a recent observation - vid editors

[ceagle]

Microsoft Movie Maker vs Apple iMovie .... pros and cons:

Odd that neither one of these really can handle more on their own. I mean, I know these are the freebies that come with the machines, but...

The MSoft one has been *sufficient* in putting together vids for YouTube, but recently I tried a vid with more than 5 edits in it... and like, *wot??* ..it totally breaks the time of the segments. It just can't handle precision.

The Apple one... well, it is a bit better with precision, but what's with the crippled import ability? Had to use the MSoft one to import simple VOB files ;/

Solutions? For Windows, there is an inexpensive AVS video/audio suite that handles microsecond edits down to a thousanth of a second. For Apple, downloading/purchasing QuickTime Pro seemed to help unlock some options, but it still couldn't get AVI files just right... had to go DV before we could edit properly.

Just some FYI in case you all had similar experiences, you're not alone...

Comments

[hawthornowl.livejournal.com]

If there's one thing I detest about Windows Movie Maker, it's the default not-quite-blue background, and the fact that every. youtube. user. doesn't. bother. to. change. it. Like they don't even care about their presentation.

Also, MS just doesn't seem to learn, and like powerpoint before it, have once again provided a bunch of unalterable transitions and styles that nobody in their right mind would use (but everyone does).

Is it so much to ask for a simple but flexible piece of software?

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

*LOL* yeah.... it's got more drawbacks than just the one I mentioned, for sure... hehheh! ...I had only used it to toss together a few slides and some family home movies til now though, so I didn' notice 'em ... :}

[orv.livejournal.com]

Heh. I remember going to a class on presentations and being told, "the first thing you should do with Powerpoint is throw out all the default templates."

[yasha-taur.livejournal.com]

You should try VLC to do some of the import conversion tasks.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

ooo yesh! Thank ya for the reminder!.. I have that on my ole XP machine, but I hardly turn that on much any more theez days... will haveta see what all that kin dew again :D

[orv.livejournal.com]

VirtualDub is sometimes useful, too. Currently I'm working on Linux, though, so my favorite tool for transcoding is avidemux. My only complaint is there seems to be no combination of options that will cause it to produce a Quicktime-compliant MPEG4 file, in spite of the fact that SUPER can produce one with the same tools...

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

oooo! Thanks for the notes and those links!! *featherfuzzles*

[atkelar.livejournal.com]

Well... as you pointed out, both programs are "free of charge" - of course the companies wouldn't put all features in them. Personally I never used either (already had Premiere when MovieMaker was introduced) and am not surprised that they are geared for home users. I might have an explanation for the imprecise cuts though: Active Movie (the API MS uses for videos) doesn't use frame numbers to adress the content. It rather uses a floating point number expressing seconds (i.e. the application asks for the picture at 1.234e1 seconds)
The problem is, that this was designed for video players to support seek functions, not really for editing apps. So if the CoDec does some ceative "rounding" of the number or just thinks "hey, I'm faster providing a few frames earlier or later" you'll have what you described... this holds true especially for MPEG (or similar) compressed formats as they can start decoding at certain frames only ("I-Frames").

As for the "not use defaults" part: if the default isn't blue but red all presentations will use red instead of blue... Face it: most people DON'T care how it will look - the intention is to provide it FAST (thank you, Web 2!)

Greetings from Suhl - relaxing between days of EF by being a smart-ass ;)

creative ROUNDING

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

LOL... well, that really explains things a bit.... Thanx!!
*shakes a fist at the code writers* "I'll let you know if I ever need those USEFUL features... for now, take 'em back!" ;D

...and not to worry Atkelar... better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass, right? *heheh!* Have a great time out there!

[phoenix-audubon.livejournal.com]

I spent nearly 2 months trying to put together a video (response) fur YouTube. I was using ArcSoft VideoImpression2 that came with my desktop when I bought in 2007. It looked all fancy, and had some decent editing tools.

However, when it came time to compiling it all together...I kept losing seconds of video, including the exact moment where I say my name! Seriously--it was all, "Hello, my name is------and this is my video..." O_O So. Very. Frustrating.

Finally, I tried Windows Movie Maker. Not quite as flexible to use, but in the end, it produced a usable video file.

Sure, I'd like something better, but at least WMM got the job done...*shrugs*

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

ooo yeah.... like I said, they do fair basic work, and I've used 'em a bunch too... I just didn't discover how lame they can be for extended work until recently. I guess I never needed more than half a dozen edits on basic home videos until now :D

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Is there anything decent to use?

[the-mcp.livejournal.com]

I prefer ULead Media Studio Pro (http://www.ulead.com/msp/runme.htm), myself, but you do have to be willing to fork over $400 for it. :D (Although they do have a downloadable, fully-functional trial version which is good for 30 days.) Their consumer-grade package, VideoStudio X2 (http://www.ulead.com/vs/runme.htm), is only $99 (also with a downloadable free-trial version available) and does most of what the casual "home-movies" kind of user is likely to want or need.

Frankly, I don't know of any non-linear editors in the free- or shareware sphere that aren't a royal PITA and more trouble than they're worth.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Nice!
Thanks for the info and links!
Indeedy, I've bought some of the big guns, as it were, like the Adobe and Macromedia suites over the years on previous systems and computers, even Premiere (on a Mac I have that is a dozen years old.. LOL!) ...but I haven't forked out the moolah for a huge/fancy editing suite on any recent machines for years, because I haven't had a lot of call for them, and the less expensive stuff was sufficient until now :9

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

As noted above, I started using AVS (about $40 to $60 U.S.) for this last project, and it worked like a charm. The $60 version comes with about 25 separate programs and various converters that are also helpful. There may be other even better ones out there, but at this cost range I had not found any at the point I just needed to get the work done for a paying customer.
*wingpats*

[swandog.livejournal.com]

Happy Bird-day to you, Happy Bird-day to you, Happy Bird-day, dear iggle, HAPPY BIRD-DAY TO YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!! :D Love you, bro, and hope you have an AWESOME hatchhday!! :D <3<3<3 *snugglesquishes of love*

wheeeheeeheeee!

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

With a Swanneeeeee singin', it sets me back years and rejuvates my birthday candles!! *hugs and rox thanks!* ^v^

[mortonfox.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Thank ya, meeeeeeester fox, sir!! ^v^