Edit Video Clips For Free Or Nearly Free

A lot of still photographers coming to video from having HD-DSLR cameras are having problems editing their video clips into a format the stock footage libraries will accept. The most common question I see on the forums of sites like Pond5 and Shutterstock is "what free programs can I get to edit and encode my clips".

The question on the surface seems quite logical and plausible to quote Mythbusters, but as with all things video it isn't. I will try to explain why and I will give you some free suggestions for software and low cost software that will get the job done for you. 

We all know that the mainstream photographers fall into two main camps, Canon or Nikon and that these two companies produce cameras capable of award winning images, they do it both differently. They each have their own RAW software and they have their own algorithms to process data, they have different lens mounts, different batteries etc. I'm sure you get the point they are the same only different as my Dad used to say.

Video falls into two main broad camps, Apple or Windows based systems, not just for hardware we are talking more about software and video encoding standards. Apple is Quicktime using MPEG codecs. These codecs are different depending on the use of the images being recorded. In HD-DSLR cameras the main codec is H.264 or AVCHD which uses MPEG-4. I'm trying to keep this simple so I can understand it and try and help new users of digital video cameras to understand why free software is complicated.

H.264 is a very compressed format, it is used to store massive amounts of data into a small space, a bit like one of those small child's toys that you put in water and it expands to become a larger item.  So this format is in the Apple camp of software so it will not play in the main free windows format that ships with most PC computers Windows Moviemaker or Windows Media Player.

Lets skip to Windows format of video playback, the .wmv file is really a media player file for Windows Media or Windows Moviemaker, the pros in video are using .AVI files that play well on Windows based PC's.

The files that come out of cameras like the Canon 7D and Canon 60D are heavily compressed H.264 and they wont play smoothly in most software, that's why people transcode them with programs like Cineform Neoscene into AVI files. The newer software programs that have just been updated this year like the latest Adobe editing programs with the CS5 name will play these files without transcoding, so will Sony Vegas 10, but these programs are getting on for $1,000.

If you are still with me, congratulations for showing such perseverance, here is the free section or almost. If you do not want to pay $99 for Cineform Neoscene to transcode your DSLR footage into an AVI file and are on a limited budget, then the amateur versions of the professional video editing software is where you want to start, they are a one stop shop for loading camera files and rendering out clips ready for upload to Pond5 etc. These software titles are Sony Vegas Studio HD or take a look at Adobe Premiere Elements 9 both these programs are around $80 and are enough to get you into the stock video footage game from your DSLR or consumer camcorder.

For free there is MPEG Streamclip this is basically a video convertor program, it does allow for trimming and you can export your clips in Quicktime format using the Motion or Photojpeg codecs, you will need to have Apple Quicktime downloaded on your computer first to make Streamclip work.

If you need more editing power to adjust brightness and color correction there is the open source program which is very powerful and free called Virtual Dub it is mainly an AVI file based software so you will have difficulty with MPEG files.

Quicktime Pro is very useful to trim, adjust exposure levels and colors, it is $30 and will play your HD-DSLR files and will again export in the right video formats for stock footage. Streamclip while an excellent program and it is free, does not have exposure or color control. Streamclip also relies on the video codecs already in your computer and some people do not have the codecs they need for stock footage. Streamclip is a great convertor and should be thought of in that way, not a video editor.

In conclusion I think if I was on a budget and I tried to shoot the best quality footage in camera, made color balance adjustments at the time of shooting, was careful with my exposures, I could get by with Quicktime Pro, but I'm more likely to invest the little extra in the Adobe or Sony basic programs, for the little extra you pay you are getting so much more potential.

Good luck