Video Editing

I see some REALLY GREAT video here! I know you have to start off with good video, But what editing software is best. I've looked at some that go from $1,000 to free off the internet. I would like to know what you all use and hear first hand if you thought the software you bought was worth it.

Thanks for your help :D

I us imovie on my mac to put most of mine together. imovie comes with ilife for about $90. For some of the video editing and modifying, I use finalcut express for the mac. Costs $200. Granted, these programs are for Mac, but I think there are some lower end video software for windows. The $1000 versions you might be looking at tend to be more high end professional software. Very good, but likely more than you might want or need for putting together cruise videos.

Tim

I see some REALLY GREAT video here! I know you have to start off with good video, But what editing software is best. I've looked at some that go from $1,000 to free off the internet. I would like to know what you all use and hear first hand if you thought the software you bought was worth it.

Thanks for your help :D

I use Corel - Video Studio Pro X3 running on a PC with the Windows 7 operating system and 4 GB of RAM. To operate smoothly the program requires lots of RAM memory. The program can be purchased online for $79.99. This video-editing software allows you to import digital photos or video files into a Video Track or Overlay Track and then choose hundreds of editing techniques and professionally designed templates to create studio-quality effects. You can add custom titles to the Title Track and add audio to the Voice or Music Track.

Finally you can save the finish project in several different file formats or burn it to a DVD or Blu-Ray disk or upload the project directly to Youtube.

I have uploaded 108 travel related videos to Youtube that were created with Video Studio Pro X3. Click on Youtube Travel Videos under the Cruise Video section of Cruise Critic (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=926243&page=7) for information on viewing some of these videos.

I hope this helps.

Ron

One day I hope to own a Mac. But for now it's still a PC. I keep asking myself. Get a Mac or go on a cruise? Cruises always wins :o I do Thank You two for a quick answer and will look into the Corel program. It's silly but I never thought about the hardware I have. I my need a new computer.

I use Pinnacle Ultimate. I'm pretty new to video editing, but so far, I like what I've got. I think it was just over $100 at Best Buy. I'm still on a learning curve and don't think I've tapped into the full potential of Pinnacle Ultimate.

My video series was the Carnival Dream MED cruise (ship & shoreside) 10/15/09. If you've seen my videos, what'd you think? Feedback welcome!

Marty

Just my opinion....but a video editing program is only as good as you are comfortable using it. It won't help much if you spend money on an editing program with features you don't know how to use or aren't comfortable working with.

I've made a few cruise videos and although none of them are "great" I have become better at editing each time. I use the basic movie maker program that was included on my p.c.

I will eventually break down and get a mac....I'm just dreading learning a new program now that I'm comfortable with movie maker. Here is my most recent video with this very basic/free program:

Good luck!!!

Bruce

Ron- Your slideshows are Outstanding. The time it took to put them together, Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look at all of them later.

Marty- Just watched the first video and it was Awesome. Again I'll have to set more time to watch all of them. I'll have to show my Mom. Being Italian she will love watching the Rome one too.

Bruce- Just to let you know, your video is what got me to start looking into this editing video stuff :o I don't know what you call it, but love the when the video Time Laps.

I hope that one day I can get as good as you all. I'm going on a family cruise in Oct. I'm going to have a HD video/camera and will post what I put together. The faces may be blurried out because some of them are in the Witness Protection Program.

Thank You again,

Angelo

Awesome videos! How did you keep your video camera from getting wet? I'm bringing mine but afraid I might mess it up while on excursions. It's an older sony mini DV cam but I love it.

We can't wait!

Ron- Your slideshows are Outstanding. The time it took to put them together, Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look at all of them later.

 

Marty- Just watched the first video and it was Awesome. Again I'll have to set more time to watch all of them. I'll have to show my Mom. Being Italian she will love watching the Rome one too.

 

Bruce- Just to let you know, your video is what got me to start looking into this editing video stuff :o I don't know what you call it, but love the when the video Time Laps.

 

I hope that one day I can get as good as you all. I'm going on a family cruise in Oct. I'm going to have a HD video/camera and will post what I put together. The faces may be blurried out because some of them are in the Witness Protection Program.

Thank You again,

Angelo

Angelo,

Thanks for the nice comments on the videos. Here are the links to a couple of my latest projects.

The Flight to Victorville pays tribute to the L1011, which I flew for many years with Delta Air Lines. It is a composite of film footage from the Delta archives, two Delta commercials from the eighties, and pictures and video footage from the final flight of the L1011.

The most receive travel video was taken in Madrid, Spain back in April.

These two video will give you an idea of the capabilities of VideoStudio ProX3. Leaning all of the techniques and features of the program is really quite easy. You can be easily be producing great videos in a short amount of time.

Ron

I see some REALLY GREAT video here! I know you have to start off with good video, But what editing software is best. I've looked at some that go from $1,000 to free off the internet. I would like to know what you all use and hear first hand if you thought the software you bought was worth it.

Thanks for your help :D

I use Sony Vegas Pro 9. This is expensive software, marketed as professional level. I've been using it for 4 years (when it was Vegas 6) -- and still learning. It is remarkable software and I love it and I love the Sony Vegas Forum where I have learned a great deal from other users. In my younger days I worked in films, so naturally I was unhappy with the limitations of the few other consumer editors I tried, like Pinnacle. I am constantly astonished at what I can do BY MYSELF on my home PC -- things that use to take us weeks of time and lots of money to accomplish. Regards other editors, I've heard good things about PowerDirector and Corel. Sony makes a consumer version of Vegas called Vegas Movie Studio, it works nearly the same as the professional version and would work fine for "trip videos". They have a trial version that's a free download. What ever you choose, there will be a learning curve so I would check the "user" forums to see what users are saying and how fast the forum responds to questions. It's always handy to get help quickly on the internet. If you shoot in hi-def, pay a lot of attention to what the "users" say about working in hi-def formats like AVCHD. What ever you choose --- it'll be work -- but fun. Here's a link to my Baltic Cruise videos from last Sept.

http://www.youtube.com/USER/PANDACRUISES

I used PowerDirector8 from cyberlink. http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html

It was an evaluation copy that came with my laptop running Vista...very intuitive and easy to use....drag and drop content and edit with simple mouse clicks!

my playlist of our recent Panama Canal cruise is at

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2BA183E452D86615

Enjoy!:)

I have been using Pinnacle StudioHD Ultimate 14. I am still trying to understand and learn all of its ability. I do like it so far but I am thinking I may need to upgrade some of my hardware to get it to reach its full potential. Just look for Sayvan and you will find some of the video's I have done on our adventures of the sea.

I just want to Thank each of you for taking the time to not only help me with the info. but for sharing all the GREAT videos you all have put together. They all look great I still don't know which program to go with :o I have some real youtube watching to get do soon.

Side Note- Paul & Amy, I was not able to pull up your movie from the link. Would love to see it.

And agian Thank You all so much.

I just want to Thank each of you for taking the time to not only help me with the info. but for sharing all the GREAT videos you all have put together. They all look great I still don't know which program to go with :o I have some real youtube watching to get do soon.

Side Note- Paul & Amy, I was not able to pull up your movie from the link. Would love to see it.

And agian Thank You all so much.

Sorry about the bad link...let me know if these work.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PandaCruises

http://www.vimeo.com/paulsvideos/albums

One other thing to consider too is what type of video you are going to record. If you have an HD camera that records in AVCHD, it takes a little more horse power from a computer to do that than standard video (and a program that will handle it as well) My older Mac could not handle AVCHD (which of course meant I had to buy a new one...:D) Also, AVCHD will do fully 1080p. The youtube HD is generally 720p (if that matters) Doing video work does tend to require more memory and decent computing power. If you save the movies on your computer, they do take up chunks of the hard drive after awhile. The video below is about 820MB and is predominately pictures and only 10 minutes. The full version which run 50 minutes is almost 13GB. Needless to say, external hard drivers are a good thing.

Ron- Your slideshows are Outstanding. The time it took to put them together, Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look at all of them later.

 

Marty- Just watched the first video and it was Awesome. Again I'll have to set more time to watch all of them. I'll have to show my Mom. Being Italian she will love watching the Rome one too.

 

Bruce- Just to let you know, your video is what got me to start looking into this editing video stuff :o I don't know what you call it, but love the when the video Time Laps.

 

I hope that one day I can get as good as you all. I'm going on a family cruise in Oct. I'm going to have a HD video/camera and will post what I put together. The faces may be blurried out because some of them are in the Witness Protection Program.

Thank You again,

Angelo

Angelo- thanks for the nice comment on my video. Like editing, I think you learn & get better & better as you do more videos. I've been paying attention to others videos and I know I need to be very careful with panning the camera too much. There is some videography tips with my Pinnacle, which I will definetly read before my next project. Btw, I'll be sailing the Carnival Ecstasy (with my fiance & 2 sons) in about a month, so that will be my next video project. Let's see if I show some improvement!

Sayvan - I recognized your sign-on name & have viewed your videos posted here on CC. Enjoyed them very much & very well done! Also, I believe we have the exact same video editing software...I also have Pinnacle StudioHD Ultimate 14. Now that I know we have the same editor, I'll have to go back and look at one of your videos again to see if I get can pick up some tips (e.g. transitions, titles, etc)!

Paul & Amy - loved your videos also! You guys make a great couple & seem to have a good sense of humor!

I vote we keep this thread going for all of us videography enthusiasts!! To keep this going; what type of video camera is everyone using? I have a SONY HDR-XR500V. It does use AVCHD format, so it records full 1080 HD.

Marty

I vote we keep this thread going for all of us videography enthusiasts!! To keep this going; what type of video camera is everyone using? I have a SONY HDR-XR500V. It does use AVCHD format, so it records full 1080 HD.

 

Marty

Marty -- I too have an Sony XR500V .. Great little camera. Previously I used a Panasonic GS250 which was excellent, especially in capturing sound. But my new Sony does HD and of course I had to move up to HD. The editing of AVCHD can be problematic but so far I've been doing ok with Sony Vegas. I must add that I have a fast quad core computer. This helps tremendously with AVCHD editing.

Here's something else. I have 4 videos of the same content (Copenhagen from our Baltic cruise) , each of them edited with different approaches. I was trying to see if I could make use of a 4 way picture wall. Fancy. But does it do anything?

Version 1 uses a 4 way picture wall. My idea was to show more in less time. Version 2 is longer and shows most of what Version 1 shows but no picture wall. Combined they run about 5 min.

Version 3 uses a combination with some of the 4 way picture wall. Runs a little more than a minute.

Version 4 runs 37 seconds. Is shorter always better?

I'd love comments. If you watch them all, it's something like 8 min. total time. Which Version is best?

[quote name=CarnivalFan2;24721192

I vote we keep this thread going for all of us videography enthusiasts!! To keep this going; what type of video camera is everyone using? I have a SONY HDR-XR500V. It does use AVCHD format' date=' so it records full 1080 HD.

Marty[/quote]

Marty

I have a Canon Vixia HFS100. It does full 1080p and can connect directly to my TV via mini-HDMI. I also have a directional microphone attached to the camera with a wind screen (what I call my rat on top of the camera) I found the external mic to be a really good addition and the windscreen really helps when filming outside, particularly on a moving cruise ship. Other things I have found come in really handy. A tripod works wonders when filming from a stationary point. I too have had issues with panning too quickly or jerking the camera. The tripod is really helpful. Used in on our Panama Canal cruise and had my camera on it at the front of the ship and had a nice (and long) video of us going into Gatun locks. Used the software to speed it up and turned out decent. I will say one thing, you have to learn a little about filming and using the camera to get decent video for editing.

pberk - Like the videos. I think the last one (short one) went to fast for the content. The 4 way picture is nice. Hard to watch for all the content, but it would be great for an opening to a video. 4 pictures with various activities would be a great way to start a video or chapter.

I see some REALLY GREAT video here! I know you have to start off with good video, But what editing software is best. I've looked at some that go from $1,000 to free off the internet. I would like to know what you all use and hear first hand if you thought the software you bought was worth it.

Thanks for your help :D

Unless you want to get very technical with the video like doing colour correction 98% of what you need is in Movie maker. Don't over think it. If you are just going to add titles and cut out unwanted footage movie maker is all you need. I use Vegas because I like to play around with different things but most of the time I only use 2% of the program.

....I found the external mic to be a really good addition and the windscreen really helps when filming outside, particularly on a moving cruise ship....

All your points are well taken on taking good video -- using a good mic and tripod and so on .. On sea days you can control things somewhat and get shots around the ship etc and take the care needed --- but while on tour? .. Well that is a different story. That is a huge challenge to keep the video steady while trying to keep up with the group. One answer is to use a wide angle lens which is much more forgiving if you are a little shaky. Most video camera do not come with a very wide angle. I know I've added a wide angle adapter to my XR500V with good results.

Fore on the Floor

Nice videos! .. Don't you love Vegas!

Windows movie maker is a free program That's the good news. I tried it myself but didn't like it. Very basic. I think it very worthwhile to learn Vegas or PowerDirector or the like and find a great user forum for questions.

tmitchell82

All your points are well taken on taking good video -- using a good mic and tripod and so on .. On sea days you can control things somewhat and get shots around the ship etc and take the care needed --- but while on tour? .. Well that is a different story. That is a huge challenge to keep the video steady while trying to keep up with the group. One answer is to use a wide angle lens which is much more forgiving if you are a little shaky. Most video camera do not come with a very wide angle. I know I've added a wide angle adapter to my XR500V with good results.

 

Fore on the Floor

Nice videos! .. Don't you love Vegas!

Windows movie maker is a free program That's the good news. I tried it myself but didn't like it. Very basic. I think it very worthwhile to learn Vegas or PowerDirector or the like and find a great user forum for questions.

I use a monopod to keep it steady, light weight and easy to pack. Yes Vegas is wild, do you go over to creative cow???

Paul - I like the 4 way picture wall, but for specific scenes only (seems to be good for motion & showing different angles of that motion, e.g. the canal tour), not an extended period of time. So, I would vote for version 3, but I would use transitions in and out of the 4 way picture wall. The short version 4, would be good for a commercial for the tour boat company...gets a lot of scenes out there quickly!

Great you have the XR-500V also! It has a stabilization feature which helps with keeping the camera shot steady. One thing I noticed about this camera, is that it seems to have a great microphone. On our gondola trip in Venice, you could really hear the water slapping the bottom of the gondola and when we went down some side canals, the mic even picked up the creaking of the hull of the gondola!

tmitchell82 - I like what you said about adding an external mic with a windscreen. Definitely what you need on the deck of an underway cruise ship! I'll have to go back and look at my video where we are entering Venice, as I was recording from a high deck (adult serentity area on Carnival Dream), so I want to hear how the mic did again with that wind/relative wind.

I saw a video on CC where the videographer describes using some kind of vest thing that keeps the camera steady...anybody heard of such a device?

Looks like this thread has taken off :)!

Marty

.... I would vote for version 3, but I would use transitions in and out of the 4 way picture wall.....

 

Great you have the XR-500V also! It has a stabilization feature which helps with keeping the camera shot steady. One thing I noticed about this camera, is that it seems to have a great microphone. On our gondola trip in Venice, you could really hear the water slapping the bottom of the gondola and when we went down some side canals, the mic even picked up the creaking of the hull of the gondola!..........I saw a video on CC where the videographer describes using some kind of vest thing that keeps the camera steady...anybody heard of such a device?

 

Looks like this thread has taken off :)!

 

Marty

Marty -- You may be talking about a steady cam rig. Expense and bulky. http://www.dvcity.com/vest/reversearm_vest_5.jpg There is a "poor mans" versions around that works fairly well .. http://steadycam.org/ ... The idea of a mono pod is a good one -- Tried that many years ago -- but not lately. Might be worth a re-visit..... I carry a really tiny table-top tripod and often I can find a place for it and it takes just a few seconds to setup. It's so small it fits in my camera bag....The mic on the XR500V is fairly good but works best for me in the "built in zoom" setting. I wish that was the default. I tried the external Sony Shotgun Mic and didn't like it. I'm planning on getting a mic before my next cruise.

I have visited Creative Cow for Vegas but not often. Sony Vegas Pro Forum for me. http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/

You can also check out this http://glidecam.com/ the hd-1000 would be great for travel.

 

tmitchell82 - I like what you said about adding an external mic with a windscreen. Definitely what you need on the deck of an underway cruise ship! I'll have to go back and look at my video where we are entering Venice, as I was recording from a high deck (adult serentity area on Carnival Dream), so I want to hear how the mic did again with that wind/relative wind.

 

 

Marty

The external mic does a pretty good job with the wind. There are still times when you are going to notice the wind, but not as much. My camera has microphones on each the side of the camera so the cross wind noise was much less noticeable with the external mic. Had an older Sony camera with mics on the front and still noticed the wind issues on the audio so I do like the external mic. Makes the camera bigger, but worth it for better sound. Also matters how it is set. I did not use the shotgun mode, but rather the 120 degree setting which seemed to work best.

I have figured out that if you want to narrate while filming, it is better to do it afterwards in the software or get a clip on mic to plug into the camera. The mic, both internal and external, are designed to pick up more sound towards the front rather than behind the camera (or just talk a little louder....)

Below is a link to the microphone I have for my camera.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-2591B002-Directional-Microphone-Camcorders/dp/B0012ILNK0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276002728&sr=8-2

Tim