Please post your Dxdiag file (see top page of this forum) so that we can give you some useful advice. If you intend to edit HD video files you'll have to consider upgrading your PC to run 64 bit windows. Win 10, i7

Our new member, Miss Katbunz ( a web name that's fun to type), has her hands on a STANDARD definition Sony Handycam.
A big Forum hellooo to Miss Katbunz, by the way.
So then, Miss Katbunz, this will most certainly make your first effort less difficult (I say hopefully).
Stick around the Forum, and you'll find tons of help here, Miss Katbunz.
So, that DXdiag, it's easy...just follow HDedit's advice, at this link... http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/29701.page
HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

What are you trying to achieve? With any program there is a learning curve, so depending on what you're wanting out of it, you may get the desired results from free software, say windows movie maker. The free stuff is much more basic, though if its just some trimming you're doing it may be fine. If you want to learn and develop editing skills, PD is great to learn with, and still quite easy for beginner's.

You can also try the free 30 day trial.

Thanks so much for the welcome, guys! I was offline yesterday, so apologies for my lateness in replying back to you.
HDedit -- Yes, I do realize that 64-bit is the ideal equipment for all things video. Unfortunately, I'm on a waiting list for that machine. They don't just give them out to anyone here. Pardon my ignorance, but if you do editing with a 64 bit machine, how does the end product look when it plays on a 32 bit machine? Or is that taken care of when you "publish"? Cause 32-bit PCs are what my audience will be viewing my work on.

BarryTheCrab -- Thanks sooo much for the compliment on my web name, for the "big Forum hellooo" and for the link to the DXdiag! I'm going to have a TON of snow dropped on me within the next few hours, so I'm going to have to postpone this task a bit.
Love your web name too. I guess crabbing is your hobby??

Aus_Sean -- I'm going to start with Windows Movie Maker and I already downloaded the free trial of PD 12. This past October, I went to a software developer conference in Vegas and I sat in on a class that was using Windows Premier Pro. Unfortunately, the download of the trial version was a disaster. There were issues with the laptop I was using. My IT guy eventually got the program to download, but I was unable to open the practice video files that the workshop instructor gave us. So I ended up looking over the shoulder of a woman who was using a 64 bit Macbook Pro. Glad I did this cause it gave me my first glimpse into what video editing software looks like.

Hi,
A 64bit Operating System on a computer enables you to use greater resources for editing - so long as you have the hardware in the computer. Chat with your IT guy and tell your boss you need a 64bit powerful machine to edit video (no ifs or buts, tell him to look it up and ask here to) PDR12 will operate on a 32bit computer and a 64bit one. For serious editing a 64bit computer is a must. The 32bit limits are not good for HD editing.

Video file output will play on 32bit* and 64bit* - it's editing that you need a 64bit unit for.

* Graphic card has to be good enough.

Dafydd

Quote: Thanks so much for the welcome, guys! I was offline yesterday, so apologies for my lateness in replying back to you.
HDedit -- Yes, I do realize that 64-bit is the ideal equipment for all things video. Unfortunately, I'm on a waiting list for that machine. They don't just give them out to anyone here. Pardon my ignorance, but if you do editing with a 64 bit machine, how does the end product look when it plays on a 32 bit machine? Or is that taken care of when you "publish"? Cause 32-bit PCs are what my audience will be viewing my work on.

BarryTheCrab -- Thanks sooo much for the compliment on my web name, for the "big Forum hellooo" and for the link to the DXdiag! I'm going to have a TON of snow dropped on me within the next few hours, so I'm going to have to postpone this task a bit.
Love your web name too. I guess crabbing is your hobby??

Aus_Sean -- I'm going to start with Windows Movie Maker and I already downloaded the free trial of PD 12. This past October, I went to a software developer conference in Vegas and I sat in on a class that was using Windows Premier Pro. Unfortunately, the download of the trial version was a disaster. There were issues with the laptop I was using. My IT guy eventually got the program to download, but I was unable to open the practice video files that the workshop instructor gave us. So I ended up looking over the shoulder of a woman who was using a 64 bit Macbook Pro. Glad I did this cause it gave me my first glimpse into what video editing software looks like.

You don't need a 64bit machine, and never mind the DXdiag and whatnot.

Just try out the trail version you have already download, and see for yourself.

Usability won't change with a faster PC and all those colourful words won't do you any good.

Try it out and asks specific questions regarding features and it's use on this forum - technical stuff is not for you.

Hello there, NJ_Katbunz,

A ton of snow? Try Norway !

I saw your posting at work today. Been wondering if I at all should go in here.
But this forum is desperately in need of more women, beginners or not – so I
decided to pitch in to greet you, and perhaps give you a few of my opinions.

Big is not necessarily the best and/or first preference……

But- to edit video taken with today's cameras (most of which record in HD or making
the sales point “full HD”)- you will need a fairly powerful PC , a good graphic card and
6 – 12 RAM (memory). All depending on what you are going to edit /make.

Some of the guys in here record gaming. Some make hour(s) long videos, some make stuff
for dvds, blue rays. But some (of us) also/only make videos for the net, tutorials, travel glimpses,
creative stuff etc from 3 – 10 minutes. Some in here use i5, most i7 PCs.

Very few in here are actual pros – as in the accurate meaning of “professional”.
Would like to be, I suppose, but there are so very very many extremely good (younger)
professionals out there, we do our best being amateurs and let our work display what
we are able to make / create – or not.

I need to be able to learn how to use a video editing software program quickly
and produce a professional looking product for my company.

I am not lying to you when I say it has taken me about 6 years to be able to produce stuff
“quickly” as I do today. No course – only a huge amount of time spent in front of the PC.
Today, I am able to also use more difficult editing programs than PowerDirector, but now
I have gotten more “the hang of it all” – know so much more of how things work, both in
a PC and in editing.
This being said, PD may be a way for you to start.
You have quite a few “canned options” – which means more or less ready made variations
of things, and after learning more you have quite a few options to go further; make your
own twists in what you produce.

Advice from me will be:
Before any buying of PCs/Macs/programs – do a trial on what PC you already have.
Do not try out long durations of clips/videos – just 1-3 min to start with.
See how your PC copes, see how you cope!
A 32 bit is not ideal – if you find out you will pursue this you should go for 64 bit.

Do not be intimidated by “the know-how guys” – be yourself and ask for help!


Nina











Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

NJ_Katbunz ,

1Nina and BarryTheCrab offer very good advice for you. In your case since the video is standard definition almost any PC built in the past 5 years will do for editing. As per the PD specs sheet your PC need only be:

For DVD Quality (MPEG-2) Profiles: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2

At this point all you need to do is play with PD in order to get the feel for what video editing has to offer.

So please help us help you by posting your PC DxDiag file as per:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/29701.page Win 10, i7

Katbunz

A warm welcome from here in India. It is a pleasant 23 C here in Mumbai .

I would seriously advice you to start with windows movie maker. It has enough frills and fancies to get you started and make a very very decent video.

I started from that one.

You may at the same time paddle PD12. There is a option to make a quick video with almost no editing skills.

Given the timeline you have to make a presentation I suggest to you to make the video with Windows movie maker. This is less demanding on the computer you have and will work like a charm with video format your camera will produce.

Good luck ! PC specs :
OS Windows 10.0 Pro
MB - AS rock Z77 extreme 11
Intel 3770K @ 4.0 Ghz OC
Gskill 32 GB RAM 1800 Mhz
6 TB HDD, SSD bootable
nVidia ASUS GTX 660 Ti
BenQ 22" LCD monitor 1920x1080

Hi NJ_Katbunz -

There's been some good advice put to you already.

Since your Sony records SD video - MPEG-2 720X480 @ 9MBps - you'll be fine editing on your 32-bit PC. HDedit has pointed you to the minimum specs for DVD quality video.

I agree with BabIndia - given your immediate purpose (to record & edit a 1:30 video to insert in a PowerPoint presentation) MovieMaker will do the job, without the learning curve.

I imagine, if it's part of a PP presentation, that you probably wouldn't be after any complex layered editing since that can be done within PP.

If, in the future, you found a need for more complex editing PowerDirector is a great tool.

When you get the video edited (whatever software you use) remember that only certain video formats are compatible with PowerPoint. It depends which version you're using.

2007 version - http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/powerpoint-help/compatible-multimedia-file-formats-HA001230325.aspx
2013 version - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/video-and-audio-file-formats-supported-in-powerpoint-HA102820008.aspx

Cheers - Tony
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A BIG THANK YOU to ALL of you who were so kind to reply to me!! I'm the only one here in my office and it's 7am on a COLD and SNOWY winter morning (8 deg F and about 7 inches of snow on the ground!) -- I know, it's crazy, but you can never impress the boss too much, right? I'm going to need some time to sort through everyone's replies but I will probably start with Windows Movie Maker just because of the time constraint I currently have. My office life here is a hectic one and I'm not able to "play" like I want to with anything new. Anything I do with the PD12 trial version will have to be on my own time (for now) since being in the office means I'm fair game to be imposed upon with emails, phone calls, and drop in visitors! So it's not quite the best "learning environment" --- maybe some of you can relate to this? I don't know when I'll be getting that 64 bit machine, but it should be within the next 6 months. Until then, I am going to try to work with my 32 bit and see how it goes. PS to 1Nina -- Funny you mentioned you're from Norway -- I'm a big fan of the TV show (Lilyhammer) and I was wondering how long that snow stays around? Do you really do all the things that appear on the show -- National Day (wearing the National Costume), Reindeer racing??

Quote: I don't know when I'll be getting that 64 bit machine, but it should be within the next 6 months. Until then, I am going to try to work with my 32 bit and see how it goes.

64bit dose NOT give you anything, unless you have more than 4 GB of RAM otherwise 64bit is pointless.
When you get a new PC within 6 months or so, then there will be a 64bit OS on it.

So don't worry about 32bit vs 64bit, is pointless and gives you nothing on you existing hardware.

Hej Nina, der oppe i Norge