Free (simple to use) Video Editing software?

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Free (simple to use) Video Editing software?

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OtleyLad

Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 6:44 am Post subject: Free (simple to use) Video Editing software?
I foolishly offered to make a short video (from footage taken on my phone). I downloaded VSDC (its free) but it seems my laptop can't handle it (barely runs). Is there any no-frills software out there that people can recommend?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:07 am Post subject:

windows movie maker is part of the package with some of the os versions,it is a no bells and whistles thing but the timeline editing is really easy and quite adequate.

avoid overuse of the "effects" when editing segments together as they come across as annoying rather than "arty"

iirc it has a storyboard to plan the sequencing which you can then cut shot video to match, if im having a senior moment and it does not, write a story board on paper and edit the footage to that.

PPPPP.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:12 am Post subject:
Video editing is very processor intensive. Free apps are often 'infected' with adware/trojans/bots (almost everyone at some point wants to edit video and they're easy victims). If your laptop is struggling with what you've got it's unlikely that you'll get much traction with alternatives.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:22 am Post subject:
keep it simple

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:45 am Post subject: Re: Free (simple to use) Video Editing software?

OtleyLad wrote:

I downloaded VSDC (its free) but it seems my laptop can't handle it (barely runs).

Have you compared the system requirements with your system and checked that you don't have lots of background clutter slowing things down?

Quote:

Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP SP3 / Vista / Win7 / Win8 / Win10
Intel, AMD or compatible processor with the work frequency at 1.5 GHz or higher
Screen resolution: 1024x768 pixels with 16-bit color or higher
RAM 256Mb for the program
Microsoft DirectX 9.0с or higher
At least 50 MB of free disk space

They don't seem particularly high... I'm wondering if there's something in my loft that'll meet those. I think there is not, but I'll look next time I'm near it.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:30 am Post subject:
it might be a matter of converting the phone footage into a different format before editing.modern phones can be too high res for easy editing on a lappy.

OtleyLad

Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 12:40 pm Post subject:
I've downloaded Movie Maker and it does the job and works on my lappy Thanks very much for the info

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 1:13 pm Post subject:

you're welcome.

i have found movie maker much better than some of the industrial strength packages especially unless you build a tower pooter with lots of ram and graphics boards to run them.

a couple of things re phone /small camera to presentation standard.

phone/camcorder microphones are carp,use a decent microphone and overdub any commentary/acting or whatever in production(or record the sound using sound equipment when filming.)

beware of trying for high resolution in the final rendered product
use mpeg 4 compression which most things will be able to play and make look good.

clean cuts work better than the fancy fades between shots imho but using a titled break page between parts (think silent movies) can work and is far easier to read than overlaid text.

the cutting selection for exactly the right start and end of each shot gets easier with practice

have fun

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 9:13 pm Post subject:

OtleyLad wrote:

I've downloaded Movie Maker and it does the job and works on my lappy

Thanks very much for the info

I stand corrected.

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