Video Editing software

[El Greco]

Which is better for an advanced hobbyist ? I've used Adobe Premiere Pro but it's kind of unstable and buggy (hardly a surprise for an Adobe product). So I've been thinking of migrating to Sony Vegas or Ulead MediaStudio or Canopus Edius or maybe something from Discreet (Smoke ?). Considering that these products have a rather steep learning curve and I don't exactly enjoy downloading trying demo versions, I thought I could use some accumulated experience from forum members. I'm interested in a STABLE, fast product with full editing options, some basic effects capabilities and good handling of different formats. I'm not interested in DVD authoring goodies or plug-in compatibility.

[Iconoclast]

I've used Sony Vegas 5.0 and I highly recommend it. Though it's not very expensive, you can do things that other low end video packages simply can't, such as advanced compositing, velocity envelopes, and colour correction. The way the Sony package handles keyframing is simple, intuitive, and amazingly powerful. The chainable effects plug-ins are incredibly versatile, you can insert them on a clip, a track, or at the output. There's also a bunch of user forums that are very helpful when you get stuck.

I've used Premiere Pro, but I was a little underwhelmed. Since this is an Adobe product, it uses the standard Adobe UI which I find annoying and hard to set up, the Vegas UI was written from scratch as a Windows app and it shows, you can reposition, resize, and dock windows and toolbars in the manner you've come to expect from Windows software.

The Sony product also excels when it comes to rendering. With Premiere Pro, I found that even the simplest effects needed to be rendered for them to play at full speed. With Vegas however, you just start a (say) five second loop around the area you're applying the effect, then adjust the effect parameters as the clip plays, and the output reflects your adjustments in real time as you make them. Lovely.

The audio module in Vegas is best of breed as well as this was originally a Sonic product that Sony purchased a few years ago. Vegas 5.0 also supports network rendering, you can send a part of your movie to another machine on your network for it's final render while you work on a different part on your local machine.

[edited to add:]

I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but you can download a 30 day trial of the full bickie version of Vegas 5.0 from Sony's web site.

[El Greco]

Thanks. Got it. Tried it. Liked it, but either I did something wrong or it insists on re-encoding my interlaced mpegs as progressive when I save them :confused:

[Iconoclast]

I'll have a look when I get home tonight.

[Iconoclast]

OK, now when you say you "save" your work, I'm assuming you mean the final output render, right? If that's the case then:

- File -> Render As...
- The "Template" drop-down list should contain a list of standard rendering templates. However, this is where it gets a little weird because (on my machine at least) all the standard templates are for interlaced video.
- Anyway, pick the nearest template and click "Custom..."
- In the "Custom Template" dialog, go to the "Video" tab.
- On the "Video" Tab you can set the field order (upper field first, lower field first, or progressive).

[El Greco]

Originally posted by Iconoclast
- Anyway, pick the nearest template and click "Custom..."


Nearest template is "PAL DVD" but the "Custom" button does nothing when I select that template (no new dialog box). It also doesn't work with the bottom templates which are supposed to let you encode MPEGs. Strangely enough the "Custom" button does work with some other templates, but not all of them. :confused:

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by El Greco
Nearest template is "PAL DVD" but the "Custom" button does nothing when I select that template (no new dialog box). It also doesn't work with the bottom templates which are supposed to let you encode MPEGs. Strangely enough the "Custom" button does work with some other templates, but not all of them. :confused:
Bleh. It might be that your installation has issues, but I doubt it. What's the format of the source, is it all just regular DV?

[El Greco]

I tried it with interlaced mpeg2 in various resolutions (720x576, 352x576, 352x288), all of them captured from TV or video.

[Skeptical Greg]

Possibly some restrictions on the trial version?

[IIRichard]

I've used the Ulead Video Studio 7 and I am quite happy with it. I'm in the US so I can't comment on how well it outputs PAL or Secam.

[Shrike]

Anybody got some more suggestions?

El Greco, how's Sony Vegas treating you, or have you decided on another program?

[alfaniner]

I've used the Adobe, Roxio, and Ulead programs, and found Ulead to be the easiest and the best. The others might have more features, but for simplicity's sake Ulead gets my vote.

One problem I have with the Adobe and Roxio programs is that even if I don't make any changes and then save the file, it turns out to be MUCH bigger than the original one was.

Ulead has a simple interface and a large screen that makes it easier to edit down to the frame level.