Looking for computer software that I can use to edit videos that I take with a camcorder.?

Question

I am also going to buy a camcorder, so if you know one that works well with software, please let me know. My computer is also a couple years off, so I need something that would work well with that.

Answer 1

Assuming Windows Movie Maker doesn't do it for you, have a look at Sony's Vegas Movie Studio.  It's a powerful editor without being too much of a resource hog (though all editors need a lot of processing power for their rendering).

MiniDV is standard, so any MiniDV camcorder  / editor combination should be OK.  DVD and hard drive camcorders use MPEG-2 encoding, which doesn't edit well.  It's not a complete disaster, but you're liable to lose some quality.  High definition is a mixed blessing - the video quality is great, but editing can be a problem both in terms of software and PC spec.  The Canon HV20 is a high def camcorder that records to tape.  You can downsample to DV, which makes editing easier, and you can save the tapes in their original high def format until you're ready for them.

Answer 2

NERO 8!!

Answer 3

If you have winodws XP then you can use windows movie maker (free), but if you are looking to do more with your software, I'm using pinnacle studio 11.

If you have a mini dv (cassette) camcorder….

Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your PC probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder.

If you have a mini dvd camcorder….

You will have to finalize your dvd in the camera and then put the dvd in your computer 's DVD burner (top loading only) and then you will have to convert the files (i downloaded handbrake file converter free) and import them into your editing program. Use the HELP feature in your editing program to learn about editing. Once you are ready to burn, your project will be burned to a different DVD and you can file the original away.

Answer 4

if you have windows xp onwards it comes with movie maker which has a DV recorder function to take from tape to computer, however in this age i would recommend a HDD camera which can be  by USB 2.0. I use Studio 8 but it can be hardware hungry so i recommend a reasonable PC for that. But unless your peter jackson then moviemaker is perfect.

PS (If you are Peter Jackson....f'u-c.k beans!!)