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Programs for Editing, K+ help, and a big question

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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
I'm currently a beginner at editing videos, ive been editing on iMovie. I was wondering what programs are easy to use, make good videos, and etc.

**ALSO**

If anyone is familiar with iMovie (which i bet everyone is), when i upload my gopro videos (shot on 1080p) they import all grainy and low quality. im just wondering if its iMovie or the lighting outside

**ALSO**

as i stated earlier, i am a beginner at editing. on editing programs, is it normally self taught or has somebody taught you?
Feb 23 2013 8:46PM
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Jakx~
Posts: 653 - Karma: 503
Couple things.
I've been working on Sony Vegas 10 the past couple years, and it's really the only editor I know outside of Imovie. I personally really like the workflow of it. it's simple and straight to the point. But when I try to get into higher level post-production editing than just cutting clips I hit a wall. I'm a decently tech savvy guy with a strong ability to learn but something about the special effects in Vegas just through me off. And creative, non cheesy, titling is practically non-existent. It also has trouble handling high amounts of HD video. After I hit around 1 minute of HD video it loves to freeze and crash a ton on me. I know its not my computer cause I've tried it on two computers. The 2nd having 16 gigs of RAM 2 GB graphics and i7 processor, and it runs everything else at the speed of light when Vegas is crashed. So thats how I know its not my computer.

As far as the Gopro quality open it up outside of imovie and check its quality just using a normal media player like quicktime or VLC. Because to save RAM editors preview the video in low quality display (around 360p), so as to not bog down your computer.

Let me know if I can help anymore.

Also if anyone here has ran into the same problem with Vegas and can solve it let me know. Cause its pissing me off and I don't have the money to buy another editor and don't want to torrent.
Feb 23 2013 10:52PM
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Jakx~
Posts: 653 - Karma: 503
Oh and I'm also pretty much self taught. I've learned bits and pieces from random sources. Picking up any knowledge I can from more experience people. But look at tutorials on youtube, they're everywhere. And be open to criticism cause there's always room to grow. And the fact of the matter is that your videos will probably suck for the first while. Mine did and they still do. But the more stuff you can put out the better cause you'll learn knew stuff with every project.
Feb 23 2013 10:55PM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
^^somebody help this guy^^
Feb 24 2013 7:23AM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
i have a mac, does that matter?
Feb 24 2013 7:25AM
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Jakx~
Posts: 653 - Karma: 503
Uhm I believe that then limits you to Adobe and Final Cut Pro. And there are still plenty of tutorials for the both of them. One thing you do get to look forward to, and this is a practical comparison between pc's and mac's in the evegrowing debate, is that Mac's rarely crash while rendering or anything of that sort. My PC can operate at a much higher speed than many of my friends MB Pro's, but they've never ran into crashing issues.

If you have the money though I'd say invest in Final Cut Pro. Solid program and you'll be able to get a ton of help from people on here cause a good majority of them use FCP.
Feb 24 2013 10:21AM
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_RNS_
Posts: 172 - Karma: 736
O have used Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, Sony Vegas, FCP, and Premiere Pro. I currently use Premiere Pro as I found it to be my favorite. These programs are as easy to use as you make them, meaning that you can do basic editing in Premiere Pro with just a little time on youtube learning to setup your project and how to import clips and export your project.

If you are serious about video editing, you should go with a more powerful program such as FCP or Premiere Pro.

I am 100% self taught. I learned all of what I know about video editing from youtube. You have to be motivated to do this, as it will take hours to learn 30 seconds worth of advanced techniques.

GoPro wise, if it is a Hero 1 and shot in low light it will be very grainy (noise).
Feb 24 2013 10:39AM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
and also, is different brightness of shots in edits frowned upon?
Feb 24 2013 7:31PM
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_RNS_
Posts: 172 - Karma: 736
depends, you want consistency between shots that are similar. eg. day shots of a skier at a mountain should be similar, and night urban shots should be similar in exposure.
Feb 24 2013 9:05PM
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raymondcabral
Posts: 747 - Karma: 1,094
I have not yet ran into any problems with SOny vegas pro 11 and i would highly recomend it. I found a link and tutorial on how to get it for free. very powerful and it works great with my Hero 1.
Feb 24 2013 10:11PM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
k+ for link
Feb 26 2013 6:30PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
I like premiere but pretty much any software will be easy to pick up, for basic editing.
Feb 26 2013 7:24PM
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GuacamoleMane
Posts: 1421 - Karma: 2,013
Coming from imovie you will have a very easy transition into final cut 10. I have mainly used fc7 but i have 10 and it is very easy to do the basics (Cut, slo mo, color correction) and the interface is very similar to iMovie, plus its for mac
Feb 26 2013 7:27PM
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.tony
Posts: 321 - Karma: 74
Might as well get something good like premiere or after effects. Once you learn the basics (which shouldn't take more than an hour) you'll be set. Anyways, my friend learnt how to use it really easily and he is not the brightest guy out there.
Feb 26 2013 8:42PM
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.qzyxya
Posts: 1479 - Karma: -26
op you should just try out a couple different ones. You can get a free trial of the adobe cs6 stuff for 30 days.
Feb 27 2013 9:17AM
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skibumb2929
Posts: 1119 - Karma: 1,475
I used IMovie for a but and then moved up to final cut it was a but hard at first but after a while its easy and super fun to use my brother edits alot so I had him help me but it seems pretty straight forward
Feb 27 2013 12:08PM
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kachow
Posts: 148 - Karma: 278
go pro has some sort of video editor on theyre website or if u search it, not sure how it is yet i just downloaded it recently its free so why not have a glance
Feb 28 2013 3:37AM
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cydwhit
Posts: 5070 - Karma: 43,007
I really didn't like the gopro editor when I tried it, it felt like its main goal was to make 3d videos, to op as far as the import quality issue I believe there should be a check in the import video dialogue box for import in hq.
Feb 28 2013 12:54PM
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michael_bc
Posts: 1386 - Karma: 720
If you want a step up from iMovie that isn't intimidating at all, you could try Final Cut Pro X. It's not really a "pro" program anymore, but it's really easy to get the hang of and get decent results.

If your output is grainy it might be that you are shooting your GoPro in low light. What do the videos look like before you edit them?

I think a good approach to learning are online tutorials like you can find on YouTube.
Mar 1 2013 5:33AM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
i looked at my videos from Quicktime before editing and theyre still grainy.
Mar 1 2013 6:46AM
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michael_bc
Posts: 1386 - Karma: 720
You said you shot the videos outside... under which lighting conditions?
Mar 1 2013 12:56PM
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lamppost
Posts: 277 - Karma: 201
overcast/graybird. thats probably why
Mar 1 2013 3:41PM
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