Making & editing a video

[Stephan]

Hey people, I was wondering if anyone can give me some how to advice on making and editing a video. I have this assignment for school where I have to do this instructional presentation on something you're good at, I am good at wakeboarding and nothing else would be as fun. Recreation Majors have all the fun!! Anyways i have access to a regular camcorder but want to be able to go back and edit/insert commentary and music. Obviously a computer program will be the mode of choice but which one? My biggest obstacle is, how do i transfer a regular camcorders footage onto a computer?? Please if you know e-mail me so i can figure out all the details. I will most likely have access to a Windows based OS, but at school could probably find a Mac to work with. Please help me.

[Sean_Brinston]

Hey stephan i dont know alot about videos im just starting to get into it , but, i think mos of the newer mac's come with a photo editing program on it. Also if your camera didnt come with the cables to hook it up to your comp, id imagine they would range from 20-40 bucks-i might be wrong-
like i said i am just starting at this whole video and pics stuff but, i have to admit it is lots of fun . Good luck

[Jeff]

dazel cration studio is what you want it has a converter to convert anolog to digital video and it has software to edit, mac os 10 has a nice editing software built in but on windows teh dazzel one should work just fine, or you could use the one built into windows,but basicly you just need to buy the dazzel creation studio it shouldnt be to hard to find, there are probly alot of converters but i have used this one and i know it works, good luck on teh project

[bluefish86]

To get video from an analog camera to a computer, you need a video capture card, which I know little about. What is a lot easier is to have a digital video camera, with which you can just can just upload the video thru the firewire port. If you can use a mac, that would be good, because they come with all the software and hardware you need. The mac video editing program is called iMovie. Just use the built in help and tutorial, you should be fine. If you're gonna use a PC, make sure it has a firewire/ie1394 card to plug the camera into. I can't really help you with PC programs, though.

[BillJ]

Some products that you can use to capture video from an analog camcorder to your PC are: Dazzle Digital Video Creator http://www.dazzle.com/products/dvc100.html and Pinnacle Studio AV version 8 http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage.asp?Product_ID=577&Langue_ID=7

Both come with capture cards (Dazzle uses a USB port and Pinnacle is an internal card) and software to edit the video. You'll need to spend about $100 - $150 for this type of solution.

[orzech]

What other programs can i use to load video w/ a USB cable????

I need to be able to load video. It is driving me crazy:

I have a nice camcorder w/ usb and I link holes
I bought a firewire, then realized i dont have a firewire drive on my computer.
I have tried downloading programs that allow you to load w/ USB cables. But they didnt work.

SOME ONE PLEASE HELP.

Thanks

[scott a]

orzech you need to buy a firewire card for your computer. unfortunatly its not something you can download. it might also come with a cable (i think). it might also come with some easy to use software for editing videos but im not sure.

[mtn_bik_chk]

Hey, I have the same problem with an analog camcorder. I bought Dazzle (Movie Star), and it's working just fine for an analog camcorder. It did run about a hundred bucks, but hey, if that's the footage you have that you want to capture and edit, then there ya go. Good luck, and lemme know if you figure out any cool tricks with it. I'm a total beginner too.

[scott a]

orzech you need to buy a firewire card for your computer. unfortunatly its not something you can download. it might also come with a cable (i think). it might also come with some easy to use software for editing videos but im not sure.

[orzech]

Ya... i allready checked those out.....

i just found that my moms work laptop has a firewire drive....but it has the wrong pin number i have 4-6 and i need a 4-4
i have 2 4-6's

i am exchanging one

IF NE ONE WANTS TO BUY A FIREWIRE CABLE 1394 4-6 PIN FOR THEIR COMP. I WILL SELL YOU IT FOR 5 BUX PLUS SHIPPING

[skobi1]

so after you get the analog footage onto the machine, edit, add tunes, and whatever else how do you put it back onto a tape (with no burn unit)

[scott a]

i would assume you just reverse the process. play it on the comp with the camera plugged in and you should be able to record through the dazzle thingy. i dont remember much-i havent used the dazzle in a few years but it makes sense that that is how you do it.

[BillJ]

After you finish editing the video you can output it back to the camera or to a VCR using the video output plugs on the dazzle and pinnacle cards. Pretty easy to do and the quality is okay. There are some good websites that have explanations of everything if you need help. Just go to google and search for home video editing.

[Stephan]

So if I were to drop $70-$100 on the Basic Dazzle system would I be good to go? what else would I need?I'd hate to buy it and then find that i need a $400 part for something else to hook it all up. So this Dazzle thing it comes with software to edit and introduce music as well? This is going to be fun if I can get it to work out, I'll be sure to post it on wakepics if I complete as planned.

[Gbgonzal138]

ok I didnt read much of the post but I can tell you my pinnacle studio 8 kicks butt.

[Keleous]

Well, here is the general speal on making a movie.

If you have a USB connection to your camera you will want to look in the manual and see if it is USB 2.0 or USB 1.1. USB 2.0 will be faster and cheaper than firewire. A goof firewire card will cost you about 40$ and USB 2.0 card will run around 30$. the USB card will also let you connect up other devices to the computer also (Like a palm Pilot and Camera).

Also for most video capturing software will come with you camera. If it didn't there are a host of products on the web that will do this and make AVI's, MPEG's, and DIVX's for you. These would be the common formats, at least for the PC.

If you want to do some video editing you would have to probally get a high processoring power PC loaded with memory. This would speed up the process of makeing the movie.

Also note, if you wanted to get the movie off the computer you would just need a video card with a video out port. Or just buy a video out card plug it into your VCR and go to town.

[whynot]

23 last night

[scott a]

first of all you dont NEED a fast computer to edit videos. someone said something about needing a fast computer and its not really a necessity. until new years i had a 500 mhz system and i still was able to make videos quite easily. the render time was quite slow but if you know how to do it right you only need to render once or twice (and not every 5 mins). dont think that if you have a slow computer you cant edit movies.

if you have to drop $400 on a part your better of buying a new computer (or maybe a cheap digital camera?). it shouldnt cost THAT much.

[scott a]

first of all you dont NEED a fast computer to edit videos. someone said something about needing a fast computer and its not really a necessity. until new years i had a 500 mhz system and i still was able to make videos quite easily. the render time was quite slow but if you know how to do it right you only need to render once or twice (and not every 5 mins). dont think that if you have a slow computer you cant edit movies.

if you have to drop $400 on a part your better of buying a new computer (or maybe a cheap digital camera?). it shouldnt cost THAT much.

[Stephan]

So I have a fairly new Gateway that has a bad reputation of being weird. The camera I will use is an analog Sony that's about three years old. Some one who knows please give me the run down of what I need, I'm a bit confused because i don't know if the programs come w/ necessary hardware ie. firewire. really if someone can break it down as simply as possible.

[Stephan]

Also what version of Dazzle are you guys using? I've read on the Net that the program has some serious errors and pretty much sucks. I've read that it takes hours after edits to refresh the video. Please say it ain't so!

[scott a]

well the "hours after edits to refresh the video" only happens if you want it to happen. its called "rendering" when you change a video clip (such as adding effects) the computer has to basically refresh the video. it only happens when you want it to happen, but if you dont do it you really cant watch the part of the video that you have edited. this is where a faster computer is nice to have. and yes it can (and will) take hours.

[buckthis]

dazzle suck don't get it, a friend of mine got it, nothing but problems. i got a computer that came with adobe premiere and sony camcorder with i-link. camera, computer, and an i-link cable, you can't get any simpler than this. you can also put any music you want to on the tracks. i have done several highlight videos, its pretty cool.

[bluefish86]

btw, i-link, firewire and ie1395 are all the *exact* same thing, only with different names and symbols.

[scott a]

buckthis- some people dont have digital cameras, thats why dazzle is still in business. think about it. and its nice to see that your computer came with a computer (reread your post). and there are many different editors that let you add your own music...its not exactly a new feature.

[ModelAMan]

for video editing get Adobe Premiere, it is THE video editing program. You'll have to get it off Mirc or something though

[Afro S Bend]

i did video editing for 4 years in high school andn ow i do audio editing for my radio station. video i use to do it old school. if u want to do it like high quality bad ass stuff but dont want to buy your own film studio in cali ull still need about like 5 gs. all u need is a camera with a usb cable connection a mac g4 and final cut pro. then youll be able to burn dvds with the mac. or u can connect your vcr to it too but i think u need like a video card for that. Or if your school has like a tv production class or something just ask them to use the equipment. its fun stuff im getting back into making music videos and stuff. good luck with ur project bro

[Afro S Bend]

i did video editing for 4 years in high school andn ow i do audio editing for my radio station. video i use to do it old school. if u want to do it like high quality bad ass stuff but dont want to buy your own film studio in cali ull still need about like 5 gs. all u need is a camera with a usb cable connection a mac g4 and final cut pro. then youll be able to burn dvds with the mac. or u can connect your vcr to it too but i think u need like a video card for that. Or if your school has like a tv production class or something just ask them to use the equipment. its fun stuff im getting back into making music videos and stuff. good luck with ur project bro

[scott a]

yeah listen to afro s bend...you need 5G's to make movies. sure. buy a new mac then buy a new video card (can you even do that with macs?) so you can plug it into a vcr. oh yeah. go buy final cut pro. sure...go for it.
all you need to create a bad ass video is any camera, any digital video editor, and a way to get the video onto and off of the computer. the most important part of making a video is cretivity, so getting a $500 piece of software isnt gonna magically make your video be better. macs dont automatically make your videos better, neither do pc's, final cut pro, adobe premiere, or pinnacle or anything else. you DONT have to spend any money as long as you have a computer, a camera, editing software and a way to get your videos onto and off of your computer.
sorry for the post...just dont want people to think that they NEED to spend money so they can edit videos. however if you want a nicer editing program or a dvd burner you might wanna think about it.

[bluefish86]

yes, you can add video cards to macs. a lot of macs come in towers just like PCs.

[Afro S Bend]

OOO AND WAT!! why do you think they come open with a side door. all i said is if u want high quality stuff u could use that. but u can make it with a camera and 2 vcrs if u want.

[Stephan]

Damn people lets just settle down. Alright to everyone who has responded, much thanks. I'm faced with just needing to make a choice, I've heard every single system sucks or is the greatest, about every one of them!! So I'm making the decision to go with the Dazzle thing, cuz i've heard the most about it. Now I'm trying to be an econo shopper an spend as little as possible. The basic Dazzle is like $100(cheaper on ebay) but it does not output onto analog(my VCR or tape), only v-cd and onto the net. The one that's $169(haven't found on ebay) is capable of outputing to a VCR. I really need to be able to show this thing to a class room full of people. Do you think I could post the thing on wakepics and then play it over the computers projection screen onto a screen? Or will that just make the whole damn thing impossible? Should I just buck up and buy the more capable one? It seems like it will save a lot of hassle.

Stephen

[bluefish86]

I wouldn't upload it to wakepics before showing it to that class. The quality would be horrible. You be best to burn it to VCD and then play the VCD on the projector(you can get free VCD players of the net).

Afro, I used to make videos using a camera and one vcr I used cardboard and paper for the titles. I'm so glad I can computer edit now.

[scott a]

you can put it on wakepics if its small enough (my videos are usually around 10mb). if you put it on wakepics you can access it from any computer. you just need to make sure that you can get a projector hooked up to the comp (tell your teacher in advance) and that it has internet access. thats actually a great idea if you dont wanna spend much money cuz you dont have to worry about burning it or recording it. good luck

[Afro S Bend]

bluefish keeping it old school tru haha.