Video Editing?

[Vibrato]

With my old Sony camera, I could use Movie Maker (which is stooopid simple and crazy good) and have no problems editing with effects and music. With my new camera, I could record in 720 at 30 frames per second but I usually record in 480 at 60 frames per second. Also- it records in .MOV, the old Movie Maker won't read them and all advice googled on how to make it read them has not worked for me.

Reformatting would be an option if there was one that didn't take so long. I have almost 30 hours of video from the Moab trip alone, it would take a month of solid converting just to be able to get the files into a decent format- not very realistic.

The Windows "Live" Movie maker reads .MOV's, but it BUH - LOWS A$$ in every way, so I am looking for advice on video editing software that will handle decent movie editing in either the 720 or 480 @60 fps. (preferably, one that won't require me to buy a new computer!)

As for what I want the software to do, think of the 07 FORC video. (the 1st one)

I am using Windows Vista with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz and 2G of ram. Would consider going to Windows 7.

I know some of you guys are much more into this than I am so any advice would be appreciated.

-Vibrato

[mcwrath]

Pleeeeze!!!!! for the LOVE OF GOD!!! Somebody help him!!! I need more MOAB!!!!

[Crimpin']

Damn, Ray you need a new computer, or at least some more ram.

[Gunchie]

They have a "Windows Live Movie Maker 2011". Is this newer then the one you have? May be a little better.

[jimithng23]

I've got 6 gigs of RAM and a TB of hard-drive space...

bring beer and you're welcome to use my 'puter anytime

[DH001]

For large video editing projects the prepackaged software probably won't cut it. Adobe Premiere Elements, Sony Vegas, or any one of the other popular nonlinear editing suites would be a good choice. Some editing softwares have a feature called proxy editing which will save a lot of time on a slower machine during editing. This is where reduced resolution copies of video segments are used in the editing process and replaced with the full resolution clips when the final compilation is rendered.

As for hardware, more RAM and faster CPUs will make video editing much less frustrating, especially when dealing with HD footage. I'm running an Athlon 64 X2 7755 with 8GB of ram and it still seems slow when working with HD video. Your computer should be quick enough to run most of the latest software, though I would suggest installing the maximum amount of RAM your motherboard will handle. Upgrading the processor may also be possible since the system is still relatively new.

Selecting and uploading only the best segments of footage will also help save time when working on the computer.

[Vibrato]

Gunch- Windows live MM 2011 is typical microsoft- they did thousands of hours of work on a program to please the 1/10th of 1% who didn't like it and screwed the 99.99% who thought it was great. (Microsoft- Making programs that require more hardware while lowering performance! We should be the Government!) Web reviews from Movie maker 2.6 users and you're hard pressed to find even 1 person who likes it. Unless you're on the microsoft help site. (Job security, I'm guessing).

My old camera (@24 FPS? 30 FPS? who knows...AVI files) plays all day on the Movie maker 2.6- as many effects and edits as you want- hour and a half of thousands of clips with music- no problem. Load 1 file into MM live 2011 and it stutters, won't keep time with the music and basically just craps all over itself.

DH001- Thanks for the lowdown. After doing more research I'm going to try to clip the good stuff in "live" as best I can with the stuttering problems and then convert the mess with either Mpeg Streamclip or Super Converter so I can use MM 2.6. Movie Maker 2.6 is just so stinking easy and user friendly, I hate to spend time learning a new program when you can clip a video segment, add it into the timeline anywhere, adjust volume, add slow motion and fade it in or out in- all in about 15 seconds and then move to the next clip.


And Sheesh- I gotta think MORE RAM is the techno-geek equivelant of MORE COWBELL! HA! Certainly never hurts, but since I've got a program that works fine with video formats that aren't .MOV, I'm gonna try converting to something besides .MOV 1st. If the 2.6 has fits with the 60FPS I'll definately take your advice and do some upgrades to try to address it. A couple of the editors you mentioned have 30 day free trials, too! Sweet!

Plus I'm old and crotchety and I just plain don't like change.

[Rage]

And Sheesh- I gotta think MORE RAM is the techno-geek equivelant of MORE COWBELL!

*snort*

Rg.

[Bexter]

Ray, like Mielke, I've got a pretty powerful computer and I also have Roxio Creator that will work with .mov files.

[mcwrath]

I have Adobe Premier Elements! I will rush you the CD if you think it will help. You WILL want a decent computer and plenty of cowbell to run it though.

[captainmorgan]

A good website I use all the time for video editing help is http://www.videohelp.com (duh)

Mainly I use simple tools (Avidemux, VirtualDub, Vegas) for converting my GoPro HD, and cutting segments out, but not much more than that.

[Vibrato]

You WILL want a decent computer and plenty of cowbell to run it though.

HA!! I love how Cowbell is now synonymous with RAM!

[Chuck Norris]

I have 12gigs of ram and a 4TB raid running Final Cut Pro. It handles everything!

I may have some options for you to convert/transcode the footage into something useable in MoveMaker, or any other program for that matter.

If you're looking for something on windows, Premiere Elements may not be the best option. The higher version, Premiere Pro, is more versatile and can handle a wider range of footage and formats.

[Vibrato]

ALLRIGHT!! For us "value minded MTBers", If you've got a gopro, Contour or any other camera that creates .MOV files and you need them to be a different format, here's the poop.

Download MPEG Streamclip. It's free, easy and it works. After downloading, I was converting within 2 minutes. Piece of cake!! I converted to .AVI's at 60 Frames per second and it works with Movie Maker 2.6 which is so easy even a MTB'er can do it.

Funny thing. A converted clip works great with the old Movie Maker 2.6, which is awesome for freeware, and the same clip on the same computer stutters and craps all over itself in the new and improved Movie Maker Live. I may have to add microsoft to my "entities that screw up a good thing" list- so far it's just Trek, doubles jumps and horses. HA!