Video editor/DVD burner

[geoffL]

I'm wanting to get some software for occasional video editing, DVD creation, burning, audio editing etc.

Roxio creator 2010 looks like it has all the features I need for about £35. However, it seems to get VERY mixed reviews with some struggling to even get it running at all....

I need to run it on Windows 7 64bit.

Any other contenders I should be looking at which are recommended?

Cheers

[hech54]

Most of the "all in one" softwares like Roxio and Nero really are frowned apon by people who edit video often....like me.
There are much better alternatives....both free and inexpensive...to start off with. You'll need to verify the Windows 7 64bit stuff yourself though since many hobby video editors like myself are NOT impressed with Windows 7's habit of hiding video and audio codecs "right out of the box"....DUMB move Microsoft.
For simple mpeg2/DVD cuts....my favorite is Womble MPEGVCR:
http://www.womble.com/products/vcr.html
*Does not re-encode/degrade the video.

For demuxing(separating audio from video for audio enhancement)...same as above.

Audio enhancement - Goldwave:
http://www.goldwave.com/
*Never-ending trialware...at least for older versions

Multi track audio - Reaper:
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/
*Looks scary but it's not - older versions are also never-ending trialware.

Audio PLUS Video editing - Magix Movie Edit
http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/
*same as the "big boys" but easier to use. Even the cheap version is money well spent.

TMPGEnc also makes a complete line of products. I use several of them occasionally when I feel the need:
http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/index.html

What it boils down to is this...software like Nero and Roxio are like a LONG putt in golf...."too much green in between". Much can and will go wrong(like re-encoding already DVD-Ready video and audio)...without your knowledge.

For example....
The best CD/DVD burner available today is a free one called ImgBurn(Image Burn). It does one thing...burns CD and DVD.
Unlike software like Nero...ImgBurn is not a video/audio player, recorder, audio editor, video transcoder, photo editor, cover designer, video editor, drive tester, damaged file rescuer, etc etc etc...it does one thing and does it VERY well....along with the other softwares I mentioned above.

www.videohelp.com is a GREAT place to start.

[geoffL]

Thanks - some great refs here. Just what I needed. Cheers

[hech54]

My main problem with simple MPEG2 cutters (like Womble listed above) is that one reacts completely differently that the other.
Many of them have the same terminology of "Mark In" and Mark out"....the start and end points of where you want your cuts.....BUT...on one program....what is between those two "marks"....that is what will be kept.....and on another program....that is what will be deleted.

Also realize that DVDs have a certain structure comprised of mainly "VOB files". Each VOB file can only be about 1GB in size(according to DVD standards). A movie can be nearly 4GB in size. That means that the movie is spread over a series of 3 or 4 VOB files(more for a dual layer DVD - long movie).
The point I am trying to make is....there are tools(free ones) that can pull(or rip) the movie from the DVD, eliminating those annoying VOB files, giving you one giant lump of MPEG2 video your you to edit....even if you are talking about homemade DVDs of family movies made in a DVD recorder...the above rules still apply.

[Gromit]

I've always been impressed with Sony's range of editors. Why not give them a try, they have free trial versions so you've nothing to lose.

[DaveS]

I second ImgBurn, I use it myself, and I also use a fair bit of fairly serious video software (Avid Media Composer, Sorenson Squeeze 6 etc)
Dave

[hech54]

Sony Vegas is gross overkill for many projects...and a terribly gross overkill for a newbie.

[Gromit]

Sony Vegas is gross overkill for many projects...and a terribly gross overkill for a newbie.

I'd disagree there. The Movie Studio range are designed for newbies, reasonably priced, but also allow room for growth should the user want more advanced facilities.