Video Editing Software Guide
Video editing software selection can look a little daunting when you start to see the range of products available. However with a little help to remain focused on what is important you should be able to make a good choice.
A key question is: "What is it that I am I REALLY going to do with the video editing software that I choose?"
The well known video editing software makers provide camcorder to video file output editing solutions that are almost identical. So stick to what you REALLY need.
Like any other competitive market, video editing software is caught up in a never ending race to keep up with technology as it develops and still make the product seem "sexy" to the customer. The point being you most likely do not WANT to purchase video editing software. What you WANT is a finished video production.
The problem for the software company is that they know you NEED to buy video editing software but that is not what you WANT! They must make you WANT it! And because of that we get "bells and whistles" features that make you WANT IT but most likely will never need.
Video File Formats
The first thing to establish is what is the format of the material you will be working with and what will be the formats that you will want to produce in the end. Input will be determined by your camcorder or your DVD recorder or whatever the source of your material is. Take note of the format your device records in and make sure that one is covered first.
Then realistically work out how you would be most likely to distribute your final videos. DVD? Blu-Ray? Uploading to YouTube or something like it? Ensure the software you choose can output to the format you need.
So, your first task in deciding on what video editing software is suitable for you is to work out what your most common source video files will be and what your most common video output will be. That covers the foundation of what you will be doing with the software and must remain as your main focal point.
Video Transitions
Transitions are the little inserts that go in between two clips to make the scene change. When you watch a movie you can see that when a scene changes it often cuts to the next scene with no transition, this is called cut or a straight cut. It fades to black then fades into the next scene from black called a cross fade through black. Or, finally, the two scenes merge into each other softly and this one is called a cross fade. That's it, the whole range of transitions you usually see in a professional production!
All video editing software programs offer at least 50 transitions each. Newbies use ALL the available transitions because they look cool the first time they see them. Really, no-one ever volunteers for their latest screening because the nausea has not subsided from the last one! Ignore transitions as a deciding factor, all video editing software programs have them and they all have more than you need.
Video Overlay
An overlay track, simply put, is the ability to put one video in the background and have another visible on top of it. That is the "picture in picture" or "split screen" effect you see in movies or on TV. You can also put subtitles in an overlay track or still photos or a bunch of other things to really get creative. About five are needed for reasonable control but you wouldn't use more because again, nobody will want to view the craziness you have made!
Audio
There is no video editing software at the consumer level that offers truly excellent audio control and features. They are not audio editing programs they are video editing programs. Some offer reasonably good control and some do not, if you really want professional audio features you should have specialist software to do that.
A standard requirement would be the handling of Dolby Stereo as well as 5:1 Surround. The software should have two audio tracks to work with as well as the audio already in the video track. That allows lots of space for additional effects, narration or music.
Rendering is the term used when the video editing software is making the final file of your newly created video. Until you render the final video file all the changes, cuts, additions and editing decisions you have made are only "virtual." The original video files are never touched. Rendering produces a new video file by putting all that together in the format you have chosen for viewing.
All the compressed video file formats like MPEG2 (for DVDs) or MPEG4 etc always lose quality to at least some degree when they are re-rendered. The degree of loss of quality varies but it is essential that any video editing software you choose has the ability to recognise those files it does not need to re-render and simply copy those sections resulting in the high quality possible being retained. It should also offer good control over the properties of the final video.
Well that's the basics covered so remember to keep your attention on the important stuff and try not to get pulled into the "bells and whistles" stuff and you should be able to make a good choice!
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