Video Editing Software (Windows Based)

[Prince of Space 5049]

Thanx for the info.  I like what you did with the Xformers intro.  I did a few RiffTrax with AVSVideo Editor, but just wasn't that interested in spending that much time on them.  It's a great way to learn how to use the software though.  Like I said, I use it mostly for home movies.

One thing I did do though.........Many years ago FFC released a TV special of the Godfather, in which he reedited the movie with part 2 to be in chronological order.  I spent a lot of time, and did the same with the two movies.  It came out fantastic.  A lot of work, but for me, worth it.

[SJP]

My current video editing setup is Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, with a Canopus AVC for input.  I probably wouldn't even have CS3, but I got a deal as an upgrade from Premiere Elements that turned into a bigger mess than I ever had in mind.  Let's just say, every time I have to reinstall CS3, I have to call the company and tell them that, yes, this is a legitimately bought piece of software.  Thankfully, I've only had to reinstall it once, and that's when I upgraded to Windows 7.

And actually, my setup is leading me to a question I have...my big hobby (and the reason I'm willing to spend this kind of money) is that besides doing iRiff-type stuff, I love digital remastery.  Unfortunately, my experience trying to accomplish it has never really gone anywhere.  But, that hasn't stopped me from trying, and I figured this was the best place of any to ask if anyone's had any luck in these areas.

1. Video Resolution.  Yes, I am aware that VHS can't really get much 'better' than what's on the tape, and unlike film can't experience major jumps in quality.  However, I do know there is software I've found on a shareware basis that uses algorithms to increase resolution so that, while you may not get more detail out of the picture, you can raise it to Blu-ray resolutions without blockiness or LOSING any picture.  However, I've never even gotten the software to improve anything without having to wait 15 days for the stuff to compile to that level of detail.

If you want to know why, I want to store old videotapes (homemade stuff plus things that are incredibly unlikely to ever see the light of day in release) in the best possible quality I can salvage, without having to compress it and get artifacts, like you get with DVD-level compression.

2. Color correction.  For fun, one of the PD shorts I was going to riff has some major coloration issues.  While I very much doubt I'll ever get it to look like how it did when it was released, I did want to see if I could restore some of the missing cyan hue to it.  However, anytime I do color correction or overlays, it doesn't seem to restore it as much as just make everything blue, no matter how lightly or heavily I try to correct it.  Anyone ever have luck on something like this?  If not, that's fine...like I said, this was more just for fun than to do any sort of real restoration work, but it drives me nuts that it never seems to work properly.

On the plus side, I've had great luck cleaning up tape hiss from soundtracks and making it sound almost like new...which may mean I should really go into audio work, but I can gladly help if anyone has issues with that.

[Danecho1967]

A (kind of) related question.

Is there a way to look at an MP4 file and see what settings were used in encoding it?  Stuff like frame rate and bit rate?

I want to encode all of my movies for streaming and I would like to see how Rifftrax encodes their MP4's and I will set my Handbrake settings to match, ensuring that all of my videos will work on the various devices I use to view them.

Any help would be appreciated.

[D.B. Barnes]

A (kind of) related question.

Is there a way to look at an MP4 file and see what settings were used in encoding it?  Stuff like frame rate and bit rate?

I want to encode all of my movies for streaming and I would like to see how Rifftrax encodes their MP4's and I will set my Handbrake settings to match, ensuring that all of my videos will work on the various devices I use to view them.

Any help would be appreciated.

AVINAPTIC

[Riffman for Hire]

A (kind of) related question.

Is there a way to look at an MP4 file and see what settings were used in encoding it?  Stuff like frame rate and bit rate?

I want to encode all of my movies for streaming and I would like to see how Rifftrax encodes their MP4's and I will set my Handbrake settings to match, ensuring that all of my videos will work on the various devices I use to view them.

Any help would be appreciated.

You can also use VLC player to find out frame rate, bit rate and other info.  Just open a video file, go to tools, then codec information and it will give you the data.

[Danecho1967]

Thanks for the tips, guys.