Need a real easy to use DV-editing prog ("for dummies")

[theReal]

I'm searching for a proggie that my dad can use to edit some of his footage - I tried to teach him how to use Ulead Media Studio Pro 6.5, but he said it was too complicated for him (he's 67 and knows how to read his e-mails and write a letter, but that's about all...)

I recently got an OEM CD of Ulead Video Studio DV 5.0 and thought this could be the solution - but then I found out it's not easier to learn and use than the Pro version, it only lacks some serious possibilities and it has an ugly GUI (for example the timeline is much too small on a 17" monitor)
Video Studio was barely OK if it didn't force you to add all your footage as tiny clips (you can't cut out a scene manually from the middle of a longer clip, very strange...).

I'm used to import a whole tape (60min) into the timeline and then start to cut it into pieces, and I guess that's what would be the most understandable way to do it for my dad as well.

Does anyone of you know a better program for this purpose? All my dad needs to do is cut out some bad scenes and maybe add some music from CD or a comment here and there. An easy solution for subtitling/titling would be nice as well.

[bb]

Hmm, I propose you try MGI's VideoWave. I found it easy to start with, but whatever: your dad will need to learn his tasks. Video editing needs some basic knowledge to achieve good results, and that's very different from e-mail and word processing.

Hope that helps.

bb

[theReal]

I just checked out VideoWave's homepage and found it had a very similar approach to editing like VideoStudio.
So... another program that isn't really easier to work with, but also another one that is very focused on producing short videos with a story line using small clips from the beginning. That is nice, but my approach to a home video is a little different: I want to import the whole thing (like a birthday party) in one clip, then cut out mistakes and unnecessary lengthy scenes, but leave the rest in chronological order. To do that seems more complicated in the beginner programs than in MediaStudio Pro

Maybe now that my dad has found this out about VideoStudio (and that he also likes my approach better :) ) he has reached the point where I can show him MediaStudio Pro 6.5 again. I must say I still consider it the easiest of all editing programs. It has more possibilities than all the "beginner" programs, but you can choose what you want to do and only use a small fraction of it while the beginner programs only give you one possibility of how to create your video and that's it...

[bb]

Originally posted by theReal
I just checked out VideoWave's homepage and found it had a very similar approach to editing like VideoStudio.
So... another program that isn't really easier to work with, but also another one that is very focused on producing short videos with a story line using small clips from the beginning. That is nice, but my approach to a home video is a little different: I want to import the whole thing (like a birthday party) in one clip, then cut out mistakes and unnecessary lengthy scenes, but leave the rest in chronological order
It's good to hear that you can convince your father to use Media Studio Pro. But I wanted to point out that VideoWave can import "the whole thing" in one clip, then you can cut out what you don't want. Thus it does exactly what you desire - or am I getting you wrong?

bb

[theReal]

But I wanted to point out that VideoWave can import "the whole thing" in one clip, then you can cut out what you don't want.Ah, ok, I couldn't really test it - I only know what I saw on their website. They don't seem to have a demo version?

So, I think I'll try to explain him MediaStudio again, and if it doesn't work out then I consider buying VideoWave :)

[preston]

VS6 of course lets you delete a clip in the middle of a longer clip. To do so, you select the stop point, use the razor to cut the clip in two, then select the restart point, now part of the second clip, and again cut the clip, finally deleting the middle clip. VS6 is pretty straightforward if you use the guides on the website and take a look at the manual. It may frustrate because it often insists on re-encoding (smart render is smart about 75% of the time) and because a lot of things require clicking on tiny icons.

[theReal]

VS6 of course lets you delete a clip in the middle of a longer clip.Ah, ok, I only have the VS 5 OEM CD - let's see if I'm good enough as a teacher to teach my dad MediaStudio, otherwise I'll also take VS6 into account :)


and because a lot of things require clicking on tiny icons.Somehow the guys at Ulead seem to like tiny icons ;)
In Media Studio there's also some things that are so tiny that you're almost getting crazy from time to time.
One good example is be the "live preview" for which you have to move the mouse above the timeline until the cursor becomes a little star. The area where the cursor becomes a star is about 2 pixels wide (maximum!!!) - that's really annyoing...

[idatoo]

Originally posted by preston
VS6 may frustrate because it often insists on re-encoding (smart render is smart about 75% of the time) and because a lot of things require clicking on tiny icons.
damm, no wonder my computer was going bezerk all the time!
Is there a smart-render box I have to check?
I didn't capture my dv directly in video studio 5.
My free hd space is only 12 gb. Of course, I can't capture directly with dv format. So I used ATI AIW Radeon to capture the video in SVCD Mpeg2 format. 40 minutes gave me a 620 MB file, so I suppose I can fit 45 minutes on a 700 Mb CD. I am very happy with the quality. But I just want an editor that will cut up my SVCD mpeg2 file quickly and cleanly without video degradation. It would be nice to have an fast and accurate frame seek support. Virtual Dub was pretty fast compared VS5 but I believe it was meant to cut, mux and demux avi files.

[theReal]

But I just want an editor that will cut up my SVCD mpeg2 file quickly and cleanly without video degradation. It would be nice to have an fast and accurate frame seek support.That is nearly impossible with mpeg2. DV is an editing format, not compressed very much and with only keyframes (like MJPEG or Huffyuv). Mpeg2 is intended as a storage format and is much harder to edit.

[theReal]

VS6 may frustrate because it often insists on re-encoding (smart render is smart about 75% of the time)
btw. this is not better in Media Studio - even if you keep all the preview files for a 60 minutes project, it will render most of the effects again when creating the final file. However, that doesn't matter much, I think, because most of the time is used for direct stream copying on HD, only a small fraction of the time goes into rendering a few blends and titles (I usually don't add that many effects)

[OvERaCiD23]

well, for capturing, i'd recommend Scenalyzer (v3.52 ~~~> freeware). capture the entire tape onto your HD, then use Scenalyzer to cut up the video by scene change/datestamp. this saves INCREDIBLE amounts of time. i'm sure your dad would find it quite useful as well. as for editing, I use Premiere 6.5, but it's definetly not the cheapest solution. I tried Ulead, didn't like it much. those are the only two editing programs I've used. Premiere works best for me seeing as I use Photoshop and Illustrator often as well, I love how it all integrates seemlessly.

[preston]

I have found that if I convert the AVI to mpeg2 using TMPGenc Plus, and use that program to cut out clips, Ulead VS6 smart render works quite well, that is, it doesn't insist on re-encoding the clips. I'm pretty happy with this procedure, even though it would be better to work with the AVI files. TMPGenc's encoding is noticeably better than Ulead's encoding.

(I'm working with 50 hours of DV so that using the AVI files is impractical.)

One other thing: I can't predict which files Ulead will insist on re-encoding. It just crashes during the processing when the smart render box is checked. This only happens, in my experience, with mpeg2 files that Ulead itself encoded, not with TMPGenc's encodings. (It may happen with other program's encodings, but those are the only two MPEG2 encoders I have.)