titles, transitions, music and thats about it. (Pinnacle system - comes with IEEE1394 board).

MGI Videowave - Low-end consumer model about the same as Studio DV

Final Cut Pro - comes with IMacs but I believe is available on its own

Avid DV - High end used in the industry, and is most expensive.


I use Premiere 6, and love the layout and all the effects possible with it plus you are able to use it with other programs - Photoshop, After Effects - I feel it gives the all in one package as it is, but also allows you to expand it to suit your needs.

Avid is used more within the TV industry and because of this is the most expensive about £1000+ all though the higher end models are about £10,000+, so I believe.

Hope these help,

Ed Smith

Thanks. I'm pretty sure I have the hardware. Been doing research for weeks/months. I've got a high-end PC with tons of Hard Drive space, firewire, etc...recently just purchased the canon GL1. I've got a widescreen TV.

I was hoping to fool around with creating short skits or movies and adding special effects...including visual and sound effects. I eventually want to transfer completed footage to DVD as well. Just sort of a hobby I want to get into. Sounds like a lot of fun. Been planning to do this for like years but it seems I finally have the money to go all out.

I have Adobe Premiere 6.0 and Photoshop 6.0 so I'm all good there. Have not tried either of them extensively yet but will get my hands dirty soon.

Been doing a bunch of research on anamorphic encoding. Was hoping there was a process in which I could anamorphically encode footage onto DVD. But i'll figure out most of that in time. It's hard when you have a widescreen tv...you really don't want to work with anything but anamorphic.

But I found out that the electronic squeeze that some camcorders use are fake. Better than post-cropping but you still lose some resolution. I'd have to get an anamorphic lens to have no loss in resolution.

Anyway, everybody in this community has been a great help. I haven't even started filming and yet I've learned so much. I'm enjoying the knowledge transfer.

Correction
 

iMovie, not Final Cut Pro, comes free with the Mac OS. FCP runs nearly $1000 and is a professional-grade non-linear editor on the Mac platform. iMovie is a limited but very capable and fun editor adequate for family videos and even some semi-pro jobs.

Like Chris said, "best" is a relative term dependent on your needs, your platform and budget. You can spend as little as $0 for an iMovie or CineStream and get a pretty good NLE. You can also spend $100,000+ for an Avid Symphony system. Ed's list is a good place to start your research. You might also visit other forums such as DV.com's NLE forum to lurk and learn.

Sorry Ken, I was working from my head and got a little mixed up.

Thanks for the correction`,:-)

Ed Smith

You are comparing the wrong products. After Effects is
not an editing product (although it could be used for that).

Premiere is the editing product here. After Effects is what
the name applies. Working with your footage after it has
been edited to do effects work (this can be as small as
titling or as large as full scall matting, color correction,
animation or letterboxing etc.)

I suggest you try out the demos from the Internet if
you can download these (pretty large usually). This will
allow you to choose before you buy. Perhaps some stores
can help you with a demo version too before you buy
the full product of them.

Good luck!

thanks. I meant more along the lines of any software used for DV creation/editing/etc...

I have copies of Premiere 6, After Effects 5.5, Ulead Media Studio Pro, so I have plenty to play with. Hope everything goes smoothly...I get my first digital camcorder in 2 days!

I agree that Premier is the better editing program for video, in a general sort of way. The tools and layout is the easiest for me to work with. I have never tried Final Cut, but that would be my second pick.

I have tried Vegas Video, and many of the Uleads, and didn't like them much. However, Vegas Video compressed for the web better than most.

I have also used Sound Forge, and truly wouldn't want another audio program. It will take an avi and edit the audio, and even convert to web formats.

As far as After Effects, it is in a world all it's own :)
Keith