A Good Video Editing Product?

[SiNisTer]

Hello Friends,
Im working on an Multimedia Project at the moment. In fact you could call it a sort of business encyclopedia for my company. With Videos, Pics, etc etc.
Im now looking to buy a great video editing tool with adequate features, Ease of Use, Good Support, and RELIABLE. In short something that does its job well.

My budget is $125-$150 (or anything under this amount) and Im not looking to spend a cent above this. Any recommendations?

Thank you

[RobertB]

Eric hopefully will chime in...but, I am an Adobe guy but not all that impressed with Premiere Pro.

But, I did purchase this...and, it is not really pro software but within your budget and would probably suffice for your application

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/

[Haydeng]

I've been using Sony Vegas for a while now. The new Vegas Pro 8 is pretty good. I've fiddled with Premiere and I think that Vegas is easier to use, imo.
But for $150 I'm not sure what to use. Back in the day I used to use Roxio Video Wave (MyDVD now) which was pretty decent for like $50 bucks (i think).

Here's a link (http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/mydvd/premier/overview.html) to MyDVD 10 from Roxio for $70. It looks pretty good for budget editing.

[Pelican]

There's a proggie that ships with Nero 7 that does all of that. I cannot comment on what it's like 'cos I only got it today. Had to buy a new dvd burner. Although I will check it out and let you know.

[Radioguy]

I second SonyVegas Pro 8 as it has great templates for output to phones, pods, HD, DVD QT, WMV etc A great working environment. Use it daily.

EDIT - Just saw your price range and want to add that Sony has a lite version with most of the mentioned features above
Cheers

[eric_darling]

I'll have to agree on the Sony Vegas comments here. It's very good stuff, and does some things that you just can't do with other high-end software. I call it the Swiss Army knife of video editing. You can mix and match all sorts of formats on the same timeline, and then output to just about anything you want. It's fast, and although the interface is a bit cryptic at times, it really works well and has some powerful features that are hard to beat at the price.

That being said, I'm a Mac guy when it comes to video production. It just works better for me, I guess. Final Cut Pro is the best product in its market space, as far as I'm concerned. It's not perfect, of course, but then, nothing is.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd have to go with a Smoke. :wow

[ShadowUK]

There's a proggie that ships with Nero 7 that does all of that. I cannot comment on what it's like 'cos I only got it today. Had to buy a new dvd burner. Although I will check it out and let you know.

I've got that too, However I've got Nero 6. It's a very nice tool and if a twelve year old can afford Nero 6, I'm sure that you can too. :p

Anyway, It's easy but I doubt it will fulfill all your needs.

[Haydeng]

If I had unlimited funds, I'd have to go with a Smoke. :wow

I second that!

[AGRO]

I agree with Eric.

I just bought Final cut pro and I must say I was impressed. I have not done alot of video, I have just used iMovie and iDVD for what I needed. Final cut pro has settings in it that I would of never thought of. Can't wait to get dirty with it.

[SiNisTer]

Thanks all for sharing your veiws. I checked out all the links you guys offered me and did a lot of thinking. Im not a *review* type of guy and frankly I try not to get too influenced by them but i checked out a few reviews anyway, and I must say that the comments for both Final cut pro and SonyVegas Pro 8 are equally positive indeed. I have narrowed my search down to these to products. I I really do thank you fellas for helping me narrow it down so fast - U know with the amount of various products one can easily be lost and confused:)

Well, I have not used either one of them but I guess my mind is a little more on Sony Vegas however - Its a personal choice and I do think that both products are of equal caliber. Personally I also feel that it somehow seems to have a better workspace (from the screenshots) than Final Cut Pro, and I think it is more suited to my needs...I know that both of them have a price tag above my price range but well Im confident that what ever I choose between these two products will be a good pick and a long term good investment! I (And again I fail to keep to my price restriction when i shop:) )

Thanks once again guys, It was extremely helpful!
Cheers to all of ya

[Haydeng]

I'm not sure what OS you are using, but Final Cut is for OSX and Vegas is for Windows.

[RobertB]

Ok...now that you changed your budget....:huh;)

Then, I would recommend looking at Adobe Video Suite as AfterFX is the standard out there for so many things.

[eric_darling]

After FX is an incredible program. Just be aware that it's definitely not intended to be a video editing tool. It's almost purely for visual effects and finishing. You could use it to edit, you just don't want to.

[SiNisTer]

Thanks for the additional info fellas, but I think Im gna stick to Sony Vegas. It rox - I downloaded and used a trial. I'm more than satisfied with it and has some awesome templates and great features - more features than I would ever use in my lifetime. Importantly it is not very hard to use even for a video editing noob like me. I guess my mind is made up already guys.And besides eric's last comment kinda sums it up for me...

Thanks nevertheless...

Cheers

[Lorne]

Hey Eric, have you ever tried any of the Magix stuff? If so, what was your opinion of it?

[ShadowUK]

I've tried a MAGIX Ringtone maker and it was really simple, And a Movie Maker tool from them on a DVD.

[eric_darling]

I haven't tried Magix, actually. Their web site is very nice, though! :)

[Lorne]

Yeah I haven't tried their video editing tools yet either, but they look nice. (I don't know enough about video editing to really know, though. :))

I only know about them because they acquired Xara Xtreme a while back.

[stickck]

I LOVE SONY VEGAS. i've been using it since version 5. i haven't moved up to version 8 yet. i use it to create ringtones also. I've even converted videos over to PSP format for my kids. But mostly i create Retirement video's at work, Kid's sports yearbooks.

Here are two links with some info on several Plug-ins for Vegas.

http://www.vasst.com/training/Vegasplugs.htm
http://toolfarm.com/plugins/index.php/Sony_Vegas_Plug-ins

I use Pixelan SpiceMASTER Pro, Prodad Adorage and Heroglyph , and Boris Red.

I regret getting the Prodad software. I never found a good use for them.

Chris

[stickck]

oh ome more thing. Sony Vegas has Chroma Key (Green Screen) capability. really cool option!

[eric_darling]

Final Cut and Premiere Pro both have chroma key capabilities. :)

[SiNisTer]

Hello,
FWIW Im done with my entire project. Used Sony Vegas and AMS 7 only. Wish you could all just see a preview of it somehow, cos the end result was PERFECT! Screenshots wont do it justice fellas :). A final word of thank you to all of you for responding to the thread and for this wonderful recommendation.
Sony Vegas is one of the best softwares I have used reagrdless of its category and no doubt a great market leader:yes...

oh ome more thing. Sony Vegas has Chroma Key (Green Screen) capability. really cool option!

Yeah it is - didnt have to use it the my multimedia app thou...

[stickck]

Final Cut and Premiere Pro both have chroma key capabilities. :)

If I were trying to make a living off of video editing / creating, i would go with Mac since that's the only way to get Final Cut. I've heard that software is the best. but that would a big waste for me since i only mess around and only do a few serious projects a year.

I've seen some of the cool stuff you post on here that you've done and if i was to ever move over to Mac, i would probably pic your brain first. you've always tell it how you see it!

chris