Video editing options

Users can choose from software programs or edit movies online

By J.D. Lasica
Ourmedia

With millions of people jumping on the grassroots video bandwagon, users have a wide range of options available to them for editing and publishing video to the Web, ranging from traditional desktop applications to a new generation of Web-based tools. Your choice of video editing software depends on your preference of operating systems and the level of sophistication you’re after.

For Macintosh users

Mac aficionados have the easiest go of things. iMovie, built from the start into Apple's iLife suite ($79 as a stand-alone product), makes it simple to import video from a camcorder or another source, cut out or splice together scenes, adjust volume, add titles, transitions, music and effects, and output the finished masterpiece into a wide variety of Web-friendly formats or for burning to DVD.

QuickTime Pro for the Mac or PC ($30) performs some of these tasks as well. At the higher end, Apple's Final Cut Studio 2 ($1,300) or Final Cut Express HD ($300) are indispensable staples of any professional editor's toolbox.

For Windows users

PC users have a versatile video editing tool baked into the Windows operating system: Movie Maker 2.

James Coates, tech columnist for the Chicago Tribune, writes: “Movie Maker 2 comes with powerful video-clip-editing tools and delivers scores of different transitions and special effects as well as fancy animated titles. This software was designed to work with fairly ordinary computers, and it rewards users with more than merely serviceable home movies.”

More high-end video editing software includes:

Web video editing

A number of versatile video editing tools have sprung up on the Web in recent years, letting you perform basic editing functions, such as cropping and adding titles, effects and transitions. These include:

  • VideoEgg lets you upload a series of clips and edit them on the fly – that is to say, you can do rough cropping.
  • Jumpcut, owned by Yahoo!, lets you edit and remix video clips.
  • Eyespot allows users to mix together clips from different sources and publish a new movie.

If you want to do something beyond rudimentary editing, such as adding sophisticated titles and transitions, you generally need dedicated video software.

Sources: Ourmedia; Chicago Tribune

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Related:
• Publishing your video to the Web

• How to make and distribute digital movies

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