Simple and cheap multitrack video editor

Vitaliy_Kiselev

I'll be adding available options and later change first post.

Nero Video Premium HD

Price: Actual < $30

Product homepage:
http://www.nero.com/enu/nero-video-hd-overview.html

Reviews:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/362968/nero-video-premium-hd
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374239,00.asp

TheNewDeal

Avid Studio on Amazon for $121. Supports many formats, good video and audio tools, stop motion capture and edit workflows, integrated DVD and BlueRay burning, etc., all in one timeline.

http://www.avid.com/US/products/Avid-Studio

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@TheNewDeal

Thanks. I'll add more info about it later.
My current personal understanding is that Sony and Magix are most advanced ones.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

MAGIX Movie Edit Pro MX Plus released

http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/plus/

DrDave

The new MAGIX has support for GPU Nvidia acceleration--interesting.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

As far as I know previous had acceleration too.
This one works with AMD also. Plus they rewrote many parts to use all CPU cores.

mozes

Movie studio is great.
I use sony vegas pro 10 and studio 10

but studio is missing some tools that i always use for grading.
for exampel the vector scope, and motion smooth, what works great if you in post do some digital zooming...

PerryWilson

@Lflex are you a student? because most of these companies have student pricing

feha

I use AVID STUDIO ...

Tomaso

AVID Studio 1.1 is a great tool for me too. Unlimited tracks and good, simple to use other functionalities. Red Giant "light" is included.

markussen

@all any news and experinces to share about editing software? Magix video deluxe MX or Sony product?

Greatings from Asia Kurt

Vitaliy_Kiselev

You can download Magix and try. Sony is smaller and simpler tool, not so much features. But I didn't use and tried it's last version.

bostonmike

I've been testing out the Sony Vegas HD Studio 11 and Platinum 11 versions...the great thing is you get a free trial period for each different version.

thepalalias

Vegas Studio is a good value and simple to use without dumbing down the interface. Vegas Pro has many important additions (including really widespread performance improvements for even cheap OpenCL cards in the newest version) but the interface and workflow are otherwise the same.

Precise editing with 10 video layers, inputting (but not outputting) higher than HD video or images in a variety of formats and the ability to specify custom project framerates to the nearest thousandth of a frame per second are all already included in studio 10 and 11.

I compare that to the pain of doing any precise editing in iMovie or the learning curve of migrating to FCP 7 (can't speak to FCP X) and the contrast could not be starker.

There are fewer 3rd party plugins than for Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro, though, and some people complain about the color grading (though purchasing Da Vinci or Red Giant products addresses that bettter than changing to Premiere Pro or FCP X, though FCP 7 may still have Apple Color). And both FCP 7 and Premiere Pro have integration with several other apps in a way that Vegas lacks (excepting Acid).

I haven't had personal experience with Avid or Magix offerings, yet, but they are the other brands I would look into.

thepalalias

As far as personal experiences, Vegas generally scaled better with the hardware I used than Premiere Pro, but with two caveats.

1) Vegas Studio (at least as of version 11) scales well with internal hardware up to 4 cores. It does not support more cores or make (meaningful) use of GPU acceleration. Vegas Pro 11 addresses both these complaints beautifully.

2) No version of Vegas support as many professional add-in cards as Premiere Pro. But in comparing Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and Vegas Pro 11, Vegas both supports acceleration with wider assortment of GPUs (almost any OpenCL card for Vegas Pro vs an approved list of CUDA cards for Premiere Pro).

3) No version of Vegas runs natively in OS X. If you don't want to deal with Windows or Windows emulation, Vegas obviously can't take advantage of the system.

If you do end up upgrading to Vegas Pro from Vegas Studio, adding a OpenCL GPU for as little $60 U.S. can improve playback and render performance by as much as 4 to 5 times in my experience with an 8GB AMD 1090T system (though this is VERY project dependent). But whatever editor you choose, keep in mind that you hard drive/SSD can quickly become the bottleneck on a project and make a bigger difference than your GPU.

Alfi666

Anyone having tested the Lightworks? It looks good when reading thru the page... but I'm wondering whether it's worth spending time & trying... http://www.lightworksbeta.com/

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@Alfi666

We have some topic about this. Try to search for Lightworks. And it is not really simple editor :-)

Alfi666

@Vitaliy_Kiselev:

Thanks Vitaliy, will do.

I don't mind that its not simple :) ... I want good... thinking about switching from PremierePro

haribabis

I have tested lightworks. Yes, you have to get a new approach to how things happening if you use anther editor, but this is the easy part. The problem is that till now you may have many codec imprt-transcode-export problems. They really doing great improvements but i wont use it for everyday jobs. I suggest a linux distribution if someone has an older pc and wants everything free. You can make a partition on your disk if you can not uninstall windows and install the linux distribution. The same for MAC users You can find multimedia dedicated linux distr. or you can choose only the programms that you really need. Kdenlive, cinerrella, avidemux and don't forget Blender for "deeper" editing. Yes, they have their "specialities" but don't forget that they are totaly free and keep going to be and they have the support from a very huge community!!! Try it!!!

Kihlian

I´m testing Lightworks too. It works with the mjpeg files from the gh2 (don´t forget to install quick time), for now. In the near future it will support AVCHD too. I find it´s worth spending time with it. Sorry to post in wrong topic.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

After a hugely successful 18-month beta program, EditShare is pleased to announce the official release of Lightworks, the world-class NLE, on the 28th May 2012.

The hotly anticipated release of Lightworks includes a host of new features for editors, resulting in a lightning-fast NLE that runs on wide range of PC hardware. Completely re-architected and optimised for multi-platform deployment, this will be the first time a professional NLE has been available for free, with a low cost upgrade for the pro version.

New Multicore Media Engine

With a brand new Multicore Media Engine, Lightworks now includes support for advanced Long-GOP editing, offering real-time performance for all the main Long-GOP camera formats (H.264 and MPEG-2) and also XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD, AVCHD and HDV.

Editshare EMEA Managing Director James Richings said:

“We’re really excited about the developments over the past few months. Although we are a little behind our original release schedule, we think the wait has been worth it. We are now able to release Lightworks with more features that will appeal to every type of editor.”

Richings went on to say:

“We didn’t know quite what to expect when we first released the Beta version of Lighworks. But 16 months on we have over a quarter of a million registered users and 30,000 new downloads every month - and that’s before we release the Linux and OS X versions!

“We’re taking Lightworks right to the top. We’re speeding up our recruitment of developers, and we’re making it easier for broadcasters, film-makers and educational establishments to get started with Lightworks. With our built-in Project Sharing, Lightworks is incredibly scalable, integrating perfectly with our world-class shared storage and workflow solutions”.

New Features

Very wide format support including AVCHD, H.264, AVC-Intra, DNxHD, ProRes, Red R3D, DPX, XDCAM HD 50, XDCAM EX, DVD, BluRay, 4K support. (DNxHD available for a single additional payment)
Support for all popular camcorder and DSLR video
Native real-time title generator
Improved interoperability – including AAF with Avid and Editshare Flow
Major improvements to Drag-and-Drop in the timeline
Trimming enhancements
Automatic Edit backups
Better Import and Export windows: more options, easier to use
Shared Projects
Stereoscopic workflow

A new Lightworks website and the Lightworks Community will be launched on 28th May:

http://www.lwks.com

The Lightworks Website has been completely reworked. There will be an Online Store for lightworks-related products, such as Lightworks keyboards and consoles, and a new Lightworks Community with professional profiles, specialist user groups, community events, multi-lingual chat, messaging, video showcases and a multitude of features that will help Pro users connect and contribute to the creative life of the Lightworks Community.

Pricing and Availability