videos

[Ms Monny]

I just watched Dylans amazing video on his Panoramas and it got me thinking. He used Vimeo. I have seen others use this too. Is it a good option to use Vimeo for all videos from either camera or camcorder? I got the Adobe Premiere video editing software with my Elements and I have tried to use it, but without any tutorials, I am soooo lost! I've bought a book to help me but I am wondering if Vimeo is the way to go with all my home videos? Or is it just a 'sharing' video site?

What do others use to edit their vids??

[Steve Axford]

Vimeo is the standard for video - but it is just a sharing site. If you want to edit (and you must if you want to produce videos) then you must get something like Final Cut Pro which costs lots, or you can get Videopad for about $70. This works quite well. Video is much more work than stills. Each video edit can take many weeks of work for just a few minutes of video - but the results can be amazing.

[etherial]

I've been using Sony Vegas Studio for my video editing. I've found it reasonably easy to use at a reasonable price. I'm interested to hear what others use though.

[Steve Axford]

You will find that video is much, much worse that normal photo editing. It depends what sort of computer you have, what sort of camera you have and what sort of output you require - plus, of course, sound. Just because a program seems to read a video file, doesn't mean it is really working. You will find that things can just die on you, which doesn't happen with stills. It can be very frustrating. Find something that works for you and stick to it.

[Ms Monny]

hmmm, it all sounds pretty hard.

I only really want to do my editing for the family videos that I have piled up. I guess not much chopping etc. Sound would be good, ie music, but most of it has the kids voices etc, so I wouldn't put music over that.

I will check out Sony Vegas Studio. Thanks.

[Bennymiata]

Premiere Elements is a great program and is easy to use, once you understand the basics.

Adobe have some great and easy to follow tutorials on their site. Just look for Adobe TV, tell it what program you want to learn, and the tutorials wil come up for you.
Spend an hour or 2 on them, and you'll be up and running in no time.
Premiere elements is also really good for doing slide shows, and you can easily combine stills and videos and then burn it to a DVD so you can share it.
P.E. also has a function where you can automatically upload your videos to You Tube, and it even helps you set up an account with them too.

Pity you don't live in Sydney.
I'd give you some instructions on it. I taught a young kid how to edit and put stuff together on PE in half an hour.

[Ms Monny]

Thanks Benny. I will check out Adobe TV and see those tutorials. Glad to know a kid can understand it in 1/2!!

[Dylan & Marianne]

MOnika - thanks for the complement for a start
I used premiere pro to compile that and you're right, it is quite unintuitive to use unless you've got someone there showing you how to do it (like Benny hehe)! Steve's very right in saying that editing video is much painstaking to get something decent. If you just want to compile a bunch of videos together and overlay sound, I reckon the easiest way to do it is with something free - Window's Movie Maker! It's really easy to use if you don't want specific effects (you can just drag and drop effects without alot of control over them).
Vimeo is a great sharing site and I've found its HD playback far better than youtubes. It can be really fun just making the video once you get familiar with a program though - watching it evolve!

[Ms Monny]

Thanks Dylan. When the kids go back to school, I will sit down and nut out how to work the Premiere program (after watching the videos on how-to). Considering I have the Premiere, I don't think I need to use a freebie, unless I get to a point where I can't work out the Premiere! LOL

I don't think I will be in a hurry to show my videos....not at this stage anyway! But I can totally understand how exciting and fun it would be...watching it grow into your very own product.