Looking for input: Video editing?

[GH85Carrera]

I have been scanning many hours of home movies from 8MM film. I have them digitized, and uploaded to YouTube to share with my brother and cousins. That is working fine, but I really want to edit them some, not really a lot. I have lots of really boring stuff of ocean waves and some parts where my parents edited their movies, and my grandparents edited their movies. Parts jump around in the timeline.

I just want to clip out a part of one movie, and add parts of other films to a new movie. All of it home movies, that need a lot of help to make a logical flow.

I don't need any fancy features. But some subtitles and blends would be nice. I sure don't need the top of the line crazy expensive stuff. Adobe Premier elements is "only" a hundred bucks. Is it worth while to try it?

I see there is a free trial. Maybe I can try that first and see if I can figure it out.

Any other suggestions?

[Gogar]

Well I don't think you're Mac but iMovie is cheap and easy for little things

[GH85Carrera]

Nope, I am running Windows 11 Pro.

[Steve Carlton]

I had a neighbor that edited video professionally and he recommended the free version of Avid. I used it a few times before my camcorder got lost and I switched to still photography (as a hobby). It's powerful, maybe more complicated than necessary, but works well once you get the hang of it.

https://www.avid.com/media-composer?utm_campaign=mc_q3_paidmedia_webstore--land&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_content=mc_sem_branded&gclid=CjwKCAiAoL6eBhA3EiwAXDom5kmzbK_HgBJ4DizEsa4g 55RQdILlkCe_W6ZTEiMNg81Gi1otzY_HZBoCfRMQAvD_BwE

[Paul_Heery]

Microsoft has a new free video editing program called ClipChamp which they got when they bought the company.

You can either download it or use it through a browser. It should do most of what you said that you need.

[GH85Carrera]

Many of the files are over 1.6GB so anything done online is not likely to be practical. I want something done on my local computer. I want to avoid setting up one more username and password just to use a program. ClipChamp was not even going to let me look at it with Firefox and I had to use Edge to see what it was about.

I may check out Avid.

[Paul_Heery]

Before I got into more serious editing and moved on to Final Cut Pro X, I was using OpenShot. It is free, open source and they have a Windows version. It should fit your needs.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Many of the files are over 1.6GB so anything done online is not likely to be practical. I want something done on my local computer. I want to avoid setting up one more username and password just to use a program. ClipChamp was not even going to let me look at it with Firefox and I had to use Edge to see what it was about.

I may check out Avid.

If only you had a computer that was built that could handle massive, crazy image files. That's going to be your real problem, processor, memory, storage space, etc...

I think it's possible with the free tool that comes with Windows. My last version of Win (7) came with a tool that would allow you to crop, cut, paste, etc... It wasn't fancy, but I think it did what you want. I suspect there's stuff out there that does it more easily, but I'm not in the know, and no longer on MS-Win system.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Before I got into more serious editing and moved on to Final Cut Pro X, I was using OpenShot. It is free, open source and they have a Windows version. It should fit your needs.

That sounds like the way to go. I assumed there would be some sort of open source tool that would do basic editing.

[Rusty Heap]

I use Win Movie Maker from Windows,

https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/movie-maker-video-editor/9MVFQ4LMZ6C9?hl=en-us&gl=us&rtc=1

I have a paid video hosting site Vimeo.com to allow others to view.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

I use Win Movie Maker from Windows,

https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/movie-maker-video-editor/9MVFQ4LMZ6C9?hl=en-us&gl=us&rtc=1

I have a paid video hosting site Vimeo.com to allow others to view.

I'm pretty sure that's the app that I was talking about.

I upload to Youtube. You can upload public, unlisted, and something else. I generally upload as "unlisted." Then only folks that get the link to the video can see it.

[porsche930dude]

iv been using videopad

[masraum]

Originally Posted by porsche930dude

iv been using videopad

Don't do it! Videopad is a virus that disables your shift and punctuation keys!!

[deanp]

Premier Elements will be a good choice, you can also look at Davinci Resolve. I like Premier just because I am familiar with a lot of other Adobe applications, and while Premier is different, it has some similar workflow.

[stomachmonkey]

DaVinci Resolve by BlackMagic.

BlackMagic are one of the premiere manufacturers of video editing / capture gear.

Resolve is their editing suite. The free version has everything a prosumer would need.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

I use Win Movie Maker from Windows,

https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/movie-maker-video-editor/9MVFQ4LMZ6C9?hl=en-us&gl=us&rtc=1

I have a paid video hosting site Vimeo.com to allow others to view.

Thanks!

This is what I was looking for. It just downloaded. From Microsoft so no hidden viruses or root kits like some "free" software has. No special log in and one more username and password account to keep track of. No additional tracking of what I do. (I Hope)

Edit: Whoops, the feature I want, to grab a piece of a long video and save just that is only available in the pro version. It looks like it $20 bucks, and if that is a one time purchase, I will do that. Cheaper than most other programs. It looks very easy to use and I figured out how to select the part of a video I wanted to clip out and save as a separate video quickly and easily. Mo I just need to get all the rest of my home movies converted and start editing. Now I am scanning a likely 30 minute long reel of film my mom labels as parades. I knew she like parades, but I had no idea how much. I suspect some will be almost as big spectacular as the Rose Bowl or the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, only in downtown San Marcos, TX or Midwest City, OK with my brother and I riding bikes, or in the cub scouts in the early 1960s.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by masraum

Don't do it! Videopad is a virus that disables your shift and punctuation keys!!

That is funny!

[stealthn]

I’ve just started using Corel (yes they are still around) Pinnacle Studio, easy to use, all the features I need for $59

[Zeke]

Filmora here. Adobe Premier is really good. I just stick with Filmora by Wondershare because I know it. But while fades and dissolves are possible, dissolving into other segment is not, a feature I like.

All of these editors seem to be geared to 12 year olds with all the silly graphics. To do what you want to do you will use 5% of the program. Editing on YT is nigh impossible although you can cut easily. Best to download your videos to an external hard drive and load them into your software from there. Save them back to the HD.

Be careful of "rendering" as it creates a copy of the current progress and fills up your drive. You can go back and delete them.

[Paul_Heery]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

DaVinci Resolve by BlackMagic.

BlackMagic are one of the premiere manufacturers of video editing / capture gear.

Resolve is their editing suite. The free version has everything a prosumer would need.

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve

I need to change my recommendation. Based on the above advice from stomachmonkey, I spent some time with DaVinci Resolve this morning. I had discounted it from previous experience with earlier versions. I was quite impressed.

I think DaVinci Resolve hits all of the requirements that were mentioned:

1. It runs on Windows
2. It can be installed to run locally
3. If local local and not run on Blackmagic Cloud, it doesn't track you and does not require you to create a new ID
4. It is not open source
5. It is capable but also inexpensive. I think that free qualifies

This morning i performed the same edits on a 7 minute video on DaVinci Resolve, OpenShot and FCP-X in separate sessions. The edits and adjustments were not specifically complicated but included both video and audio edits, effects and transitions added and exports of the final projects.

Each application performed flawlessly on my Macbook. The difference in duration of the editing sessions and the export of the final videos was not significant.

One thing that really doesn't fill the OP's request is that DaVinci Resolve 18 now runs on an iPad as well. I haven't tried that yet. But it now has me very curious.