Best Film editing program and video camera?

Question by .: Best Film editing program and video camera?
What program is industry standard for movie editing?
I’m planning to start making documentaries and short movies and i hear alot of people giving their own personal experiences like final cut pro, vegas, after effects? I understand macbook pro has most of these programs and alot of film schools have set their standard as a macbook with final cut pro.
but what is better than those names i just mentioned?
also, i’m looking to start filming and i am looking for a video camera hd that shoots high resolution video like documentaries, movies,?
anywhere from 400$ to 2000$ price range woud be nice?
any opinions?

Best answer:

Answer by Little Dog
A better way to investigate would be to check with some of the faculty or students at the film school you plan to attend.

However, generally speaking, you will be looking at “prosumer” and professional grade camcorders.

Lenses larger than 60mm diameter.
Imaging chips 1/4″ or larger.
(Larger lenses and imaging chips results in better low-light video capture behavior).
Manual controls for zoom, focus and audio gain and others that are on the outside of the camcorder that are easy to get to (rather than from a menu).

When you find these items in a camcorder, then everything else basically follows. Smallers lenses and imaging chips and manual controls in the menu are what separate consumer camcorders from the prosume and pro cams.

Prosumer camcorders will generally use a 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo audio-in jack. This can be changed to handle better XLR connector mics by using a XLR adapter like the juicedLink CX231 or BeachTek DXA-6.

You budget is a bit light…

Standard definition:
Canon GL2, Panasonic AG-DVX100, Canon XL2

High Definition:
Canon HV40 (purely consumer grade, but a good camcorder for the price).
Sony HVR-HD1000 (consumer-grade small lenses and imaging chip, but shoulder-mount)
Sony HDR-FX7 (prosumer-grade – pro sibling is the HVR-V1U)
Sony HVR-A1 (consumer-grade small lenses and imaging chip, but has XLR audio connectors – and some issues with a bottom tape loader and single shared ring for zoom or focus)
Sony DR-FX1000 (prosumer grade, replaced the HDR-FX1 a year ago, good lenses and imaging chips – pro sibling is the HVR-Z1U)
Canon XH series (pro grade)
Sony HVR-Z5U; HVR-Z7U (pro grade)
Panasonic AG-HVX200/205 (pro grade)
Canon XLH series (pro grade)
JVC GY-HM series (pro grade)

Be sure your computer has a firewire port. And you will need a firewire cable.

Final Cut Pro is a good one. Heck, Final Cut Express is good – but the Final Cut Studio suite is great (includes Pro). “Better” is what you can do with the tools you have at hand. I can do stuff with iMovie that Final Cut folks look at it and wonder how it was done… but I like Final Cut… The Adobe video editing suite’s pretty good. Sony Vegas is a Windows/Vista app, so unless you plan on running Windows on that Mac, it really isn’t anything to worry about. It is a good, solid editor.

Then there’s:
Rechargeable high capacity batteries (from the camcorder manufacturer)
Mics (shotgun, stereo, wireless lavalieres – Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica)
Cables (XLR mic extension cables), RCA extension cables
Tripod (Bogen-Manfrotto, Libec)
Other steadying devices (Spider Brace or other shoulder mount system; camera crane – Kessler; SteadyCam/GlideCam vest system, etc…)
On-camera lights & portable power (Bescor, NRG Research)
Cases (Pelican, SKG, Anvil)

There’s more, but this is a decent starting point…

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