Post by Beckers on Jul 14, 2006 23:45:53 GMT -5
Now that you have finished shooting all of the film you'll need for your latest project, it's time to edit it all together. But how do you edit it all together? Well, in order to finish your filming project you'll need an editor! But which one there's hundreds of them to choose from? Well that's for you to decide but I'm going to review three popular and well known editors to help you determine if you're just a beginner editor, a medium experience editor, and whether or not you're ready for what the professionals use! Remember that these are just three random editors chosen by me and that I have experience with. Remember you get what you pay for and there are editors with capabilities and prices inbetween and at all ends of the spectrum. Try heading to download.com and searching around and playing around until you find an editor you feel comfortable with and is right for you. Don't jump into an editor with all of the bells and whistles if you never intend to use them or have no idea how to use them! With any editor, research it before buying it, and after downloading a trial or a free program read up on it and seek out as many tutorials as possible or you'll end up pulling out your hair instead of cranking out awesome movies!
1. Windows Movie Maker
Difficulty: beginner
Rating: 3/5
Cost: $ 0
Download: www.download.com/Windows-Movie-Maker/3000-2194_4-10187903.html?tag=lst-0-1
Review:
Windows Movie Maker [WMM] is the most basic and most widely used editor by sim filmmakers. The lure to it seems to be a combination of its ease of use and it's cost. Most starving artists aren't called starving for nothing, most movie makers are just plain broke before they hit it big time. WMM also offers a timeline and basic click and drop view to fit a variety of editting styles and preferences. With basic transitions and helpful guides this editor has everything necessary for creating a basic movie. The ups of it are that many computers already have it on their systems, it has basic editting functions, and its cost is free! The only downs to this are that WMM doesn't have advanced transitions, video effects, and multi-layering of titles and videos or PIP. WMM also only allows you to share your video in one format, which is quite disappointing. If you are just starting out I suggest using this editor and once you've outgrown it, upgrade!
2. Ulead Video Studio 10
Difficulty: Medium
Rating: 4/5
Cost: $99.95
Download Trial: www.download.com/Ulead-VideoStudio/3000-2194_4-10527529.html?tag=lst-0-2
Review:
I personally use Ulead at home and have been with the company since version 8. I love the advanced transitions and video effects. Ulead combines the ease of WMM with the advanced technology that you see in TV commercials and several music videos. There are also hundreds of tutorials out on the web to teach you to do various effects. It offers extremely easy importation and allows exportation and sharing of videos in over 30 file formats, including formats that work for video iPods! The only down side to Ulead is besides its price, the fact that if you've ever touched a piece of professional technology it is a little hard to adjust at first. It also provides two different editing views. The only problem I've seen is that sometimes it causes your system to lag and changes may not be fully functional until after a project has been exported, but still a wonderful program to use.
3. Avid Express DV
Difficulty: Professional level
Rating: 5/5
Cost: $3,000-10,000
Information: www.promax.com/Systems/?WebCatagory=HDV%20(High%20Definition)&Software=Avid%20Xpress%20Pro
Review:
Man we are talking the best of the best here. This is not for the basic sim casual movie maker. This is the program that national news networks and movie tycoons use. I worked on this system in my TV class and if you have enough patience you can figuire out how to do everything from PIP to color correction, to voice changes, and transitions galore! The obvious drawback is that price...I know many of you won't ever even look at this product for yourself, but if you're considering branching off of sims 2 movies into real movies try looking up community programs that offer experience with this or internships at local news stations. This program can do it all, but if you don't read the tutorials and don't ask for help when you need it you will find yourself in quite a pickle! This program has the ability to record from VHS and DVD from cameras and also can roll to tape, DV, or DVD. If you're amatuer don't even try to jump into a system like this - you'll find yourself a piece of hay in a needlestack - wait how does that go again? Nevermaind... Another problem is that a simple project can have gigantic file sizes! It's fun to dream and this is the top of the line!
Remember - these are only three programs I have personal experience with and the goal of this review is to try and help you find out where you fit in as far as level of difficulty goes. If you have other products you've used that are good or bad, be sure to post them in this forum to help out other filmographers!
-Beckers.
1. Windows Movie Maker
Difficulty: beginner
Rating: 3/5
Cost: $ 0
Download: www.download.com/Windows-Movie-Maker/3000-2194_4-10187903.html?tag=lst-0-1
Review:
Windows Movie Maker [WMM] is the most basic and most widely used editor by sim filmmakers. The lure to it seems to be a combination of its ease of use and it's cost. Most starving artists aren't called starving for nothing, most movie makers are just plain broke before they hit it big time. WMM also offers a timeline and basic click and drop view to fit a variety of editting styles and preferences. With basic transitions and helpful guides this editor has everything necessary for creating a basic movie. The ups of it are that many computers already have it on their systems, it has basic editting functions, and its cost is free! The only downs to this are that WMM doesn't have advanced transitions, video effects, and multi-layering of titles and videos or PIP. WMM also only allows you to share your video in one format, which is quite disappointing. If you are just starting out I suggest using this editor and once you've outgrown it, upgrade!
2. Ulead Video Studio 10
Difficulty: Medium
Rating: 4/5
Cost: $99.95
Download Trial: www.download.com/Ulead-VideoStudio/3000-2194_4-10527529.html?tag=lst-0-2
Review:
I personally use Ulead at home and have been with the company since version 8. I love the advanced transitions and video effects. Ulead combines the ease of WMM with the advanced technology that you see in TV commercials and several music videos. There are also hundreds of tutorials out on the web to teach you to do various effects. It offers extremely easy importation and allows exportation and sharing of videos in over 30 file formats, including formats that work for video iPods! The only down side to Ulead is besides its price, the fact that if you've ever touched a piece of professional technology it is a little hard to adjust at first. It also provides two different editing views. The only problem I've seen is that sometimes it causes your system to lag and changes may not be fully functional until after a project has been exported, but still a wonderful program to use.
3. Avid Express DV
Difficulty: Professional level
Rating: 5/5
Cost: $3,000-10,000
Information: www.promax.com/Systems/?WebCatagory=HDV%20(High%20Definition)&Software=Avid%20Xpress%20Pro
Review:
Man we are talking the best of the best here. This is not for the basic sim casual movie maker. This is the program that national news networks and movie tycoons use. I worked on this system in my TV class and if you have enough patience you can figuire out how to do everything from PIP to color correction, to voice changes, and transitions galore! The obvious drawback is that price...I know many of you won't ever even look at this product for yourself, but if you're considering branching off of sims 2 movies into real movies try looking up community programs that offer experience with this or internships at local news stations. This program can do it all, but if you don't read the tutorials and don't ask for help when you need it you will find yourself in quite a pickle! This program has the ability to record from VHS and DVD from cameras and also can roll to tape, DV, or DVD. If you're amatuer don't even try to jump into a system like this - you'll find yourself a piece of hay in a needlestack - wait how does that go again? Nevermaind... Another problem is that a simple project can have gigantic file sizes! It's fun to dream and this is the top of the line!
Remember - these are only three programs I have personal experience with and the goal of this review is to try and help you find out where you fit in as far as level of difficulty goes. If you have other products you've used that are good or bad, be sure to post them in this forum to help out other filmographers!
-Beckers.