Pete's guide to home video II - Choosing your software

Choosing your software

First, I must point out that I'm a Windows XP user. I'm told that Macs have some great software available for dealing with multimedia, including some really good video and audio editors, but because I've never used a Mac I can't say anything about that. What I write here is based purely on my Windows experience.

Also, I've had some bad experiences with some of the editing software, and I won't be holding back about that because I feel that someone has to warn you, gentle reader, before you go spending your hard-earned beans on software that just doesn't do what you're paying for. We'll get to the lemons shortly.

Let's start by assuming you know nothing about editing video.

What is an NLE?

NLE stands for Non Linear Editor, which just means that you're not tied to editing your video stream in the order that it comes out of the camera. You can trim clips, move them around, lay them over each other and all kinds of other things.

Different NLEs provide different features but most of them follow a pattern. There's a timeline on the screen, usually running from left to right, where you can drag and drop your individual video clips from your camera and arrange them into time order. The timeline is usually arranged as tracks laid one above another, so that you can line up video on one track and audio on another. The Vegas software I use gives you six tracks - three video and three audio - and you can add a seventh (either video or audio) if you need one. Just to give you an idea, the three video tracks are one for your raw video, one for overlays and special effects and one for text such as subtitles and credits (but you're not constrained to use them just for those purposes - those are just labels); the audio tracks are for the voice track from your video, background music and sound effects. The professional version lets you create as many video and audio tracks as you like.

To get a feel for an NLE, try out the Windows Movie Maker that comes as standard with XP (I understand Mac comes with a bundled NLE too). Switch from the 'storyboard' view to the 'timeline' view to see what I mean. WMM is very basic (only one track for video, one for text overlays, two audio tracks, and a limited number of transitions and effects) but it contains all the basic features that all NLEs have. Try using it a bit to make a short movie - getting an understanding of the process will help when you buy some better software, I guarantee it.

Some NLE programs

There are lots of NLEs available - go to your local software store and you'll find a wide range. That means that choosing a good one can be a problem. I went through three awful programs before finding the one that works for me, so while I can't provide a comprehensive rundown I can tell you what I know. For what it's worth, here it is:

Ulead software is supposed to be pretty good - I can't vouch for that so you may want to check online for reviews.

Roxio VideoWave 7 gave me bad headaches last year. I don't know if the problems have been fixed but when I tried it, it kept corrupting its own data files and had to be reinstalled only to have the same problem happen again and again. Other users on their web forums complained of the same problems.

Magix Movie Edit Pro 10 was better but I found that it wouldn't preview any video clip longer than about two and a half minutes - the audio kept playing but the preview screen went blank. Their tech support guy was sympathetic but couldn't help, so it went back to the shop.

Pinnacle Studio Plus 10... what can I say about this software except NEVER, EVER BUY THIS PRODUCT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Some people are able to use it without problems, but it seems that for most people it simply doesn't work. I beefed about this in a post in November; I just looked at the web boards and it seems the problems are still there. Don't waste your money.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum

This is what I use now. I should say I don't work for Sony and they're not paying me to say this, but this is what I'd recommend. It's a bit more complicated to use than some of the other offerings, but that's because it gives you far better control over the whole editing process. And it works.

So... what to look for in an NLE

Since all good NLEs let you perform the basic editing functions that you need, the differences between them boil down to utility and additional features.

This means that you should think a little about what you want to be able to do in your videos, so that you can find software that provides the features you need. Want to be able to do bluescreen/greenscreen effects? How about slow-motion or playing a section of video backwards? Or being able to freeze a single frame then zoom into some detail in the frozen image? What about being able to download free plugins to add new features to your software? Does the software provide you with a useful set of transitions, sound effects and other media files right out of the box? Can you download extra content like that for free? And very important: how is the tech support? The questions you ask will help you find the software that will do what you need.

In the next article...

Tips for shooting your video.