seeking help with video editing

tacita

those who have witnessed my embarrassing struggles to resize and upload photos won't be surprised to learn i'm now need to lash training wheels to my video-editing tricycle. the software manual that accompanies my camera (canon power shot S2 IS) indicates the process should be fairly simple (don't they always?), but it's maddeningly ambiguous. moreover, the screen pictured in the book look nothing like what's on MY screen.

it seems i need quicktime with the zoombrowser EX application. ok, i managed somehow to download that, but none of the necessary movie-edit functions are illuminated as radio buttons. rather, it appears i may now need the (for-fee) "pro" version of quicktime. (see paragraph above - i'm not qualified for "pro" anything when it comes to software applications.) must i really buy a $30 application online for this?

surely there's an easier (and free) way to chop up and upload my video, some of which is surprisingly good considering i'd not used this camera more than twice before i left for india.

suggestions?

*NB: a bunch of acronyms and tech terminology - even if your grandmother understands them - are probably over my head.

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noflylist

Question - did you buy power converter to recharge your camera (and did it work right)? Or you use batteries

tacita

i used rechargeable batteries and put them in a charger with an adapter each night. i always had plenty of camera power, even after taking lots of video.

tacita

i may have answered my own query, as i've discovered a windows movie editor on my vaio that's apparently part of the new vista software bundle. it seems to offer all i need, which is not, of course, the same as saying i can actually learn to use the application. but you knew that, didn't you? i'll have to read the damned on-screen manual - i hate that!

Nick-H

I was going to say ...

Even in Windows XP there was Windows Movie Maker. I've never used it but I bet it does the basics ---if you can stand a paperclip (perhaps this time in a deckchair with its name on) saying, 'it looks as if you want to make a movie about India; do you want help?

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dzibead

and wearing a beret ...

iwanttogoback

didn't you mean a dhoti?

jennyandernie

If you have Windows Vista the Movie Maker that comes with the software seems to be reasonable. I had a "play" with it and found it fairly simple and effective.

Ernie

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gautam

Janice : You can use windows movie maker software for video editing. Its difficult to explain in writing as how to use it however you need to expriment on the WMM [ windows movie maker ]

Make a Back up of your video somewhere in another folder or burn it on a CD before editing it.

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Darmabum

I can only imagine everything that you saw and felt and heard and tasted and touched on your trip. And now it's in you, India. After returning from my fifth trip last year I barely tried to explain it to friends (the same friends who sat through every one of over a thousand slides on the return from my first trip) who've seen me return from all those trips. It's one of those rare and magic places, where when you do the math, "the answer" is never right . . . how CAN the answer be greater than the sum of the parts? . . . after returning from my third trip I gave up trying . . . realized I can't explain it - to others or myself . . . I just know it's true. And stranger still, each time I add it up, the sum keeps getting bigger . . .

As for you video challenges, wish I could help but I too am struggling through the 1153 pages User Guide for Final Cut Express. There aren't enough emoticons known to man to fully express my frustrations with it. But about every third day (since last October) I "get" something . . . and am closer to putting my film together.

I agree with the poster above who suggested saving copies as you work through it. My program saves 25 copies, and auto-saves as I make changes. Should I muck it up, I just go back to an earlier version and start again . . . chopping wood . . . carrying water . . .

You might see if it's possible to back your film up to tape, i.e. send it back into your camcorder.

Happy Editing!
Scott

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Darmabum

"We write (edit film) to live life twice, in the moment and in retrospection."

Going back over some notes from my current video project, I found a note from one of those "good" days I mentioned above; one of those days when I "get it" : I see this program now not as adversary but as an instrument. Practice . . . Practice . . . Practice . . .

Walk on . . .
Scott

Nick-H

I've done a couple of things with Edit Studio from Pure Motion. Not too much of a struggle --- except for the hours of processing time it seems to take on a PC to get a few minutes video!

But my VCR was a gadget too far --- since I got my digital still camera (S2IS) the video has stayed in the shelf

cyberhippie

Movie make3r is a good tool and free with Vista and XP however am I right in thinking the output format for this is Windows Media Application only???? Which is less than ideal!!

Janice also if you have a PC at home or the use of one I would use this in place of a laptop, which don't have the number crunching abilities of PCs.

Another good tool for video editing is Nero 7.0!!

Merchant

Probably the file Janice is dealing with is so small (shot with a still camera, not a professional rig) that the computer's number-crunching ability isn't going to matter very much. Laptops have plenty of juice these days anyway.