My father asked if I knew of any consumer editing programs on the cheap. He has a Windows but I don't even want to suggest him the maze of Avid, FCP is out of the question and He doesn't require a monthly subscription for Premiere. Does anyone know of a cheap editing software that's worth its price?
Thanks reddit!
Posted Apr 22, 2014, 2:54 AM UTC
Sony Vegas is usually pretty good for amateurs; haven't used it in 5 years though
Movie Studio, the consumer version, is actually pretty good now.
thanks!
You may want to pay a visit to r/videoediting. In the sidebar is a beginner's guide, which is basically an overview of various non-linear editors out there. I'd say pop over there, download demo versions, see which ones you like.
You can snag Premiere (and just Premiere) for $20/mo from Adobe, and Sony Movie Studio/Vegas, while it doesn't always get a lot of love, is a good option too. There's also Premiere Elements, and Lightworks, which probably are worth checking out too.
If you want to develop this as a hobby (or potentially future career), I wouldn't worry too much about what program you grab. Learning the art of editing is more important than the nuts and bolts of an individual editing system. Once you know how to cut something well, the rest is just re-learning shortcuts and workflows, which is relatively trivial.
Thanks, I'm an editor by trade but I never learned of the lower end programs as mentioned in the post. I'll forward that intro guide to my dad though, thanks!
Well, that entirely depends on how far you want to go with it. On the cheap/free side of things you have everything from Windows Movie Maker to Lightworks. What does he want to do with it?
Edit some family video.
WMM should work if it's really light editing. :)