The Dreaded Newbie Question........

[cdm369]

Much to the dismay of regular posters I have what I'm sure is going to be a ragged question. What editing software should I buy? Yes, I have checked other posts and read the sticky, but my question mainly revolves around one main feature I am looking to correct.

First off, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL - nor do I desire to be one. I'm an occasional video/photography guy that is looking to buy a home video quality editing program. I'm aware there are myriads of them, and they all basically do the same thing, but I have to believe some are stronger in some areas than others. I would like to find one of these $100 programs that has the best audio editing capabilities. Keep in mind, I did not say professional audio capabilities. I'm simply looking for the best audio in the bottom end programs.

I shot a wedding for a friend and the video turned out good, but the audio picked up some squeaking from the tripod (cheap piece of junk). I don't want to invest a whole lot of money in video software, because I'm not that serious about it. But eventually I would like to edit some home video, children's football games, etc. I'm looking for suggestions on which consumer video editing software is known for the best audio editing capabilities.

....and please, no lectures suggesting I not do wedding videos if I'm only looking to use home video quality editing.

Thank You,
cdm369

[UncasMS]

i'm not sure what routines you are using now but maybe you should take a look at a very decent FREEWARE audio editor first:

AUDACITY

if you're lucky you can optimize your sound the way you want


on the other hand you may want to let us know HOW you transfer your dv data onto your harddrive now - which tool are you using?


talking about commercial products i should think ulead video studio and pinnacle studio do provide everythink a non-pro might ask for

[cdm369]

Thanks for the reply. I'm using the 1394 cable off my mini-DV camera into my computer. I have looked at Ulead and Pinnacle. My only real drawback on Ulead is the review said it was geared for more advanced users and not as user friendly as its competitors. Pinnacle sounds like it has best bang for the buck, but I've read plenty of stability issues to cause me a bit of concern. Given the fact I'm running XP, I don't want to induce any more instability than I already have inherent with Windows. I was somewhat considering Adobe's Premiere Elements (because it is bundled with Photoshop Elements (for photography), but I cannot verify what audio capabilities it has in it?

When I have free time this weekend I'm going to take a better look at the free audio software link you gave me.

Thanks,
cdm369

[UncasMS]

I have tried both, Ulead as well as Pinnacle and i can't say Ulead was only for the more advanced users and i too had a hard time with older versions to get pinnacle run stable but version 10.x was fine on xp pro 32 bit.

maybe you should download trial versions to see how you like the look and feel and how stable the tools run on your system?