In part one of this series of posts I listed a few of the basic things to look for in an editor and then the three big players (as I see them) in the editing software stakes – Avid, Apple and Adobe with Premier. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other options out there.

So if Avid, Apple or Premiere don’t tickle your fancy then what else is there out there for you?

Pinnacle

Talking of Avid. Avid bought video hardware and software company, Pinnacle, in 2005 although it continues to trade as consumer division of Avid. Well known for their video capture cards and associated software, Pinnacle have a fair bit of experience in the consumer end of video. That said, the products have been aimed squarely at the ‘enthusiast’ and even someone with a passing knowledge of video editing apps could find their apps simplistic.

That doesn’t mean they don’t work though, and the simple, straightforward interface may be just what is needed in a busy newsroom.

If you do want to do a quick search for alternatives to Premier elements or the apps mentioned below then Pinnacle’s Studio package may be worth a look. At less than 60 pounds it will handle most formats, although it doesn’t export flv. It’s based on the same code as the Avid Liquid software so you may want to head that way. At the price, it’s worth a look

Microsoft

It would seem unfair to mention apple and imovie without a mention for Microsoft’s Movie Maker app.

I think this is a great app, considering it’s free. It handles a number of formats and talks to camcorders as well as you would expect. It’s a little limited in its export options but who’s complaining when it’s free.

Sony

You would expect a name like Sony to have a good reputation in this area but they have a mixed history with editing. They have tried a few different systems in their pro market that attempt to leverage their success in hardware across to computer based systems.

I remember, many moons ago, going to a demo of their ES system which was essentially a shakey software program over the top of gutted versions of hardware. Their current system, the Xpri system, is a mix of hardware and software and sits well and truly in the broadcast market and outside the standard newsroom.

At a lower, none-broadcast, level Sony have rolled out their Vegas family of products.

Vegas video used to be made by Sonic Foundry, who were well known for their audio software (Sony now market a version of their Sound Forge software) and follows a common approach of larger companies in buying up software from smaller developers. Avid Liquid, for example, is based on a Pinnacle video product.

Buying in the experience at the lower end of the market seems to have served Sony well and Vegas is picking up a following. Like most video editing products in comes in a few flavors.

Vegas movie studio+dvd retails at the 70 pound mark and sits in the same market as premier elements and the i-life suite (imovie and idvd). It won’t do HDV which some of the newsrooms in the states are jumping in to big time – thanks to the screen grab possibilities – but for the cash its a contender for the low-end, test the water style approach.

Next in the range is Vegas Movie Studio +DVD platinum. Retailing at below the 120 pounds mark, it does include HDV support and more functionality when you connect a sony DVD camcorder. It also adds more export options but both versions have shockwave flash (swf) export.

At the top of the range and retailing at around the 300 pound mark is Vegas+DVD. The big addition at this price range is more support for hardware such as capture cards and Sony products like XDcam -
All the Vegas products are windows only.

Media 100

At the same time Sony where struggling to get software right, Avid where pushing their market lead and looked uncatchable. But a number of smaller players where doing well in the film and broadcast market. Companies like Lightworks and Quantel are still around in the higher end market, but one that we thought had gone was Media 100. Media 100 was a mac based editor and direct competition for Avid and it worked well.

Now they are back and those with deep pocket might want to consider their Media 100 Producer package. It retails for around 500 pounds and, according to the web site can handle content captured using Final Cut Pro.

Ulead (bought by Corel)

If you have bought a scanner or printer in the last few years, chances are you have come across a Ulead app. Well known for their cheap and cheerful image editing apps like Photo impact, the company have also been churning out similarly jolly video and DVD apps for a while.

Top of the range is MediaStudio pro software which retails at around 130 pounds. It will do DV and HDV (very well apparently) and isnt averse to flash video either. It won’t export out to Flash but will do pretty much everything else.

If you are on a budget then Ulead’s Video Studio may appeal, coming it around the 40 pound mark. It gets good reviews and like the other apps in this post, it may be worth a look.

All Ulead applications run on Windows.

Recommendations

In the last two posts I’ve purposefully gone for application with a name behind them. I realize that’s no guarantee of quality, but there is more of a chance of support and development. If nothing else there will be a definite user community behind you.

But having listed them I guess I should put my money down and say which I would recommend.

Mac Users

This is an easy one. No money? then go with i-movie. It lacks multiple tracks and the interface can be slow at times but it works. With a bit more cash then Final Cut Express would be top of my list. It’s powerful enough to take you a way along the development of your content and it works well. Even with a lot more cash I would go with Express rather than the full Final Cut Pro in a newsroom. Not that FCP has problems, it was the app that made me switch from PC to mac and I use it a lot. It may simply be a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut in most newsrooms.

Avid doesnt get a look in here, in either free or xpress versions. It’s shame but the FCP suite is just more flexible on the mac platform. The media 100 product looks interesting but can it compete with a native mac app on its home ground?

Windows Users.

This is a bit more tricky. You have more to go with here. Like the Mac I would advise trying the free stuff first. Cut your teeth (and your video) with Movie maker and you’ll be surprised at what you can achieve. With a bit more money to spend you are spoilt for choice. My money would probably go to Adobe and Premier Elements, just for the support and the knowledge that there are some bigger and more powerful applications up the food chain to work with and aim for. But it would be a close thing.

I hear good things about Vegas and you can’t knock the simplicity of Ulead products. A few demos should make the decision.

With a bit more money to spend you have a choice of the Premier pro and the Avid Liquid options. I would maybe lean to Avid for the combination of editing and DVD authoring. But I have edited on Avid products, big and small, for 10 years so maybe I’m biased. I know that the Avid stuff can be temperamental – you need to stick to the recommended machines if you invest – but I feel you get a bit more for your buck. That said I think the adobe option is a serious one, especially if your main users are photogs with experience of Adobe apps.

If money is no object then I would go Avid Xpress and splash out on the best hardware but I would have to seriously think about the Premier Pro.
In the next in the series, it’s the turn of the low/no cost options.

Are you using any of these apps? Let me know how they are working.

The newspaper video group threw up an interesting issue this week as a member asked if there was something in between the simplicity of i-movie/movie-maker and the complexity and cost of Avid and Final-Cut-Pro. The answer, in this instance, was Final Cut Express. It’s a ‘cut down version’ of FCP with all the basics you would need.

But what if all of that makes no sense? Just what are the basics that you need and what software is out there.

Let’s start with the basics

The basics – Essential

1. Cut/Top and tail
   This means the ability to take raw footage and define a section to keep, discarding the waste round the edges.
2. Sequence
   The ability to join/sequence more video clips together
3. Add a dissolve and a fade
   Dissolve between video clips and add fade-in and fade out effect at the start and end
4. import graphics and audio
   Import external jpg, bmp and tiff, aiff, wav and mp3 files
5. import quicktime, avi or wmv files
   export to quicktime, avi or wmv

These are the core things an editing package should be able to do for you. Regardless of the package you decide on you should familiarise yourself with the procedure for all of the above.

Desirable
These are all nice things to be able to do with a single application but not necessary.

1. Capture from a DV input
   If you shoot video with a stills camera or from a mobile phone then you will transfer your video, via usb or a separate software package, and import it in to the editing application.If you use a video camera its desirable to pick an application that will allow you to connect a camera using the firewire interface and capture the material directly in to the application. Perhaps with some control over the camera.
2. Multiple video and audio tracks
   Allow you to place simultaneous video and audio on separate tracks to allow video overlay and multitrack audio.
3. Split audio and video
   Allow you to use video and audio tracks independently of each other. i.e take the sound from one clip and use it with another. This combined with ability to edit on to multiple tracks is essential for easy packaging of contnet content.
4. Add a video and audio effect
   As well as the usual fades and dissolbes, you should be able to manipulate the audio and video content. This could include equalisation, echo for audio tracks and brightness/contrast and mosaic effects for video(to mask identities.)
5. Scale and move still images
   When you import images can you manipulate it to create a rostrum Ken Burns effect
6. Create titles
   Generate text to overlay over the video for caption etc.

So bearing those things is mind, here is part one of a look at the key software that’s out there.

Avid

Avid are the longest standing player in the range of applications out there. They’ve been producing computer-based video editing apps since the late 80’s and they are pretty good at it.

The range is pretty extensive, from low end to full-throttle film and effects suites. The nice thing about Avid suites is that they all share a similar interface and editing methodology so learning your chops on a cheaper avid system won’t keep you from moving up.

At the lower end and only for PC is Avid liquid. This app includes, amongst other things, the ability to produce DVDs from the package. It retails in the sub 500 pound area for the software only version but the ‘pro’ version, with breakout box for better connectivity is still sub 1000 pounds.

Next in the range is Avid Xpress which is in the 1500-2000 pound range. It’s available for Mac or PC and it comes as a software only version or with a hardware accelerator called a Mojo. Those with deep pockest could look at the Avid Xpress Studio bundle which includes Xpress Pro, a Mojo, several production apps and a hardware audio interface. All for a cool 5000 pound.

Beyond that are Avid’s Media composer and Symphony suites but we are ranging a long way away from what a newsroom would need.

There is also a free version of Avid called Avid FreeDV. It runs on Mac and PC and despite some reports of instability – it can be picky about the system and version of your os -it might be an attractive proposition for the cash strapped newsroom.

Another part of Avid’s business is provision for the broadcast newsroom. This provision is mainly built around newsroom management and video play out systems (okay, I’m simplifying it a lot there) but it does include a news editing package called Newscutter and recently the introduction of a journo friendly package called Instinct.

Apple

Apple came in to the market for NLE’s in the late nineties but in a relatively short time, it’s main product, Final cut pro, has proved itself formidable competition for Avid.
Two areas have proved key to FCP’s popularity. First, the use of quicktime as its native format, taking advantage of the mac operating systems support of the format has meant the stability of the product is good.

Secondly, this level of support has meant cross-application support is easier. FCP, DVD studio, Motion, Soundtrack and Apples high end composting software Shake, all work together to make a formidable collection of programs that work, out of the box. But the integration with Apples lower end/ built in apps like i-movie and Garageband is also strong.

At the lower end of Apples video editing apps is i-movie. Free with new macs or available as part of the i-life suite, i-movie is a powerful app that will do most of what you want in an editor.

Final Cut Pro Express is a cut down version of Final Cut Pro. It retails at just under £200. The full-version of Final Cut Pro, version 5, is only available as part of Final Cut Studio which alos contains Apples other production apps Motion, for graphics, Soundtrack, for music, DVD Studio Pro for Creating DVD’s and Compressor, an application for encoding video for broadcast, web and DVDwork. The studio package retails at around the 600 pound mark. For a Mac user, its hard to look anywhere else.

Adobe Premier

Adobe Premier has had something of a rocky reputation amongst higher-end editors and although it has lacked some development in the past the latest version has proved a favourite with the windows crowd.

There are some similarities with Final Cut Pro in that its latest incarnation, Adobe Premier Pro, integrates with a suite of Adobe applications including Adobe After Effects, which has long been considered the bench mark for computer based motion graphics. It also has a cut down version of the software called Adobe Premier Elements.

Like Photoshop Elements, the cut down version of Premier is a great introduction to the software and its features would keep most newsrooms happy. Premier Element’s retails for less than 100 pounds which makes it pretty irresistible if you want cheap windows based editor with a big name behind it.

The full version of Premier retails at around the 600 pound mark or Bundles with Adobes other media apps in its Production Studio bundle at the 1200pound mark. They only run on windows at the moment although Adobe have announced a mac version of the Production studio will appear soon
End of Part 1

That’s it for part one. In part 2, I will look at other names in the market that you might come across and some free/shareware apps that may work just as well or help along the way.