Video Editing Software

[RSLancastr]

Any recommendations for video editing software?

All I am currently looking for is software which will take a .vob file (ripped from a DVD) and allow me to create a web-friendly version of a clipped portion.

I will also need to do the same with large .mov and .mp4 files.

I don't need a lot of fancy options at this point. Just the ability to define a start and stop point, and the output format.

Inexpensive is good, free is better. But if I have to buy something I will.

This is for videos to appear on the www.StopSylviaBrowne.com web site.

[Smike]

Power Director (http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/trials_4_ENU.html) will do what you want, but is pricey. There is a 30-day free trial though, so if it's a one-off thing, it may be okay.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

I have used both Pinnacle Studio 9 (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/) and Ulead VideoStudio 6 (http://www.ulead.com/runme.htm)... the Pinnacle Studio is easier.

There is a demo version of Pinnacle Studio and iMovie in the book Video Editing for Dummies (http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0471782785.html)(which I also own).

[RSLancastr]

Thanks for the suggestions. Yesterday I went out and bought Adobe Premire Elements 3.0, after reading some raves about it.

When I got it home and tried to install it, it said my PC did not meet the minimum standards, as it requires "SSE2 support."

ARGH...

[bjb]

There is some freeware out there that rips the .vob files from a DVD. I haven't tried it yet, though. What I do instead is record the DVD onto my digital video camera through the analog A/V inputs, then transfer the video to my computer through the camera's digital Firewire output. It isn't a straight digital transfer but the video quality is much better than it needs to be for posting video on the internet. That's how I made the "Levels of Creation" video I put up on YouTube, by recording onto my DVR machine, then transferring it to my camera and then my computer.

For editing, I use the Windows Movie Maker software that comes free with Windows. I also use Bink and Smacker RAD Video (http://www.radgametools.com/smkdown.htm)tools to convert .mov and other file formats into .avi files that Windows can edit. I don't know if RAD Video tools can rip DVDs but maybe I can give it a try.

If you know how to 'save' a streaming video in .flv format, the RAD Video tools can be used to convert it to an editable .avi or .wmv file. This method is good for taking clips from YouTube or Google Video for your own purposes...

[bjb]

SSE2 support is going to be a problem. It has something to do with the CPU in your computer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE2

It looks like you're due for a complete computer upgrade, CPU, motherboard, and memory, perhaps even a new video card. My own computer is on the list of CPU's that do not support SSE2 but I'm able to edit video anyway. Maybe it will be a good idea for me to stick with Windows Movie Maker!

[stormer]

..snip..
What I do instead is record the DVD onto my digital video camera through the analog A/V inputs, then transfer the video to my computer through the camera's digital Firewire output.

bjb, doesn't your video cam have pass-through? Mine does (Panasonic) so I can play the DVD and record on the computer at the same time. The cam performs the function of analog-to-firewire conversion.

But I stopped doing this because I am now using WinAVIconverter (http://www.winavi.com) to rip DVDs directly. The benefit is faster than real time, and there is no conversion loss. Costs US$30 though.


..snip..
If you know how to 'save' a streaming video in .flv format, the RAD Video tools can be used to convert it to an editable .avi or .wmv file. This method is good for taking clips from YouTube or Google Video for your own purposes...
Dang, I was just trying to do this. What great timing. Thanks for the pointer.:D

As for the editing, I am using Vegas Video (Hmmm, this must be the only Sony thing I am using) Long time ago, had to sync audio to video, and used this software. Also used Premiere, but was not suitable for this specific task.

Anyway, the product family now has many incarnations with the basic package being US$90. I think I will always prefer Vegas over Premiere (but then I have only used the equivalent of the top end Vegas+DVD) so you may not think the same.

Have a look at the Vegas product line here (http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp).

[stormer]

Dang, I was just trying to do this. What great timing. Thanks for the pointer.



Nope, RAD tools can't seem to convert .flv to .avi/.mpg. The .flv extensioned files are not even listed in the "open" menu of the software :( Oh well, back to the drawing board.

[RSLancastr]

There is some freeware out there that rips the .vob files from a DVD.Yes, I've already done that.

For editing, I use the Windows Movie Maker software that comes free with Windows.The version I have of Movie Maker doesn't seem to be able to open a .vob file.

And I can't figure out how to download the more recent version from Microsoft. :mad:

[ohms]

http://www.doom9.org/ may have what you want. Make sure to have a read of the Basics and Guides sections.

[El Greco]

Xmpeg (http://www.xmpeg.net/website/) ?

[RSLancastr]

Power Director (http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/trials_4_ENU.html) will do what you want, but is pricey. There is a 30-day free trial though, so if it's a one-off thing, it may be okay.I downloaded it today, used it to create an .mpg (with "CREATED WITH TRIAL VERSION" watermarked on it). I tried to reload the program to create it differently, but was told that my 30-day trial period was up. I DOWNOADED AND INSTALLED IT TODAY!

Argh.

[Patricio Elicer]

Robert,

You may want to try Xilisoft Video Converter (http://www.xilisoft.com/video-converter.html). It does the job you need pretty good, the trial version will allow you to convert up to 5 minutes with no watermark.

I've been using it for some time now, with no problems.

EDIT:

ImToo DVD Ripper Platinum (http://www.imtoo.com/) is another option, I've also tried it for some time and it works fine. The trial version will also allow you to convert up to 5 minutes without watermarks.

[bjb]

Today, I found this page:

http://www.wikihow.com/Rip-DVDs-to-Small-AVI-or-MPG-Formatted-Files

so I tried Auto Gordian Knot, which is supposed to take a DVD and convert it to a big .avi file. I tried several settings and DVDs but after waiting 45 minutes to an hour each time, all I got were error messages. After I unstall Auto GK, I'm going to try DVDx, the other program listed on that page.

These software solutions might be faster than real time in some cases, but for the most part, I only need a few minutes at a time from a TV show. These programs seem to be designed to convert the entire DVD and that's more than I need. So far, the digital camcorder is the fastest way for me to convert a TV show into an uploadable video file. We'll see how this other program works out, though.

[RSLancastr]

I've yet to get a solution to my problem. But I've been busy with other aspects of the site, and haven't been back to the video editing in a week or so.

[SpeederA]

http://www.videohelp.com/

[Atrin]

VOB files are a bear to edit. Plenty of programs will promise to handle them, but never work right (I've had several programs get perpetually stuck loading the file for instance) or you'll get massive sync problems when you change formats.

Best luck I've had is with Womble's Mpeg Video Wizard (wombledotcom). It's small, runs in real time, very easy to use, and you can download a trial version that's fully functional for a month (and you can redownload and reinstall it pretty much as many times as you like---they don't do anything to prevent that, as I well know, though I did eventually buy it). It's a good solid editor and you have a lot of compression choices for output, plus I've never had it lose sync. The only slight problem is that sometimes it gets tweeky when handling non-mpeg formats, particularly if a file is really large. It also is somewhat limited in types of file output it will do (basically it's meant for mpeg and dvd). However, when I need to go to a format it doesn't handle, I just create an mpeg, then use a converter. For some reason, I haven't had problems doing it that way whereas I have going straight from DVD.

The other program I've worked with that handled VOBs fairly smoothly is Adobe Premier Elements. It's a pretty good program overall, but rather large and overloaded with bells and whistles. It does have the advantage of handling alternative file formats a bit more easily and being a one stop shop for multitudes of output formats, but it can also be rather overwhelming and the learning curve is a bit steep if you've never worked with this kind of software before.

The only other option I can think of is if you can find something that will reliably do your conversions to another file format, use DVDShrink (freeware--don't have a link to it on hand though) to do the cutting, then convert, but you'll probably also need a program to link files into one file (I know there are several freewares out there that will do it, but I don't know what) as I believe DVDShrink turns the cuts into separate files. Problem there is you'll need to bounce from program to program, but you can probably do it totally with freeware that way way, whereas Adobe Premier is about $100 just to try and Womble, while you can use it for free, does cost about $100 if you wind up paying for it.

Good luck.

[RSLancastr]

Thanks, Atrin. Somewhere in the thread I mention that my machine cannot run Adobe Premiere Elements, as it (my machine) does not have SSE2 support. :(

I will look into Womble.

[Atrin]

Whoops, I missed the mention of Premier the first time through. Too bad it's not at least an option as it does have in its favor the fact that it does everything.

However, I will say that I've run Womble programs on my old P3 and not had problems, so I think you should be okay to give it a try. If worst comes to worst, they do have an older, slightly harder to use program, MPegVCR, I think, which is just as reliable, just a little counter-intuitive to use, and which I've even used on an old P2 as well an an ancient AMD system.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Stupid question time... How are you getting the TV video?

Are you taping it off of an analog signal? Or are you getting a digital file off of something like TIVO?

I don't have TIVO, but recently I have been trying to convert our older laserdiscs into DVDs by putting them through a product like this:
http://www.plextor.com/english/products/product_dvc.html

The one I has comes with WinDVD Creator... which is okay for quick edits and DVD creation (right now the "Abyss" special features from the super-duper laserdisc creation is being rendered into a DVD... hubby bought a DVD of the movie, truly, the DVDs you can buy do have much better resolution).

[Ducky]

Jashaka is an open source (free) powerful video editing tool. (http://www.jahshaka.org/) You have to sign up, but they don't send you any spam or anything.

[RSLancastr]

Thanks, Fowl!

I downloaded the Womble editor, and it seems to work fine, although the audio in the resulting clip seems too low. Not sure if I messed up with some settings or what.

[monoman]

Here's another free program - VirtualDubMod http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=65889

It's a modification on the old VirtualDub program that allows you to read DVDs.

It's very simple to use. You can delete parts of the film and then save it with compressed audio & video with the option of using filters (eg resize, brightness)

[Atrin]

Thanks, Fowl!

I downloaded the Womble editor, and it seems to work fine, although the audio in the resulting clip seems too low. Not sure if I messed up with some settings or what.

If it's the quality, you can adjust that when you go to save the file (increase the hz in the settings). If it's not loud enough (and I know I usually wind up raising the volume on DVD transfers 6-12 db), you can right click the clip, then select audio from the menu, and raise the volume. You have to do it clip by clip unfortunately (or at least I've never figured a way to do them in bulk), but it generally does a nice job and doesn't tend to get too noisy unless you really push the sound.

[RSLancastr]

Thanks Atrin, I'll give that a try.

By the way, what video format (.mov, .avi, .mp4, etc) do you recommend for posting clips on a web site?

Any recommendations as far as settings (bitrate, etc) for a decent compromise between file size and image quality?

Thanks again!

[Atrin]

Generally, I don't post to the web much (and usually the tech guys handle it if it's necessary, since they're obsessed with making things all secure--ie, wasting time). However, since I also do a lot of downloading, I'll say that my personal fave is when sites offer a couple of options. Maybe a divx for folks looking for quality and real or wmv for a smaller file (also nice for folks still on dialup).

On the occasion that I have set something up to post to the web, I usually just run it through Womble at the optimum settings, then take that finished file and play with it in Stoik Video Converter (it's freeware from stoikdotcom/products/svc/ --just replace the dot--I don't think I can post urls yet). It gives lots of options (ooo, and they have a new one out with even more toys), including recommendations for different downloadable formats for wmv. If you don't do a lot of video for the web, that makes it kinda handy, plus lets you play around and juggle quality versus size until you're satisfied. It's also generally faster than recompiling the edits over and over.

Hope that helps.

[monoman]

Thanks Atrin, I'll give that a try.

By the way, what video format (.mov, .avi, .mp4, etc) do you recommend for posting clips on a web site?

Any recommendations as far as settings (bitrate, etc) for a decent compromise between file size and image quality?

Thanks again!

I've always used Divx with mp3 audio myself. You can drop the quality of the audio down really low and convert to mono for speaking parts. If you can give me an idea of the file size you are prepared sustain for, say, a 10 minute track I can help you more.

Another option is to host the videos on Youtube or googlevideo and then embed them in your website.

[RSLancastr]

I've always used Divx with mp3 audio myself. You can drop the quality of the audio down really low and convert to mono for speaking parts. If you can give me an idea of the file size you are prepared sustain for, say, a 10 minute track I can help you more.

Another option is to host the videos on Youtube or googlevideo and then embed them in your website.I really have no idea what file size I'm shooting for. I'm mainly concenred with keeping it small enough for the majority of visitors to the site to be able/willing to download.

I still have no feel for how much traffic the site will get, so it may also become a bandwidth issue if traffic is heavy.

I considered hosting the videos on Youtube, but for one thing, I am concerned that comments left on them would be interpreted by some as having come from the site. I am trying to stick to a pretty even-handed tone and approach, and some of the comments left on Youtube would definitely not fit that description.

Thanks for the input!

[bjb]

You're right to worry about the comments on the YouTube videos. There are enough negative comments on the Sylvia Browne videos as it is. Fortunately, you can set YouTube videos so nobody can leave comments or ratings for the videos. Also, when you embed a YouTube video in your webpage, the comments and rating are not visible.

[RSLancastr]

Interesting, bjb. I will give it some more consideration.