Professional Video Editing Fun On Your Desktop

What the home video producer has been able to come up with has changed a lot during the last ten years. With the ordinary run of the mill PCs being sold today, it is possible to have a private video editing studio that is almost of a professional caliber. Although it seems very long ago when you think about it, it is worth remembering that this was nothing but a wet dream to video enthusiasts in the early 90s. Now let's have a brief look at video editing of today, from the standpoint of the typical consumer.

Non-Linear Editing

Video editing as it is done today is what is called non-linear editing. What that implies is that all of the material is on tap all the time - regardless of where in the raw footage it is - thus not having to sit there and spend time on slowly jumping the the appropriate spot on the video tape.

Besides being much more convenient and a lot swifter than the old tape based editing systems (think ordinary VCR), the non-linear software based editing system also keeps the quality of the original footage. The linear editing method involves at least two copies of the material; the first time when it is edited and then a second time when it is transferred to the master tape. In such a scheme the audio and picture quality gets worse with every copy, a process referred to as generation loss.

When editing in a non-linear system the quality is maintained, as all the system basically does is create a list that dictates in what order the source material is to be played back.

A Fast Enough Computer

There is no denying that you will need a powerful computer in order to work with video. Nonetheless, provided that your PC isn't many years old, chances are that it can become a good platform to run video editing software on. By adding more RAM and possibly another or a bigger hard drive you may also be able to bring your computer up to meet the requirements.

Although some people will still disagree, today there really isn't that much of a difference if your computer of choice is a (Windows) PC or a Mac.

Building Your Own Videostudio

How much you are willing to spend on hardware and software will naturally dictate what quality you will achieve in the end. Basically manitaining a more modern version of the family photo album may perhaps not call for the latest, professional grade appliances. But Then, a semi-professional approach requires that you are willing to spend a little bit more in order to get commercially viable quality in your work.

Still, as there is no video editing software capable of doing what was reserved only for professional movie people a few decades ago, and there really is not reason for buying a camera that records in SD any more, home video producers have never had it this good.

Get more detailed tips on how to take your home videos to a new level of technical brilliance, including how to choose great video editing software for your computer, from this website. Or check out the blog over at JJ's Video Editing Blog.