Recommended camcorder editing software ?

Rhodan

Rhodan

Rhodan

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What can you all recommend for editing video from a Canon HV20 ? This is for a Windows machine, I'm looking at Sony Vegas & Adobe Premiere ? Any other recommendations ?
 
My personal preference in Adobe Premiere, this has a lot in common with Final Cut and Avid, which is useful.

Sony Vegas is quite a good program but I'm not a fan, the interface is a bit different to everything else on the market, so just see what one you prefer.
 
I have read that a lot of editing software will not let you edit 24p footage, which you will probably want to do since it's the HV20's party piece. Only Sony Vegas software (AFAIK) works well with 24p (and all the other xxp's too) and in my opinion is the best editing sofware out there for PC.

Steer well clear of all Pinnacle software as its generally buggy. I have not used anything of theirs since Studio 8, but that was a nightmare. I hear studio 11 is also very buggy.

Go for Vegas 8. If you're feeling flush Vegas Pro 8 is great, but don't expect a cuddly 'fisher price' interface like in Pinnacle.

I've never used Adobe stuff so I can't comment on it. I don't think it will upload and edit 24p. Maybe someine in the know might confirm that?
 
matrhos said:
I have read that a lot of editing software will not let you edit 24p footage, which you will probably want to do since it's the HV20's party piece. Only Sony Vegas software (AFAIK) works well with 24p (and all the other xxp's too) and in my opinion is the best editing sofware out there for PC.

Steer well clear of all Pinnacle software as its generally buggy. I have not used anything of theirs since Studio 8, but that was a nightmare. I hear studio 11 is also very buggy.

Go for Vegas 8. If you're feeling flush Vegas Pro 8 is great, but don't expect a cuddly 'fisher price' interface like in Pinnacle.

I've never used Adobe stuff so I can't comment on it. I don't think it will upload and edit 24p. Maybe someine in the know might confirm that?
Click to expand...

Premiere can do anything you throw at it, only problem with the 24p footage from a HV20 is that it is shot at 29.97 and interlaced with 3:2 pulldown so you need to use something like Cineform to remove the pulldown to get it back to true 24p, you'd have to do this no matter what editing program you use.

However that only applies to NTSC versions of the camera, a PAL version can just be edited like normal and then deinterlaced to get the true 25p.
 
Pinnacle Studio 11 is LESS buggy than previous versions. Is very quick, but really a beginners tool. Premiere is a lot harder to get grips with though.
 
To be honest, the best I think is Microsofts Movie Maker 2. It's an excellent piece of software, really easy to use, easy to add transitions, effects, sounds, music, everything you could ask for. Plus it's completely FREE!
 
Well movie maker is a good starting point for beginners and your first video but anything after that and it becomes pretty much useless, that's why it's free and programs such as Avid, Premiere and Final Cut cost upwards of 500 quid.
 
Hi, I have also just got a Canon HV20 and have a couple of follow up questions.

One is the version of Premier people of recommending the ~£70 elements 4 version or the full blown ~£500 one?

cause I had a look at the adobe website and the premier elements 4 version doesn't talk about supporting HDV?

hope this link is ok to post.
http://www.adobe.com/products/psprelements/systemreqs/


anyone got any experience with the Corel Ulend videostudio 11plus software? in comparison to the other ~£50 packages out there.
 
There really is a large amount of editing software out there . The hard part is finding out which one you feel more comfortable with .I use many for different things . I prefer Pinnacle [v9] for aneasy to make DVD . This will capture , edit , add titles/background music/transitions etc and then write directly to disk and is very easy to use . I like Vegas [v6] for some really special effects , and Serif Movie plus [ I have v 4+5]. This is excellent editing software , you can create some excellent effects , picture in Picture [PIP] and the use of overlays is a dream with this software . So ,theres lots to try out ,many you can download freely for a trial period , so you can see whats suits you best .Visit the websites and read up on the pros & cons , this may help you make the right choice.
 
I was recommending the full blown version of Premiere, this happenes to work very well with HD especially that camera, I know because I have one :D It sounds like the Elements version does support HD.
 
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