K-7 Video Editing For Dummies

mtngal · 07-31-2009, 09:41 PM

I'm really clueless when it comes to video. I had no desire to use it when I bought the K-7, but I've been thinking about several ways I'd like to use it for. I tried using the movie mode and can view the files with QuickTime Player. The only thing is that I'll want to take some short clips and put them together in one file, and that's where I hit a stumbling block.

I have a Mac and no knowledge of video files or software. I assumed that iMovie would do what I wanted (edit the files_, but it won't recognize the .avi file from the K-7. I tried to find out if iLife09 would work (with its newer version of iMovie), or Apple's FinalCut Express. But I can't figure out how the .avi file name of the K-7 translates to what the spec sheets on Apple's website. They talk about other formats, and I don't know how that translates to the K-7's output. How can I figure out what will read the K-7's files?

Unless I can find something for under $100, I'm tempted to get CS4 Production Premium (I can get a student license version for about twice what FinalCut Express goes for). I hate to do that as I already have CS4 Design Premium (but it wouldn't go to waste - I'd put it on my husband's computer).

So can someone explain to me what all this alphabet soup with video means, in dummy terms so that a newbie like me can figure it out?

flyer · 08-01-2009, 03:34 AM

I don't know if there is a Mac version, but on a PC, Adobe Premiere Elements 7 does a very good job of editing the K-7 video clips. I got a darn good deal buying the bundle Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7.

WerTicus · 08-01-2009, 04:42 AM

the open source and free option out there is virtual dub.
Its rather easy to use and powerful. Just search you tube for tutorials!
I used it to edit together the reel on my website.

mtngal · 08-01-2009, 07:58 AM

Virtual dub sounds great, but it seems to be windows only and that won't work for me. I looked around for other open source programs that will run on Mac and found a few, but they sound pretty buggy at this stage. I'll keep looking.

Premiere Elements/Photoshop Elements 7 doesn't seem to be available for Mac either - that probably would have been my first choice. I'm still thinking that CS4 Production Premium, while definitely over-kill for me, is the best/most economical way to go (Adobe has bigger student discounts than Apple does).

The biggest question I still have is how do I tell which programs will recognize the K-7's files? When looking at the various open source programs, they talk about all sorts of various types of files, but they don't seem to relate to the files I see from the K-7.

Would QuickTime Pro work?

MJB DIGITAL · 08-01-2009, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by mtngal

Virtual dub sounds great, but it seems to be windows only and that won't work for me. I looked around for other open source programs that will run on Mac and found a few, but they sound pretty buggy at this stage. I'll keep looking.

Premiere Elements/Photoshop Elements 7 doesn't seem to be available for Mac either - that probably would have been my first choice. I'm still thinking that CS4 Production Premium, while definitely over-kill for me, is the best/most economical way to go (Adobe has bigger student discounts than Apple does).

The biggest question I still have is how do I tell which programs will recognize the K-7's files? When looking at the various open source programs, they talk about all sorts of various types of files, but they don't seem to relate to the files I see from the K-7.

Would QuickTime Pro work?

Isn't all Adobe software originally written for Mac anyway? Us PC users, I thought, are just lucky that we get to use Adobe.

*reeftool* · 08-01-2009, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by mtngal

Virtual dub sounds great, but it seems to be windows only and that won't work for me. I looked around for other open source programs that will run on Mac and found a few, but they sound pretty buggy at this stage. I'll keep looking.

Premiere Elements/Photoshop Elements 7 doesn't seem to be available for Mac either - that probably would have been my first choice. I'm still thinking that CS4 Production Premium, while definitely over-kill for me, is the best/most economical way to go (Adobe has bigger student discounts than Apple does).

The biggest question I still have is how do I tell which programs will recognize the K-7's files? When looking at the various open source programs, they talk about all sorts of various types of files, but they don't seem to relate to the files I see from the K-7.

Would QuickTime Pro work?

According to the tech page on Apples website, Quicktime Pro supports AVI. It should do what you want for far less money than CS4.

eagle · 08-01-2009, 05:18 PM

Final Cut express should work with it. I'm sure you can download it as a trial, then only purchase if you are happy with it.

I have iMovie 08, which opens .avi from my Samsung compact, but not from my friends Kodak.

mtngal · 08-01-2009, 07:26 PM

It sounds like Quicktime Pro would do what little I want to do, and it's really inexpensive. I'm using Quicktime player for viewing the video clips I've taken so far (which has more to do with practice than anything else). I tried iMovie 08 which came with my system and that definitely does not work. Now I just have to figure out exactly what Quicktime Pro can and can't do when compared to Final Cut and Premiere etc. I can't tell you how many times I've compromised and gotten something cheaper "to see" then end up getting the more expensive stuff later because I outgrow the limitations of the cheaper item. There have been exceptions (PSE is one of them, which is why I was disappointed that the PSE/Premiere Express combination isn't currently available for Mac).

Anyone have any other suggestions?

schmik · 08-01-2009, 08:29 PM

Imovie works just fine. Just save the files to disk and then go File->Import

Works on imovie 08 and 09.

mike

*nostatic* · 08-01-2009, 09:06 PM

I would think that iMovie imports AVI. In fact iMovie will deal with more formats than FinalCutPro amazingly enough. I moved from iMovie to FCP a few years back as there are things that I need to do that iMovie can't (like multiple streams on screen at once).

QTPro will give you bare-bones editing capabilities and reads the video from the K7, Olympus E-P1, Leica DLux 4, etc.

Edvinas · 08-02-2009, 05:45 PM

I can confirm that iMovie 8.0.x works fine with K-7 video files.

mtngal · 08-02-2009, 06:21 PM

Hmmm - I don't know what I did wrong when I tried it before - I didn't try the import command. I just tried it and low and behold, it works! Now to figure out how to use the program (since I'm so clueless when it comes to video in general). Thanks for the information and help! Perhaps next time I want to upgrade Photoshop, I'll get the production premium version, but not before.

Thanks again for the help, that's why I keep coming back to this board - you are all so helpful.