Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with videoediting

Is there a free .3g2 converter out there?

biochemist — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:45:58 -0800

Is there a free .3g2 converter for the mac out there? I'm trying to edit a video from my phone with iMovie, but it's in .3g2 which iMovie doesn't recognize. I've done some searching but everything costs $.

Is there a free one out there? Google only led me to ffmpeg and VLC, both of which didn't recognize the format.

Combining two clips into one (side-by-side not end-to-end)

StimulatingPixels — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:28:47 -0800

How do I take two video clips that were shot at the same time and merge them so they play simultaneously in a single video? I have video from a scene that was shot with two cameras at the same time from about 50 yards apart. I'm trying to merge them so that in a single video file you can see both of them at the same time.

I realize I'll have to reduce the size of the images to get them to both fit and have no problem with that. I just need to know what software (either on a Mac or a Windows machine) will let me do this.

I'm hoping this can be done with consumer level software. Something like QuickTimePro, perhaps. (Looking at the overview of QuickTimePro, I don't see anything that indicates that it can do this, but it may very well be capable.)

Anything out there that will let me combine the clips without costing an arm and a leg?

CaptioningFilter

yellowbinder — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:15:19 -0800

Have a number of videos for display online. Need closed captioning option. How do I go about doing this? So I'm doing a series of videos for the web, almost done, and now we're faced with the task of closed captioning them. I've never done this before.

The best case scenario is that they play online in the player, you click the CC button, and the captions appear. But I haven't seen an online video host with this feature, and I've never made a video with a hidden text track before. Everything is being done on Macs in Final Cut Pro.

Any suggestions, both in terms of how to make the videos, and what online host has these capabilities in their player?

Help with Sony's Vegas Pro 9

tenaciousd — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:10:22 -0800

How do I use Vegas Pro 9? I can't find a lot of useful or free info on the web or on Sony's website. I'm in charge of shooting and editing video during my company's conference and meetings, which begin tomorrow. I don't have much experience with either, and I think I kind of jumped in the deep end with Vegas by downloading the 30-day free trial.

I'm not doing anything too fancy...a basic intro, cutting, overlaying the name of the speaker. But I really haven't found any helpful, basic, beginner-level manuals or information. My camcorder is a canon vixia hf200.

Any tips, sites or other resources would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Vixia HG-21 Video Capture Issues

occidental — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:27:26 -0800

Hello, I am trying to capture AVCHD footage from a Canon Vixia HG21. The proprietary software included with the camera is no longer available to me and I need another solution. I would ideally like to use Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 but it is not recognizing the camera. There is very little documentation regarding how to actually capture this video and maintain the HD quality. The .mts format, when pulled from the drive has significant ghosting, etc due to the encoding. Is there a simple solution to obtaining the footage that I am missing? I do recall at one point in the past seeing a post on a forum describing a precise order to plug in the camera but I can no longer locate it.

I am using Vista 64-bit with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

It is not Vista's fault but thanks for asking.

PleaseDon'tJudgeMeFilter.

halogen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:30:29 -0800

I have a bunch of HDTV shows recorded on a HD DVR. How can I make a video compilation without knowing anything about video editing? Complication: Linux household. I suppose that step one will involve buying a HD TV tuner for my computer, won't it (our Motorola DVR has all the standard outputs and for some reason, two USB connectors – not sure what for)? Can you recommend a product that will work with my Ubuntu desktop?

Once the tuner has been purchased, what do I need to know about transferring the video from the DVR to my computer? Also, what Linux software would you recommend for video editing?

Should I expect to have to deal with DRM at any point in the process?

The show happens to be Toddlers & Tiaras (Wednesdays are girls' nights) and boyfriend, for some reason, gets a kick out of the ridiculous head-nodding/pouty lips poses that I've been showing off lately. I want to make an collection of the most ridiculous scenes along those lines.

Editing .mpc .. video files?

zxcvz — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:55:24 -0800

I'd like to convert .mpc video files to something I can edit in Adobe Premiere. I have a batch of .mpc files I'd like to edit in Premiere. Google seems to agree that this is an audio format (Musepack), but I'm able to watch the files with audio in VLC without any problems. If it matters, most of the files are around 250 MB. What's going on here? How can I convert the files into something I can import?

Which monitor is for me?

timshel — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:51:38 -0800

Best affordable external monitor for HD video editing? I would like an external monitor to extend my desktop real estate and, on occasion, serve as a television/output monitor for HD video editing playback, color correction etc. It will presently be used with a Macbook Pro (DVI) and eventually become the second monitor to a iMac (DisplayPort.) I'd like to spend £500 or less. Is this doable?

A friend recommended this, though it's a bit beyond my price range:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=223-9379

Thank you!

Video Editing Software for Travel Videos

mary8nne — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:42:13 -0800

Can anyone suggest a simple Non-Linear Video Editing Software for Windows XP? One that can accept and output variety of Formats. For editing together Videos (MJPG) taken on a Canon Digital photo Camera. I've been messing around recording a few travel videos on my Canon Isus Camera which seems to take 640x480 MJPG Video (30fps). I thought it might be fun to Edit some together and add music tracks to them (and remove the current sound track where is it just wind noise).

Its not really a serious endeavour so looking for cheap / freeware editing apps for Win XP.

I've tried Windows Movie Maker but it will only allow export as DV (huge files) or this .wmv (WMV9 proprietrary format?) and is a bit chunky - but I did like the graphic time-line you get with WMM compared to the editing in the dark of AVIdemux.

Do I really have to blur out every coke can?

yellowbinder — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:02:58 -0800

What are the rules regarding logos captured incidentally in documentary? I'm working on a documentary webseries with a corporate sponsor, and was curious what the rules are regarding other corporate logos. Obviously we are clear to use our sponsor's logo wherever it appears, and we're going to blur out competitors' logos (not so much on our sponsors request, more because these are alcohol products shown being used by underage people and we don't want any potential issues).

So that's clear, but what about other logos, like clothing brands, coke cans, etc? Do we have to blur all logos wherever they appear?

This is in Canada, if relevant. Thanks for any help you can provide!

New to video editing, need hardware/software advice

lattiboy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:23:32 -0800

I just purchased a Canon HV20 and am clueless as to the software I should use and the hardware requirements I'm looking at. I've been shooting with dSLRs for about a two years now, but I decided I'd like to experiment with video. I bought a Canon HV20 and am looking to get some suggestions for video-editing software for the PC. I'm not averse to something slightly less "user friendly" if it lets me get better control over the footage. I'm quite interested in color correction and pulldown.

As for hardware:

My current box is custom built with an AMD 5400+ X2 (running at 3 Gigs), 2 Gigs of RAM (will probably go up to 4), a Hitachi 1TB HD with a WD 250GB scratch disk, and a 24" Samsung monitor running XP Pro 32-bit.

This current setup handles my 40MB A900 RAW files pretty well, but I know HDV is a whole other animal.

What's the most cost effective way to upgrage my (older) PC for video editing?

ender77 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:49:05 -0800

I recently purchased a Canon HF10 video camera and find my current desktop system completely overwhelmed even with the uncompressed files on my local drive. Can I save the old girl, or would it be better to buy a new one? I was sort of anticipating she would have trouble with the highly compressed files, but I can barely get PE7 to even bring one clip into the timeline without the software locking up or crashing. I'm not looking to do any crazy edits, but light stuff (cropping clips down, adding titles, some music, transitions etc) for home movies to output to DVD. I dug around and most of these situations are specific to the rigs, so here is what I'm working off currently:

Intel D915G Chipset ATX Case w/ 350 Watt PS
Intel P4 CPU 641 3.2 GHz/800FSB/2M S775
Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 750GB (7200 RPM) - I have other external storage for archives
3GB DDR400 PC3200 Memory
ATI 256MB Video Card w/DVI PCI Express
Windows XP Home Edition SP2

Reading the other (sort of) related threads here, I'm pretty sure my old chip/motherboard is the chokepoint. Am I right? What's the best, cost effective way to upgrade to make my system usable for my needs? Would a new chip/motherboard combo still work with my RAM and XP?

What is an online tool for creating timelapse movies?

greenknightwatch — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:31:16 -0800

Are there any web-based video editing services that provide "Speed up" effects to create time lapse movies? I have taken movies about 60 minutes long. I'd like to speed them up by a factor of 16x to 64 x. Windows movie maker is too slow, and doesn't preview the sped up time-lapse movie clearly. Maybe there is something better on the web. Id be interested in hearing about either online video editing services with this capability or open source software.

New MacBook Pro - Help me extend its life as long as possible

yellowbinder — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:57:29 -0800

Just got a new MacBook Pro - What do I need to do to make sure this pricey investment lasts me a long time? Got laid off this week, and talked them into applying my severance paycheques towards a new MacBook Pro. It is very sweet and taking the edge off, plus finally provides me with a machine I can do freelance work on.

I work in video editing, and I've already loaded it up with all the programs I need. Most of the work I'll be doing is HDV video in Final Cut and After Effects.

I want to be sure I don't do anything that will fuck up this lovely machine. Is there anything specific I should avoid? It's the new 2.53 Ghz 15 inch with 4 gigs RAM.

I like games, but I'll go without them if it will wear the machine out. I want this to last a number of years before needing an upgrade/replacement. I mention games because I've done a bit of editing already and everything went smoothly, but an hour of Sim City 4 resulted in a very hot computer and some ingame slowdown (was fine a few minutes after quitting).

Thanks in advance!

What versions of LiveType and Soundtrack can Final Cut Pro 4.5 import?

DreamRider — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:45:07 -0800

Can Final Cut Pro 4.5 import LiveType 2 and Soundtrack 1.5 files? I'm considering buying Final Cut Express 3.5 specifically to get these updated programs to replace the LT & Soundtrack 1.2 versions native to FCP 4.5.

Choosing a video editor

elgilito — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:23:12 -0800

We have 10 hours of Mini-DV tapes (interviews made during my wife's PhD research) and we're looking for a video editing software to edit them into a 1-2 hour DVD. We'll have to add subtitles and to clean noisy audio and video. What would be the best video software to do that? More detailed specs follow. - User-friendly: we're newbies at video editing
- Under €200
- Windows Vista
- The target audience consists in the few fellow researchers interested in the topic. No need for sophisticated video effects.
- Subtitles: the interviews will all be subtitled so the subtitling feature should be easy to set up. The subtitles will have to mix two character sets (French and Vietnamese).
- Audio and video correction: filming conditions were poor (handheld camcorder, indoors, low light, background noise). Not expecting magic there, but some minimal cleaning ability would be nice.
Software I've considered so far: Adobe Premiere Elements 7, Pinnacle Studio 12 Ultimate, Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Pro Pack, Cyberlink PowerDirector 7. However, the reviews I've seen rarely talk about the subtitle aspect (except for PowerDirector) and before test driving a bunch a crippled trial versions I'd like to hear suggestions from more experienced people.

Give me my old Final Cut Express!

pzarquon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:13:23 -0800

How do I get Final Cut Express to export straightforward 1280x720 HD videos from my Sanyo Xacti HD700... like it used to? I have a Sanyo Xacti HD700. It gives me 1280x720 MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 files, which my Mac just loves. I used to be able to quickly edit the clips together in Final Cut Express, export using complementary QuickTime settings (specifically, those recommended by Vimeo for HD playback), and get beautiful MP4 files, relatively quickly.

Then, one day, a friend needed me to edit a quick video using a DV camcorder. It was confusing as heck getting the footage into FCE, and not particularly elegant getting it out. But, the project was done overnight, I washed my hands of it, and wanted to get back to making beautiful MP4 files again, relatively quickly.

Except I can't! Now, for one, encoding takes hours. Hours! My source videos and export videos are very similar, yet I sit and watch as the estimate for completion actually goes up for an hour before slowly coming back down.

And frankly, that would be fine, except now my exported videos are the wrong size. They include letterboxes, and the video itself is squished, stretched. So I wait four times as long for a ghastly video. The best I could do is use the Quicktime export settings to "crop off" the letterboxing, but there's still some black bars and it's just not the same.

Here's how my videos used to look. Here's how an exported video looks now. What happened? Out of the box, everything worked perfectly. Now, tainted with actual tape, Final Cut Express seems like it's running my videos through six extra wringers and giving me clips worse than I'd get just cut-and-paste editing the Xacti files in QuickTime Pro!

I Googled my brains out, and all I've learned is, if I had Final Cut Pro, "Project Settings" would have all the switches I need. Well, I don't have FCP, just FCE.

Somewhere, something was set that I want to unset. Can anyone help? Do I have to delete every trace of FCE and just reinstall?

Vibrant colors in video

ChabonJabon — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:27:54 -0800

How did the people in this video get the colors to become so vibrant? Skip to 1:30 and watch from there. The video itself is not very professional, but the colors are very bright. The reds are very red, the greens and very green - it reminds me a bit of bollywood musicals.

Is this done with the camera or with post processing? If post processing, what do they use? If camera, what would be the cheapest camera that will give me similar results?

When I shoot any video with my prosumer cameras, the colors are quite dull. What's the secret for those bright colors?

How do I convert and edit Sanyo digital camera video?

CollectiveMind — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:56:53 -0800

I just bought a Sanyo Xcati Digital Video Camera. It produces .MP4 files, which don't seem to be convertable for use in ULEAD 7 or Windows Movie Maker video editing software. The camera came with Sanyo CDs full of ULEAD file managing, DVD creating software and Quicktime. My assumption was, since Quicktime was on the Sanyo CD, that is the format the video plays in and can be edited in. And I thought since ULEAD programs were on the CDs, they would naturally work with the ULEAD 7 video editing software I already had. But I can't edit the video and I can't seem to convert the video from Quicktime or .MP4 to .AVI files or anything else. Windows offers a video encoder/converter and that doesn't convert the video either. I can play the video with the Quicktime player, but whenever I try to import video to either video editing software, or convert video to another format, I get an error message that says "Unable to Open File. File Format Mismatch." When I select the folder with the video, none of the video files in that folder appear even when I select Quicktime or MPEG files from the dropdown menu. Those video files only appear when I pick "All Files," and that is when I get the error when I choose one. Is there a simple way I can take the excellent video off this camera and easily edit it with some video editing software; either what I already have or something else?

iMovie editing question

donovan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:30:23 -0800

iMovie help! Crunch project and I did RTFM but am confused . . . I recorded a 4min video clip of me talking with iSight and I've extracted the audio track. I've added about 12 images to the movie project but can't for the life of me figure out how to insert the photos so there's the video of me then a photo then the video of me talking and then another photo, etc.

Think Ze Frank-style.

I'm sure I'm just missing something obvious and would be ever so grateful for some help. I have to run to a meeting but will be back in a couple hours to dig into this project again.

Virtual Camera in Video Editing Software

fvox13 — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:14:23 -0800

How can I create a virtual, movable camera in a video editing software? We're working on a video for one of our clients and we'd like to have a grid of videos / still images sort of like this:

We'd then like to be able to move a virtual camera of sorts through the grid, stopping at different videos/stills that would then expand to fill the whole screen.

How can we do this? What software would be used? We currently have Sony Vegas 7.0, but we're open to any possibility.

It doesn't need to be too involved, but if you know of any cool 3d way to do it, that would be fine too!

How to overlay a graphic onto one frame of MPEG-2 video

Crabby Appleton — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:14:48 -0800

Is there a video editing tool that can overlay a graphic onto a single frame of an MPEG-2 video? I need to take a graphic (still picture) and overlay it onto the first frame of an existing MPEG-2 video (or just graft it on as the first frame of the video, if that's significantly easier). The graphic has not been generated yet, so the format can be pretty flexible, although I imagine it would be a .gif or .bmp, or something similar.

I'd be amazed if there's not some video editor that can "just do it". But I don't know which editor(s) and I need to do it very soon. I'd prefer something free that runs on MS Windows, but don't hesitate to mention commercial software as well. If there's a simple Linux command-line program that would do it, I could probably use it. If you can tell me how to do it step-by-step for the software you recommend, I'd appreciate that, too. (I could probably figure it out eventually, but time is of the essence.)

How do I turn a dozen DVD-Rs' worth of home movies into files I can edit on a Mac?

gompa — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:06:42 -0800

Help me make my daughter's grandparents' year. I've got a pile of home movies shot with an obscure Panasonic DVD video camera and no Mac-friendly software. Help! [more inside] The camera is a Panasonic VDR-M70, and it records onto 2.5" DVD-Rs that can't be read by (indeed don't fit into) a contemporary Mac's DVD drive.

If you connect the camera to the computer by USB, the discs contain a handful of files labelled "VIDEO_TS.BUP," "VIDEO_TS.IFO," VIDEO_TS.VOB," or else "VTS_01_0.BUP," "VTS_01_0.IFO," VTS_01_0.VOB," etc. Plus there's one file called "DVDCAM.IFO."

The camera came with a CD full of what appears to be PC-only software (drivers plus DVD-MovieAlbumSE 3 and MyDVD 4.0). I've got an iBook and my wife's got a more advanced MacBook.

The recorded discs contain lovely moments from the first two years of my daughter's life, and if I can turn them into a single DVD by Xmas, I'll be Son of the Year. I can figure out most end-user-friendly software apps, but my programming/professional-app-fu skills are nil.

What do I do?

Software needed to create a DVD from multiple video sources.

ND¢ — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:31:33 -0800

I am attempting to create a DVD using several different file types. Can this be done, and if so, what software do I need to do it? I am attempting to do my first ever bit of video editing, and I think that I am in way over my head.

My wife and I got married in December of 2005. We bought a JVC digital video camera before the wedding and had friends tape the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the reception, and we video-taped some stuff on the honeymoon. These DV tapes have been sitting in our office closet since then, not doing no good to nobody. However, over the last couple of months I have edited these videos in Pinnacle Studio 9 and have studio files (.stu) of the edited videos with titles and music and all that jazz. I am able to create DVD compatible MPEGs of these edited videos. However, these are four separate files, one for each event.

In addition to these, the church where we got married video-taped the wedding service itself and made us a VHS tape and a DVD. The DVD has BUP, IFO and VOB files on it.

Also I made a 43 minute slide show of all the pictures taken by us, the wedding photographer and another amateur photographer that took a lot of pictures during all the events. I made this slide show in Windows Movie Maker, but my version of the program does not allow you to burn to DVD. It may allow you to make MPEGs. I am not sure.

So, when I started this project (with even less knowledge about video-editing than the paltry bit that I have now) I imagined a single DVD (playable in a regular DVD player, this is for parents and grandparents and whatnot) with a menu that you could choose from that would take you to: the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon and pictures. I can't do this in Studio or Windows Movie Maker or Nero 7 Lite (those are the ones that I have looked at so far). Is there a program that will let me make a DVD using these different types of files? Is there one that will let me create a menu that I can then have access these different types of files? I am on a PC running XP.

Finally, I searched through the other AskMe questions on video-editing and didn't see anything that matched this, and I suppose I could have asked this question without writing out my whole life history, so I apologize for making you read all this.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Home Made Classroom Films

absalom — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:12:02 -0800

Help an absolute beginner make short videos for use in a classroom setting. [Requirements Inside] I am looking for video creation and editing software, or a suite of different programs, as necessary. I would like to make short (10-15 minute) instructional videos, mostly by splicing together static images, maps, video clips, etc. and with a voice over. I would especially like to be able to do the following:

1. Capture very short videos from DVD sources (decryption not a problem) and put them in
2. Static images overlayed with small animations. (Think, maps with moving arrows, etc.!)

Recommendations accepted from the humble to the most expensive welcome.

Bonus points to web sites, FAQs, etc. that might help me figure all this out as well.