Video software

On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

| Does anyone have a recommendation for an easy to use video editor for
| someone who is a newbie at both video editing and computers/Windows 10?
|
A recommendation with caveats:

Some time ago I spent a couple of days searching
for video software. I found lots of things that didn't
work in one way or another.
I had a giant iPhone video of birds. I think it was
135 MB. My ladyfriend wanted to send an email
version to friends. I needed to resize and crop the
frames, rotate it, and I think I had to convert to mp4.
I finally found Avidemux. It's very easy to use. A lot
like a graphic editor for movies. I just decided the
edits and it carried them all out at once. I ended up
with a 4.5 MB video.

The caveat is that I don't do very much with video,
so I don't know how Avidemux compares with tools
that pros might use. If someone wants to do something
like film editing -- snipping 20 seconds here or 1
minute there -- I don't know how Avidemux handles
that.

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

Avidemux is not a good fit for the intended user. Even I find it
strange there's now button or File menu entry for New Project or
similar. Are you just supposed to _know_ how to start a new project?

I didn't figure out how to do it, so I know the intended user won't
either. :-(

The first program I tested is called DVD Creator from Aimersoft. It
looked to be the perfect beginner's program for this user. But when it
came time to burn the DVD, it crashed twice on Windows 10, and once on
Windows 7.

No fancy transitions, no "jargon" in a lot of place. Seems to be about
as basic as it could be.






--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

| Does anyone have a recommendation for an easy to use video editor for
| someone who is a newbie at both video editing and computers/Windows 10?
|
A recommendation with caveats:

Some time ago I spent a couple of days searching
for video software. I found lots of things that didn't
work in one way or another.
I had a giant iPhone video of birds. I think it was
135 MB. My ladyfriend wanted to send an email
version to friends. I needed to resize and crop the
frames, rotate it, and I think I had to convert to mp4.
I finally found Avidemux. It's very easy to use. A lot
like a graphic editor for movies. I just decided the
edits and it carried them all out at once. I ended up
with a 4.5 MB video.

The caveat is that I don't do very much with video,
so I don't know how Avidemux compares with tools
that pros might use. If someone wants to do something
like film editing -- snipping 20 seconds here or 1
minute there -- I don't know how Avidemux handles
that.

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

Avidemux is not a good fit for the intended user. Even I find it
strange there's now button or File menu entry for New Project or
similar. Are you just supposed to _know_ how to start a new project?

I didn't figure out how to do it, so I know the intended user won't
either. :-(

The first program I tested is called DVD Creator from Aimersoft. It
looked to be the perfect beginner's program for this user. But when it
came time to burn the DVD, it crashed twice on Windows 10, and once on
Windows 7.

No fancy transitions, no "jargon" in a lot of place. Seems to be about
as basic as it could be.

Windows 10 has Reliability Monitor. You can look for
crash information there. And see if there are any breadcrumbs
you can use. See if Cortana can dig that up for you.

Instead of burning a DVD, you could have the Aimersoft save
to ISO format, then use Imgburn or Nero or Roxio to burn
the final DVD. Even if you had absolutely no burning software
on the current machine, you could take the ISO to another
computer and finish the job. Even a Mac would do :-)

Paul

"Ken Springer" wrote

| I didn't figure out how to do it, so I know the intended user won't
| either. :-(
|
| The first program I tested is called DVD Creator from Aimersoft. It
| looked to be the perfect beginner's program for this user. But when it
| came time to burn the DVD, it crashed twice on Windows 10, and once on
| Windows 7.

I'm not clear on what you need. you mentioned
editing videos, adding in images. That sounds like
something that one would expect to take some time
learning. If he really just wants to put a video on
a DVD, I use DVD Flick for that. But I think the
Sony video would have to be convertd first.

As for Avidemux, I don't know anything about projects.
I just drop a video in the window. But all I've done was
basic conversions, from the Video - Filters menu. The
only thing I had trouble with was setting the selection
to work on. But as I said, I'm no expert on this. I'd
expect to spend a few days if I were going to try to
learn all the tools.

On 3/15/18 3:16 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

| Does anyone have a recommendation for an easy to use video editor for
| someone who is a newbie at both video editing and computers/Windows 10?
|
A recommendation with caveats:

Some time ago I spent a couple of days searching
for video software. I found lots of things that didn't
work in one way or another.
I had a giant iPhone video of birds. I think it was
135 MB. My ladyfriend wanted to send an email
version to friends. I needed to resize and crop the
frames, rotate it, and I think I had to convert to mp4.
I finally found Avidemux. It's very easy to use. A lot
like a graphic editor for movies. I just decided the
edits and it carried them all out at once. I ended up
with a 4.5 MB video.

The caveat is that I don't do very much with video,
so I don't know how Avidemux compares with tools
that pros might use. If someone wants to do something
like film editing -- snipping 20 seconds here or 1
minute there -- I don't know how Avidemux handles
that.

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

Avidemux is not a good fit for the intended user. Even I find it
strange there's now button or File menu entry for New Project or
similar. Are you just supposed to _know_ how to start a new project?

I didn't figure out how to do it, so I know the intended user won't
either. :-(

The first program I tested is called DVD Creator from Aimersoft. It
looked to be the perfect beginner's program for this user. But when it
came time to burn the DVD, it crashed twice on Windows 10, and once on
Windows 7.

No fancy transitions, no "jargon" in a lot of place. Seems to be about
as basic as it could be.

Windows 10 has Reliability Monitor. You can look for
crash information there. And see if there are any breadcrumbs
you can use. See if Cortana can dig that up for you.

When it crashes, there's an Aimersoft error message requesting 2 files
be sent to them.

Instead of burning a DVD, you could have the Aimersoft save
to ISO format, then use Imgburn or Nero or Roxio to burn
the final DVD. Even if you had absolutely no burning software
on the current machine, you could take the ISO to another
computer and finish the job.

Burning an ISO is something else I'll have to teach the user. G The
user's computer is W10, so it won't take much. I would like to know
what triggers the problem, though.

Even a Mac would do :-)

:-p

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 3/15/18 5:14 PM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

| I didn't figure out how to do it, so I know the intended user won't
| either. :-(
|
| The first program I tested is called DVD Creator from Aimersoft. It
| looked to be the perfect beginner's program for this user. But when it
| came time to burn the DVD, it crashed twice on Windows 10, and once on
| Windows 7.

I'm not clear on what you need. you mentioned
editing videos, adding in images. That sounds like
something that one would expect to take some time
learning. If he really just wants to put a video on
a DVD, I use DVD Flick for that. But I think the
Sony video would have to be convertd first.

He's got both mts videos and jpgs. What he wants to do is to play a mix
of the videos and jpgs in one video, but have them shown in
chronological order.

I've only done one video in my life, and that was in 2008 using
MovieMaker in XP. I didn't find that particularly hard to figure out.
Today I looked at another 8 or 9 programs, and H E double hockey sticks,
they all left me in the dark, even the ones that were listed as
beginners programs in a web search.

The Aimersoft UI is far, far simpler than MovieMaker, and would be the
easiest place for him to begin the learning process. And surprisingly,
it understands the mts files.

It looks like the preview routine is buggy too. And, it just crashed.
:-( Crappola.

As for Avidemux, I don't know anything about projects.
I just drop a video in the window. But all I've done was
basic conversions, from the Video - Filters menu. The
only thing I had trouble with was setting the selection
to work on. But as I said, I'm no expert on this. I'd
expect to spend a few days if I were going to try to
learn all the tools.

This would be building a videos from scratch.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 3/15/18 3:16 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

snip

Instead of burning a DVD, you could have the Aimersoft save
to ISO format, then use Imgburn or Nero or Roxio to burn
the final DVD. Even if you had absolutely no burning software
on the current machine, you could take the ISO to another
computer and finish the job. Even a Mac would do :-)

Well... I *so* wanted the Aimersoft program to work, as the user
interface is so simple, and the program isn't loaded with all kinds of
options that would be confusing to a true beginner, both to video
software as well as to computers.

This morning I opened the file I'd been working on yesterday, and it
says it can't find the file's "resources". I.E. the files I loaded into
it yesterday. The full path and filename of the lost resources is
displayed in a dialogue. Yet I've got that very path open in an
Explorer window right next to the program window.

So you start all over. I had discovered earlier, you can only load a
max of 99 items at one time. But the group could include both the Sony
mts files as well as JPGs. This morning it tells me it can't load 2
JPGs because it doesn't support that type of file. These are 2 JPGs it
had been loading from the start with no problem.

Besides having the simple interface, there is no timeline for a user to
have to deal with. Just load the files. The order the files are loaded
is the same as the order shown in Windows Explorer.


To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/15/18 3:16 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

snip

Instead of burning a DVD, you could have the Aimersoft save
to ISO format, then use Imgburn or Nero or Roxio to burn
the final DVD. Even if you had absolutely no burning software
on the current machine, you could take the ISO to another
computer and finish the job. Even a Mac would do :-)

Well... I *so* wanted the Aimersoft program to work

But this is how video works.

*******

This is Shotcut, for Linux or Windows.

I loaded up the Linux one, because I thought I already had it on
DVD, but it turns out I needed to download it anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcut

https://shotcut.org/download/

In this example, I've loaded two clips and put a JPG file
between them. The JPG file is just the first piece of
content I could find.

https://s13.postimg.org/plnij7xl3/Shotcut.gif

You load the clip into the upper pane. (Open file seems
to work.) You then turn on the timeline from some menu,
drag the clip down to the timeline. The scroll bar on the
bottom of the timeline is important, as that's how you
move the "tape" back and forth. If you grab the clip in the
timeline, instead it starts to move and its origin will be
affected. Don't do that.

Now, what was neat, is the two clips I used were .wtv recorded
off my new tuner card, and no translation was needed. They just
loaded.

That's as far as I got, so far :-) Two clips and a JPG,
no transitions yet.

The idea would be, to make up some "content" and then
load a finished file into Aimersoft, and see if it'll
author a DVD for you.

Paul

Ken Springer wrote in news8grra$o21$1
@news.albasani.net:


To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

Don't blame the program, that is a Windows 'feature'. I learned several
versions ago when I was selecting songs to play in WMP, that if I wanted
them to be added in the order they were in the directory that after I had
slected the songs I wanted (I do like the checkbox feature!) I had to right
click on the first song to select play (or add to playlist) in order to
keep them in that order. I suspect that it is the way the Windows routine
to walk a linked list is coded that causes that behavior.

Tim wrote:
Ken Springer wrote in news8grra$o21$1
@news.albasani.net:

To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

Don't blame the program, that is a Windows 'feature'. I learned several
versions ago when I was selecting songs to play in WMP, that if I wanted
them to be added in the order they were in the directory that after I had
slected the songs I wanted (I do like the checkbox feature!) I had to right
click on the first song to select play (or add to playlist) in order to
keep them in that order. I suspect that it is the way the Windows routine
to walk a linked list is coded that causes that behavior.

You have the option of renaming files with

01.jpg 02.jpg 03.jpg ... 20.jpg

and so on, if you think sorting matters.

Paul

On 3/16/18 1:18 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/15/18 3:16 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 3/12/18 7:46 AM, Mayayana wrote:
"Ken Springer" wrote

snip

Instead of burning a DVD, you could have the Aimersoft save
to ISO format, then use Imgburn or Nero or Roxio to burn
the final DVD. Even if you had absolutely no burning software
on the current machine, you could take the ISO to another
computer and finish the job. Even a Mac would do :-)

Well... I *so* wanted the Aimersoft program to work

But this is how video works.

*******

This is Shotcut, for Linux or Windows.

I loaded up the Linux one, because I thought I already had it on
DVD, but it turns out I needed to download it anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotcut

https://shotcut.org/download/

In this example, I've loaded two clips and put a JPG file
between them. The JPG file is just the first piece of
content I could find.

https://s13.postimg.org/plnij7xl3/Shotcut.gif

I'm glad you mentioned Shotcut, I'd seen that somewhere, but forgot to
check it out. I just finished downloading it.

You load the clip into the upper pane. (Open file seems
to work.) You then turn on the timeline from some menu,
drag the clip down to the timeline. The scroll bar on the
bottom of the timeline is important, as that's how you
move the "tape" back and forth. If you grab the clip in the
timeline, instead it starts to move and its origin will be
affected. Don't do that.

That's the way MovieMaker worked in XP. As soon as I saw your
screenshot, I knew I'll check it out.

A lot of the websites still mention Movie Maker, so I downloaded Windows
Live Essentials 2012, installed just MovieMaker, and darned if it
doesn't run!! I did the same thing as Aimersoft, arranged the files in
Windows Explorer in the order the user wants to see them, and MovieMaker
loaded them in that order. I was surprised at that.

It will be really nice if Shotcut will do the same, and understand the
..mts format. I'd much prefer to use current software.

Surprise #2, it understood Sony's .mts file format.

Disappointment #1, no option to save in a DVD format, just mp4 for high
rez. Which means, if I end up with it, I'll have to find a likewise
simple-to-use convertor, which should be relatively easy.

It's going to be awhile before it's finished. My W10 system, in
automobile terms, is like driving a Chevy Vega! LOL But it does keep
cranking along.

Now, what was neat, is the two clips I used were .wtv recorded
off my new tuner card, and no translation was needed. They just
loaded.

That's as far as I got, so far :-) Two clips and a JPG,
no transitions yet.

The idea would be, to make up some "content" and then
load a finished file into Aimersoft, and see if it'll
author a DVD for you.

Aimersoft is in the trash can, as far as I'm concerned.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 3/16/18 2:46 PM, Tim wrote:
Ken Springer wrote in news8grra$o21$1
@news.albasani.net:


To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

Don't blame the program, that is a Windows 'feature'. I learned several
versions ago when I was selecting songs to play in WMP, that if I wanted
them to be added in the order they were in the directory that after I had
slected the songs I wanted (I do like the checkbox feature!) I had to right
click on the first song to select play (or add to playlist) in order to
keep them in that order. I suspect that it is the way the Windows routine
to walk a linked list is coded that causes that behavior.

Really!! I'd never noticed that. My list selections are always longer
than a window, so I always scrolled back to the beginning to make sure
everything was still selected, and always click on the end of the list.

Stupid idea, it would seem.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 3/16/18 2:51 PM, Paul wrote:
Tim wrote:
Ken Springer wrote in news8grra$o21$1
@news.albasani.net:

To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

Don't blame the program, that is a Windows 'feature'. I learned several
versions ago when I was selecting songs to play in WMP, that if I wanted
them to be added in the order they were in the directory that after I had
slected the songs I wanted (I do like the checkbox feature!) I had to right
click on the first song to select play (or add to playlist) in order to
keep them in that order. I suspect that it is the way the Windows routine
to walk a linked list is coded that causes that behavior.

You have the option of renaming files with

01.jpg 02.jpg 03.jpg ... 20.jpg

and so on, if you think sorting matters.

Good idea, but might be counter productive when you try to retrace your
steps.

In this particular instance, though, the files need to be in
chronological order, resulting in the .mts and .jpg files being
intermingled.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.11.6
Firefox 53.0.2 (64 bit)
Thunderbird 52.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On Fri, 16 Mar 2018 16:51:50 -0400, Paul wrote:

Tim wrote:
Ken Springer wrote in news8grra$o21$1
@news.albasani.net:

To avoid that 99 limit, I started copying in groups. Let's say files
1-20 are selected. Grab them and drag to Aimersoft. But wait... It
was importing the files in order, 1, 2. 3, etc. Turns out, that after
highlighting a group, I grab the group by clicking on file 9, the files
are loaded 9-20, then 1-8. AARRRRRRGH!!! I've got the files already
in the order I want them in the Windows Explorer window. Earlier, I was
grabbing the top file in the group.

So, it's a huge thumbs down on this program.

Don't blame the program, that is a Windows 'feature'. I learned several
versions ago when I was selecting songs to play in WMP, that if I wanted
them to be added in the order they were in the directory that after I had
slected the songs I wanted (I do like the checkbox feature!) I had to right
click on the first song to select play (or add to playlist) in order to
keep them in that order. I suspect that it is the way the Windows routine
to walk a linked list is coded that causes that behavior.

You have the option of renaming files with

01.jpg 02.jpg 03.jpg ... 20.jpg

and so on, if you think sorting matters.

According to Tim, it's not a sorting problem, so renaming won't help.
It's a quirky behavior coded into the Windows file manager.

I've seen that behavior myself and have learned to work around it, but
it's something that I've always found annoying.