Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life.
Several years ago, my brother digitized the video. He also made a video
of many old pictures. Both videos were were saved to DVD's.

I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible
adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture
quality.

Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price
software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?

knuttle has brought this to us :
> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price software
> that I can use to accomplish the two goals?

https://www.shopify.com/blog/best-free-video-editing-software

I tested some of them, but due to the poor hardware I used I quit
testing

ages ago, when managing a video took an entire night, I used a nice
tool, but I'm sorry I can't remember the name; maybe is still on some
backup disks at home, not here at work

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

On 8/9/23 08:22, this is what knuttle wrote:
> Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life. Several years ago, my brother digitized the video.  He
> also made a video of many old pictures.  Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>
> I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma
> correction to improve the picture quality.
>
> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>
>
>
>
What Operating System are you using.

First you would need a dvd ripper that can trip the video and get the parts needed.
2nd there are all sorts of video editors you could cut out segments and join segments to make new videos.
3rd there are dvd authoring programs that you can use to make a new video DVD that has a menu and choices as to what
video you want to play.

I did this years ago on windows. Used Magix Movie Maker. It's change names now to Studio. $59.99 one time.
https://www.magix.com/us/video-editor/how-to-burn-a-dvd/

DVD shrink (not sure you can still get it) was a simple program to extract and or re-author a DVD and shrink the images.
This is one way I extracted the movie parts.

Then you would need some video editor to chop things up.

I ask the OS because I use Linux and have a pretty good video editor and can rip dvds. Not sure about the authoring
with a menu and all. I just don't do DVD's any longer. It does take time!!
--
Linux Mint 21.1 Cinnamon 5.6.8
Al

knuttle wrote:
> Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life.
> Several years ago, my brother digitized the video.  He also made a video
> of many old pictures.  Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>
> I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible
> adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture
> quality.
>
> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price
> software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>
>
By far the best free editor is Avidemux. I've used it for years under
Windows.
I've used it to extract parts of a video, step frame by frame through a
video, play a video in slow motion.
https://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
I've never used it to improve quality, however, and never noticed any
options to do so within it.
That strikes me as a very advanced editing function, and I wouldn't buy
anything offered until I'd tested it thoroughly.
Ed

On 8/9/2023 1:29 PM, Big Al wrote:
> On 8/9/23 08:22, this is what knuttle wrote:
>> Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life. Several years ago, my brother digitized the video.  He also made a video of many old pictures.  Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>>
>> I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture quality.
>>
>> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>>
>>
>>
>>
> What Operating System are you using.
>
> First you would need a dvd ripper that can trip the video and get the parts needed.
> 2nd there are all sorts of video editors you could cut out segments and join segments to make new videos.
> 3rd there are dvd authoring programs that you can use to make a new video DVD that has a menu and choices as to what video you want to play.
>
> I did this years ago on windows.  Used Magix Movie Maker.  It's change names now to Studio. $59.99 one time.
> https://www.magix.com/us/video-editor/how-to-burn-a-dvd/
>
> DVD shrink (not sure you can still get it) was a simple program to extract and or re-author a DVD and shrink the images.  This is one way I extracted the movie parts.
>
> Then you would need some video editor to chop things up.
>
> I ask the OS because I use Linux and have a pretty good video editor and can rip dvds.  Not sure about the authoring with a menu and all.   I just don't do DVD's any longer.  It does take time!!

These are home-made videos so no ripper is needed.
You should be able to go in and just copy the VOB files.

And they might potentially not be MPEG2 and the disc could
just have some movie files written to it.

Commercial pressed DVDs can benefit from DeCSS for decryption.
Some commercial movie media has multiple protection methods
such as "weak sector", and then a real ripper tool comes in handy.

*******

There are several FOSS video editors that are cross-platform,
and there are Windows versions available. KDEnlive, Openshot, Shotcut.

The only problem with NLE (non-linear editor) for video, is
the learning curve. And in some cases, you need a larger LCD monitor
screen so you can actually see the interface elements properly.
I had to scoot some shit out of the way, just so I could use
a brightness control. Which is not a pleasant way to use a GUI,
pushing panes out of the way so you can see.

I even have Adobe Premiere Pro from 2005, the one that was "released
into the wild" -- as far as I know, that was the tool that popularized
the timeline and editor interface. That's what a lot of tools were
trying to look like.

*******

In the ancient-history department, there was Windows Movie Maker for WinXP.
What I liked about that, is you could drop a vid file into the chopper
window, it would detect scene breaks automatically, and then you could
just drop scenes onto the timeline.

for the longest while, I thought the damn program had no effects or transitions.
I couldn't even FadeIn/FadeOut.

Then one day, I was working in a VM or something, happened to install it for a
lark, and the damn thing had effects. So something had happened to the first
install, it must have only been partially installed or something.

Why isn't it a candidate for any job of work ? The I/O is TERRIBLE.
If your only output option is crappy .wmv , what do you do next ????
Just the output resolution choices were hopeless.

So while the program was a great tease, it just could not finish
any job with any sort of style. You could not make an MPEG2 or
an MP4.

Microsoft may have made other movie editors like that, but I don't
think they had quite the same feature set.

Paul

On 8/9/2023 1:52 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
> knuttle wrote:
>> Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life. Several years ago, my brother digitized the video.  He also made a video of many old pictures.  Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>>
>> I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture quality.
>>
>> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>>
>>
>
> By far the best free editor is Avidemux. I've used it for years under Windows.
> I've used it to extract parts of a video, step frame by frame through a video, play a video in slow motion.
>
> https://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
>
> I've never used it to improve quality, however, and never noticed any options to do so within it.
> That strikes me as a very advanced editing function, and I wouldn't buy anything offered until I'd tested it thoroughly.
>
> Ed

Warning though. It's fairly cranky.

The more video formats it supported, the more cranky it got.

"Can't mix this with that". You can even start with a commercial
VOB and it would complain that it wasn't standards compliant if
you set the video and audio codec windows to "Copy". A
right pain in the ass.

This is one reason when I use it, I use the 2.5 version which
only supports AVI. You can relax and concentrate on your filters,
confident in the knowledge, that with few output options, it won't
be pestering you quite as much. When I was playing with more fancy
tools, I couldn't get a Sharpen to work worth a darn. Well, I
used the AVIDemux one, dialed it up to 64, and it actually Sharpened.
Very impressed.

Paul

On 8/9/23 14:05, this is what 😉 Good Guy 😉 wrote:
> Why are you hanging out on a Windows newsgroup when you are not using one?
Up Yours. I use windows too.
--
Linux Mint 21.1 Cinnamon 5.6.8
Al

Paul wrote:
> On 8/9/2023 1:52 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
>> knuttle wrote:
>>> Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life. Several years ago, my brother digitized the video.  He also made a video of many old pictures.  Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>>>
>>> I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture quality.
>>>
>>> Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> By far the best free editor is Avidemux. I've used it for years under Windows.
>> I've used it to extract parts of a video, step frame by frame through a video, play a video in slow motion.
>>
>> https://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
>>
>> I've never used it to improve quality, however, and never noticed any options to do so within it.
>> That strikes me as a very advanced editing function, and I wouldn't buy anything offered until I'd tested it thoroughly.
>>
>> Ed
>
> Warning though. It's fairly cranky.
>
> The more video formats it supported, the more cranky it got.
>
> "Can't mix this with that". You can even start with a commercial
> VOB and it would complain that it wasn't standards compliant if
> you set the video and audio codec windows to "Copy". A
> right pain in the ass.
>
> This is one reason when I use it, I use the 2.5 version which
> only supports AVI. You can relax and concentrate on your filters,
> confident in the knowledge, that with few output options, it won't
> be pestering you quite as much. When I was playing with more fancy
> tools, I couldn't get a Sharpen to work worth a darn. Well, I
> used the AVIDemux one, dialed it up to 64, and it actually Sharpened.
> Very impressed.
>
> Paul
This looks interesting, but you have to upload your video;
https://flixier.com/how-to/how-to-sharpen-a-video
If I can find time I might give it a try with a short holiday clip.
Ed

On Wed, 9 Aug 2023 08:22:28 -0400, knuttle <keith_nuttle@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Over the last 60 years video has been taken of events in my life.
>Several years ago, my brother digitized the video. He also made a video
>of many old pictures. Both videos were were saved to DVD's.
>
>I would like to edit the the videos to shorter segments, and if possible
>adjust the color, contrast, and Gamma correction to improve the picture
>quality.
>
>Could some one recommend preferably free, but definitely low price
>software that I can use to accomplish the two goals?
>
I use "SnagIt" for chopping up short videos.
https://tinyurl.com/2cqxbdpj

After downloading/saving stuff from YouTube I can cut out the boring
bits, and save the rest.