Hi Guys,
I thought these thoughts/tips might be useful for new editors. Maybe others might add to them. :-

Video editing can be really rewarding or really frustrating , it's rarely just boring.

These are practical tips, not purist, but might help avoid some of the frustrations inherent in video editing, especially working with HD.

GENERAL
If you are working in HD, with larger projects, learn to meditate and take things slowly or buy the biggest, fastest and best system you can afford.

In all cases :-

View the recent tutorials on the Cyberlink Youtube channel

Make sure your system is as clean as possible (this does not mean dust or polish it!- You can if you want but it doesn't seem to make a difference), defrag drives, run registry cleaners, anti spyware etc. Many of us use a system broadly dedicated to video/graphics, as opposed to a general purpose system running loads of different software but....that's not always possible.

During editing, producing and burning try to minimise anything else running, disconnect from the internet (some people find that necessary), TEMPORARILY disable antivirus if necessary, use drives that are fast and/or local as opposed to external/networked if possible.



GENERAL WORKFLOW TIPS

Organise your project into a single folder/location

Use short file paths/locations (eg c:\my video\project1) rather than have files buried deep and wide in windows somewhere

Save your project .pds file often, with sequential numbers so that you can 'roll back' your editing

Consider splitting large projects and producing smaller finished videos to be compiled as a final PD video project later.

Produce interim videos to check progress, especially if you have problems with the preview player.

Consider finally producing to a file of your choice (you can check your production and at least have the file for viewing) even if eventually burning to DVD

If you use DVD you can then burn this file to disc or to folder (and then to disc) either with PD or use your produced file in another burner if PD has a problem.

PROBLEMS
When you hit a problem, as you will (maybe a lot to start with), approach things logically, search on the forum, most things (but not all by any means) have already happened, before posting new topics with as much info as necessary to allow others to understand and help.

Finally, keep relaxed and breath deeply and slowly - it will turn out all right in the end (probably).

NOTE: grey hair is the sign of an experienced video editor (unless you really are old, like some nameless people ).

Cheers
Adrian

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.