Video Editors

[thomas__hb]

Are there free alternatives to Imovie for Windows, rather than Windows Movie Maker, im downloading the 2nd Versions of this, but am interested in others, as, in my past experience WMM is crap. I need to be able to add titles, stills, transitions, two extra audio channels, and to be able to export to popular and functional formats, working in a linear environment. I have access to a Mac w./all the imovie stuff, but have to get it to a PC to put it to DVD, and splitting it is difficult because Macs being as crap as they are, have a tendency to crash after the 2nd or 3rd chunk, and then the PC complains about MAc format CD's with Mac .mov files on them, that when played look like crap.

Any Ideas>?

[hobey19]

if you are working with digital video, avid free dv is a very good editor. google it. it requires a simple registration and you are good to go

craig

[SonicVanguard]

If you are working with DV files, you can download Avid Free DV. But it will only work with DV video files, not MPEG, standard AVI, MOV/QT, or any other format.

Other than that, the only other free choice for Windows is VirtualDub. It's got a steep learning curve, but it is a decent editor.

Dave.

[thomas__hb]

having tested movie maker 2, i reckon it is pretty good. Thankfully, Microsoft have simply ripped off an excellent freebie, Imovie, and added some extra transition effects etc. It will also burn it for you, and encode it to various formats... A great tool for those fed up with Apple Macs that crash all too often...

[TheJackal]

Though propbably more expensive then what you are looking for... Adobe Premiere is a great piece of software.

[thomas__hb]

yes...it could be a buck, and it'd be out of the reach of my measly student budget...

[Mac Medic]

I imagine you're using OS 9 on the Mac? which would explain all the crashes. Not sure if you would be willing seeing as how crap mac's are but you could always try OS X with FCE. Never had a crash doing it this way personally.

[Floppyman]

Originally Posted by thomas__hb yes...it could be a buck, and it'd be out of the reach of my measly student budget...

Maybe it's possible for you to get an academic discount on the software. Definitely something worth checking out. HTH

[SonicVanguard]

I would agree with Floppyman. Adobe gives student discounts through college bookstores as well as their website. Worth pursuing.

Dave.

[thomas__hb]

Originally Posted by oem_guy_2002 I imagine you're using OS 9 on the Mac? which would explain all the crashes. Not sure if you would be willing seeing as how crap mac's are but you could always try OS X with FCE. Never had a crash doing it this way personally.

It's a 733mhz Emac with OSX running Imac 2.1.5. The crashes i'm refering to occur when having taken a large amount of clips off the storyboard, it leaves a long timespace of black screen, that when exported, is technically part of the movie. When I highlight this space to cut it out, Imovie quits. You may ask why i dont just create a new project, but apparently the video clips that happily work in one project, are corrupt in another. To solve the problem, i export as normal without cutting the 4 mnutes of black screen end of the movie, and hit cancel when it reaches the point that i want to stop.

My new problem now is that having put the movie onto 3 cd's , MS Movie Maker doesnt recognise quicktime files. Anyone know of a conversion tool to turn it into a MS-Friendly piece of software. Preferably free, and nothing that will encourage Apple to continue to make stupid software for stupid hardware...

Regards,

[Mac Medic]

Originally Posted by thomas__hb running Imac 2.1.5.Regards,

I'm guessing you mean imovie 2.1.5?. It seems you have gone the Microsoft route, but just for future reference imovie is up to version 4.01. Much more stable, better use of memory and true non-destructive editing (ie, leaves your clips intact). Whatever you use, memory is the key factor. Good luck, I hope you get it all to work out and end up with a nice finished product.

[thomas__hb]

yes, i am using the old version that came with OSX. The Emac is at the library at school, and therefore im not able to update programs(user restrictions) and it seems anyway, that you can't update without buying iLife with all the V4.0 software in it, and stupidly, the librarian isn't interested in upgrading to new software, but she's the first to complain when it seems a student may have trouble with the antiquated software...