Best Video Editing Software

As a MAGIX user i think MAGIX Movie Edit Pro should be part of this nice article Coz this program deserves it…

I like to use CyberLink PowerDirector. It’s pretty easy to use and has enough options to get your feet wet. I only make movies/slide shows for home use, so this program works well for me.

I second on Cyberlink PowerDirector. It’s like a dream come true. Magix is great, no doubt either.

STUDIO 12 BY PINNACLE
Simple yet offers so many advanced features, plus extra add-ons which do require extra costs.

I have to say I hate Pinnalce software now. Its more expensive than some of the others like cyberlink’s powerdirector and it slows down my computers to a crawl. There are always glitches that don’t work right. This last go around I could not get the audio and video to sync properly. Also, there are very expensive addons required to make it halfway functional. Overall, I have always used pinnacle stuff but I am giving them up now. I am now trying cyberlink Powerdirector 7

I have, as a consultant, been recommending non-linear video editing (and other kinds of multi-media production) software for clients of all types and skill levels for many years… MANY years.

And here’s basically what I tell non-pro, consumer Windows users who are in search of the right tool for non-linear video editing…

If you insist on using a FREE product (whether it’s closed- or open-source), then, for now, use Avidemux; but keep an eye on Jahshaka/CineFX (which is not quite ready for primetime, but will, in time, be excellent). The truth is, though, that to get decent features, one must use a commercial product.

Though I personally don’t much like it, if your machine is a little slower than it probably should be (because, remember, video rendering takes some semi-serious processor cycles and speed); and especially if you’re trying to render HD on a slower machine, then the best overall choice, believe it or not, is probably Corel’s VideoStudio Pro. The other choices, however, are sufficiently better than that product that it might actually make sense to get a faster/better machine so you can use one of them… but that’s just me maybe being a little bit elitist. Corel’s product, actually, is fine. I just like the others that I’m about to recommend so, so much better.

I agree with another poster, here, about Pinnacle Studio. It has, as it has moved into its version 12, become problematic in some areas… and many add-ons, it is true, are required to bring it up to where it really should be. I have found, however, that if one purchases it in its retail packaging, with hardware and bonus CD/DVDs, it is more than tolerable. A powerful machine is required, though, to avoid some of the problems which the other poster here mentioned. All that said, Pinnacle’s interface is very user-friendly. I, personally, recommend something better, but one would not necessarily be shooting oneself in the foot with Pinnacle Studio 12 if one remains mindful of all else I’ve written in this paragraph.

The next level up, in my opinion, is Cyberlink’s PowerDirector 8. Former-Mac-now-Windows users will like its interface; and never-formerly-Mac Windows users will appreciate its “take you by the hand” (at least compared with other products) overall approach. Starting with its version 7, PowerDirector became a SERIOUS tool for non-linear video editing. CyberLink is known for making older versions of its software available for free in promotions, so by all means search around for a free, fully-functional copy of version 7 (or whatever version, by the time one reads this, is the immediately prior version) out there on the Internet. It’s really a quite remarkable piece of software, and the one which I now recommend for pretty much anyone needing something powerful yet straighforward and easy to learn. I recommend it, now, where I used to recommend Pinnacle Studio as a potent consumer-level tool; yet — especially, like I said, starting with version 7 (and even more with version — it boasts a few features which are truly high-end pro. CyberLink also has a wonderful additional web site where users upload their templates and other creations which all other users can download and implement in their videos. And there are nice tutorials.

If the consumer-level user wants a bit more techie capability… something closer to a truly pro-level tool, yet still without quite being that involved,
then the only choice, really, is Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack. Look no further. Its underlying interface is nearly identical to the higher-end, truly “pro” Vegas Pro product, yet without a few of the truly “pro” accouterments. But that doesn’t make it a weak performer, by any stretch of the imagination. It’s power-packed, to be sure… pretty much all that any non-pro who still wants to produce some really pro-looking stuff could ever ask for. It will, necessarily, have a steeper learning curve than something like Cyberlin’s PowerDirector… and WAY steeper than something like Pinacle Studio. But the extra time it takes to master it (which isn’t much, mind you… a single weekend of concentrated learning will do it) is well worth it. For consumers who want the real deal, Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack is my sole recommendation.

And the next step up, of course, is the truly “pro” Sony Vegas Pro… a high-end, commercial-level television and/or motion picture non-linear editing tool which has few rivals. Bear in mind, though, that if you REALLY want to use the tools that more Emmy- and Academy-award-winning pros use, you’d have to pick something like FinalCut Pro (Mac only), or AVID Media Composer (Windows/Mac). However, seriously, there’s precious little (and I stress the word “little”) which Sony Vegas Pro cannot do which they can… and, in fact, Sony Vegas was doing many things which both FinalCut Pro and AVID Media Composer only started doing comparatively recently. Vegas was the pioneer of many features now found in those products. So, then, precisely why more famous movies and videos are not edited in Vegas Pro is a bit of a mystery to me (though, don’t get me wrong… tons of them are). Vegas Pro, unlike, for example AVID Media Composer, also has relatively low hardware requirements… and will run, truth be known, on pretty much ANY machine powerful enough to run Windows Vista or Windows 7; and on a whole lot of machines powerful enough to run Windows XP. It’s quite unbelievable, actually… THE tool to use for pro work; and what I use. I would, in fact, never consider — at least for now — anything else.

This advice has been taken seriously by MANY of my clients, not a single one of whom, over the years, after getting some experience, has disagreed with a word of it…

…for whatever that’s worth (which my ex-wife will unhesitatingly chime-in probably ain’t much!).

________________________________
Gregg L. DesElms
gregg at greggdeselms dot com
Napa, California

Try Trakax – it’s relatively new, absolutely free (unless you want added features) and devastatingly effective. Quite pleasant to use as well and with a very responsive support team. I’m just about to start using it for a group project, just working out the training guides.

I have to agree with Chad. Stay away from Pinnacle, you have been warned. Bloatware that will definitely crash your entire system when it has a chance.

CyberLink PowerDirector seems like a good video editing software however it often crashes without letting you save your project in anyway. Thats the only annoying part of the software.