Video editing, does anything like this exist?

[HowardE]

My bad... I was thinking of the Roxio DVD writing software... Sorry.

I usually use Adobe Premier, but it's not cheap software.

 

[diversteve]

Okay so followup question, for the amateur videographer, not wanting to spend a vast fortune on software, what would be good (reasonably cheap) software that does this (and NOT Pinnacle, I've had to reformat my computer too many times because of Pinnacle doing horrid things).

Does Premiere Elements do this? There's a new version 2.0 out recently. Might be something they carried over from Premiere.

 

[HowardE]

A "tryout" version of premiere is downloadable at http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=98

One might be able to acquire a way to make the tryout permanent?

 

[peterbkk]

The problem with adjusting colors on a video editor on a PC is you are not sure how the colors will look on the final display device (eg TV, web) because Windows is not exactly WYSIWYG when it comes to color.

For video editing, you are far better off with a Mac. Apple's Final Cut has a consumer version called Final Cut Express that includes most of the editing capabilities of the Pro version at a much lower price. The color adjustment is very accurate and truly WYSIWYG (even so, serious editors usually have a TV monitor so they can see what it'll look like in low res and with a limted color range).

The color editing in Final Cut even has a white balance adjustment. If there is anything in any of the footage that should be white, point the white balance eye-dropper at it and the colors often adjust to perfect. Alternatively there are dials and sliders to get the color looking its best. Skin tones and open water are the two areas that must look right for viewers to be comfortable with the footage.

IMHO, if you are serious about underwater video, you need to get serious about the editing process and invest some money in some good editing tools...

Regards
Peter

 

[PerroneFord]

Video monitors aren't expensive (for basic models). If you are producing video for TV, buy one. If you suddenly find yourself getting stuff produced for TV, buy a good one with a blue gun.

I won't get into the mac vs pc stuff for editing, because it's all bunk. Particularly if you are publishing to the web. I will say that in the consumer arena, Final Cut Pro is about as good as it gets. I've never been disappointed with Premier though. This Sony stuff is umnmm interesting...

 

[JamesD]

IMHO, if you are serious about underwater video, you need to get serious about the editing process and invest some money in some good editing tools...

Thanks for the information, unfortunately I guess the answer is I'm NOT serious about underwater video, I'm very amateur at underwater video, I like taking little video clips (more than anything I was using video my last dives because the camera was asking for 1/4 of a second exposure times, under what I consider strong surge conditions that's not going to happen)

I'm just trying to clean up some video a little so that I can show it to friends without it all being green on green with green bits. As I said, Paintshop pro (and I'm sure photoshop) does a great job of auto fixing photos.

I'd love to try Pinnacle Studio 10 (as opposed to 7 which I think I currently own) but I've had issues with Pinnacle (at least one software manufacturer has recommended reformatting my machine to get all pinnacle stuff off it because it causes contention) and there doesn't appear to be a demo version of Studio available, so I don't even know if it can read the format of video I have (it's direct storage to SD cards rather than DV).

Unfortunately Premiere didn't know about MP4, so I can't use Premiere (even if I had any intention of spending $600+ on it).

 

[NAIBdiver1]

I edit with Pinnacle Liquid Edition Pro on a PC. It's just a matter of preference and I'm happy with how my stuff turns out. The colour correction features are easy to use and I use them all the time.

Here's a website for you to check out.

http://www.urprofilters.com/content.do?region=FilterInstructions

They have all sorts of filters and they've been great answering my questions.

In addition to the blue water filter that came with my housing, I use a green water filter when shooting off New Jersey with great success. But, the deper you get in green water the darker it gets and you may find that lights will really help make a better production.

Hope this helps.

NAIBDiver1

 

[diversteve]

so I don't even know if it can read the format of video I have (it's direct storage to SD cards rather than DV).

You could demo Ulead Video Studio and see if it does.

http://www.ulead.com/vs/trial.htm

 

[JamesD]

ULead does, but it doesn't have color correction (at least that I could find) I've tried changing to AVI files but premiere doesn't seem to read them still.

Definately in the long run Filters are the way to go, but...

 

[JeffG]

ULead does, but it doesn't have color correction (at least that I could find)

I have Ulead 8 and it has color correction via using a Color Balance Filter.