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Animation Compositing/Editing/Post-Processing Tool
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Animation Compositing/Editing/Post-Processing Tool // Roundtable
Post by Ellison Capers // May 11, 2009, 12:32pm
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Ellison Capers
Total Posts: 1
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I'm looking for a (relatively) inexpensive Windows software package that I could use to composite, edit, and polish animations created from 3D animation packages like truespace, Poser, and Vue. I want to be able to import still images or video in multiple formats, and export WMV and MPEG files. I want to be able to add sound effects and music in separate tracks or layers. It should have a track/layer editor. Nice to have would be a browse-able library of sound effects, music, and transitions. It should allow be to join multiple clips together. A 64-bit version would be preferable. I'm not interested in traditional 2D animation or painting over time, except where this may be useful in tweaking my movies or adding special effects.
I'm not really sure exactly what category this software falls under - video editing, animation, or what. For example, I've looked at the Adobe site, and I can't tell whether I should be thinking about Premiere, After Effects, or Photoshop CS4 Extended. A long time ago, I used Autodesk Animator and really liked it, but can't really find anything that is marketed as similar to that. I have tried Project Dogwaffle, but it's more of a paint program with animation added and not really what I'm looking for. If there are any 3D artists out there using truespace, Poser, or Vue please let me know what you are using. I am in the process of creating a series of clips using Poser, and would really like to find something that would allow me to import these clips and composite them into a complete film with sound effects and music - something that would allow me to be creative without overwhelming me with options I don't need, but not something that is all prepackaged consumer home video stuff.
Thanks. |
Post by Burnart // May 11, 2009, 12:50pm
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Burnart
Total Posts: 839
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You could try Sony Vegas - quite powerful, easy to use. Fairly cheap.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/
scroll down to the list of software there are several versions of Vegas
To compare the different ones:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/moviestudiope/compare
Not sure if there is a demo. Not as powerful as full pro level software (of course!) but a good intro to the whole editing thing. |
Post by RichLevy // May 11, 2009, 3:57pm
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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If you want a package that can also give some very cool effects, and allows a good deal of freedom and tutorials After Effects is hard to beat... but it is very expensive. Premiere is a very good program also, if you need to export out to specific formats and devices it is hard to beat. AE CS4 would be my overwhelming favorite if I only had to choose one. It is far more expensive than Sony Vegas though. It is a matter of choice, features and money. Is AE CS4 really worth the extra money? To some yes and others no. AECS4 and PSCS4Extended offer some great features for camera mapping and bringing simple geometry from PSCS4E to AECS4, great for some types of animations.
Intersted in cool movie effects, this site is hard to beat for great AE tutorials http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/
A free open source editor is floating around also, for the life of me I can not remember the name and a quick search yielded nothing...
HTH
Rich |
Post by Jack Edwards // May 11, 2009, 5:54pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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I echo what the others say about Vegas. For the money it's a no-brainer.
Gotta say that I'm really liking PhotoShop CS4, it's much smoother with the Wacom, the ability to work in HDR bit depths is a huge difference, and that it now imports collada and obj for painting directly on the models is just icing. ;)
There's a lot of copies of CS4 Design out there for cheap because of the current situation in the market. You might be able to catch a deal from a software clearance company like Purplus.com:
http://store.purplus.net/adcrsucs4dep2.html
They have OEM versions for a bit cheaper but Adobe considers resale of OEM disks a violation of their OEM agreement and you might run into licencing issues should you want to upgrade or need service at a later date. Officially Adobe denies that OEM exists likely because indeed most places selling "OEM" software are counterfit. So even if the OEM is legit, it's better to pay the $30 difference and get the non-OEM version. ;)
If you don't need Dreamweaver and want to get After Effects as well as PhotoShop, etc., try this bundle:
http://store.purplus.net/adprprcs4.html
:eek: |
Post by 3dfrog // May 11, 2009, 6:28pm
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3dfrog
Total Posts: 1225
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I swear by vegas. Get the sony imagination suite at dell.com and you'll get vegas platinum edition as well as all the audio tools you'll need. It also comes with a program for photos, but you can't beat photoshop for that. |
Post by DesignDevil // May 11, 2009, 9:19pm
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DesignDevil
Total Posts: 76
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I use EditStudio for compositing and for adding the soundFX...
http://www.mediachance.com/video/index.html |
Post by noko // May 11, 2009, 9:56pm
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noko
Total Posts: 684
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I use MAGIX Edit Pro 14 plus, is rather cheap and does everything you asked for and much much more. Has rave reviews and for the money really hard to beat. Many different formats including the HD ones. Version 15 is now out.
http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/ |
Post by RAYMAN // May 11, 2009, 11:56pm
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RAYMAN
Total Posts: 1496
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I use MAGIX Edit Pro 14 plus, is rather cheap and does everything you asked for and much much more. Has rave reviews and for the money really hard to beat. Many different formats including the HD ones. Version 15 is now out.
http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/
I use the same thing !
very good !
but Vegas is also good ! |
Post by Nez // May 12, 2009, 12:46am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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I've used an old version of Premiere which I like a lot for splicing together of clips, adding soundtrack/music etc. Don't know what level of effects it can tackle though so would imagine for serious compositing something more advanced like AE may be more appropriate.
I also have an old Pinnacle package that came with the Capture Card I got, which was similar to Premiere but a bit more basic - someone else round here uses a Pinnacle package.
Other folks have mentioned a free package called Virtualdub or something like that which may also be worth looking at.... |
Post by RichLevy // May 12, 2009, 1:08am
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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Open Source After Effects clone... I played around with it a couple of years back. This might fit the bill if money is tight.
http://jahshaka.org/
Rummage around on CraigList and graphic forums for sales on older Adobe Suits. I bought mine several years back from a guy that was moving from a PC to a MAc. I got AE, PS, Premiere, Illustrator and Flash for 500.00, they were only a version old. I rotate upgrades between AE, PS and Premiere. I prefer to do my purchasing from Adobe, the discount places can be a problem. Adobe can sometimes be a royal pain in the tush when you need to call for new serial numbers (Indian support).
Rich |
Post by v3rd3 // May 12, 2009, 4:13am
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v3rd3
Total Posts: 388
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I picked up Pinnacle Studio 12 and what I see so far I like.
In the freeware market you might look at Wax by Debugmode.... Zweistein video editor, and the Zweistein successor t@b zs4.
Wax does have a number of effects and layering opportunities. Zweistein and t@b I have downloaded but not tried to any great length.
Good hunting. |
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