What do you use to edit videos?, I want to know what you guys use!

So here is the deal. I'm wondering what everyone uses to edit their videos. I know that Windows MM isn't the norm. It can't be because it's a sh*t program! So, anything info. on how you edit your vids and what programs you use would be welcome! Thanks so much! <3
~me~

If you have access to a Mac, Final Cut Pro is a versatile video editing program to use. For Windows, I think Sony Vegas is worth looking into.

As far as how to edit videos goes, I would choose a program first and explore its options / capabilities from there.

yah ... i plan to buy a mac soon ... it would be nice ... and I've heard of this mystical magical wonderful vegas. ... is it really worth getting into? albeit at moment anything is better than WMM
~me~

Vegas is my preferred software of choice. I really do enjoy it a lot, and it's fun to explore on. It's quite expensive though, I still had to pay about $300 and I got student discount with it. There are much cheaper versions for people at home (I have the professional version) and they're not too much different.

You can learn more about them here: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/vegasfamily.asp

and of course you can get student discounts on the home versions as well, so you can get them much cheaper than buying retail.

I don't do much video editing, but from what I've gathered, Vegas is in the top-tier of programs for editing. Because of that, the learning curve might be steeper than other programs that don't pack as many feautures.

If video editing is something you plan on investing an adequate amount of time on, it's probably a safe investment to get into using Vegas. If you don't want to invest a lot of time in editing, you might find other alternatives are better suited for your needs.

oh my gah pricey ... but yes I would like to invest a decent amount of time into editing, mostly because I have many a videos and I would love to show to people ...
~me~

What I suggest is maybe to get an older version of Vegas, and the prices would definitely be a lot cheaper. Ebay has a lot of good deals on them. All versions of Vegas are good, I started out with Pro 5 and jumped to 8.

wonderful advice! <3
~me~

I have used a ton of different things to do my editing.

If you are just starting off and you are a windows user windows movie maker can actually be a very good tool. titles are easy, cutting is quick, no rendering time AND you can reverse very easy as well.



But like most people are saying Sony Vegas is great. That's what I use on my laptop because it is small, fairly simple and it is universal in most cases.



But what I do is I do all of my cutting and editing in Adobe Premiere and I do all of my effects, titles, and rendering in Adobe after effects. I have used Photoshop for titles and things as well. This works for me because it give me the option of doing lots of interesting things with my videos very easy by using all 3 programs. But this does end up being a lot more work.



But in the end it is just what you feel comfortable using.

So my fellows. I now have gotten my hands on Vegas. The only issue is that I don't know how to use it all. If anyone could be so kind to give me any help it would greatly be appreciated! What I'm actually asking for is a step by step process on video editing. Basically how to put a title transitions sound and ending.

If any of you guys have ANY tips I would be greatful.

You can find me on aim : blckmage492

thanks!
~me~

It's not too hard. A lot of it is drag and drop into the workspace.

Drag and drop your files (video + audio) into the workspace. They'll be separated into Video and audio tracks. Once you match up the video to the clear audio, mute the audio from your video. Muting is done by clicking the Mute button on the track information on the side.
In order to put text over the video, create a new video track. Make sure that it is on top of the main video layer (like the text is #1 while the main video is #2) and then right click and add "Insert Text Media".

If you want the video to fade out, go to the part of the main video where you want it to start fading and right click and add "Insert Empty Event". If the empty event hasn't "faded", just drag it out until it does. This works for the audio layer as well.

Thanks! That's very helpful! I'm now getting better with just tinkering around.
~me~

yea i would suggest checking out some tutorials. youtube can be a good source for that sometime if your search for the right thing. also i would try this site

sony vegas tuts

a lot on there to help you get started<3

this is still kicking my ass hard! I've run into another problem I forgot what versions of the songs that I used in my videos ... wall after wall after wall
~me~

that one is one that no one can fix. just go at them and hope there are not 2 many versions.

good luck!