Editing Software

[PoloGreen94]

So far you have gotten some great info. Albeit all over the board. Mainly because you did not, indicate weather you are using a Mac or a PC, or a budget range, or indicate weather you will also be doing photo editing or just video. All of which will help in getting much more targeted info to (as you correctly indicate) your specific situation.
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Yes, I agree, I've gotten great feedback so far.

As a side note I am using a PC. Macs are not intuitive to me. Also, I would like to capture stills from the video if possible. But adding red color to the video (though I don't think I would actually be doing this according to an earlier post) is a must. I shot in about 40 feet of water, 50+ feet of viz, sunlight, and the video still turned out devoid of red.

 

[ronscuba]

If you are using a Mac Final Cut Pro X is great, especially if you will do a lot of editing. If not the less expensive way to go is iMovie. If you have a "PC" toss it in the trash and go get a Mac.... ;-)

Yeah OK and I guess having a Mac automatically makes anyone create a good UW video.

 

[kelemvor]

Yes, I agree, I've gotten great feedback so far.

As a side note I am using a PC. Macs are not intuitive to me. Also, I would like to capture stills from the video if possible. But adding red color to the video (though I don't think I would actually be doing this according to an earlier post) is a must. I shot in about 40 feet of water, 50+ feet of viz, sunlight, and the video still turned out devoid of red.

At 40 feet the water is filtering out red, orange, and yellow light. If you know you're going to be at roughly that depth you might want to consider a red (or magenta for freshwater) filter. You can get them for all types of cameras pretty much (including stuff like gopro). A red filter works by filtering out blue, indigo, violet to some degree compensating for the loss of red orange and yellow that was filtered by the water. The result is a darker image with more accurate colors. On a bright day your camera can probably compensate for the lost light of the red filter by increasing the ISO sensitivity, and F-stop or reducing the shutter speed. Most cameras will do this for you in "auto" mode.

The drawbacks to a filter are reduced light getting into the camera sensor and at shallower depths your image takes on a red tint. Personally, I find the result preferable to what is obtained by applying a red filter on a computer after the fact.

 

[diversteve]

As a side note I am using a PC. Macs are not intuitive to me. Also, I would like to capture stills from the video if possible. But adding red color to the video (though I don't think I would actually be doing this according to an earlier post) is a must. I shot in about 40 feet of water, 50+ feet of viz, sunlight, and the video still turned out devoid of red.

What camera/housing are you shooting?

Most of the sub-$100 editors can also grab stills after you've captured the footage. Most won't be great since the inherent resolution of all the prosumer HDV cameras was something like 2-3Megapixels. A lot of them were interlaced also.

If it's a Sony - some of them had the ability to simultaneously shoot stills onto their proprietary media card. Those turn out better. If your housing supports the dual functionality.

What color was the water? Ocean Blue or Lake Green?

 

[PoloGreen94]

What camera/housing are you shooting?

Most of the sub-$100 editors can also grab stills after you've captured the footage. Most won't be great since the inherent resolution of all the prosumer HDV cameras was something like 2-3Megapixels. A lot of them were interlaced also.

If it's a Sony - some of them had the ability to simultaneously shoot stills onto their proprietary media card. Those turn out better. If your housing supports the dual functionality.

What color was the water? Ocean Blue or Lake Green?

It was ocean blue. Shooting a Canon HV20 in an Ikelite housing. One dive I didn't have a red filter, a separate dive I had it. The video with the filter turned out terrific, the other not so much hence why I need to add red in the post production process.

I'm not getting my hopes up for the stills, but it might be something fun to have.

 

[Tafflad]

As you are PC user (as am I) then a good choice is SONY Movie Studio Platinnum ... (oft called Sony Vegas) Does full HD, 3D, with AC3 sound .....and can render finished production any format you wish. (1080p, MP4, Meg2 etc)
I did some arithmetic .. and bought previous generation (sealed box) off eBay and an upgrade to latest ver off Sony (30% discount deal) .... worked out about 1/2 the price of buying new current package.

Sony are good tha they offer value for money upgrade deals for each version.

Sony MS has colour picker, colour corrector, white balance and much more, built in as Video effects just drag them onto the video..... there are loads of great sources of lessons on-line (videos) to get you editing quickly. (happy to supply links if you want them)

You can still get Sony Vegas .... but that is a lot more expensive and aimed at professional users

---------- Post added December 31st, 2013 at 07:49 PM ----------

My personal preference is Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum - it's under $100 on Amazon or via download from: Home Studio Family Overview

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Just a minor correction - the program you are talking about ( and I also recommend) is Sony Movie Studio Platinum NOT Vegas ..... they changed teh product names on the current release, dropping Vegas from the non-professional version.
Agree you can buy software download license at great deals ..... if you get Movie Studio Platinum, 12 you will also get DVD Archirect5 and SoundForge Audio 10 included. As well as other freebies (BlueFx etc)

 

[TheTrickster]

As a Mac user I was initially hooked on iMovie, but found I couldn't do certain things I wanted. So I got a copy of FCP X. There was an initial shock of learning the differences but now I'm finding it very intuitive! and the best thing - everything I've wanted to do with a video I've been able too - and with ease. Obviously its an expensive upgrade if you are PC based.

Friends at work use the Sony product and are happy with it.