Video Editing

[khaosspawn]

I just got a Sony MiniDV Camera which is going to be used to film my grandfather and I really want to preserve the film for as long as I can (but in a digital format, mpeg, vcd etc.).
As usual, since I've never done anything like this I have no idea how to do the conversion etc. Does anyone out the have any tips for a beginner (I learn FAST )?

Anything would be appreciated, from the best programs to use, shooting techniques, or the best hardware that's appropriate for my purpose. I don't mind spending money on this either (within reason) so if there's some nice soft/hardware that ought to be had, please let me know.

 

[DaveJ]

Since you have a DV camera already, I'd pick up a cheap Firewire card (you can get them at CompUSA) and import your video that way. DV is fixed at 3.6MB/sec so your HD should be able to keep up. You'll need lots of space though.

For editing, I'd recommend VirtualDub. It's an extremely flexible package, and it's free!

Dave

 

[khaosspawn]

Thanks DaveJ,

I plan on getting the firewire card ASAP (I'm inclined to get the Adaptec 4300 one ATM). Does virtual dub let you edit the video or does it just capture it? Eventually I'll want to do some serious video editing, fixing up any glitches in the film, correcting, adjusting for picture quality etc.

Like I said I don't mind shelling out money to buy software to do this. I see from Virtual Dub's page that it's a pre, post processor. I'm guessing that this mean it puts the "raw" data into a more friendly format (say divx) for burning to CD-Rom etc.

Does anyone have any experience with ULead, Premeire or any of the other editing tools out there?

 

[tomcat]

I have some experience with premiere. You will need to capture through premiere. It does that and editing quite eligantly. For long term storage you should probably export back to tape as well as compress to DivX and burn to cd-rom.

 

[khaosspawn]

Tomcat

Thanks for the info. How easy is Premeire to use? Does it come with helpful manuals/learning materials, or should I buy something else? For long term storage I plan to burn onto CD-ROM (chopping it into divx segments or VCD as appropriate. This film is going to be quite important to me, as my grandfather is getting very old now and having memories of him would be very valuable to both myself and my mum (mom).

If Premeire is the best tool for the job, then I'll buy it. If it's hard to use then I'll buy the training. This is how much this film means to me (yes I know that I could get it prefieesionally shot, but where my grandfather lives it's difficult to get anything shot at all let alone shot professionally).

 

[GeekDrew]

I too would like to shoot videos of my grandparents and their farm. However, I don't have any equipment yet, hardware or soft. What is the best to use? I don't have a fixed budget, but right now I am extremely tight on cash...