Welcome to Michael’s Blog!

Lets face it, just about everyone has a video camera somewhere. Ive been into video editing for about 5 years now and when I started I had not a single clue about video editing, how it worked or where to start. The good news is, most cameras will allow you to upload your footage to your computer and allow you to manipulate it in ways you probably never knew possible. In fact, chances are, your computer already has a video editing program installed.

If you use an Apple:

Your free installed program is called iMovie. Its actually probably one of the best free video editors out there.

If you are looking for something in between iMovie and the serious software, you want Final Cut Express. It will cost about $99 and is a good intermediate user level interface.

If you are ready to get SERIOUS with video editing on Macs, you are going to want Final Cut Pro 5, with all the Studio 2 software. This is the best desktop editing software you can get for Macs.

If you are using a PC:

The name of the program installed on you computer is called Windows Movie Maker

The intermediate program you might want is called Adobe Premiere Elements.

If you want something close to Final Cut Pro, I would recommend Adobe Premiere Pro CS3.

The one thing I like about the Adobe Software is that it is all integrated to work with other programs like Photoshop or After Effects. It took a good year to really learn Premiere Pro, but wow...I use it all the time.

Now, Adobe Premiere IS available for Macs, however, Ive learned the hard way, it doesnt run as smooth as it does on PC's, so if you have a Mac, stick with the Apple Software if you can.

Let me throw this out there:

Would anyone, photographers included, be interested in a Video Editing Crash Course training DVD?