Best Video editing/special effects software...
The Kontaminator
used various methods gradually over many years as a hobbyist film maker.
I have been using Adobe Premiere and After Effects to create movies
featuring many effects from falling meteors, to alien invasions!
I would now like to venture 'deeper' and to use more technical editing and
visual effects software.
What do they tend to use in the Hollywood movies? - I dare say a home users
computer is NOWHERE near as powerful as the types of computers used in
Hollywood movie production!
I know there's a Sony package of some description, which seems to be highly
regarded. Are they any other alternatives to Premiere and After effects?
IF someone could provide a list of software's, for my research I would be
most grateful.
Many thanks.
Stian M
Hi.
You might have a sniff at Avid Xpress PRO (www.avid.com) This is a
program well worth the price, around 1500$+- for your venturing deeper
into edititing :)
- Stian
harry
"The Kontaminator" <the.kont...@funtlworld.com> wrote:
Actually, the software availabe at home is pretty powerful and is used
professionally. You can also get it at great discounts if you are a
student at places like journeyed.com and other such sites.
Look at the following software for compositing and effects:
Commotion from Puffin
Combustion from Discreet
For editing this software is even taking over from Avid:
FinalCut Pro from Apple
If you want particle effects and the like After Effects will do or you
can use 3D StudioMax or a lot of other programs.
There's a site that is a reseller who deals with professional tools:
Toolfarm.com - good company, good service but more expensive than the
student software sites
Harry Mott
Chair
Digital Media
Otis College of Art + Design
Mr. Boy
Most Hollywood films are edited using Avid software/hardware
solutions, like Avid Film Composer or Avid|DS, though Apple's Final
Cut Pro is gaining influence (FCP was used to edit the current Mario
Van Peebles film "Baadasssss.")
The Sony software that you speak of is Vegas, currently in version 5.
I don't know how far Vegas has penetrated into the NLE market, but it
seems to be very well-regarded with owners of Panasonic's DVX100
cameras. When Vegas was a Sonic Foundry product (Sony bought Sonic
Foundry, which also made Sound Forge and Acid software, late last
year), it was the first software package to support the DVX100's
advanced 24p mode. It was also the first to offer 5.1 surround mixing
capabilities within the NLE.
I have never personally used Vegas, though it seems like a very
capable program. I've been a Premiere user for many years, though have
not upgraded to Premiere Pro (because I despise Windows XP.) Out of
all of them, I still prefer Final Cut Pro. FCP has the most bang for
the buck, is extremely user-friendly and logical, and is (at long
last) stable. With Avid, you get more-or-less the same functionality
and capability as FCP, but you pay an extra $600 for the Avid name.
As for effects software is concerned, there's no single program that
will give you everything. Certain products are great for some things,
but aren't for all things. Most effects houses use a wide variety of
off-the-shelf and in-house software, and exploit the best sides of
each of them.
After Effects is actually used quite a bit for television and SD work,
though not as much in the film world (but, as I said, nearly every
program out there is used in some way.)
The big name in compositing is Discreet, makers of the high-end
packages Flame and Inferno. Their lowest-end product (and their only
affordable one), Combustion, is a wonderful tool for compositing,
motion graphics, and color correction, though the interface of all
Discreet products has a tendency to throw off new users.
A program I use often is Commotion, which has limited compositing
capabilities. Commotion is primarily a rotoscoping and digital paint
package. The Pro version also comes with Primatte, which is a very
good for chroma and luma keying.
If you need extremely good keying, and if you have the dough, there's
Shake, currently made by Apple (the Windows version of Shake was
discontinued shortly after Apple bought it.) Shake is arguably the
best keyer on the market, and it should be at $3000.
There's also Digital Fusion, which is similar to After Effects
(Production Bundle) in its functionality.
And then, there's the insanity of the 3D market, where prices and
products vary widely. Most bigger effects houses will use Softimage or
Maya for most animation work, though just about all of them also have
in-house software. And nearly all of them use Pixar Renderman for
final renders. All of these packages are ungodly expensive.
The program I prefer is Lightwave, which is one of the more
all-inclusive 3D applications. Lightwave is used quite a bit in film,
television, and game development, mostly by mid-sized and boutique
effects houses, is very easy to use, and is comparably cheap (about
$1600.) It also has one of the best modelers out there, as well as
first-class rendering.
There's also 3DS Max, which is used often in gaming. It's a capable
application that has a wide swath of features, but is not nearly as
sexy as other apps.
Believe me, there's plenty more where those came from, and just about
all of them are used in some way anywhere you look in film and
television. The best thing to do would be to try out many different
programs, and pick what works best for what you plan to do.
A. A. Matin
Avid Film Composers - which are very expensive.
The closest consumer equivalent is to get Avid Xpress Pro or an Avid
Adrenaline.
If you are strapped for cash and only plan to work in Video (not film)
Avid Xpress DV is a good option as well. You will need a computer that
is at least 1 Ghz to run any of these applications.
You would be surpised - a lot of movies are still cut on Avid Film
Composers from 1998 - which run on Apple Macintosh 9500's. Most of these
computers are 300 Mhz or less w/ a Power PC processor (before the G3).
But these systems require a lot of hardware (Video Router, Video Slave
Driver, ProTools Box, Atto Card, breakout box, etc) which would make it
a lot more expensive than an Adrenaline or Xpress Pro (and your system
would be slower, less stable, and have lesser picture resolution).
I teach at USC film school on the side and they have three editing labs:
Adrenalines, Xpress DV, and Film Composers from two years ago (Version
10.6) which is exlusively for the Grad Students.
If you are curious, the other professional systems being used for
Hollywood Features and Television shows are Lightworks (primarily in
Europe) and Final Cut Pro. Cold Mountain was cut on Final Cut Pro and
all the original shows and movies for Showtime are cut on FCP. No one in
Hollywood uses the Sony system (even movies for Columbia & TriStar which
are owned by Sony). And no one used Adobe Permiere. That applications is
for chumps.