Video / Pic Editing Software For Newbies

[Smitty]

Hi all:

 

I was inspired by the IF4 film festival, I am interested in shooting more video when I fish.

 

So I am calling on all you pic-video-media experts and I'll ask this:

 

1. Best software to edit video (and pics too, but this is secondary) for newbies? Something simple to learn and straightforward (does that exist? Am I reaching?)

 

2. What's your pic to shoot video in terms of camcorders? Are most of you just using the video mode on your camera's, or are some of you carrying dedicated video camcorders?

 

OK, thanks in advance - I look forward to everyone's opinions.

 

Smitty

[Roast]

If you own a mac, the tools in iLife are really powerful and included in the system. iMovie and iPhoto are very intuitive programs and easy for the beginner to learn. I haven't owned a pc in a few years (windows xp) and I am not sure what is included with new windows 7 systems.

 

If you want to step it up to the next level, adobe premier and photoshop are some of the industry standards, however they are really pricy. You could buy a cheap mac (used) for the price of some of these suites. However I don't think that this is what you are looking for.

 

Hopefully some pc users will chime in and give other options:)

 

I think that most people are using hero/ go pro cams to shoot video now. Also a lot of the newer waterproof cameras can also shoot high quality video.

[Smitty]

Thanks for the reply Roast.

 

Should have made that clear from the get-go; I own a PC.

 

Keep the opinions coming!

 

Cheers,

Smitty

[Flytyer]

You may want to take a look at:

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-pr...e-elements.html

 

This bundle will probably work well for you once you get past the learning curve. Several wedding photographers have had great results with the Premiere Elements software for wedding video. The price is reasonable on this bundle too which is nice considering it's from Adobe

[cheeler]

Haven't used it but it's free:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essen...ker-get-started

 

[Jayhad]

For a few vidoe clips i've played around with originally was just going to use my point and shoot but soon realized that for video you need a specfic video camera. Most point and shoots just don't have a big enough lense so your videos will be grainy and dark.

 

Most of the video we are seeing out there (FLy Nation) is shot on DSLRs Canon t2is and t3is are the leaders. For under water cameras, you can use a gopro, get a case for a DSLR, or get a underwater video camera.

Gopros are great, small and tough. DSLR CAses tend to fog when going from outside temp to water temp, but if you can get it work out they are great and offer exceptional protection for you DSLR. For underwater specific cameras there are some good peices, this last season after a lot of research the best one for my uses was the Sanyo Xacti, I love it. ONly issue you will find with underwater video cameras is you can do effective panning with only having auto focus.

 

I mess around with adobe premier for my editing.

[DaveJensen]

Just a few things from what I've been able to pick up on and employ - It really depends on your editing style, your audience, where you hope to get to, etc. Are you video content based or editing based? If you want a manic, heavy transitional bit of video with all those fancy edits, Sony Vegas is likely your best PC program. If you are simply trying to do smooth, simple edits, WMM is easy to use and the concepts you learn in it are very much applicable to other programs. The easiest one to use with the most to offer that I've found is Pinnacle, but my goodness is it glitchy once you add in even the simplest of effects or multiple file types from various cameras used along the way. All the vids on our flyfishalberta.com site are simple Pinnacle edits, but those are very simple in our desired style.

Besides camera selection - and GoPro or other P&S cams are only good to a point - you really have to plan a lot to get something of value too. Story boards, time lines, cohesion, etc... 3 hrs of raw shot vid might produce 2 - 10 min of vid. We haven't released the projects we've been working on (as in learning, re-learning, hating the learning curve, getting perfectionistic, and - the biggest one - making sure we don't type cast ourselves with the first release). So, the scope of all of those things needs be looked at. And, once you get rolling, how do you catalog, store, and database 5 trips x 3 months per trip to New Zealand, let alone the other stuff along the way... and how will you organize what you use on one project as to avoid needing that footage on another? And of course, what file format are you shooting in, what file format is the editing software compatible with, how will you separate the 30 useable seconds of a 4 minute clip and what file format will you save it in to ensure no quality loss... and will all those things be compatible in tomorrow's world? Just saying. There's waaaay more to it than how 'easy' it all looks. And for 99% of folks... how do you spend that much time on something that is simply costing you $ to do? Again, just sayin'. Go into it with your eyes open to what you want to do! Happy exploring.

Cheers

[Smitty]

Just a few things from what I've been able to pick up on and employ - It really depends on your editing style, your audience, where you hope to get to, etc. Are you video content based or editing based? If you want a manic, heavy transitional bit of video with all those fancy edits, Sony Vegas is likely your best PC program. If you are simply trying to do smooth, simple edits, WMM is easy to use and the concepts you learn in it are very much applicable to other programs. The easiest one to use with the most to offer that I've found is Pinnacle, but my goodness is it glitchy once you add in even the simplest of effects or multiple file types from various cameras used along the way. All the vids on our flyfishalberta.com site are simple Pinnacle edits, but those are very simple in our desired style.

Besides camera selection - and GoPro or other P&S cams are only good to a point - you really have to plan a lot to get something of value too. Story boards, time lines, cohesion, etc... 3 hrs of raw shot vid might produce 2 - 10 min of vid. We haven't released the projects we've been working on (as in learning, re-learning, hating the learning curve, getting perfectionistic, and - the biggest one - making sure we don't type cast ourselves with the first release). So, the scope of all of those things needs be looked at. And, once you get rolling, how do you catalog, store, and database 5 trips x 3 months per trip to New Zealand, let alone the other stuff along the way... and how will you organize what you use on one project as to avoid needing that footage on another? And of course, what file format are you shooting in, what file format is the editing software compatible with, how will you separate the 30 useable seconds of a 4 minute clip and what file format will you save it in to ensure no quality loss... and will all those things be compatible in tomorrow's world? Just saying. There's waaaay more to it than how 'easy' it all looks. And for 99% of folks... how do you spend that much time on something that is simply costing you $ to do? Again, just sayin'. Go into it with your eyes open to what you want to do! Happy exploring.

Cheers

 

I'm dizzy, lol.

 

Never is easy as you might hope for...

 

More seriously, I do sincerely appreciate the reply, because the different perspectives really give an idea of whats involved.

 

Eventually, one video I'd like to produce is a fairly "cool" video for the fly-fishing club at school, as a recruitment tool. So ya, about a 2-3 minute video, preferably in HD (but not a deal breaker).

 

So I suppose one very basic choice or fork in the road is whether I simply accept the quality I get with a p&s cam/go pro, versus having dedicated equipment.

 

Another approach is using one of the school's high quality camera's an putting together a slick slide show of still images (but the images could easily be HD).

 

Please keep the advice coming!

 

Cheers,

Smitty

 

[Buck]

I'm dizzy, lol.

 

Never is easy as you might hope for...

 

More seriously, I do sincerely appreciate the reply, because the different perspectives really give an idea of whats involved.

 

Eventually, one video I'd like to produce is a fairly "cool" video for the fly-fishing club at school, as a recruitment tool. So ya, about a 2-3 minute video, preferably in HD (but not a deal breaker).

 

So I suppose one very basic choice or fork in the road is whether I simply accept the quality I get with a p&s cam/go pro, versus having dedicated equipment.

 

Another approach is using one of the school's high quality camera's an putting together a slick slide show of still images (but the images could easily be HD).

 

Please keep the advice coming!

 

Cheers,

Smitty

 

So if this is for at school, is there any sort of video/movie club?? If there is, have them "volunteer" to help you make your video. Its a win/win situation. They are learning skills to shoot/edit film, and at the same time they are producing something you can use for recruitment of the fly-fishing club. If one of those clubs does exist, chances are they would have access to video equipment as well which would otherwise cost you a fair chunk of change. As soon as you stray away from the p&s/go pro option, you are looking at putting some serious cash into the project (camera, memory cards, batteries, tripod, editing software, etc. ), which is fine if that is truly what you want to do and also have some extra money sitting around. I thought fly fishing was expensive, UNTIL I started getting into photography/video.

 

My 2 cents....

 

[DaveJensen]

I thought fly fishing was expensive, UNTIL I started getting into photography/video.

Amen to that. As I said to Amelia this week on a rainbow trout river here, if it wasn't for the art of the camera, there's no way I'd be able to fish nearly as much as I do. The other day we landed 25 rainbows, 4 1/2 - 8 lbs on a river - all on dries. On one hand, if the camera had been left in the van we'd likely have caught 50 but doubt we'd pursue that #. On the other hand, if it wasn't for the interest in photos & video and the desire for the different subject matter, angles, artistic expression, etc, I'm not sure we're in New Zealand for 3 months. With photos and video, there's always something different to see and capture and be inspired by, no matter where or when you fish. We'll be here 90 days this year and on the water about 80. The landscape is so diverse and offers so many ecosystems to play in such close proximity. It's not the big fish that drives my heel.

But to the vid club at school thought - that's likely the best option for that. It'd be great for a young photographer to get out and work on such a project too.

[SilverDoctor]

1. Best software to edit video (and pics too, but this is secondary) for newbies? Something simple to learn and straightforward (does that exist? Am I reaching?)

Smitty

 

If you are on Mac iMovie is nice and sold as free software with the machine. For high end editing at work I use Adobe After Effects but it is pricey for a newbie.