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-TTT_Travis

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Editing on a Mac

A Mac is the best choice for editing video. Almost all of the pros edit on Macs, Macs are faster, more friendly and feature filled.

iMovie HD
Price: Included as part of the iLife 2005 Suite - $79
Skill Level Required: 1/5
Part of the iLife suite for the mac, this is a really good choice if your just starting out on video editing. iMovie is the most easy to use video editing software. iMovie is perfect for light editing for home movies etc. TONS of Transitions, FX and other good stuff.

Final Cut Express HD
Price: $300
Skill Level Required: 2.5/5
You may have heard of Apples pro video editor, Final Cut Pro HD. This is very similar but allot more stripped down, this is plenty unless your running your own TV channel…even then :P. This is a very fine choice if your doing a little more then just family videos. This is a AWESOME product, if your not a professional video editor you will definately like this better then Final Cut Pro HD. This is also a very good choice for schools that do there own daily/weekly show.

Final Cut Pro HD
Price: $1000
Skill Level Required: 4.5/5
Making a Hollywood movie? Really obsessed with video editing? Have money you can’t think of anything todo with? If you answered yes to any of those questions you might want to pull out your wallet (or bank account) and buy Apple’s beast…..Final Cut Pro. If your a serious video editor this is simply the only option, thats not a bad thing. Final Cut Pro is flippin’ sweet, if you buy it you’ll never run out of things todo, it would take days just for me to list all of the features this program has. Put it this way if you are a seriously talented video editor this is for you.

Editing on a PC

Yes, you can edit video on a pc. No, editing on a PC isn’t the best way. (Macs are much better for this topic) but if you don’t have a $1500 for a G5 or enough for a decently fast G4, PC may be a better option for you.

Mircosoft Windows Movie Maker
Price: Free
Skill Level Required: .01/5
Forget it, this software is terrible, it is however included with Windows. But to put it in nice terms this software is a piece of crap. Don’t use it.

Adobe Premiere Elements
Price: $79
Skill Level Required: 2/5
Like Apple, Adobe has a stripped down version of there pro editor. Adobe pro video editing program is Adobe Premiere this is allot like it minus a bunch of features that the average user wouldn’t need. This is a pretty good choice for home movies etc. but nothing too big.

Adobe Premiere Pro
Price: $700
Skill Level Required: 4/5
This is the best choice for EXTREME video editing on the PC this is the equivalent to Final Cut Pro on the Mac…not as good but on the PC this is as good as it gets. This has a uncountable number of features. I have not used this enough to give a solid review but this is definately the best for the PC. Kevin Rose and the crew use this for editing Systm and thebroken.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio
Price: $99.95
Skill Level Required: 2/5
Stripped down version of Sony Vegas, still really great. If your just getting started its allot easier then Vegas because they simplify things, I call it the iMovie for Windows. I like it better then Adobe Premiere Elements. One of the best choices on the Windows side for beginners.

Sony Vegas
Price: $479.96
Skill Level Required: 4/5
My favorite video editing application on Windows. This is a truly great piece of software, probably not for beginners but try it anyway, free trial avaliable from Sony’s site. Sony Vegas has tons of FX, Transitions, Media Generators etc. Its packed full of features, allot like the audio editing software from sony called Sony ACID, if your comfortable with ACID its just like it only your dealing with Video Editing.

Sonic Foundry Vegas 4
Probably available used
Can be used by beginners but it will take time to learn it all
I used it for my site at hollywoodscreams.com It does a very good job of many common video functions, but the chroma key leaves something to be desired. It is great at correcting scenes shot without sufficent light or contrast problems. It has dozens of transitions, unlimited audio and video tracks and old film effects, etc. It can be rendered into wmv, rm, mov and many other file types.

More coming soon!