September 11th, 2007
Got a Software To Recommend?
Posted by Church Video Ideas under Church Media, Church video, Greg's Favorites, Ideas, Internet Links, Products, SoftwareWe’ve all been there: from time to time, we need to convert a video piece from one format to another. I was helping our youth ministry last week convert a video they had created in Final Cut Pro to an AVI and/or MPEG1 so they could play it in PowerPoint. I told them to download the Xilisoft Video Converter, which is what I use. I also suggested they upgrade their QuickTime to QuickTime Pro.
My friend, Brian Davis (of Worship Tech Online), told me about a piece of software that he uses. Terry Storch actually told Brian and he was passing the tip on to me. It’s a software called Visual Hub and it allows you to import MPEG1 (and other formats) into Final Cut Pro for editing. I thought it was a pretty cool piece of software.
So, I ask you: What software package can you not live without? What have you found that works great for your situation?
UPDATE:
Remember my presentation software poll? It’s interesting that the 3 software companies that I stand behind/endorse and list on my “Charter Sponsors” page are the top 3 in the poll. If you haven’t voted yet, vote HERE.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I can’t live without Mpeg Streamclip from squared5. Tons of the videos I get from our congregation (from mission trips and such) are delivered to me on DVD. This software allows you to convert the .VOB files from the DVD into anything that Quicktime Pro can handle. It’s free, too!
September 11th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
I found a whole collection of codecs for Mac on a tech forum once. They have greatly enhanced our ability to import mpegs into Final Cut or even just watch them in QuickTime. Greg, I have them on my desktop, and I’d be happy to send them to you. Let me know.
September 12th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Awesome David….thanks….
I cant live without Ulead….I know its simple, I know it does not boast the features of other high end programs….but its cheap, very easy to use. and makes useable videos….
September 12th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Sorensen Squeeze is my media coverter of choice, it’s really good but it isn’t cheap.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Audacity is a superb audio editor; it can do quite a lot and is a versatile tool. The GIMP is another free product I couldn’t do without; it’s a handy Photoshop opensource alternative.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
I pull everything (including the kitchen sink) into Final Cut. Popwire wmv-9, mpeg-2 plugin, mpeg streamclip, and Quicktime Pro is just about all I need to handle just about anything. I use mpeg streamclip to demux audio to .aiff (for mpeg-1 files in particular) when audio doesn’t show up in Final Cut. The cool thing…Popwire not only allows you to export WMV files, but also allows you to edit them in Final Cut (should you need to do that). Mpeg-2 allows you to deal with DVD material (once “obtained”). Streamclip works great for demuxing many file types as well as some simple conversions), and Quicktime Pro is a nice box of tools. EyeTV (from Elgato) is a handy piece of hardware, Mac-the-ripper can also be handy piece of software to get that clip. Those are my favs. Hope that helps.
September 12th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
I gotta second MPEG Streamclip and QT Pro. It’s not a software app but vixy.net is a great site to convert .flv files to .mov or .avi
September 14th, 2007 at 9:12 am
We use the freely available QTAmateur from http://www.mikeash.com... it has batch exporting capabilities for all formats Quicktime Pro can export to and is very quick.
September 14th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I came across a program called Switch a while back. It’s a simple freeware ap that changes audio files from one format to another. Have an MP3 library music cut you want to pull into FCP? Switch it to aiff so you don’t need to do any rendering. Simple, fast and really easy. And did I mention free? Love it!
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/29004