Video Editing Software Recommendations

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

So, I'm planning to start my own YouTube channel and attempt to do some Q&A regarding the state of gaming, the gaming industry, games in general, etc. I've been a gamer for most of my life, my first game and gaming system was Asteroids for the Atari 2600 (if memory serves me correctly) and I've generally grown up with games as my main hobby. I've pretty much been on the consumer side of the gaming industry and I wish to add my voice, thoughts and opinions about all things gaming. I also enjoy comedy; especially in the forms of satire, social criticism and observational comedy. My favorite comedians in these fields are Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Sam Kinison, Lenny Bruce, Billy Connolly and Eddie Izzard and I wish to add my own brand of comedy, having learned from them, with my criticisms when I eventually get my channel up and functional.

However, I'm not as mechanically inclined as I'd like to be...so I need some advice on these matters. I don't have a webcam, but I do have a Sony DCR-SX85 digital video camera recorder. Basically, all I want to do is have basic intro animations and music with a fade into me, doing my thing and then ending with a fade out with outro music and animations. I'm new at doing this so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Captcha: snow shovel

Fuck. You. Captcha. Winter is gone!

 

[AWAR]

Windows movie maker is good enough for what you want. Sony Vegas is the best program if you want more imho.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Windows movie maker is good enough for what you want. Sony Vegas is the best program if you want more imho.

I assume both are downloadable? Sorry about asking to be drawn a map, but...ya know...new to things like this.

EDIT: Nevermind, just looked. If you don't mind me asking, what's the most notable differences between the two programs?

 

[AWAR]

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Well, WMM is a very basic video editing tool. The differences between the two are comparable to the differences between MS Paint and Photoshop. I'm sure you will be okay with movie maker though. It's quite easy to use.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

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Well, WMM is a very basic video editing tool. The differences between the two are comparable to the differences between MS Paint and Photoshop. I'm sure you will be okay with movie maker though. It's quite easy to use.

Thanks for the info! I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes.

 

[SnowyGamester]

As said, since you're keeping it simple using Windows Movie Maker should suffice, as long as you don't play on ever doing anything even slightly fancy. Movie Maker basically allows you to cut clips together, put transitions between them and add text and sound - anything else and you're probably stuck. If you want to do something more complex on the other hand, Sony Vegas is probably the way to go, or alternatively the much cheaper and almost equally as capable Sony Movie Studio Platinum. The various versions of Vegas mostly just add a number of professional level features that the vast majority of users will never use (or notice missing), and at 4-9x the price of Movie Studio it simply isn't worth it. This is only speculation, but I'm guessing the reason that Vegas is recommended so often is because it's the one everyone pirates since nobody really bothers with the slightly cut-down versions. Regardless, you can get a trial of Movie Studio from the Sony website here [http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials/moviestudio].

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

As said, since you're keeping it simple using Windows Movie Maker should suffice, as long as you don't play on ever doing anything even slightly fancy. Movie Maker basically allows you to cut clips together, put transitions between them and add text and sound - anything else and you're probably stuck. If you want to do something more complex on the other hand, Sony Vegas is probably the way to go, or alternatively the much cheaper and almost equally as capable Sony Movie Studio Platinum. The various versions of Vegas mostly just add a number of professional level features that the vast majority of users will never use (or notice missing), and at 4-9x the price of Movie Studio it simply isn't worth it. This is only speculation, but I'm guessing the reason that Vegas is recommended so often is because it's the one everyone pirates since nobody really bothers with the slightly cut-down versions. Regardless, you can get a trial of Movie Studio from the Sony website here [http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials/moviestudio].

Awesome! And thanks, I'll give this a go and see what I can't do with it!

EDIT: Just went through the tutorial. This thing's got pretty much everything I need to start doing what I want to do! Now comes the part where I have to wait until I have time off of work and get to doing it. Thanks again to both of you guys, AWAR and Snowy!