Videoppo question

"cbell04" (cbell04) 12/27/2014 at 21:22 • Filed to: None

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So I got a dash cam and wanted to know what people are using to edit the videos? Prefer free as I wont be trying to do anything fancy just shorten clips for easier youtube upload and whatnot. Maybe my win8 already packs such tool? Anyway any help would be much appreciated. Also this is a screen grab of the video of the new toy. Super clear and pretty darn good sound too!

jvirgs drives a Subaru > cbell04 12/27/2014 at 21:29

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How do you have it setup in your car?

cbell04 > jvirgs drives a Subaru 12/27/2014 at 21:35

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Directly behind the rear view mirror for now. That test shot was to the right of the center line but think I'm liking the left better to capture my point of view as close as possible without impeding my line of sight. Haven't done enough testing yet to finalize the wiring.

TheHondaBro > cbell04 12/27/2014 at 21:35

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I think you can download Windows Movie Maker for free somewhere.

jvirgs drives a Subaru > cbell04 12/27/2014 at 21:37

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Are you planning or in the process of hard-wiring it in the car?

cbell04 > TheHondaBro 12/27/2014 at 21:40

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My pc came with a version of it but it seems to be a pile of shit.. Only lets you save the edited videos as a "window movie file". All I'm looking for is a cropping tool that allows me to keep a common file type preferably .mp4, .avi, and .mov.

TheHondaBro > cbell04 12/27/2014 at 21:46

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Download Windows Movie Maker and a video converter.

Or you can buy a Mac with iMovie...

cbell04 > jvirgs drives a Subaru 12/27/2014 at 21:47

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I actually already have a hardwired power 1200w inverter set up under the passenger seat so I'll be utilizing one of the powered usb ports it has.

JGrabowMSt > cbell04 12/27/2014 at 22:55

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Being a video editor, I just use Premiere. I know it's expensive as hell, but I would suggest getting yourself Premiere Elements maybe.

Here's the thing (and bear in mind I'm speaking from recent experience )...

You can't just think about your end. Unless you're about to post every ounce of footage somewhere, just let it cycle over the footage. Drove to the store and got home with nothing eventful? Great, the footage can go. What if you're driving home from your girlfriends house at 10:30 and some asshole swings in front of you and it results in your car being totaled? You need that footage. You need about 15-20 seconds of footage leading up to it, but 10 seconds is more than enough when you think about it. But it goes deeper than that. Insurance companies (most corporate businesses) use antiquated email systems that can handle attachment sizes that accommodate text. Just text. For example, 5mb. We'll say that many corporate emails today can handle 5mb. Insurance companies would have no idea what to do with a 240mb file, much less have someone handy who can chop it down to the important bit at the end.

Why is this important for you? Good software can give you the ability to not only chop it down, but export it to a file size small enough for a mouse to hand to the goddamn insurance company. When I chopped down the footage to 11 seconds and rendered out an mp4 video file to email to insurance, the file I emailed to them was roughly 2.5mb. I don't know of any free video editing software worth anything for this. You chop it down, you make it useful, and it works. The problem is that you really need to know what to do with it, because your insurance company wont. They wont have a damn clue.

Does this mean you need to be the next hollywood editor? No. You just need to buy the basic version of the software and be able to use it to your advantage. Android codecs are ridiculously small while retaining a lot of quality. Premiere comes with a lot of those codecs for exporting, or you can pair Premiere with Adobe Media Encoder (where you can even take an existing video file and convert it to a new codec without opening software with a timeline). Now, obviously this stuff costs money, but hey, you just bought a dash cam. It wasn't particularly cheap. Next up you need to have the software to do what you need it to do. Why is this important? Accidents aren't cheap, but covering your ass is. The cost of Premiere Elements (or Premiere Pro standalone if you're a student) is pretty cheap all things considered. You just need to be prepared. Does it suck that things are expensive? Absolutely. They aren't going to get cheaper just for you and me, so we just have to eat that, but in the end, if that covers your ass and proves the other driver is at fault, then it already paid for itself.

So I know it sucks to shell out money, especially when it doesn't pay for itself, or it doesn't pay itself back for a long time, but in this case, I couldn't stress enough how important it is to have the correct software at your disposal should you really need it.

I'm not saying don't try out free software, I'm a huge supporter of free and open source software, but in this kind of scenario, the benefits simply aren't enough. You need to be able to import the footage, isolate what you need, and export that clip in a small format while keeping it visible. The best quality is obviously the most important thing for you to prove your case. I have a sister that works for a public defender, and so often evidence will come in that is either corrupt, unusable or really disorganized. You just have to be 100% on top of your shit to make sure that doesn't happen to you. It's tough, expensive and no fun, but covering your ass is the best thing you can ever do for yourself in the event of a major accident.

cbell04 > JGrabowMSt 12/27/2014 at 23:11

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Elements was going to be my go to if i don't like the free options. I actually owned a copy of 3.0 or maybe 4.0 back in 08ish time frame. Back then it was well over 100 bucks and now I'm seeing the most current version listed for 30-40 bucks so maybe it really is worth it especially since I quasi know a bit about it from yesteryear . Thanks for the reply I honestly didn't do any digging before I cried for help just wanted to get the pulse on it.