Need video editing PC program advice

[JohnnyA]

My brother is stuck over in Iraq at the moment, in the city of Hit. He is in the Army, in his second month of a 2 year tour.

I had an idea today and I really want to do this up right. I have a digital Sony DV camcorder. I want to film a bunch of things. Interviews with family members and friends, make his pet cat do silly tricks, get hot girls around town to blow kisses to him and his buddies.

I am good with electronics and pick up on new technology easily. I edited and made my Senior class video in 1998, but that was before using computers to do it, it was all with VHS to VHS. So i think I can pull of this computer editing, but I don't know what a good program is.

I am looking for a quality video editing programing. I intend to put a lot of effort into this, so it doesnt have to be easy to use, I will learn whatever it is.

I want to make him a dvd, probably more then 1, I'll try to make 1 every 3 months. What I want is

For it to be professional looking
Able to use good looking texts and transitions
Mix music well in the backround

and for it to allow me to make a DVD menu at the start

so he can put in the DVD and have a menu where he can go to Interviews, a section on silly skits, a section on the home we are remodeling, a hot girl section.

You guys get the idea I'm sure.

Thanks, any info will be greatly appreciated by me, and soon by my brother.

 

[SubNebGuy]

I suggest Adobe Premier. Its pricey though.

Maybe find some bittorrent sites or something.

I run with Premiere 6.5, AfterEffects 5.5 Production bundle, and Adobe Audition for fine tuning audio.

all those retail for like $1500 tho.

 

[CopyCarver]

My brother is stuck over in Iraq at the moment, in the city of Hit. He is in the Army, in his second month of a 2 year tour.

I had an idea today and I really want to do this up right. I have a digital Sony DV camcorder. I want to film a bunch of things. Interviews with family members and friends, make his pet cat do silly tricks, get hot girls around town to blow kisses to him and his buddies.

I am good with electronics and pick up on new technology easily. I edited and made my Senior class video in 1998, but that was before using computers to do it, it was all with VHS to VHS. So i think I can pull of this computer editing, but I don't know what a good program is.

I am looking for a quality video editing programing. I intend to put a lot of effort into this, so it doesnt have to be easy to use, I will learn whatever it is.

I want to make him a dvd, probably more then 1, I'll try to make 1 every 3 months. What I want is

For it to be professional looking
Able to use good looking texts and transitions
Mix music well in the backround

and for it to allow me to make a DVD menu at the start

so he can put in the DVD and have a menu where he can go to Interviews, a section on silly skits, a section on the home we are remodeling, a hot girl section.

You guys get the idea I'm sure.

Thanks, any info will be greatly appreciated by me, and soon by my brother.

SubNebGuy's advice is right on the mark--Video Premier is outstanding, but it is indeed pricey. You might be able to dodge the financial bullet however by downloading Video Premier 2.0 on a trial basis from Adobe's website.

They offer a free trial of something like 30 days, after which the software stops working. It's possible, of course, that the free trial version is a watered down version--I don't know for certain--but even the "light" version should be more than adequate for very professional-looking work.

 

[Weird Harold]

I had an idea today and I really want to do this up right. I have a digital Sony DV camcorder.

I have copiesof the ShowBiz and MyDVD software that came with my daughter's Sony Digitial camcorder. I find that has almost all of the functions I would need to do the kind of presentatation you're talking about.

If I were going to any serious video production, I'd need to add a good sound-editing program because ShowBiz just has the ability to remove and replace the audio tracks.

ShowBiz -- the actual video editing software -- is actually more capable thany computer is, so I don't do very much with it, but except for the lack of audio editing it has everything I could imagine needing for basic video editing.

 

[slipinin]

You could also try asking here:

http://forum.digital-digest.com

Lots of useful people and advice.

 

[jadefirefly]

I don't have any info for you, but I just wanted to say that this is one kickass idea, and I hope you find what you need to make it work.

Best of luck to you!

 

[borisk]

I like to use Adobe Pemier Elements, this is the $100 version, A lot of times you can find it on sale for $70. I use it , little of a learning curve.

Give the demo a test drive

Boris

 

[ArtifexLignorum]

Videomach

Videomach from Gromada will do most of what you wish, for free.

It can be found here: http://www.gromada.com/

Good Luck

 

[static_pulse]

My brother is stuck over in Iraq at the moment, in the city of Hit. He is in the Army, in his second month of a 2 year tour.

I had an idea today and I really want to do this up right. I have a digital Sony DV camcorder. I want to film a bunch of things. Interviews with family members and friends, make his pet cat do silly tricks, get hot girls around town to blow kisses to him and his buddies.

I am good with electronics and pick up on new technology easily. I edited and made my Senior class video in 1998, but that was before using computers to do it, it was all with VHS to VHS. So i think I can pull of this computer editing, but I don't know what a good program is.

I am looking for a quality video editing programing. I intend to put a lot of effort into this, so it doesnt have to be easy to use, I will learn whatever it is.

I want to make him a dvd, probably more then 1, I'll try to make 1 every 3 months. What I want is

For it to be professional looking
Able to use good looking texts and transitions
Mix music well in the backround

and for it to allow me to make a DVD menu at the start

so he can put in the DVD and have a menu where he can go to Interviews, a section on silly skits, a section on the home we are remodeling, a hot girl section.

You guys get the idea I'm sure.

Thanks, any info will be greatly appreciated by me, and soon by my brother.

hav u heard of final cut from apple?