Video Editing Software, or The Quest for Success

I can't begin to cover what happened in the last couple of days. I took my new Camcorder to the football game, and then struggled to get captures. Once again, the difference in quality between my Thursday practice pictures and my Friday night game pictures was literally 'night and day'. I had a lot more success in getting detailed clean footage in video, but less success with video capture and stills. It was rather odd-- some pictures looked pretty clear, while others were smudged and blurred. I will need to spend a lot more time adjusting settings, and figuring out what works for this camera.

I now have to find out if there is video editing software that handles HD formatted video clips. My Sony's default file is AVCHD, which isn't truly supported by Adobe Elements 8. It can be imported into the program, but it is jerky and impossible to edit or work with on that program. According to RealSO http://www.reelseo.com/how-to-edit-avchd The best editing software for HD files on the consumer/amateur market is Pinnacle Studio. I am in the process of downloading a trial version, in order to see if indeed it will easily handle the files from my Sony. I'm also eager to see if I can get video captures that way, instead of trying to time them as I'm taking video footage.

In an effort to try some new things, I videotaped my friend riding her horse this evening, taking stills then. I also took several pictures and some video footage at my niece's volleyball game. Both my Sony videocam and my Cannon Sureshot have an odd sort of feel when I take still photos or captures. The button seems to be designed to let me take photos in different ways. What I don't understand is why or what that means. Perhaps this is why some of my pictures are blurry and others clear? It might be time to try to read the directions....