The Latest PC Editing Programs

Which Do I Need and Which Should I Buy?

Newcomers to digital video creation on PC really have two choices for software editing programs, 1. Go with the free built in Windows Movie Maker (or other free equivalent like pinnacle’s VideoSpin) 2. Purchase one of the many software packages that run around $100. This post addresses the most important question that arises from these two options: Do I need to pay for a program and if so, which should I buy?

The part of the question “Do I need to pay for a program?” can be answered by asking yourself if you feel limited by the capabilities of Movie Maker or whatever free software you use. There is nothing wrong with free as long as you don’t feel the need to do more than what the program offers. If you feel held back by the limitations, by all means spend the money and get a stand-alone editing program. I promise you will not regret the decision.

The answer to “Which should I buy?” used to be a convoluted one, but as of late, two programs, Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate and Adobe Premiere Elements 4, have emerged at the top of every list.

The reason Studio 11 and Elements fare so well is because of two very important concepts: Support and Cross-Compatibility. Other PC editors like Roxio Easy Media Creator, Corel Ulead VideoStudio, and Sony Vegas are created by companies whose main target is not video products. Sony is new to the video software marketplace and their editors, though not bad, require a lot of prior technical knowledge and don’t integrate all the video processes (capture, edit, export) very well. Corel is known for their Draw software, and again cannot compete within the video editing landscape that for so long has been dominated by Pinnacle and Adobe. Roxio makes CD burning software for God’s sake!

If you are serious about video-making, go with Adobe Elements 4 or Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate. It is worth the investment and the wonderful support, and frequent updates insure your software will not become outdated a few months after your purchase.

Another good reason to go with one of these two? MindBites will be providing feedback and instructional videos for these platforms to further your enablement as an author. You can already find two Premiere Elements videos (Beginners Guide, Intro to Animation), and one on Pinnacle Studio 11 is soon to come.

Tags: Corel, Movie Maker, Peremiere Elements, Pinnacle, Roxio, Studio 11, Ulead, VideoSpin | Posted in Video Production and Publishing | 1 Comment »