Anyone out there using some form of video capture to mpeg or AVI to DVD?
I'm currently a Pinnicle Studio 8 user and not that happy with the products ease of use.
What user friendly video capture products have you used that you're very happy with?
Thanks,
Bill

 

I use Final Cut Pro 4 for editing/capturing miniDV footage. Before that I used imovie and Final Cut Express. Both very easy to use, the Pro version is a bit overwhelming, you can do tons of things. Im using DVD Studio Pro to author DVD's. I think they are only for Macs though.

For PC, Ive heard that AVID and Adobe are good. Ive used Adobe, but only for a few minutes on my friends cpu.

 

for the PC, i use sony's vegas video.

they also have a cheaper "LE" version for like $100. this has a lot of "hand holding" wizards and junk. the full version is like $700 with no hand holding... lol

way diff interface than premier so...

a similar looking interface to vegas is one from magix. cost $40 at fry's.

i used this before and while not completely polished (some of the help files were in german...) it has a multiple video timeline interface.

 

I use Ulead Video 6 (old) and am satisfied with it.

 

adobe premiere

 

Mr. Daredevil,

Can you tell me compared to what other editing software you used before choosing the Adobe Premiere Elements?

I have used both Pinnicle Studio Plus and Microsoft's Movie maker and Nero.

THe problem with Movie maker and Nero is the degraded video quality after capture. Pinnicle was just too complicated to use for a noob like me.

Hoping to choose something and then live with it.

THanks!

 

For PCs:

Pinnacle is very basic.
Adobe Premiere and Vegas are a lot better.
Avid is the industry standard, but you're looking at least a grand for just the express version.

I would check out Premiere and Vegas.

I cut on Final Cut Pro 5 on a Mac which comes 2nd to Avid in the industry.

 

Thanks for the input. My basic goal is to capture DV via firewire and cutting, title and then burn. Seems like Pinnicle was overwhelming my brain on version 8. I don't mind spending the money, I just want to transfer all my videos to DVD as smooth and quickly as possible.

 

HOW are you capturinig the video? analog or digital via firewire?

it makes tons of diff.

btw, windows movie maker has a very simple interface...

 

have you check out other softwares out there that will do a quick job of capturing AND burning to dvd in 1 process (multiple wizard screens).

for example, on my sony vaio desktop, it came with a s/w that does that.

connect an analog source to an input. press play on vcr,. wait 2-3 hours and out comes a burned dvd with chapters ever 10 minutes.

 

anyone know where you could download some type of final cut pro? last time i check the program is upwards of 500 bucks

 

Digital via Firewire. I have a Canon GL2 and capture via firewire to Mpeg4.
I used pinnacle two years ago. The capture part was fine for me. It was the project part that drove me crazy trying to splice scenes and delete scenes.

 

if you need editing, lemme know...

i like doing that crap... plus i got some higher-end tools...

bring me a dvd of the raw AVI files.

btw, dont capture to MPEG. capture to AVI for no compression and crap...

 

+1 for Adobe Premiere...

Although it doesn't come with common transitions such as fade transitions, it's still a great, powerful program. The layout is easy to learn and there are many tutorials you can get anywhere to learn about it.

 

I have read some positive reviews on Sony's Vegas Movie Studio for overall use. I remember with the pinnicle product my computer would lock up once in a great while and still is the same complaint with version 10. Adobe product looks promising too. I guess I'm getting close.
And thank you ldivinag for your offer. If I spend all this money and get myself in a jam, I'll definetly contact you.