[TriLUG] Simple Video Editing

[Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG]

On Mon, 5 Jun 2017, Thomas Delrue via TriLUG wrote:

> Hi TriLUG,
>
> A relative of mine would like to do some very simple video editing. Is
> there an easy package she could install that won't overwhelm her and
> cause her to have to learn the UI and finer points of video editing
> before being able to create a simple collage?

I was in the same situation about 2yrs ago. Scanning the linux forums, there 
seemed to be nothing that anyone was happy with.

So my answer is not GPL (if you the reader want to cut out here).

I initially went with the free editor from M$, Movie Maker, which comes with no 
documentation. There is no getting around the GUI with a video editor. You just 
have to learn it and even for Movie Maker I found the learning curve steep. I 
couldn't figure it out and got a lesson from someone who used it. There are 
poeple who can figure out GUIs without documentation (anyone half my age it 
seems) and for these people Movie Maker is a breeze. I used Movie Maker to cut 
and splice, and put a title on the front and and credits on the back on 5 min 
clips. That was all I needed and it was my limit with the GUI. Most of the Movie 
Maker buttons are for adding splashy colours and audio beeps, that have no place 
on an informational video. There's nothing (that I found) for correcting the 
colours or exposure.

Movie Maker seems to seek from the beginning after every editing step. I found 
if I was working at the end of a 5 min clip, I spent all my time waiting for 
Movie Maker to seek back to where I'd just edited.

I then got into real editing (1hr videos).

The standard editor for home video editing runs only on a Mac (forget what it's 
called). If necessary I was prepared to bight the bullet and buy a Mac. I tried 
the Mac video editor, but I didn't understand the Mac gui. To umount a drive in 
Mac, you have to dump the drive in the trash. I assumed dumping a drive in the 
trash deleted everything on the drive. I realised I'd never learn the Mac gui.

I next tried Sony Vegas which runs on Windows and which seems to be the best 
home video editor for people who can't use a Mac. The documentation is worse 
than useless; it makes sure you'll never understand what you're doing. Again I 
needed lessons to use the Vegas gui and using Windows. There is an enormous 
amount you have to learn before you can do the simplest things.

I put several 100hrs into a 1hr video. Much of it was learning Sony Vegas. 
However even once I got going and just was doing repetitive stuff, I realised 
that editing was an enormously tedious effort. A friend of mine has spent his 
life film editing (starting with real film and now digital) and he says that 
editing is the longest step in making a movie, many months for a 3hr movie. For 
him 100hrs on a 1hr video is nothing. Admittedly he does only professional level 
editing, so presumably he does it right. Still it seems you have to be prepared 
to put time into editing.

If anyone has a linux video editor that they like, I'd be very happy if you 
could give us all a tutorial one saturday morning.

Joe

-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) austintek (dot) com - azimuthal equidistant
map generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
Homepage http://www.austintek.com/ It's GNU/Linux!