Home Movie Editing

Applying a few basic techniques can make any home video look more professional and make life much easier when you get to the editing stage. Here are my top ten tips for capturing good video.

As a general rule of thumb, when editing video on a PC, you should always keep the quality of your source material as high as possible until the point when you publish, whether you are publishing to DVD, back to tape, or to the web. This guide aims to help you understand the basic differences in the compression techniques used in the most common video formats.

So, you've created a masterpiece of a home movie? It's taken you a while and you're really proud of it. Now what?

Part of the problem with the good old videotape was the fact that it was not easy to pull it out of the box and watch a particular part which interests you. I'm probably the same as most people in that I had loads of footage on 8mm video which just sat around gathering dust. Now that I have converted it all to DVD, I find that everyone in the family picks up the discs and watches various parts of them, it's just so much easier!

While home movies are not going to be a match for Hollywood blockbusters, much can be learnt from applying the same principles.

Here's my ten tips for editing a successful movie.

If you own a camcorder, and create DVDs as a hobby, at some point you may be asked to film a wedding. Often these requests will come from a family member or close friend.

Quite rightly, professional wedding videographers charge alot of money to film a wedding. Apart from the whole day of filming, most professionals will put in many hours creating the final product. This can often lead to some cost cutting, hence the approach to the often willing hobbyist.

Often, the purchase of a digital camcorder is made as an upgrade from an analogue device. Once you start filming and editing footage from a digital camcorder, you will appreciate the convenience it brings and the increase in picture quality.

So, what can you do with all those old analogue video tapes you've filled up over the years? Well, it is now relatively easy to convert your old analogue camcorder footage into a digital format and then onto DVD. With the right equipment and following a few rules, there is no reason why you can't show off your old camcorder footage alongside your new digital footage.