schwank

I used to use Premiere but don't have current software and it is way too expensive for average race movie editing at home.

I have a AT Pro license but it is only really useful for cropping and converting to web format. I would like something a little better than can do transitions and text and such. I don't need tons of channels, but a midrange type software... what is in that category?

And a Mac ain't an option. Ever.

sjfehr

Who actually pays for Premiere, though? It might as well be free, just like Photoshop and MS Office.

My biggest complaint with Premiere is that it's too powerful- you almost have to be a professional to use it properly.

weneversleep

On the PC, try VideoReDo. It's the gold standard for "consumer" video editing, before you start paying big $$$ for "professional" programs.

mdrums

I have Mac Book Pro. What software do you suggest for HD video editing? What is the best bang for the buck to do some simple work with HD video?

thanks!

ervtx

I have a 3-yr old MacBook Pro that came with iMovie HD 6; works just fine. My camera shoots 1080i, so I also use JES Deinterlacer to convert iMovie output to 720p and remove the jagged artifacts. If your camera shoots 720p, iMovie may be all you need.

new914owner

i have a mac now but when i had a pc i used adobe premier

Bryan Watts

Forget the Mac...video editing is ALL about processing power and memory. You can buy a faster, more powerful PC for less $$ than you can buy a Mac and still have $$ leftover to buy a good piece of software for the editing. The video editing software mentioned here (Quicktime Pro, etc) is all available for a PC as well (and unless you need it to be a laptop, get a desktop...more power, less $$). There's nothing inherently "better" about a white case with an Apple logo on it when it comes to processing video.

facelvega

Do you want something like this:

PE Dual Effects Test

I think that you should be able to do what you want with Premier Elements (PE). I use Aiptek camera, Traqmate for data, Trackvision to put together data and video. You need to have Trackvision save the video in a format that PE will work with.

Load your first video (from camera or file). Drag it down to the Video 1 timeline. Double click on the picture in the Monitor area - it should show handles so that you can manipulate it. Drag a corner down to shrink the image, so there is room for two images on the screen. Now grab the center, and drag the whole image to a corner of the monitor area.

Now load a second video. Drag it down to the Video 2 timeline. Double click to select it in the Monitor area, shrink it, move it, and your screen should look something like this:




If all you do is shrink the images, you end up with a lot of blank screen. The important part of typical track video is a thin strip in the middle - the view out the front windshield. If you crop the top and bottom of the image, you can fit two videos on screen that fill the screen side to side.

To crop, select "Effects and Transitions", the icon at the upper left that looks like a square with a star at the lower right. One the list is open, click on "Video Effects", then on "Transform". You will then see a number of available effects, one of which is "Crop". Grab the Crop effect and drag it on top of one of the video images in the Monitor area. You will see that there is now a Crop property that has appeared on the right hand side "Properties" area. Click on this and you will have the ability to drag any or all of the four corners of the image in to crop the image.

Repeat this with the other image. After both are cropped into thinner ribbons, you can drag them larger again and reposition them where you want them. The screen should look like this:



Are you are comparing a slower lap to a faster one (by you or another driver)? If you just run the split screen, the slow lap just gets farther and farther behind. You should decide at which points on the track the most meaningful segments of the lap begin. Play the video until the faster lap is starting a segment, then hit pause. Click on the faster lap video to select it. Now click the "Split Clip" icon in the Monitor area. You have created a break in the fast lap video at this point. Now you can drag it to the right until it matches up with the same point on the slow lap. In this way you can have both videos starting the same sequence at the same time. When you view it, the fast lap will just go blank until the slow lap catches up, then they will both show simultaneously again.

The example video clip is just 2 random videos, not of the same track. It starts out with both videos shrunken so that they fit, then at 6 seconds they are cropped and expanded, then at 10 seconds there is a gap where one was split and dragged to a later point on the other.

APKhaos

Very helpful post! You should stick around here. We need a resident PE geek.

Weston

If you're looking to do split-screen, picture-in-picture, camera switching, etc., RaceRender was designed specifically for that, and it costs a lot less than regular video editing software (most of which isn't really suited for this purpose anyway). It can do simple stuff like you'd get from a multi-input video processor box, as well as more advanced video production like this example, and basic datalogger overlays.

I use RaceRender to create most of our videos, and then just use Windows Movie Maker when I want to add titles or do traditional clip editing.

DrJupeman

I won't argue the antiquated pricing argument you started with. I buy hardware for work and find equally equipped a Mac = Dell in price and is superior quality. Period. But we can argue that some other time.

As for the box being better for video, true, it is software. Tough to beat the "free" iMovie HD out of the box. Want more? Final Cut Express? Want more than that Final Cut Studio. You're not going to beat Final Cut Studio's value when you're at the level.

Bryan Watts

Perhaps that's the case when buying with business discounts, but it's not the case in the real world for my customers. I provide IT support for small businesses and individuals, and because I live in the arts district full of artists and urbanite hipsters, I see a lot of Macs. Have two of my own. I can save my customers a lot of money going with PC's over Macs for those that don't need one or the other. There are other options out there besides an expensive Dell. Especially for something that is going to be used (and beat up) at the track or just used infrequently for converting video.

At the Apple Store online, I can get a 15" widescreen, 2.53 GHz, 4 GB, 250 GB Macbook Pro for $1699. At the Dell store, I can get a Latitude E5500 with 15.4" widescreen, 2.66 GHz, 4 GB, 250 GB for $1048. The only major difference is that the Apple has a dedicated video card, but that's not a $650 difference, and it's unnecessary for 95% of the laptop users I've ever encountered. It's not even necessary for processing and editing HD video. If I step up to a M4400 Precision Workstation to get the video card, I can still price out a similar machine at $1534.

As for quality, if we are comparing apples to apples, I find that the Dell Business class, Macbook Pro stuff, and Lenovo Business Class stuff are all pretty similar (speaking from a laptop standpoint, as"quality" matters very little to me when it comes to desktop machines). I get much better pricing on small orders from Lenovo and Dell, plus they have a larger refurb selection in their outlet stores.

If this is a desktop machine, and not a laptop, I can point out HUGE savings going with a PC over an Apple. I am about to put together a quad processor, 8 GB RAM desktop for about $650 in parts for one of my clients. All said and done, with a nice LCD, etc, you could easily have a quad processor, 8 GB RAM video editing beast for under $1000. Nothing Apple offers can touch that.

Software is a non-issue. I can buy software for a PC just like you can for a Mac. Most folks need nothing more than Quicktime Pro...$30 for a Windows machine. For that matter, most folks will use the software that comes with their camera. I suspect there's some free options that will work fine as well with a little research.

Sorry for the rant...too much time on my hands tonight to argue on the internet. Just tire of seeing a guy specifically asking for SOFTWARE advice for a PC get bombarded by Mac fanboys.

NJ-GT

This thread is very helpful.

I just got my TrackVision Pro upgraded to v2.1 by Tony (Thanks a lot). My Sony HDR-TG1 is recording videos in pretty good quality (1080p), I take the memory stick from the camcorder, place it in the Sony PC, use Trackvision to trim and sync Traqmate data. Then to DivX (to save disk space), then to vimeo.

facelvega, thanks for the info on Premiere. I just tested it, great stuff.

Essentially, I have been sharing my car at some autocrosses with National level drivers, and by playing videos side by side, I can evaluate strengths and weaknesses, combining the traqmate data in the analysis.

ninjabones

+1. I've used powerdirector in various versions for quite some time, mostly to edit family home videos. Very intuitive and easy to use (sound levels, transitions, titles, converting video files, one-touch function to directly download to youtube. I've been very happy with the product and it is relatively cheap. Here's an example: http://vimeo.com/5651600

Bryan Watts

Windows new Movie Marker program is now out of BETA. It's an "update" to the Movie Maker program that comes installed on XP/Vista machines. It will handle up to 1080P video, etc. Allows auto uploading to YouTube, and to other websites via plugins. Free for download:
http://download.live.com/moviemaker

Direct download link and more info here if you don't want to use the "Live Installer":
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/08...r-leaves-beta/

Edit: The new program is only for Vista and Win7 users. XP users are out of luck.