Music and Video software

[Nate]

Help a brother out CW.

As it says on the tin, what is the best music and/or video editing software out there? Is the free stuff any good? Or is it worth paying for a better product?

Preferably looking for something with an easy-to-navigate UI.

PC not Mac obvs.

 

[Maximas]

What kind of stuff are you trying to make? Do you need the same program for music/video editing?

 

[Dan]

My girlfriend recommends Cyberlink PowerDirector for video editing, but having just googled, it isn't exactly the cheapest thing going.

 

[Nate]

Doesn't need to be the same program.

VE for stuff from my camera to upload to YouTube. SE so I can record stuff from a microphone, and cut it and whatnot, sometimes with a musical overlay (already created).

 

[Athlai]

Well what do you want it for? I'm guessing you don't want to pay thousands.

 

[Maximas]

A free program such as Audacity should cover you for recording stuff from a mic.

As for movie editing I don't know quite so much about programs like that but if it's pretty basic then give windows movie maker a shot but the adobe premiere is the only other PC VE program I've used, and it's a pretty expensive program and it's probably not worth the investment if you aren't looking to spend a lot of time editing and put heaps of effort in to make it all professional or whatever

 

[Athlai]

A free program such as Audacity should cover you for recording stuff from a mic.

As for movie editing I don't know quite so much about programs like that but if it's pretty basic then give windows movie maker a shot but the adobe premiere is the only other PC VE program I've used, and it's a pretty expensive program and it's probably not worth the investment if you aren't looking to spend a lot of time editing and put heaps of effort in to make it all professional or whatever

Windows movie maker is really bad for editing. So crash heavy.

 

[Maximas]

Windows movie maker is really bad for editing. So crash heavy.

I've not really found that, but the exporting options and the overall lack of decent features makes it very limiting to use. It is simple to use though

 

[Athlai]

I've not really found that, but the exporting options and the overall lack of decent features makes it very limiting to use. It is simple to use though

I should have probably put a stress on the word "editing", movie maker is a solid enough basic program but if you're looking to do anything moderately fancy with the edit (ala for a music video) then it just breaks.

 

[Maximas]

Haha yeah, if you are trying to do anything remotely meaningful beyond cutting/shifting footage around and adding titles and such in the editing process I would be looking to other programs tbh

 

[Athlai]

And when Maximas says cutting/shifting thats exactly what he means, adding after effects in Windows Movie Maker is literally death. Fine for cutting footage and audio though. I remember back in the early 2000s it was my go-to for cutting audio.

 

[Nate]

Yeah sadly WMM ain't gonna cut it. Well it would cut it, but, er...

 

[hendrix]

Music:

- Reaper is free until you feel guilty enough to pay for it, and is actually set up like a proper DAW; unlike Garageband which is very dumbed down.

I have no idea about video editing sorry.

 

[dogwalker]

Reaper isn't free any more, is it?

 

[hendrix]

I dunno I caved and payed for it a couple of months ago. I think it was like $60. Great software.

 

[dogwalker]

I must check it out. I need a DAW to record demos. Used Cubase and Nuendo before. I have Ableton lying around somewhere but I didn't like the UI for whatever reason. I'll be recording "organic" instruments, I guess it seemed too focused on electronic stuff.

 

[sledger]

I used Adobe Premier Pro loads when I was working. Pretty heavy going though - not sure how expensive it is, but I imagine it's not especially cheap.