[blacky]

I just bought a Panasonic Lumix LX5 which takes 720p video in either .mov or avchd lite (.M2TS files).

I am well impressed with the video straight out of the camera, it looks ace in both formats but i understand .movs are a pain to work with. I have tried converting to .avi to use in windows movie maker, but they look shit.  Can anyone recommend an editor for about £50 or less that could work reliably with either of these formats?

I don't particularly want anything fancy just the ability to string footage from a few files together with transitions and add a sound track etc.

[slackline]

Try these recent threads on video editing software for some ideas...

Thread 1

Thread 2

[blacky]

 :oops:Cheers, some useful info, and admittedly i should have put more effort into searching, but no body has really answered my question about editing software and .mov and AVCHD lite.

....Anyway, I downloaded the trial version of Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 and it seems brilliant. Deals with .mov files no problem and seems to accept AVCHD lite too (but i haven't rendered anything in that yet).

Quickly edited and rendered this and posted directly to you tube:


If the AVCHD functionality checks out I'll definitely be buying this....

[GCW]

It depends on your program.  .mov is fine, I use it as my export file coded as h264 which I think  is a good balance of quality and size.

[Paul B]

Did the Prism converter linked in the other threads not meet your needs?

From a problem I encountered earlier I found that very few editors can directly edit footage compressed with a capture codec as they're simply not meant to be used like that.

Vegas pro was my solution although intermediate codecs such as cineform etc. are the other alternative (in conjunction with the above).

More info here (skip to the transcoding section).

[GCW]

Both Vegas Pro and Adobe Premier Pro CS3 and above are fine with both those formats.  I know Unc likes to capture then re-import his stuff, but I've never had a problem with single program usage.

[Paul B]

Both Vegas Pro

Only the latest versions can edit and preview these smoothly (i.e. with a working useable preview window).

[GCW]

Sorry, forgot to say 6 and beyond.

[Paul B]

Sorry, forgot to say 6 and beyond.

sorry to come across as a pedant but you need 10 for DSLR footage. I had Pro 9 and although it would edit and render h.264 footage, the preview windows was woeful. The beta from HV20.com was that Pro 10 or transcoding is necessary.

[GCW]

Pedant is good!!  I don't know shit about SLR stuff, Paul, so feel free to correct!

[Johnny Brown]

Just wasted an hour and a half trying to find a quick a simple way to trim down some .mts AVCHD files from my LX5. Any tips?

Whilst on the subject, what is a good general format/ size etc for sending to non-techy others?

[Paul B]

trim them and keep them in the same format?

The second part of the question needs more information, how do you intend to send it?

Mainly you'll be governed by filesize, h.264 .mp4 files would be a good place to start. Just select a bitrate and resolution (I'm guessing you're non techy recipeint doesn't need or want 720p etc.) that fits your needs.

[r-man]

Just wasted an hour and a half trying to find a quick a simple way to trim down some .mts AVCHD files from my LX5. Any tips?

I think mpegstreamclip might do it, if all you want to do is chop the ends of a video file.

Windows movie maker is also pretty simple.

Whilst on the subject, what is a good general format/ size etc for sending to non-techy others?

I find the easiest thing to do is stick them on youtube and select the privacy option that allows you to share the video only with the people who have the link. That way you don't have to worry about your friend having the right software or being able to figure out how to open the file.

[Paul B]

VirtualDub is very very powerful but can be used quite easily for basics such as this.

[dave]

Dead easy movie editing? Use iMovie on your macbook. Oh hang on....

[Johnny Brown]

Thanks chaps, I'm working on a project with a few others using a shared dropbox. Ihave some videos that another member asked I put in the dropbox. As these are of drop tests there is a lot of waiting and not a lot of action. I figured I'd just trim them down first.

In the course of banging my head against this wall I have realised the others are unlikely to be able to watch .mts files simply anyway, so I might as well convert them to something more widely supported.

I haven't got Wondows Movie maker, and the licensing on Premiere Pro expired when I started it. VirtualDub looks somewhat confusing and I can't find if it supports .mts?

No wonder I haven't got into video. Any primers out there folks can recommend?

Dead easy movie editing? Use iMovie on your macbook. Oh hang on....

...iMovie doesn't support .mts. First thing I tried - fucking useless as ever.

[slackline]

I know dick all about video editing, but use Handrbrake for ripping DVDs.

It can also be used to transcode from one format to another, perhaps the widely used mp4 which is the default container that Handbrake spits stuff out in (although you can specify what you want).

Here's a video tutorial (not by, nor tested by me)...

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Movie maker is a free download but if imovie doesn't support the format I doubt MM will. YouTube now has a built in basic editor ideal for trimming. If mts is compatible that might work.

[dave]

I've never had any trouble editing  the avchd .mts files from the gf1 in imovie11.

So desperate to say it just works.

[Paul B]

The above suggestions are lossy.

What do you intend to edit in eventually?

I've got both Lightworks (free and powerful but confusing) and Vegas 10 Pro. Both of these seemed to deal with my LX5 files fine.

Before, when I had problems with Vegas not liking the videos out of my 5dII I needed to use a converter (virtualdub) to put the videos into a intermediary codec. I used the Matrox codec as it was the free version of the popular cineform (guide here).

However, if your editor can handle editing in the native format from the LX5 its maybe best not to trim them and then re-render unless you REALLY need to. You can do it in batches but it isn't that fast.

Doing so to a h.264 codec or similar is lossy (hence Matrox, Cineform) I believe so best avoided but it completely depends on how serious your project is I guess?

When I was converting to a lossless codec before editing there was a Mac/Apple program for doing the same that Vincent LaForet and others were constantly mentioning, sorry the name evades me (Edit: Compressor 4, also R-mans suggestion seems to be used for similar converison . Now I think video editors are built to be compatible to remove this laborious step.

As I said, Virtualdub will allow you to simply trim video files and export them in the same format: http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/294103-using-virtual-dub-to-trim-videos

[Johnny Brown]

I don't have any intention to edit these eventually, some other guys just want to view them. I don't care if its lossy as I'm trying to reducing the filesize along with reducing the length. Quality really is low on the priorities...

Okay, just installed VirtualDub - it doesn't support the files. Ditto MPEG Streamclip. Back to square one.

I've never had any trouble editing  the avchd .mts files from the gf1 in imovie11.

Unfortunately mine came with imovie 09, and I don't really want to throw any cash at this. Thankfully the windows version is free, I will try that.

[Paul B]

It requires a plugin or two but it DOES work:
http://lightworks.wikidot.com/avchd-workflow

You might find it simpler to convert using Prism (linked in the Matrox tutorial) and then trim using VDub. However, Vegas etc. (I've got no experience of IMovie) enable you to do it easily in one step.

I'd wrongly presumed this was a video project or something 

[Johnny Brown]

Well Windows Movie Maker came up trumps - free, simple and did the job very quickly. Lesson learned in trying to be too clever I guess!

It looked like VirtualDub would require me to install Quicktime and then piss around - not the simple solution I was after. Will have to investigate workflows for future though - doesn't sound like there is a generally used system?

[Paul B]

I think currently most of the big players can handle/edit most native file formats so until RAW video becomes common you'll be safe with one of those. Apart from Lightworks, these aren't free. Lightworks was so different to any of the others I've used that I really struggled with it.

Obviously you can use WMM but with DSLR footage it's likely you'd need to do some of the faff I posted about aboce (i.e. avoid).

[SA Chris]

Anyone know what editing packages you use to correct green colour casts from filming underwater?