Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Folks, I am new to this section of the Hog so please forgive me if this has been covered before. I am starting a YouTube channel and I want to start the right way, with fairly simple but professional looking videos. I am currently learning videography and editing, but my question has to do with the edititing software itself. I am trying to decide between starting with iMovie and if I find it lacking, moving to Filmora, or just learning Filmora from the beginning. Any suggestions? BTW, Final Cut is above my pay grade, although decades ago I did use Final Cut Express before its demise.

Thanks!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

This section of UHH is very quiet. Most UHH members seem to dislike video!

I've used and liked Premiere Elements for about 8 (?) years. It is currently in version "2019". There are great tutorials, courses, books and even a dedicated forum with some experts to answer questions. It is a perpetual license and costs $100.

You can see a variety of what I've used it for at www.vimeo.com/billsprague. I have used YouTube too, but prefer Vimeo for posting for friends and family.

Is there anything unique or special about your channel that you would want your software to do? And, sometimes important, what is the source of your video files?

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Ben, I took a local beginner class i video editing.
The instructor used adobe and said the basics will work with all other program.
One thing adobe could do was to separate the original sound track so you could control the volume level.
I think that feature will be useful for me.
I need to revisit Filmora. I think it has the above feature.
I have not looked at many of the other programs to see if they have this option.
Something to consider.
Pat

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

There are at least two good online editing classes for Premiere Elements. I can dig up the links if needed.

Al Beatty Loc: Boise, Idaho

Ditto on Photoshop Elements ?? (using version 15 now). I've been using it for years and have never come close to maxing out its capabilities. Take care & ...

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

No, nothing out of the ordinary, but I do want to include some B-roll. I will most likely shoot with a DSLR, with the less likely possibility being a Sony a6000.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Thank you, Pat.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Thanks, Bill. I’ll look for them.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Thanks, Al.

cabunit Loc: SE Connecticut

OK, I'm no pro, but I've done lots of pieces with iMovie, which has all I need for now. I just got a new iMac last summer and am using version 10.1.10, which has reasonably good camera shake control, speed control, and no longer requires you to put your clips in an iMovie Events folder as older versions did. I do find it awkward to place text on the screen precisely, and I've had a few quirks pop up occasionally when laying in and ducking a music track. I've never used Premiere (or PE), so I'll let others sing its praises. Good luck!

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Thank you!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I haven't used any of the software mentioned. I use Adobe Premiere Pro which works together with Adobe Audition for editing audio on the Premiere Pro time line. I started putting videos on my Youtube channel about 9 years ago using Microsoft Movie Maker, and started using Premiere Pro and Audition (CS6) about 5 years ago. I don't know how close Premiere Elements or the other softwares are in capability to Premiere Pro and Audition, but here are the editing features I use regularly.

1. Ability to crop the video segment to magnify and reposition what is in the frame.
2. Being able to do split screen.
3. Ability to do Photoshop like tweaks to the brightness, contrast, highlight, shadows, saturation and gamma.
4. Use of the fade to black, fade to white and film dissolve transitions.
5. Being able to change the lighting of the sequence.
6. Use any font or color for titles.
7. Being able to mix 4K with 1080P and 720P sequences.
8. For audio, the ability to alter the start and stop points of the audio in the timeline independent of the video cuts while staying in sync with the video (i.e., the audio leads or trails the video segment synced to it).
9. Being able to hide mic hits or other unwanted parts of the audio by changing the volume of the hit or unwanted noise and pasting room noise or outside noise over it.
10. Being able to change the EQ of the audio, and add echo.
11. Being able to mix unlimited number of audio and video tracks on the timeline.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Great list. Thank you so much!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

My pleasure.

Vladimir200 Loc: Beaumont, Ca.

I am pretty much of a beginner using my DSLR for video and subscribe to Premiere Pro for $20 per month. It appears you are very experienced and I'd like to ask you to expand on your #7 above if you don't mind. I am shooting in 4K (Nikon D850) but would like to know from you how and when you mix 4K with 1080P. Do you always shoot in 4K and sometimes downgrade to 1080P when editing? Thanks in advance.