So my parents got a mini DV camcorder for Christmas. I have a DVD burner. So here's what I need to do:

Transfer video to computer
edit video
- cuts
- music
- titles
- other fun stuff
create DVD
burn DVD for all my family members


Do you guys know any good pieces of software I can jump right into, make something look halfway professional, and easily output that to a DVD?

kthx.

CSP

Merry Xmas mate.

Easy answer - the Windows Movie Maker is by far one of the most simple pieces of software I have ever used - in fact, when I was still doing Film Studies, I used it to prove a point about the viability of the home movie maker. It is so simple - drag and drop, cuts up into segments (Which can be split at any timeframe) automatically and also masters it to a reasonable standard.

If you want my own professional oppinion (Which of course is limited to second year degree!), I would recommend Final Cut (Very nice for standard Doc transitions and some nice syncing), Adobe Premeire (With Elements if you can locate a hacked copy!) is great for mastering and pro touches and [liquid] is fantastic for DVD authoring.

If you would like to see some examples of each, I will gladly upload to anyones hosting (Provided they can supply the hosting for LARGE video files) when I am back at home and a little more sober ;)

Hope you have fun editing and playing about!

> Merry Xmas mate.

To you as well!


> Easy answer - the Windows Movie Maker is by far one of the most simple pieces of
> software I have ever used - in fact, when I was still doing Film Studies, I used
> it to prove a point about the viability of the home movie maker. It is so simple
> - drag and drop, cuts up into segments (Which can be split at any timeframe)
> automatically and also masters it to a reasonable standard.

My guess is - that will be good enough. I'm thinking - taking clips, cutting them to sync to music I choose, then mastering the whole thing. Probably adding titles and whatnot as well. To start out with, I don't think I'll get into anything fancy (fades, frames over one another, you know), but I might as I progress.


> If you want my own professional oppinion (Which of course is limited to second
> year degree!), I would recommend Final Cut (Very nice for standard Doc
> transitions and some nice syncing), Adobe Premeire (With Elements if you can
> locate a hacked copy!) is great for mastering and pro touches and [liquid] is
> fantastic for DVD authoring.

I thought Final Cut was Mac? If I can accomplish most things easily, I'd rather do that.


> If you would like to see some examples of each, I will gladly upload to anyones
> hosting (Provided they can supply the hosting for LARGE video files) when I am
> back at home and a little more sober ;)

I'm not sure if that's necessary, I guess it depends on how you answer. :)

Word to your moms, I need to wait until tomorrow to get started on anything anyways. Stupid motherboard doesn't have a firewire port. So I'm going drinking. Now to see what bars are open on Christmas...

CSP

It rules. Plus there's no contest in how easy it is to upload and work with your data on a Mac...

> If you want my own professional oppinion (Which of course is limited to second
> year degree!), I would recommend Final Cut (Very nice for standard Doc
> transitions and some nice syncing), Adobe Premeire (With Elements if you can
> locate a hacked copy!) is great for mastering and pro touches and [liquid] is
> fantastic for DVD authoring.

Premiere Elements is actually a cut-down version of Premiere Pro, similar to Photoshop Elements to Photoshop or Final Cut Express to Final Cut Pro; i.e., it'll be easier to use at the expense of some power and versatility. That said, I haven't used any of them except Photoshop, so I couldn't say what exactly is different.

asdf

I've had no problems with it.