I need a new editing program!

[Michael Slowe]

Chocolate Bunny Rabbit, the only person who can ensure that you make videos good enough to enter and win competitions is YOU! What kit you use, either to shoot or edit, makes little difference to the artistic quality of your work. Having said that I suggest that you try and get an hour or two in front of a Media 100 edit system, preferably on a Mac. It is (imho) the most intuitive and easy to learn edit software. You must have heard this otherwise why post to this forum? The $150 max does pose a serious problem though.

Michael Slowe

[Gary Milligan]

[Nick Tipton] “I need a program that works with avchd, that can make videos good enough to enter in contests.”

I’m looking for something similar… something that can win an Emmy or an Oscar! 😉

Keep in mind – the latest, fancy, expensive gear doesn’t guarantee good results – it’s all about the story. That’s why only a very few Hollywood films are noteworthy… including some very low budget ones. If you can’t afford to spend more than $150, I suggest you invest that in a good storytelling workshop and go from there.

I agree with what Michael says about Media 100.

Good luck.

Gary

This is me – this is what I do – https://web.mac.com/garymmw

[Paul Crowe]

Yes all that stuff about story is indeed true. There’s no way around this.

On a nuts’n’bolts level – truth if you’re budget for edit software is $150 your best bet is to sick with what you’ve got and try to find some software that will transcode your footage into a codec you can work with.

Any edit software you buy for $150 will only place you in a world of pain.

Also, seems you are working on a PC. Pretty sure M100 only does a mac version.

Cheers
Paul

[Matty O’tool]

If you plan to stay on the PC, I would suggest looking at Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum (around $100 US). It will edit with your AVCHD files and has a decent feature set. I can’t speak to how easy it is to learn but it shouldn’t be too bad.