Movie Maker replacement

[sdcards]

I don't know what kind of movie making you do. You are a professional or not? I myself prefer using the Ulead movie maker for my videos that I want to edit.

[GrumbleDook]

I still like Serif products ... Movie Plus is pretty good for those wanting a bit more than Movie Maker.

[oxide54]

I still like Serif products ... Movie Plus is pretty good for those wanting a bit more than Movie Maker.

in serif's favour they do concurrent licensing, and the price is not bad either

[theeldergeek]

Hi all,

Have been reading the posts here, but was wondering about a replacement for Movie Maker (free please!) for our school.

We have just purchased some fantastic new video cams, which use a memory stick to store the video files. But they are MPEG, and Movie maker doesn't like them!

Any ideas on alternatives please....

Cheers.

Joe
Gryphon School, Sherborne, DORSET.

What cameras are they, out of interest?

Wouldn't it have been helpful to research video formats prior to purchase, to ensure they are compatible with what you have in the way of software?

Too many 'consumer' orientated cameras (with oh so convenient memory cards etc) are in actual fact all but useless when it comes to realistically doing anything creative with the footage.

They are primarily designed for holidaymakers to watch themselves getting sunburnt in Turkey and nothing else.

[torledo]

What cameras are they, out of interest?

Wouldn't it have been helpful to research video formats prior to purchase, to ensure they are compatible with what you have in the way of software?

Too many 'consumer' orientated cameras (with oh so convenient memory cards etc) are in actual fact all but useless when it comes to realistically doing anything creative with the footage.

They are primarily designed for holidaymakers to watch themselves getting sunburnt in Turkey and nothing else.

which [non-minDV] cameras would you suggest for being able to edit with the footage with popular video editing packages ?

[theeldergeek]

which [non-minDV] cameras would you suggest for being able to edit with the footage with popular video editing packages ?

I wouldn't, as I have not done the research, but by the same token, I wouldn't go out an buy something which I hadn't researched either.

You are actually asking how long a piece of string is. Some cameras store to card, some to DVD, some to HDD and all in varying formats from one camera to the other. I'm sure there are plenty of cameras out there that can be recommended.

However, if it were me, I'd find out what formats your chosen software supported (either existing or to be purchased) and work from there, buying a camera with a format that was compatible with said software.

There is of course nothing wrong with MiniDV in the absence of other formats. Fully compatible with anything that's out there.

[laserblazer]

Depends on your budget but the Flip video cameras are very popular here.

[theeldergeek]

I still like Serif products ... Movie Plus is pretty good for those wanting a bit more than Movie Maker.

Yes, I'm a bit of a Serif fan myself. I have used MoviePlus in the past and found it perfectly adequate for day to day editing.

[GrumbleDook]

Depends on your budget but the Flip video cameras are very popular here.

My problem with Flip is the lack of Mic-in ... but yes, I do find it the best to use across Mac and Windows.

[jom]

Well, if you can get free software that'll do the trick - why not!! And we like to spend our money on other, better things!!

[jom]

Thanks for some of the helpful comments from people here! I shall look into the ones you have mentioned. Cheers for your help.

[laserblazer]

Still using 2.0 with no issues - will probably look at upgrading in the summer.

I'm currently using Elements 8 to edit AVCHD and I'm not impressed. It's very slow, even with avi files and crashes a lot.

[enjay]

VideoLAN Movie Creator looks like it will be the perfect Windows Movie Maker replacement (once it is released that is) since it will support all the formats that VLC Media Player does and will also be free.

Looks promising - do you know the release date for it?

[Arthur]

Not sure of an exact date, but I've read it's "soon".

There's a good YouTube video showing the pre-release version in action.

http://quietube.com/v.php/http://www...?v=02vdwNsvbZI

[mjs_mjs]

serif have a movie plus that the students use - looks a bit simple, dont know how good it is.