Video editing software

Josey Wales · Jan 2, 2019

I'd like to ask some advice from my fellow video creators.

So it appears as if Windows Movie Maker has been discontinued. This has been my go to video, text and narration editing program for all of my Combat Mission videos and I am struggling to find an adequate replacement.

I have tried Shotcut but found it to be too clunky and I am now experimenting with Hitfilm Express which is better but still not ideal as text editing is cumbersome and there is no narration recording software included (unlike Windows Movie Maker).

Is anyone aware of an accessible editing program which ideally has narration recording built in. I don't mind spending money on one but I don't want to waste my time and money on something that doesn't work for me. If no such program exists then I can live with getting a separate recording program, however the video editor would at the very least need to make it simple to add in text where I wanted without having to create composite shots.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

JW

Bootie · Jan 2, 2019

I use Adobe Premier Elements and its pretty easy to get around.

Hapless · Jan 2, 2019

I've been using Vegas Movie Studio 13 for years- picked it up at about 80% off in a Steam sale. I'm not sure if it allows you to record voice but its fairly straight forward to use (I record voice with Audacity (which is free) and then export it as a WAV and slot it into Vegas. This sounds more complicated than it is). Text is dead easy to add.

Or I think its simple to use anyway, I'm so used to it now everything is muscle memory and presets.

rocketman · Jan 2, 2019

Hapless said:
I've been using Vegas Movie Studio 13 for years- picked it up at about 80% off in a Steam sale. I'm not sure if it allows you to record voice but its fairly straight forward to use (I record voice with Audacity (which is free) and then export it as a WAV and slot it into Vegas. This sounds more complicated than it is). Text is dead easy to add.

Or I think its simple to use anyway, I'm so used to it now everything is muscle memory and presets.

@Josey Wales If this is your option the Steam sale closes soon, tomorrow I think.

DoubleD · Jan 2, 2019

My editing tool is Cyberlink PowerDirector. I've used it for a few years, just because it was on offer at the time. It has integrated voice recording, just took me a couple of videos to get the volumes right for speaker audio versus a news set of headphones. It's got loads of functionality, far more than I know how to use, but the basic stuff is simple.

Concord · Jan 3, 2019

@Josey Wales when you say discontinued - can you still download it and use it?
I use Windows Movie Maker too, for the same ease you mentioned.
From memory, I downloaded it about a year ago, and it's still working fine.

Concord · Jan 3, 2019

When I looked into editing software a couple of years ago, the problem was too many choices. That hasn't changed.
Started to research free and paid software, but it was a daunting task.

Josey Wales · Jan 3, 2019

Concord said:
@Josey Wales when you say discontinued - can you still download it and use it?
I use Windows Movie Maker too, for the same ease you mentioned.
From memory, I downloaded it about a year ago, and it's still working fine.

Mine just seemed to disappear from my desktop. I can't find the program anywhere and can't download a new one, hence the search for another editor. The whole process is a bit of a chore as you have mentioned as you can watch demos, read reviews, ask opinions etc but video editing seems to be such a personal thing that what works for person A doesn't necessarily mean it will work for person B. Until you download something and try it out for yourself you just don't know if it will work for you.

I really appreciate the input on this thread. I tried Adobe Premier Elements demo and must admit I found it very intuitive and easy to use, however the transitions from clip to clip weren't really gelling together very well.

A couple of guys on the BF forums mentioned DaVinci Resolve. I downloaded it but couldn't get it to run.

So I looked at @Hapless 's suggestion of Vegas Movie Studio and thanks to @rocketman I got the 2015 version on the Steam sale. This one looks like it will work for me after trialling out a short mini film so thanks for that one guys. I'll also get Audacity for the voice narration.

Cheers all.