NitrateVille.com

what's the best easy to use software?

ED

There are a lot of those, professional and non professional. I use VirtualDub not because it is free-ware, but it is simple and just what I need.

Thanks, Jorge....

I tried MAGIX and could never get started it was so non-intuitive and complicated....

Is VirtualDub for a PC?

I use Virtual Dub as well, and have had no problems. Yes, it is for PC.

I found it but it wants to download AVS Video.... or a zip file I can't do anything with.... nothing ever works

iMovie or Final Cut Express.

There's just one hitch...

Sony Vegas is very good, and it runs well on a non-dedicated computer (like mine, with all the household junk on it) with plenty of editing options. It is also easy to use, with a good interface.

What sort of stuff are you looking to do in particular? Each software has its own advantages/disadvantages.

audio to mute files...no big deal... stuff eveyone else does.

nothing ever works

drednm wrote:audio to mute files...no big deal... stuff eveyone else does.

nothing ever works

I'll send VirtualDub it to you by e-mail, even though it is freeware.

Try http://www.videohelp.com/ if you haven't already and you want to stick to freeware. I can usually find something useful there.

I use "Video Re-Do TV Suite" for editing. It is the simplest editor I know but will only use MPEG2 files, but you can convert your finished product into any video file you want with another program.

I use "Sony Vegas" to mute the original soundtrack and insert another. You can also speed up the motion of the film to original speeds with Vegas. I use Nero Sound Editor to construct my music tracks and attempt some semblance of synchronization.

It has been a little side hobby of mine to take all of the store bought silent comedy DVDs I have purchased and speed them up to correct speeds or add footage I have from other sources. Unfortunately, if you have a slowed down film with a superb score, you have to forfeit the score when you speed the film up.

Yes I do rip these store bought titles but I only rip what I have purchased legitimately. I see I will have to speed up the films on the new Chaplin Keystone disc.

For complicated stuff I understand Adobe Premere is one to look at. It's not free though.

Windows Movie Maker is a fairly good basic program for youtube stuff.

If you want to get into it seriously I recommend Sony Vegas; I've used it now for six years.

As a Mac guy, I use Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro for anything serious -- the Mont Alto DVDs were all assembled and mastered that way, and I keep my "demo" DVDs in that format and update them as needed. Final Cut is nice if you need to replace a bunch of intertitles for translations, since you can layer your type over a static background, but generally you can do what you need in DVD Studio Pro. I also use it for my "identifying what piece is playing" subtitles.

For quick-and-dirty work, iMovie and iDVD work quite well, though there are naturally some limitations for silent film work. iMovie uses an uncalibrated slider for speed changes, and iDVD won't do alternate audio tracks (for commentaries). And the most recent upgrade to iMovie was so awful in user interface terms that I keep the previous one around. What were they thinking, getting rid of the timeline?

I did it! It's crude and tacky but I was finally able to figure it out and add a music track to a mute silent....

I have a Snub Pollard short I'm starting with, which actually was fairly funny.