tech set up question time!

[lola]

Hi all! It's time to talk about technology! We always like to crowdsource our knowledge and use this as a place we can figure things out together.

For those of you have already decided on your editing software, what are you planning to use? If you’ve edited before, anyone planning on switching editing softwares and trying something new?

And for those of you just starting out, what hardware are you planning on using (Mac, PC, chromebook, ipad)? Have you tried any editing software before?

Here are some resources we shared last year.... let's update this list as we go! (We've also added a few specific tutorials for some of the vexercises...)

Some lists of software options:

• Free
• Full list with prices listed
• Davinci Resolve Lola has used this and loved it. It's free, and just as powerful as Premiere, but felt more intuitive. I’ve (Yvette) started playing around with it myself and I am considering switching - I’ve been having a ton of issues with Premiere Pro and DVR feels really streamlined and I agree with Lola - it’s much more intuitive. I also really like the colour coding on the tracks on the timeline and a bunch of other things (oh and the fact it’s free, haha)
• Wondershare Filmora A somewhat affordable and intuitive first step video editing software.

Some decent tutorials on YouTube:

• Excellent Davinci Resolve Tutorial
• Another good Davinci Resolve
• This is a great Da Vinci Resolve tutorial playlist

• Yvette and Lola both endorse this vlogger for Premiere Pro
• A whole tutorial playlist on Filmora
• LumaFusion Tutorial for Beginners

Additional Resources

There are some great affordable tools for screengrabbing and downloading (like, from YouTube).

• 4K downloader (stellar tool) for getting HQ files and mp3’s from YouTube, though I'd recommending getting premium to get the 1080p HD files...
• Movavi is great for screencapturing things, well, playing on your screen

We can add to this list as we find more and get a sense of what software folks are using!

Comments

[seekingferret]

I switch between Kdenlive (Free Open Source Software) and Da Vinci Resolve (Free but not open source) as my editor depending on my project- I tend to switch over to DVR for more effects heavy projects, but I'm generally more comfortable and thus vid faster in Kdenlive.

Other software I use for vidding includes:

Avidemux for clipping
Audacity for audio editing
Glimpse for image editing/making title artwork
ffmpeg for reencoding/modifying source - this is an amazing resource for using ffmpeg: https://amiaopensource.github.io/ffmprovisr/

[allekha]

I tried Resolve, but at the time and on my system, it became unusably laggy even applying all the advice I could find. Personally, I also found the coloring tools hard to use well, although I did really like the effects workflow. But it's definitely worth trying, since it is free, and hopefully whatever issue I had has been fixed since it's been a couple years.

For making vids, I use Premiere now, which runs much better for me. I also use yt-dlp for grabbing HD videos from YouTube and almost anywhere else, ffmpeg for re-encoding, Audacity for audio editing, and Aegisub for making subtitles.

[bluedreaming]

I’m thinking of using Shotcut but we’ll see; I haven’t used it much yet, and my computer is older now (PC, windows 10). The 4K downloader looks great; thanks for that link!

[trickybonmot]

I've been using DaVinci Resolve on a rather old Macbook. The problem right now is that my media is stored on an external USB drive, and I think that's making it laggy. It's not bad if I work with lower-res files. Anyway I'm hoping I can figure out how to move the files without losing all the clipping and in-progress vids...

[justanorthernlight]

I use Da Vinci Resolve and really like it. I had tried some other freeware before using it but they were really laggy. I find Resolve overall responsive and intuitive, the only major issue I get is when clips get 'media offline' errors. Sometimes relinking the clip works, other times it does not.

I don't have the tutorial I used, but I also use Handbrake and VLC media player to rip DVDs of source material.

[goodbyebird]

I've played some with an older version of Adobe Premiere on my Mac, but it is barely chugging along. Have a new laptop at home, so will be browsing for options next month (windows). I am definitely not buying into Adobe's subscription nonsense.

beccatoria has a comprehensive list of tutorials, Vidding on Linux: Anyone can do it! Honest!, and thingswithwings' recent how I edit audio for vidding is most excellent (but not tech centered).

[extrapenguin]

Oooo, a way to get Cinelerra working? I might just try swapping to that for this round of vexercises. Kdenlive is nice, but the grass might just be greener... Thank you for the link!

[goodbyebird]

np! Hope it works out.

[marah_sarie]

I'm using Final Cut Pro on a Mac. I really like its tagging/keyword system -- you clip within the programme by tagging sections of the source with keywords, then these are automatically organised into folders for you. I also use Handbrake for converting source files, e.g. mkv to mp4.

[valoise]

The tagging feature is the main reason I continue to use FCP, it is so convenient

[colls]

I use FCP and am very interested in how you clip within the program. I made a vid a couple years ago without pre-clipping and hated it - I assume I'm not using the program to its full potential or something?

[naye]

I am stuck in the claws of Adobe. I had used Photoshop when I started vidding, and Premiere is... fairly intuitive? If you're used to Adobe? And now that I have pancake timelines for the sources I want to use (I have been ignoring the Vexercise source limit since day 1!) it's even more impossible to move away from. I actually have DVR downloaded, but I don't think I'll have the energy to force myself to learn a new program when I could use an old one I know. (And yes it's ridiculously expensive and Adobe are evil but I am resigned to just...deal for the peace of mind of having what I'm used to.)

My computer is a gaming Dell (G7), a couple of years old and running Windows 10. Works pretty great most of the time, though Premiere of course does completely crash every once in a while. Sometimes so hard it destroys the entire project file! I've learned to save frequent copies of the project I am working on just in case. (I also had Premiere delete all shortcuts and refuse to import any shortcut files, though I could make shortcuts from scratch and save them. This was true for all of 2020 and 2021 - and yes, I tried resinstalling it and everything! But with the 2022 update I finally have all the shortcuts that come with the program, so that's nice.)

I still use torrents to get sources (with VPN active, and my good antivirus helping me stay clean on the shadier torrent sites), and since some files are only available in MKV I use the brilliant HandBrake to convert them to MP4.

[aurumcalendula]

I'm still using Sony Movie Studio to vid (I should try Da Vinci Resolve again).

MakeMKV is very helpful for getting source off of blu ray and JDownloader has been useful for getting files off sites 4K Downloader doesn't support. I use Handbrake to convert them the mp4 and/or get rid of the audio.

[smilebackwards]

Dang, it sounds like everyone is using some really cool stuff! I'm still using iMovie and I find it pretty easy except it drives me crazy that I can't hold stuff in a specific place on the timeline. Like I have to vid linearly or put in placeholder clips and then fix a lot of timing at the end. Really interested to try DaVinci Resolve!

[nu_breed]

This is the only problem with iMovie! (I learned to vid using it and it's great in many other ways) I do know at least one vidder who has used it for many years though so maybe there are workarounds with that, I wonder if anyone else knows of ways around this issue and can chime in!

[alba17]

I use Final Cut Pro. I’m still learning it. Still not good at organizing within it. I also use 4k downloader mostly to get music. I use VLC to convert MKV to mp4. So far I don't really clip. I used to when I used an older version of Final Cut. I've tried using the keywords and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth for the sources I was using which didn't have that many hours. Also I didn’t have things organized correctly to use it effectively.

[reshiel]

-waves- Hi! I just joined here not long ago, glad to meet everyone! This is a wonderful resource post and thank you for all the links.

I've used Sony Vegas since I started vidding, though I recently got an Adobe subscription through uni and am hoping to pick up either Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

[impala_chick]

Thanks for the links! I think I'm going to give Davinci resolve for linux a shot.

[nu_breed]

I'm loving it!!!