Best Video Editor?

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

Can't spot a general software category, so hopefully no-one minds if I ask this here.

 

Best video editor? I'm after something with a bit more oomph than Movie Maker (and Microsoft Video Editor), and probably iMovie as well. I need to put together a set of photos for an end of year assembly, but would like some subtle effects and title cards with the minimum of effort. I don't need something with lots of OTT effects.

 

I've tried DaVinci Resolve in the past but found it would crash if I mixed photos and transitions, so I ended up removing the transitions.

 

Am I best to get a sub to Adobe Premiere, or is there something simpler and more effective to use?

 

Thanks

[mavhc]

Seems like if you've already used Resolve, get a new version and try that, not as if they're not fixing common bugs

[timbo343]

Try OpenShot - it's free and should do what you want it to do.

 

Also have a look at this URL for alternatives to Openshot https://alternativeto.net/software/openshot/

[dhicks]

I need to put together a set of photos for an end of year assembly, but would like some subtle effects and title cards with the minimum of effort.

 

I've recomended WeVideo in the past - I've not used it for a video slideshow, I'm not sure if it handles photos well or not, but it might be worth a look. It's web-based, nothing to install or download, and there's a free trial period.

[Arthur]

Microsoft ClipChamp? It's also web-based (like WeVideo) and there's a free version too.

[Gongalong]

Thanks all for the replies.

Seems like if you've already used Resolve, get a new version and try that, not as if they're not fixing common bugs

I may give it another go. It seemed ideal, and I'd assumed stable, so I was surprised when I was getting crashes to desktop when trying to render. I had to backtrack on the project twice to get it to work (without transitions) so it was frustrating to say the least.

 

I may give Adobe Rush a try as well as we have synced up our AD accounts with Adobe and the free cloud licenses but have yet to use it in anger.

[Brax]

I vouch for Resolve also. I rarely have issues with it nowadays.

[Danp]

I've recomended WeVideo in the past - I've not used it for a video slideshow, I'm not sure if it handles photos well or not, but it might be worth a look. It's web-based, nothing to install or download, and there's a free trial period.

 

I been using this for the past couple of weeks, it's been great. I'll probably purchase the license in September.

[Chockster]

If you'd like to keep things open source there's also Shotcut and Kdenlive.

[mavhc]

I wonder if it was gpu drivers causing the crash.

 

Shotcut doesn't install if you have Exploit Protection on

[slugshead]

I'm premiere pro through and through.

[Gongalong]

I wonder if it was gpu drivers causing the crash.

This was on a machine with an nVidia card, latest drivers. I have just replaced that machine with a current i7 and 32GB of RAM (seem to have AMD Radeon RX640 and Intel UHD Graphics 750) so will see how it goes. Aside from the crashing, Resolve has a bit of a steep learning curve. I would like something that can produce minimal but professional looking videos (i.e. not Movie Maker!) with less of a learning curve.

[mavhc]

https://animoto.com/education/classroom

[Gongalong]

I'm premiere pro through and through.

 

I've never used Premiere. Is it usable for a beginner, or steep learning curve?

[verysmartbenn]

I used to use PremierPro, that was the most affordable and best option. But you can also use DaVanci Resolve, but it takes some time to get your head round it.

[Bompalompalomp]

In terms of supported content and capability, it's Premiere Pro all the way for me, especially with AE included in the full subscription. But it depends what you need it for, if you only need to create simple trims and edits with basic titles, something like OpenCut will do the job. If you're looking to edit quite a lot, you will quickly start to rely on Premiere (speaking for myself at least). I've ended up doing near feature-length content on there.

 

Learning curve on Premiere isn't too steep, I took a day or two when we were WFH to get a feel for the timeline and workspaces and just improved on it since then.

[Gongalong]

I'm looking for a middle ground, so more than Movie Maker has to offer, but probably less than Premiere. The videos I'm making are fairly minimal - typically compiling photo slideshows with title cards and transitions - but I'd still like them to look better than standard Movie Maker fare, ideally without having to learn too much.

[TechMonkey]

We've started deploying VSDC. I've not used it in anger yet, but the Music department have been using it without any tuition from us so can't be too bad.

[LeMarchand]

Might be a bit simple, but Photostory 3 still runs on W11. You can add titles, sound/music and narration while it auto zooms the pics (and, on testing, auto fades the music at the end). Found this example of work on YT with some familiar music...

 

 

Dead easy to use, too.

[Gongalong]

It's trying to strike that balance of simple but still looks good

[LeMarchand]

It's trying to strike that balance of simple but still looks good

 

I've been watching Hotel del Luna on Netflix and virtually every episode has a couple of photomontages that could well have been done in PhotoStory!

[barnabythebear]

+1 for DaVinci Resolve. It's always been stable for me (mac).

 

Thanks,

 

Nige.