Recommended Video Editor

[Mike Henderson]

I'm just getting into making videos and want a decent video editor. I have Microsoft's "Movie Maker" but I suspect there are much better editors out there.

For those of you who make videos, what editor do you use/recommend for a Windows machine?

Mike

[Allan Speers]

I mostly use FCPx on a Mac, but I sometimes use Sony Vegas on Windows, and it's very similar in complexity. (In a good way.)

The thing I'd look for first, though, is what third-party plugins are available. (Ive only used Vegas stock.) Depending on your needs, that could make a huge difference.

[Art Mann]

I recently changed from Pinnacle Studio to Cyberlink PowerDirector 15 Ultimate and I am happy with my decision. Here is a link I found useful.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397215,00.asp?

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks. I've been doing some searching on the web and the Cyberlink gets good reviews. The Vegas not as good.

I'm also looking at how to record the sound and get good quality. The wireless lavalier mikes are pretty expensive - at least ones that get decent reviews. I'm going to try recording the sound with a wired lavalier mike connected to my iPhone and then merge the sound with the video in post.

Mike

[Ole Anderson]

I have been using Womble's MPEG video wizard for years, editing an hour church service every week for public access. Don't know anybody that uses it. We needed something that could edit MPEG video files as when we bought it, we wanted to start recording on a DVD recorder rather than tape as before ( yes that is how long we have been doing it). Now we run our mixed audio/video through an H.264 encoder and get a copy sent to our SSD as we stream via Livestream producer. We currently edit the MP4 compressed file (three cameras switched live on a BlackMagic ATEM 1 M/E) in a 720p HD format. Very fast, I can do the edit (mostly cuts, voice sync, add a stock beginning and end) and burn a 1 hour event on DVD either in DVD format or as an HD 720p MP4 on a DVD file in under an hour on a $1,000 Dell XPS. Here is a year old review: https://diyvideoeditor.com/womble-mpeg-video-wizard/ Free trial available, $99 to buy. We only use a small fraction of its capability.

It is unique in that it displays a real time compressed video, not a bunch of slides.

[Tom Stenzel]

We bought the Sony Vega software for my daughter to use. Her Toshiba laptop (4 gig RAM, dual core something or another) wasn't able to pull it off. Just awfully slow. She ended up installing it on someone else's computer to use. I don't think it worked out well for her- she got a job just so she could buy a Macbook Air laptop for her creative arts school projects.

No, I never used the Vega software and it's been long erased off the Toshiba.

Whatever you use make sure you have the computer horsepower to pull it off. But you already know that.

-Tom

[Jim Becker]

Adobe Premier Elements is reasonably priced and quite capable.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I've used Cyberlink PowerDirector 12(?) for a few years for family videos. I only use a few of its capabilities.

[Greg Peterson]

I've used PowerDirector, and it was ok.
I downloaded a trial version of Vegas and the difference between the two was immense.
Vegas is a pro consumer grade product while PowerDirector is a a little less powerful. Maybe a lot less powerful.
Regardless, video editing will tax your computer more than anything else I've come across. You'll want a high end video card and tons of ram.

[Brian Henderson]

It really depends on what you want to do. I use Sony Vegas Pro and it does absolutely everything I could ever ask and then some.

[Mike Henderson]

I went with Cyberlink PowerDirector and have been satisfied with it. Amazon had a "Lighting deal" on it and I got it for about $40. The Sony Vegas Pro (latest version) is over $500 on Amazon, which is more than I paid for my camera. For the video work I do, PowerDirector has be very adequate.

Mike