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Comparisons of Non-Linear Video Editing Packages?
kickabear asks: "I'm working on an independent (that means I'm poor) film. I'm looking for a site (or a book, I'm not picky) which reviews various non-linear video editing packages. I've found a few sites but I can't really find anything that does a side-by-side comparison of the features and capabilities of products such as Premiere Pro or Avid Xpress Pro or the 20 projects listed on Sourceforge. The project will be filmed using a brand new Sony HVRZ1U HDV camera, so if any comparison sites lean toward HDV/HDTV, that would be favorable. Any information, war stories, or advice would be appreciated."
If you haven't used Avid before, avoid it since it has a vertical cliff face learning curve. I tried playing with it at a tradeshow and it was nothing like any other editing program I'd seen before. It felt very modal and inflexible, which made it very difficult to get comfortable with. Of course if you want to eventually make a living editing mainstream motion pictures this might not be the best advice, but if you're rolling your own independent film it's not going to be the best choice.
The most featureful and best supported editing package is Apple's Final Cut Pro and its little brother Final Cut Express. You'd have to buy an Apple Macintosh computer to use them, but in my experience it's well worth it. Final Cut Express probably has all you need and at $299 or $99 when purchased with a Mac it's the deal of the century. If you need the featurees
When video editing was last discussed, most people who used Linux-based systems were still putting them together from CVS and fighting bugs, so I doubt that these products have the maturity you need to edit a film.
i don't know much about Adobe's Premiere Pro, but it's probably your best choice if you want to use Windows. Premiere used to be an absolutely ghastly program, with the result that Final Cut Pro slaughtered it in the marketplace despite being $400 more expensive. I understand that Premiere Pro copied a lot of features from Final Cut and so it might be fine. I don't have personal experience with it, though.
You might also want to check out Vegas Video, which has its set of adherents.
If you presently have a Windows computer, bear in mind that you'll probably need to upgrade it with FireWire ports and tons of disk space before it can become a video editing workstation. It will still most likely not run as smoothly as a Mac-based system where FireWire is built in and everything's designed and built by the same company.
Two good forums for this are http://www.creativecow.net and http://www.2-pop.com/ . I have to run, good luck with your project!
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If you're on a budget, I would think a $499 package would be better than Premiere's $699 package, right?
iMovie is only $499 bundled with a Mac mini. There's a lot of reviews for iMovie sans HD, and I'm sure a few with; iMovie is pretty solid for basic NLE (I've used it for weddings, presentations, and DVD quality releases), but most of the 'magic' comes from the camera, cameraman, director, and source material. The NLE can't do anything with crap.
GPL Deconstructed
Here's what I can tell you.
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1. Your skillset is the single most important thing for your edit.
If you don't know how to use a piece of software, you won't use the full capabilities of it, and if you're taking the time to learn how to use it, that's time and attention away from the editing choices you're making. If you already know how to use a certain piece of software, use THAT. If you're using it and run into something you need to do that can't be done using the software you know, THEN go out and find software that can do that ONE THING, do that one thing in that software, and bring the composited piece back into your main edit on the software you know.
The hardest thing to do when editing with all these tools is remember that the best pieces can be (and usually are) done without the fancy tools at all. If your piece is only good because it contains a certain special effect, then it isn't any good, and if your piece is good, you can edit it on 16mm and still entertain/win awards.
2. Your footage is the second most important thing for your edit.
If your footage is sub-par, your edit will be sub-par, to a degree significantly larger than any improvement you might gain by the incrementally better output that one package might provide over another. Obviously you don't want a crappy consumer package that restricts your ability to import/export or only works at a low resolution, but most packages don't do any such thing. Pay attention to your lighting, your sound guy, your shot composition, and your actors.
3. Your time is the third most important thing for your edit.
If you're learning, you're not editing. If you're rendering, you're not editing. If you're rebooting, you're not editing. Make sure you have a stable computer that you know how to use, plenty of storage space and memory, and for goodness sake make an offline edit -- and a few re-edits, probably -- of the whole piece BEFORE you start compositing the special effects in. If at the end of the day you need to switch software packages or take your piece somewhere else for the online edit, you'll be much better off with a solid offline edit and no special effects than with a mediocre offline edit with tons of special effects that need to be redone because they're (surprise) only offline quality.
4. Your money is the fourth most important thing for your edit.
You don't have unlimited funds; would you rather spend it on a software package with extra features you'll never use, or on better makeup and that extra grip on the day you shoot?
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Okay, I'm done ranting now. Seriously: good luck.