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Links to Video Editing
- Hardware for Video Editing
- Software for Video Editing
- Tips for Video Editing
- Sound Editing - Programs and Files
- Making DVD, VCD and SVCD
- Forums on Video Editing
2. Software for Video Editing
1. Adobe Premiere 6.5
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/main.html
A review of Adobe Premiere can be read at:
http://www.zerocommv2.com/premiere.php
Adobe Premiere Review 6.5
Lending even more appeal to its already strong nonlinear video-editing product, Adobe has endowed Premiere 6.5 with real-time previewing, a DVD-authoring tool, new audio plug-ins, and a titling feature that comes with 90 PostScript fonts. Unfortunately, the Mac version doesn't fare as well as the PC one since it lacks both real-time audio plug- ins and DVD authoring.
Ready, set, edit
As with all of the previous versions of Premiere, installation is a snap--just insert the CD-ROM and follow the instructions. Premiere ships with some of the best documentation in the industry, including a well-written user guide, online help, and an excellent training CD-ROM from Total Training. Phone tech support is free (although you'll have to pay for the cost of the call) for 90 days if you're purchasing the program for the first time or for 30 days if you're upgrading.Once you start up the program, you'll be asked what type of video you want to create, from a simple clip for the Web to full-resolution DV movies. After you've made your selection, the Premiere Timeline window opens up and allows you to assemble your videos. If you're accustomed to using other Adobe products, such as Photoshop, you'll find the interface's organization very familiar. When it comes to capturing video, Premiere 6.5 supports a greater variety of DV devices than its predecessor, including the popular Sony DVCAM video decks.
Real time only part-time
Within Premiere 6.5, you'll find several powerful new editing features. Three DirectX audio plug-ins from TC Electronics let you do everything from adding reverb to improving volume on a poorly recorded audio track. Just click and drag an effect onto an audio file, and a TC Electronics window will open so that you can make adjustments. On the Mac side, Adobe bundled Sparkle, a stereo audio-editing program, which, while impressive, lacks the real-time features of PC-based TC Electronics plug-ins. Therefore, you will need to render any changes you make to a Mac audio file.At long last, you don't need to use an external program to create truly impressive titles and graphics within your production. Premiere 6.5 includes a full-featured titling app called Adobe Title Designer, which lets you tweak your text and graphics to your heart's content. The 90 included PostScript fonts add even more pizzazz to your titles.
We tested the new version's much-touted real-time previewing with a single-processor, 1.7GHz Pentium 4 desktop computer with 256MB of RAM. The feature worked as advertised, providing a generally smooth view of footage with effects, transitions, and titles added. However, there are a couple of limitations to be aware of. Unlike Vegas Video, Premiere won't let you preview on an NTSC video monitor. And you'll need to make sure that your system is up-to-snuff before getting all excited about the previews. Although you can run the program on a slower machine, you won't be able to view real-time previews on a PC that's slower than 800GHz or on a sub-G4 Mac. And of course, Adobe recommends dual processors for the best performance. On a positive note, unlike in Final Cut Pro and some other editing programs, the real-time preview in Premiere works on all transitions, effects, audio (for PC users), and graphic layers.
Now includes DVD authoring
Like many current Windows-based editing programs, Premiere 6.5 comes bundled with a third-party DVD-authoring program, Sonic Solutions DVDit LE, a scaled-back version of the company's high-end DVD-authoring tool. The program has a feature set that falls somewhere between that of Dazzle DVD Complete and that of Apple DVD Studio Pro. DVDit is nicely integrated into Premiere; you can export your timelines complete with chapter markers directly from Premiere with the Adobe MPEG encoder. Once you've encoded your video, just open up DVDit to design your DVD menu and burn your clips to a disc.Divided platforms
As the original QuickTime editing application, Adobe Premiere has long been a digital video mainstay. The latest release is more of a major upgrade than one would expect from a version numbered with .5 extension and takes some solid steps to ensure that Premiere remains a serious contender in the face of tough competition from Avid Xpress DV and Apple Final Cut Pro.
Advanced amateur video editors will appreciate the boost in productivity that real-time previewing brings, as well as the expanded creative options of the new titling and audio tools. However, it's hard to recommend the Mac version of Premiere over Final Cut Pro, which offers even more extensive controls for audio, editing, and effects. At the very least, Mac users might want to wait until Adobe adds DVD authoring.There are three major enhancements in the QuickTime 6-compatible Premiere 6.5 -- native real-time DV effects processing, an internal text generator that's been promoted from Title Tool to Title Designer -- with good reason -- and streamlined exporting for projects destined for DVD.
Staying Power
Premiere started out as a fairly simple application. Back in the early '90s, it was posited against heavy-hitter Avid Media Composer as one of the first non-linear video editing applications. But end users soon became more savvy, demanding the advanced features that Avid provided for the pros -- time-code support, EDLs, and special effects capabilities, to name a few -- and Adobe responded accordingly.With version 6.5, Adobe Premiere continues to answer to end users' wishes by hopping on the real-time DV bandwagon. Real-time editing is possibly one of the most important features an editing system can offer: The ability to try out lots of variations on a cut is key to successful editing and real-time processing gives editors the freedom to use their imaginations without the regret of a wasted render. Nowadays, cuts-only real- time editing is a given and thanks to faster CPU processing speeds, multiple layers of real-time effects unassisted by hardware add-ons are also quickly becoming the norm for FireWire-based DV systems.
Recently, several other editors have closed in on the ground usually occupied by Premiere, the most popular package in its field. Some of the new contenders are low- end tools which have finally reached a level of sophistication that makes them appeal to a wider audience. Others are higher-end products which have been moved down the price scale to aim at Premiere's core audience. There's also a new arrival in the shape of Newtek's Video Toaster, which is going to attract a lot of attention from the semi-pro and broadcast users.
Premiere needed to respond, and by the looks of the beta, it has.
Top billing has to go to the new real-time tools. You can put on whatever effects, transitions, filters, and overlays you like; the computer will do its best to play them back both on the Premiere monitor window, and on an external monitor connected via a standard IEEE1394 card - dropping frames, or reducing the quality of images if it can't manage to do everything at once.
You can view your work any way you choose. If you hit Play, you get the unaffected playback of any shots on the timeline; if you hit Enter, you get real-time rendering; if you hit 'Render Work Area', you get all your effects rendered for full- quality playback. This is a step up from most packages, which force you to mess about switching from one type of preview to another.
Titling has been completely overhauled, with Adobe going for an entirely new real- time titler of its own. This enables you to use graphics and text and to animate both, and it offers an extensive library of pre-designed styles to get you started. Animation is limited, however, and it would have been nice to have had keyframing on the timeline of titling options.
To cover the DVD market, Adobe has added a couple of tools. Firstly, you can now export the full range of MPEG formats with an easy-to-use encoder which will spit your files out in a DVD-playable format. Secondly, there's a bundled package, DVDit! LE, which enables you to do limited authoring (PC only).
Other additions to Premiere 6.5 include enhanced Windows Media import, export for better streaming files (Windows only), and the ability to grab music directly from CDs. There's also an additional bundle of 90 fonts and 11 new musical styles for 'Smartsound' - the automatic music creation tool. Three extra sound filters are provided on the Windows version for EQ, reverb, and dynamics, and the Mac release - which now works with OS X - gets a two- track real-time audio editor in the shape of the third-party package, SparkLE.
Version 6.5 looks set to add a whole suite of extra little functions to Premiere, and the addition of real-time effects will be a boost to everyone who uses the package. For the complete lowdown.
2. Pinnacle Studio
A review of Pinnacle Studio 8 in ComputerVideo:
http://www.computervideo.net/nov02-2.html
A review of Pinnacle Studio 9 in ComputerVideo:
http://www.computervideo.net/apr04-3.html
Pinnacle Studio 8
Pinnacle's Studio software has been an impressive contender in the entry-level DV editing arena for a good while, but last year's launch of version 7 set new standards and established it as the best basic editor on any platform. Now, with Version 8, Pinnacle is adding powerful DVD authoring tools, too.
Pinnacle's Studio software seems to be born from a very different philosophy than that of competing products such as MGI/Roxio's VideoWave 5. While many entry-level editors sell themselves with flashy effects and the notion that an easy-to-use interface must also be limited, Studio has established itself as best of breed, thanks to useful editing tools and a lot of genuine thought directed towards what the video novice actually needs.
Version 7 broke considerable ground for video editing newcomers, and competitors MGI (now Roxio) and Ulead are still struggling to catch up. Pinnacle's lead seems set to grow even further with Studio 8 - which has the same array of video editing tools, but adds DVD authoring features that could rival more expensive dedicated applications, such as Ulead's DVD Workshop. The new version of Studio also sees a considerable drop in price, from £80 to only £60.
Conclusion
As with version 7, there is still plenty of room for improvement. An intelligent differentiation of which timeline elements are exported to tape and which are saved for DVD should be introduced as soon as possible. As with the previous version, we'd also like the option of retaining audio from inserted video clips - possibly extracted to one of the audio tracks, as it is with Apple's iMovie.
Regardless of these complaints, we feel that Pinnacle Studio has managed to keep its crown as the best entry-level DV editing software on any platform. Itís remarkably well featured, but still tactile and intuitive. And unlike some contenders - notably MGI's VideoWave or
Cinematic - it makes no attempt to patronise the user. Studio could well be all the editing software many people need. And at a new low price of £60, itís a no-brainer for anyone thinking of taking the DV plunge.Peter Wells
For the full review, see the November 2002 issue of Computer Video.
3. Ulead VideoStudio 7
A review of Ulead Video Studio can be read at:
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http://www.ulead.co.uk/vs/runme.htm4. MGIsoft Videowave 5
5. Sonic Foundry - Vegas Video
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=810
A review of Vegas Video 3 can be read at:
http://multimedian.com/pcv/reviews/vegasvideo3.html
I really should have reviewed this sooner, but I was so content with Premiere 6 and Media Studio Pro 6.5 that I did not think Vegas Video could really offer much more (and I have been busy/lazy). Anyway, I was wrong. Vegas Video 3 has the ease of use of Premiere and the real time effects of MSP, all under one hood. While the interface is a bit different (an evolution of Vegas Audio), overall it is very functional.
For basic editing, I have in the past preferred to use Premiere 6 because it can output all on-screen video to firewire. So if you hook up a television to your camcorder's analog out, you have a full screen TV preview while editing. The problem with Premiere 6 is that if you add effects you get no previews until you render (which is time consuming). If you want to experiment with different effects, you are going to waste a lot of time (unless you buy an expensive addon real time effects card like the Matrox RT2500). That is why for effects lovers I have tended to recommend Media Studio Pro (MSP) which lacks the real time firewire output previews, but has real time onscreen effects previews. Vegas Video, however, allows you external (to a TV) or internal (to monitor) previews of both regular video and effects laden video. If you add too many effects and you set the preview quality too high your video playback will have a lower frame rate (so it won't be as smooth). I found that Vegas Video has far better effects preview performance than Media Studio Pro. On a mere 800mhz Athlon, I found the effects previewed out to my external television (or to the onscreen monitor) very smoothly. Obviously, the faster your computer is the more effects you will be able to add without any loss in preview quality.
Vegas Video includes its own proprietary DV codec which is considered the best DV codec yet produced, with artifact-free rendering ability up to 50 video generations (in lay terms: your video won't ever be degraded when you add effects). Premiere uses the Windows DV codec which is not as good (remember DV codec quality only affects the parts of your video that you add effects to, which have to be rerendered).
Vegas Video also includes a very high quality Mpeg1/2 encoder (by Main Concept) for your VCD/SVCD/DVD authoring needs, though the encoding speed is average.
Like most Sonic Foundry products a file explorer (much like Windows Explorer) is included inside the program interface, making adding media files to your timeline easy.
The audio and video effects interface is different than Premiere and similar to MSP as keyframing (which allows you to change the level of effects over the duration of a clip) is in the effects control window, not on the timeline. The clip editing is also different (you use markers) and I found it not as easy to use as the 'mark in/mark out' functionality of the Premiere clip monitor (but maybe I will get more used to it). However, I loved the ability to easily zoom into a clip on a full size frame-by-frame level, which makes pulling stills from your video incredibly easy and efficient. You can also dock and undock most parts of the interface.
The most pleasant surprise is that I finally was able to use the Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction plugin, which never worked in Premiere. So, I was able to pretty effectively get rid of the motor noise that sometimes finds its way on my camcorder audio tracks.
Once I become more familiar with the interface, this probably will be my favorite prosumer video editor (for now). In any case, anyone looking for the ease of Premiere plus the power/functionality of MSP should definitely give this a try.
Pros: Solid DV codec, instant timeline playback with real time effects preview out to TV, customizable interface. Cons: The interface is different than traditional editing software Price: ESP - $599 Check Prices Manufacturer: Sonic Foundry
6. Canopus EZDV Lite
http://www.canopus-aust.com/AU/products/ezdv_se/pt_ezdv_se.asp
New utilities from Canopus at:
http://www.canopus.com/US/products/free_utilities/pm_free_utilities.asp
To be added.
7. EditStudio
http://www.puremotion.com/editstudio/index.htm
8. Desktop Video Articles listed by Categories:
Beginners Articles
Advanced Articles
Digital Filmmaking Interviews
Desktop Video Tips
Products Reviewed
Glossary of Video Terms
http://desktopvideo.about.com/library/weekly/?once=true&
http://www.pcmedixwebs.com/enditall.htmVersion 2 of EndItAll is available here.
The cyber course on TV videography.
SoftMpeg 1.09 Update
An updated version of the SoftMpeg software-based MPEG encoding utility, packaged with most Canopus editing products, includes a number of free utilities:
Changes to v1.09
[ General ]
- Improves the rate control to lessen the occurrence of VBV Buffer Overflow/Underflow error.
- Fixed the problem that encoding could not be properly done on some particular encode settings.
[ Premiere Plug-in ]
- Fixed the problem that a part of sound would be lost when encoding with certain settings.
DV File Converter
http://www.canopus.com/US/products/DV_file_converter/pm_dv_file_converter.asp
A free utility which lets you convert Microsoft DV .AVI files into Canopus
DV .AVI files, and vice versa.
Universe Image Creator
http://www.diardsoftware.com/
Universe Image Creator allows you to create realistic images of space including stars, nebula, galaxies, and more. There are two products: A stand-alone program called Universe Image Creator version 1.63 ($24.95 USD) and a plug-in program compliant with PhotoShop 4.0 called Universe Image Creator Plug-ins ($29.95).
Submitted by Robert Dorin9. Avid Free DV
Basic but free Video Editing software is available from Avid. Download is 43MB and requires free registration. It is a stepping stone to Avid Xpress Pro professional line of products.
www.avid.com/freedv/index.asp
Also, highly recommended are 14 tutorials of varying duration from 1:30 to 4:30 min available separately or in one 66MB download.
www.avid.com/freedv/tutorials/index.asp?dm=AvidInFocus041105
