Help With Video Programs

My roommate just acquired a Canon GL2 video camera and a brand new Sony VAIO. Not completely sure of his system specs but it has 4GB Ram and Widows 7.

I know next to nothing about video editing and we are trying to figure out what program will yield appropriate results with the Pro-Quality GL2.

What is the most common software used by you 5DmII guys? I have already told him to be prepared to buy Premier.

Cheers!

EVOL

I was using premiere and it was great, but it was so difficult to use for music videos. Things were so hidden in the program. My computer crashed last month and purchased sony vegas pro 9 with my new cpu and its absolutely great for music videos. I found it a lot easier to work with than premiere. Im using vegas with my t1i and flip mino hd and i love it....there is a small lag when previewing it on the workspace even with a quad core system and 8 gigs of ram though. The premiere on my 4 gig duo core system didnt lag as much though with the t1i files.
I'd try sony vegas movie studio 9 first and then decide from there...vegas pro 9 is almost identical but with more features. I started on that program before jumping to pro.

Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas are the two main video apps that most PC-Based DV editors tend to use. Avid also has a Pinnacle Studio product that they claim is based on their high-end editing product. (Haven't tried it myself)

The nice thing is that all of these apps offer free trial download versions, so you can try them out to see which one "feels" best for your (or your roomate's) needs.

NickJushchyshyn wrote in post #9347732
Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas are the two main video apps that most PC-Based DV editors tend to use. Avid also has a Pinnacle Studio product that they claim is based on their high-end editing product. (Haven't tried it myself)

The nice thing is that all of these apps offer free trial download versions, so you can try them out to see which one "feels" best for your (or your roomate's) needs.

Pinnacle Studio I had 5 years ago was absolute garbage... So bad I did all my editing in AVS scripts (basically program your way though video editing). Maybe they changed it, but then again vegas and premiere haven't changed much in that time.

Do download the free trials though. I would suggest staying away from premiere elements if you can get student rates on premiere pro though, elements looks like it has everything, but in reality it's lacking some pretty basic (in my eyes) features, and a lot of compatibility and export types.

basroil wrote in post #9347850
Pinnacle Studio I had 5 years ago was absolute garbage... So bad I did all my editing in AVS scripts (basically program your way though video editing). Maybe they changed it, but then again vegas and premiere haven't changed much in that time.

Do download the free trials though. I would suggest staying away from premiere elements if you can get student rates on premiere pro though, elements looks like it has everything, but in reality it's lacking some pretty basic (in my eyes) features, and a lot of compatibility and export types.

I agree about premiere elements...i bought it with my new cpu also just as an emergency incase the sony vegas movie studio didnt work for me, and elements was just plain garbage. I didnt get more than 15 minutes of use out of it before I just uninstalled it from my cpu...a waste of money!

Great thanks for the info everyone. I agree about the Pinnacle deal. I used it years ago when I used to shoot video and it was a terrible program that rendered very low quality video.

I think I will try to help my roomate get a cheap copy of Premiere and start practicing. For tose of you who have used it.........whats the learning curve like? I have been using CS3 for years now and I know how to use about %13 of the program. Is Premiere the same deal?

Cheers

EVOL wrote in post #9356012
Great thanks for the info everyone. I agree about the Pinnacle deal. I used it years ago when I used to shoot video and it was a terrible program that rendered very low quality video.

I think I will try to help my roomate get a cheap copy of Premiere and start practicing. For tose of you who have used it.........whats the learning curve like? I have been using CS3 for years now and I know how to use about %13 of the program. Is Premiere the same deal?

Cheers

Photoshop is a piece of cake

Then again, 10% settings, 10% gui, 80% has nothing to do with anything computer related, just has to do with how creative you are. If you're good at thinking about what you want to do, how to get there is easy.