what are the software steps from amateur to pro?

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I am using Pinnacle Video Studio 9 and I want to learn how to use the REALLY
good stuff (Adobe Premiere Pro?) to make professional looking DVD's (chroma
keying, pip, blooper reels, dvd menus not from a template, filters, sound
affects etc etc) that look professionally done.

Here is my analogy. If I wanted to learn how to fly a plane I would not sit
at the controls of 747 and expect to know what to do, I would obviously sit
in a 1 prop Cesna and work my way up to the big planes. My question is this.
What is the route one would take, in a software point of view, to learn how
to make really good dvds? I am currently at Video Studio 9. What are your
suggestions on the next level of software? What route did you take?

Thank you to everyone who replies.

 

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nerdz_r_us wrote:
> I am using Pinnacle Video Studio 9 and I want to learn how to use the
> REALLY good stuff (Adobe Premiere Pro?) to make professional looking
> DVD's (chroma keying, pip, blooper reels, dvd menus not from a
> template, filters, sound affects etc etc) that look professionally
> done.
>
> Here is my analogy. If I wanted to learn how to fly a plane I would
> not sit at the controls of 747 and expect to know what to do, I would
> obviously sit in a 1 prop Cesna and work my way up to the big planes.
> My question is this. What is the route one would take, in a software
> point of view, to learn how to make really good dvds? I am currently
> at Video Studio 9. What are your suggestions on the next level of
> software? What route did you take?
>
> Thank you to everyone who replies.


No secret other than an interest in finding out "I wonder what happens when
I do this?"
My first NLE was the dpsVelocity (higher end than most of the ones used
here). When I first got it, I sat down and started playing. It was at
least a month before I even bothered to crack open the manual.

Grab the demo versions of Premiere Pro, Vegas and Avid Express DV (if they
have one) and start playing with them to see which one you're most
comfortable with. My personal preference is Vegas but that's because I'm a
long-time user of it (started with Vegas Audio and just moved up). The
Vegas manual is available for download on the Sony site and it's free.
There are numerous forums, books and training DVDs out there for all of
these programs. The most important thing is to play and then play some
more.

Mike

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 07:59:35 +1000, "nerdz_r_us"
<nerdz_r_us@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I am using Pinnacle Video Studio 9 and I want to learn how to use the REALLY
>good stuff (Adobe Premiere Pro?) to make professional looking DVD's (chroma
>keying, pip, blooper reels, dvd menus not from a template, filters, sound
>affects etc etc) that look professionally done.
>
>Here is my analogy. If I wanted to learn how to fly a plane I would not sit
>at the controls of 747 and expect to know what to do, I would obviously sit
>in a 1 prop Cesna and work my way up to the big planes. My question is this.
>What is the route one would take, in a software point of view, to learn how
>to make really good dvds? I am currently at Video Studio 9. What are your
>suggestions on the next level of software? What route did you take?
>
>Thank you to everyone who replies.


There's no point in buying software in steps. Premiere or Vegas (if
you don't know Vegas, take a look) can do the simple things.

Note that 99% of professional video DOESN'T use clever tricks. Watch
one of your favourite movies. Quite likely you've just spent 90
minutes and seen nothing more than cuts and an occasional crossfade.
Now watch an amateur video from someone who's just bought Premiere and
used every tricksy effect going. Annoying, isn't it?

Who do you want to be? Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder? Or
to produce MTV videos, frantically grabbing any eye-catching trick to
disguise that the basic material is boring?

 

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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 07:59:35 +1000, "nerdz_r_us"
<nerdz_r_us@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I am using Pinnacle Video Studio 9 and I want to learn how to use the REALLY
>good stuff (Adobe Premiere Pro?) to make professional looking DVD's (chroma
>keying, pip, blooper reels, dvd menus not from a template, filters, sound
>affects etc etc) that look professionally done.

As a Pinnacle Studio owner you can upgrade to Liquid Edition for
$299.95. This is a fantastic deal. LE6 will give you all of the
features you are looking for, and then some. Liquid Edition will
allow you to edit your video and author your DVD from the timeline. LE
6 will also allow you to capture and edit in MPEG2. You can also
capture and edit HDV (the new prosumer hi-def format).

http://www.videoguys.com/edition.html

As a next step up you do have other choices:

Premiere Pro & Encore DVD can be purchased together for $499.95 as
part of the Pyro Professional bundle. Premiere Pro is great, and
you'll find that together with Encore DVD & Audition, you'll have all
the features you are looking for.

Vegas 5 + DVD is one heck of a product. It has a very different look &
feel from other NLEs. This is because it is based on digital audio
editing software. Some folks take to it very quickly, wehile othewrs
find it harder to get a hold of. We include some great training in our
bundle, which will easily get you up & going.

Avid Xpress DV gets you strated editing the Avid way. That's the same
way over 75% of broadcast shows are done. From a pure editing point of
view (cutting, trimming and managing clips) nothing compares. Once
again, you'll want some training to get you going, and we include it
free for you to get started.

I feel I should also mention Ulead Media Studio pro. I don';t consider
it as stable or professional as the 4 apps mentioned above, but it is
very easy to use, and has the features you are looking for.

I've got an old articvle on our website that compares Vegas 4, Edition
5, Premiere pro and Avid. While it's not the latest version, I think
you'll still find it quite informative
http://www.videoguys.com/RT5.html

I hope to have an updated version of this article posted in November.

Gary




Videoguys.com 800 323-2325
We are the Digital Video Editing & DVD Production Experts!
For all the latest NLE,DVD & HDV news check out the Videoguys Blog http://www.videoguys.com/blog/

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Mike Kujbida" <kujfam-misleadingspam@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:2tdmoqF1uv95qU1@uni-berlin.de...
---- snip ----
> > Thank you to everyone who replies.
>
>
> No secret other than an interest in finding out "I wonder what happens
when
> I do this?"
> My first NLE was the dpsVelocity (higher end than most of the ones used
> here). When I first got it, I sat down and started playing. It was at
> least a month before I even bothered to crack open the manual.
>
> Grab the demo versions of Premiere Pro, Vegas and Avid Express DV (if they
> have one) and start playing with them to see which one you're most
> comfortable with. My personal preference is Vegas but that's because I'm
a
> long-time user of it (started with Vegas Audio and just moved up). The
> Vegas manual is available for download on the Sony site and it's free.
> There are numerous forums, books and training DVDs out there for all of
> these programs. The most important thing is to play and then play some
> more.
>
> Mike
>

Thanks for the reply Mike. So what you are saying is that there is no
Intermediate level software to go to from what I am using now? The next step
is to an upper level one like Premiere Pro or Vegas?

I am really interested in a software that will allow me to make my own DVD
menus from scratch, edit the sounds in the movie, put in some special
affects (chroming?), etc. Vegas + DVD Suitte looks interesting. I might give
that one a try. Thanks again for the reply. Wish me luck.

Paul

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"nerdz_r_us" wrote ...
> Thanks for the reply Mike. So what you are saying is that
> there is no Intermediate level software to go to from what
> I am using now? The next step is to an upper level one like
> Premiere Pro or Vegas?

Many people wouldn't consider Premiere Pro or Vegas to be
"upper level". I am not that snobbish as a Premiere 6.5 user,
but I am not doing broadcast stuff either (where most is cut on
Avid, etc. I believe)

> I am really interested in a software that will allow me to
> make my own DVD menus from scratch,

I have found Adobe Encore to be quite flexible in giving
you complete control over the look and functionality of
menus, etc. Encore has worked first-time, every-time right
out of the box for me where several hundred $$$ worth of
other DVD authoring applications were unable to produce
even one usable disk. At least that was my experience.

> edit the sounds in the movie,

There are free applications like Audacity that do a quite
respectable job of fancy audio editing. And Adobe Audition
(ne. CoolEdit Pro) is used by many for professional audio
editing. There are more professional-level (and consequently
more expensive) audio editing apps like Pro-Tools, etc.

> put in some special affects (chroming?), etc.

Successful chroma-keying is as much a function of production
elements (camera, recording format, lighting, etc.) almost more
than anything to do with post-production (special effects, editing,
etc.) Look up discussion of using DV for chroma-keying.
The 4:1:1 sampling rate of NTSC-DV makes keying look
pretty ratty (but some have done reasonably respectable work
with green as a key color). Is the 4:2:0 sampling rate of PAL-DV
any better?

> Vegas + DVD Suitte looks interesting. I might give
> that one a try. Thanks again for the reply. Wish me luck.

Remember that there are two parts of your education.
One is learning the techniques, the other is how to execute
these techniques with a particular application software.
Obviously, the first one is independent of what software
you are using and cumulative.

If you have good enough hardware to run on, the free
versions of Avid DV Express (for video) and Pro-Tools
Free (for audio) might be good things to acquire.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

nerdz_r_us wrote:
> "Mike Kujbida" <kujfam-misleadingspam@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:2tdmoqF1uv95qU1@uni-berlin.de...
> ---- snip ----
>>> Thank you to everyone who replies.
>>
>>
>> No secret other than an interest in finding out "I wonder what
>> happens when I do this?"
>> My first NLE was the dpsVelocity (higher end than most of the ones
>> used here). When I first got it, I sat down and started playing.
>> It was at least a month before I even bothered to crack open the
>> manual.
>>
>> Grab the demo versions of Premiere Pro, Vegas and Avid Express DV
>> (if they have one) and start playing with them to see which one
>> you're most comfortable with. My personal preference is Vegas but
>> that's because I'm a long-time user of it (started with Vegas Audio
>> and just moved up). The Vegas manual is available for download on
>> the Sony site and it's free. There are numerous forums, books and
>> training DVDs out there for all of these programs. The most
>> important thing is to play and then play some more.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>
> Thanks for the reply Mike. So what you are saying is that there is no
> Intermediate level software to go to from what I am using now? The
> next step is to an upper level one like Premiere Pro or Vegas?



No. The next step is to educate yourself a whole lot more before you spend
any money.
Have you gotten out of it all that your current NLE software offers or are
you still playing on the surface of it?
Go to sites such as www.videoguys.com and www.videohelp.com and read the
articles/reviews on various capturing and editing software.
Lurk here for a few weeks and see what other kinds of software folks are
using and what their overall likes/dislikes are.
Go to the various manufacturer-hosted user forums and see what folks have to
say about it.



> I am really interested in a software that will allow me to make my
> own DVD menus from scratch, edit the sounds in the movie, put in some
> special affects (chroming?), etc. Vegas + DVD Suitte looks
> interesting. I might give that one a try. Thanks again for the reply.
> Wish me luck.
>
> Paul


I do wish you luck Paul. I also encourage you to "do your homework" before
you spend any money to make sure that you're getting exactly what you
want.You've only gotten 2 responses so far and, IMO, that's not enough to
warrant making a major purchase decision. That's why I suggested
downloading trial versions of the various software. Most trial versions
restrict you in some way (no saving of files, for eg.) so that's something
else to be aware of.

Mike

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

WOW!!. Some great advice from obviously talented people. I have taken all
advice on board, will do a ton of homework, and check out the mentioned
websites. I obviously need to do alot of homework here before moving forward
and I dearly thank everyone for taking time to write down their thoughts.
Good on ya mate.

Paul


"Videoguy" <Videoguy@cris.com> wrote in message
news:41727226.136985859@news.optonline.net...
> On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 07:59:35 +1000, "nerdz_r_us"
> <nerdz_r_us@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >I am using Pinnacle Video Studio 9 and I want to learn how to use the
REALLY
> >good stuff (Adobe Premiere Pro?) to make professional looking DVD's
(chroma
> >keying, pip, blooper reels, dvd menus not from a template, filters, sound
> >affects etc etc) that look professionally done.
>
> As a Pinnacle Studio owner you can upgrade to Liquid Edition for
> $299.95. This is a fantastic deal. LE6 will give you all of the
> features you are looking for, and then some. Liquid Edition will
> allow you to edit your video and author your DVD from the timeline. LE
> 6 will also allow you to capture and edit in MPEG2. You can also
> capture and edit HDV (the new prosumer hi-def format).
>
> http://www.videoguys.com/edition.html
>
> As a next step up you do have other choices:
>
> Premiere Pro & Encore DVD can be purchased together for $499.95 as
> part of the Pyro Professional bundle. Premiere Pro is great, and
> you'll find that together with Encore DVD & Audition, you'll have all
> the features you are looking for.
>
> Vegas 5 + DVD is one heck of a product. It has a very different look &
> feel from other NLEs. This is because it is based on digital audio
> editing software. Some folks take to it very quickly, wehile othewrs
> find it harder to get a hold of. We include some great training in our
> bundle, which will easily get you up & going.
>
> Avid Xpress DV gets you strated editing the Avid way. That's the same
> way over 75% of broadcast shows are done. From a pure editing point of
> view (cutting, trimming and managing clips) nothing compares. Once
> again, you'll want some training to get you going, and we include it
> free for you to get started.
>
> I feel I should also mention Ulead Media Studio pro. I don';t consider
> it as stable or professional as the 4 apps mentioned above, but it is
> very easy to use, and has the features you are looking for.
>
> I've got an old articvle on our website that compares Vegas 4, Edition
> 5, Premiere pro and Avid. While it's not the latest version, I think
> you'll still find it quite informative
> http://www.videoguys.com/RT5.html
>
> I hope to have an updated version of this article posted in November.
>
> Gary
>
>
>
>
> Videoguys.com 800 323-2325
> We are the Digital Video Editing & DVD Production Experts!
> For all the latest NLE,DVD & HDV news check out the Videoguys Blog
http://www.videoguys.com/blog/