Need Opinions about Movie Making / Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Roxio 9, Sony Vegas....

Windows Movie Maker is very easy to use for beginners and there is a forum with lots of tips and tutorials. Windows Media Encoder integrates well with Movie Maker and if I'm not mistaken, it's free.

Camtasia is very useful if you plan on doing onscreen type lessons where the veiwer will watch and follow along.

I've used all of the programs you've mentioned at one time or another. They're all good programs, each with a following that prefers one over the other for thier own reasons. Just depends on which you find easier to grasp.

Steve,

For video that is beyond the basics of Windows Movie Maker but not as in depth as Avid, Sony Vegas Pro, or Adobe Premier - Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 rocks! A while back I posted a thread on getting it for only $39.00 through Dell...it's normally around 80 bucks.

chuck

Yeah, Vegas is pretty straighforward. I'm using it for audio, but it also does a good job at chopping video. And it's cheaper than premiere.

Chris

Cyberlink Powerdirector might be a good choice for You, because it is easy to use, but at the same time, has many features.
It makes easier to render HD content since the newest version uses your GPU (video card, or graphics card) to make the necessary calculations.

Premiere Pro CS4 is not necessary for you. At least for now, however if You would like to tap into professional video editing, then it might be the best choice in the future!

Hope this helps!

Premiere Elements is more user friendly, if you'd like to go the Adobe way.

Hey Steve,

Since you have them I suggest installing them and testing them.

You will find a quick answer to your own question ;-)

I vote for Sony Vegas though.

Here is what I have or have used/tested:

Every version of Sony Vegas
Adobe Premiere (hated it)
Pinnacle Studio (multiple versions)
Windows Movie Maker - Limited and compressed output formats make it a no go that should only be used by amateurs who have no other choice.

Not sure what you would need Roxio for unless you are going to burn DVDs. The only thing we use Roxio for is personal media. I would not use it for any video production or business related activities.

(I am skipping the Mac titles I have since you are on PC)

I suggest you install and test both Sony and Adobe Premiere since you have them and since your own preferences will be different from others.

I'd stick with Sony though.

Wow.... Industry standards sure aren't IMm standards...

If you need the BEST, go for Final Cut Pro for editing, After Effects for effects, soundbooth (actually I prefer the older and more stable audition software, before the name and system architecture was changed) for sound, and flash CS3/4 for flash. But learn Action Script for great web sites!

Another great tool is flash video enocder, also by adobe. It takes any video file and turns it to .flv

Just my 2 cents

Hands down the best is Final Cut Pro but unless I'm mistaken you'll need a Mac for that. I have tested most of the heavy hitters for Windows and found Vegas to be the best with the easiest learning curve. Maybe I just have a thing against Adobe but I hated it. Thought it was unnecessarily complex and overpriced.

yes, I agree, premiere is NOT the best. But final cut ROCKS

Don't forget that community support and great documentation/tutorials are a must when choosing software like that. I've made this mistake too many times: choose something barely anybody uses then end unable to ask anybody for help and without access to documentation. Sometimes choosing the most popular option is the best option, even when the software is not the best.

Tyrus

I also vote Sony Vegas.

What ever you start with is what you stick with. I only use Sony Vegas because when I did a television course the producers etc all had to use Avid however when everyone went home they snuk out to our room and used Vegas. That was enough for me as they had everything to choose from and were the professionals.

Q

Hi Steve:

Hope all is well.

Good luck with your project.

There should be a separation when video software is mentioned because depending on the segment of the niche the company wants it may:
Let you record video content
Let you view video content
View video content and take pictures of the video as it plays
Only View Video Content
Let you edit video with effects and text
Record desktop activity*

The last one means that you can record what is happening on any website, photo, or text for playback.

As for some of the product mentions. Windows Movie Maker is a very good starter program. The fact it is free makes people very comfortable because they don't feel the frustration that often comes with a new product that you pay for (learning curve). It also let's you save the final version as an MPEG. People have gotten away from common file extensions and then don't understand why others can't view or upload a video. MPEG is very accessible.

Camtasia (the full 100 percent top of the line version) let's you record desktop activity with the best quality. There are competitors out there that will enable you to record but you will lose between 1 and 1.5 on a grading system. For instance if your original source is A the result with a lessor screen capture destop activity software will be B or B-.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the weekend.

For just starting - Windows Movie Maker is a good intro to get used to - i started with that...

I have Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 but never fully used it / learned it...much more complicated to learn,,..

...right now I'm loving a s/w I don't think mentioned yet -

it is called Corel Video Studio (only $80) and the former name of it is 'ULead' - I love it as it brings in .mts files from my canon HF10 - super high quality...

Final cut pro - also use it a bit - was used to produce the video in my sig - the super secrets one -

I use CAmtasia for screen capture - love that alot as well as super easy to use!

Hope that helps..cheers, m

If you have no advanced knowledge in movie making you should go with windows movie maker. A bit more expensive solution is Sony Vegas, but it requires a fair amount of knowledge (I do recommend it just because I'm using it and I'm loving it).

Camtasia is a program for recording your screen (screen clicks, etc.)

I think Camtasia is much better. And no I don't think PowerPoint will be of any use to you.

See what I mean?

Everyone has a favourite for different reasons. You can't go wrong by testing each one you have access to, then making a decision.

You might find you like one for one use and another for another use.

It's all good.

I just went with Camtasia myself but haven't played with it yet. Camtasia does come with a Pointpoint plugin which is important if you are doing instructional/tutorial slide-show type videos and want to make the recording easier but still look professional. I've noticed that quite a few IM Guru's seem to use Camtasia so there's gotta be a reason for this!? I also have Pinnacle and Premiere and I have found Pinnacle much easier to work with than Premiere.

Final Cut is hand-down the best there is. Period. Nothing compares to it. I have the full suite, and it works like a charm on my mac...

I've been making awesome videos for my sites using Sony Vegas Pro. Just take your time and learn the time line. The key to nice looking videos is not only editing out the parts of the video you don't like, but putting in nice scene transitions.

For basics just use Movie maker for advanced stuff use Vegas and for cutting montaging video use Premiere its much less cluttered than Vegas.But I suggest you buy After effects far more better than any of these.AE plus Premiere super combo.Let me know if you need more help.