Hey all indiechatters. I have had a few goes at premiere pro 2 and its pretty damn hard to get the hang of when i cant get enough time to practice and learn it whilst editing. So unless there is a VERY good video tutorial or something, can you all suggest an easier editing program, whilst not losing alot of features. Cheers.
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Good AND Easy Editing Program? Need Help!
- Thread starter aoristic
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alternately if you're looking to learn premiere.. lynda.com has video tutorials for premiere and a lot of other programs. At $25/month it's not a bad deal if you're looking to learn by watching.
Otherwise, the premiere pro 2 classroom in a book is good, and comes with a dvd-rom so you can follow along with all the examples in the book.
Vegas is a bit easier than premiere, and as Wideshot said it really is fairly equivelent.
Otherwise, the premiere pro 2 classroom in a book is good, and comes with a dvd-rom so you can follow along with all the examples in the book.
Vegas is a bit easier than premiere, and as Wideshot said it really is fairly equivelent.
I think the high end editors look intimidating at first, but if you can learn to set an in and out point (cut) a clip and put it on the timeline, you've learned enough to edit a small movie. Add to that the ability to add a crossfade between 2 clips and add a title and you've learned 95% of the Mechanical side of editing DV.
I'll second WideShot's nomination for Vegas. Very intuitive with great features / control. I downloaded trials for most of the PC programs (Premiere, Liquid, Studio, and a few others I forget...) Vegas was the best for me.
NOTE -- they have a Lite version and a Pro version. My understanding is that the lite version has most of the features of the pro version -- just limitations on the number of tracks you can use (3 audio, 3 video). Possibly also some of the more advanced features are removed, but I don't think they are that different. You should verify if this is still true, but when I bought it -- if you buy the lite version, Vegas will allow you to "upgrade" to pro version by simply paying the difference. If you want to try it without spending a fortune...get the lite version. Then upgrade to pro if you need to.
NOTE -- they have a Lite version and a Pro version. My understanding is that the lite version has most of the features of the pro version -- just limitations on the number of tracks you can use (3 audio, 3 video). Possibly also some of the more advanced features are removed, but I don't think they are that different. You should verify if this is still true, but when I bought it -- if you buy the lite version, Vegas will allow you to "upgrade" to pro version by simply paying the difference. If you want to try it without spending a fortune...get the lite version. Then upgrade to pro if you need to.
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Everyone here is assuming you're using a PC...if not, they're steering you in the wrong direction.
Don't discount windows movie maker (I've heard horrible things about it - mostly from people who are more comfortable in vegas and premeire) as a learning tool though and it's free!
Don't discount windows movie maker (I've heard horrible things about it - mostly from people who are more comfortable in vegas and premeire) as a learning tool though and it's free!
Cheers for all the help! Yes Knightly, i am a pc user, but i think i have to move on from wmm 
And it sounds like pc users here say Vegas would be a good alternative to premiere pro. I will probably take the bophe way and download a trail of Vegas, and see how i go with that.
And it sounds like pc users here say Vegas would be a good alternative to premiere pro. I will probably take the bophe way and download a trail of Vegas, and see how i go with that.
I-Movie
I love I-Movie. I bought a mac mini because I thought it would be fun, now I want to buy a real mac so I can do some real editing.
clive said:
I love I-Movie. I bought a mac mini because I thought it would be fun, now I want to buy a real mac so I can do some real editing.
I've always used PC at home and for my work. I've always said, why buy Mac? There's less software titles and everythings more expensive. Video editing is a real reason to buy a mac in my opinion. Never gave me a problem, fast and easy.
There are less games on the Mac and certain lesser used apps. But all the big companies make cross platform stuff...how many spread sheets can you use at once 
?
We'll go back to the solution to the mac vs. PC debate again...personal preference...anything else is an unsubstantiated argument that can easily be shot full of holes, especially when forced to do the research to keep my job in the past -- I had to debunk all of these myths to my boss at the time who believed that Macintoshes were the most evil things on the planet and no real work could get done on them.
?We'll go back to the solution to the mac vs. PC debate again...personal preference...anything else is an unsubstantiated argument that can easily be shot full of holes, especially when forced to do the research to keep my job in the past -- I had to debunk all of these myths to my boss at the time who believed that Macintoshes were the most evil things on the planet and no real work could get done on them.
TLMAlexGro said:
...Mac is for editors. Maybe there are less games, but I haven't so much as even looked for games on my G4. I am using it for editing with Final Cut Pro. I recently got a look at Vegas and I have to admit that I am SOOOO glad I have Final Cut I can't tell you....
...the best edit system is the one you understand and can afford or that you have. Maybe later you can make an investment in a more involved system. However, alot of people love Premiere....
...I am really a pc person, but the ease of us from FCP has made me a Mac editor....
--Spinner
Contempovision: do not fret.. both Mac and PC have their benefits.
I just built a new PC for editing, and it renders video the same speed as a new Mac G5.. but at half the cost. AND it has more storage at that price.
Macs are nice.. I will admit. (something I never would have said before... for which I blame knightly) But there is no reason you can't be happy with your PC.
With my new machine I can watch my timeline at the highest quality, full frame rate, without having to render first.. and that's even the case if I'm using magic bullet's look suite (something that normally takes your machine to its knees) Anyway.... learn the software you have, don't bounce around to whatever someone else says is best. If you buy vegas, you learn vegas, buy premiere, you learn that.. etc.
There are multitude of books, and if you really want to learn the software, you'll find the time to spend learning it. NLEs in their nature are a complex beast. So you really can't expect to just sit down and cut, having never done so before. Now, with newer releases and such that becomes less the case, but the fact is that you will still need to learn the basic methods behind editing in a NLE to work efficiently with any of the software available.
Anyway. I'm a firm believer in use what you have, because it's what you have and it's therefore now free. Free is good. So you go, use that new PC, and edit your brains out.. then post something for us to see!
I just built a new PC for editing, and it renders video the same speed as a new Mac G5.. but at half the cost. AND it has more storage at that price.
Macs are nice.. I will admit. (something I never would have said before... for which I blame knightly) But there is no reason you can't be happy with your PC.
With my new machine I can watch my timeline at the highest quality, full frame rate, without having to render first.. and that's even the case if I'm using magic bullet's look suite (something that normally takes your machine to its knees) Anyway.... learn the software you have, don't bounce around to whatever someone else says is best. If you buy vegas, you learn vegas, buy premiere, you learn that.. etc.
There are multitude of books, and if you really want to learn the software, you'll find the time to spend learning it. NLEs in their nature are a complex beast. So you really can't expect to just sit down and cut, having never done so before. Now, with newer releases and such that becomes less the case, but the fact is that you will still need to learn the basic methods behind editing in a NLE to work efficiently with any of the software available.
Anyway. I'm a firm believer in use what you have, because it's what you have and it's therefore now free. Free is good. So you go, use that new PC, and edit your brains out.. then post something for us to see!
I'm very happy with 3 of my PC editing packages, and since many of you have seen my editing work, I honestly dont think the equipment matters, but rather the eyes of the person editing and what the genre would be... You can edit a documentary with windows movie maker or imovie and that's probably ALL you really need, now, if you need something with cg, or a film heavily into effects, then a higher end program like fcp or premiere pro would do the trick, with the blend of using ae, motion 2, and other programs.
Ultimately, there isn't one program that will do the job 100% so it's a combination of TOOLS that make a person a good editor.. (this also counts when the person has patient, has a keen eyes, and also understand that not everything SHOT should be needed in the story, perspective).
Johnny
Ultimately, there isn't one program that will do the job 100% so it's a combination of TOOLS that make a person a good editor.. (this also counts when the person has patient, has a keen eyes, and also understand that not everything SHOT should be needed in the story, perspective).
Johnny
Premiere pro is a great program once you get used to it. Also has the benefit of being really compatible with adobe's other swell software like After Effects and Photoshop.
I have to agree adobe interfaces are a little clunky and hard to get the hang of, but once you learn your way around you won't want to use anything else.
I have to agree adobe interfaces are a little clunky and hard to get the hang of, but once you learn your way around you won't want to use anything else.