My Video Editing Software Expedition

For this assignment, I was asked to locate and evaluate three different open source video editing software resources. I first began be using the search engine “Google” to find some choices. I already knew that I wanted to use Windows Movie Maker, because I am highly familiar with it, but I needed to find two more programs. Within minutes, I was able to locate several types of software. After reading about each one, I narrowed my choices down to two: Video Spin by Pinnacle and DebugMode Wax 2.0e.

Two out of the three resources that I chose are easy to use. Windows Movie Maker and Video Spin are very user-friendly. When making home movies, school projects or slide shows, I often refer to Movie Maker because of my prior knowledge using it. I decided to download Video Spin and try it. It took me about 5 minutes to understand how to use it. It is a great program to give your home or classroom videos a bit more character. I enjoyed the options of incorporating sound effects and different types of effects and fonts on the title pages. I will definitely use this one again.

After downloading DebugMode Wax, I found it very challenging to use. I tried using all of the “obvious” tools first, but quickly found myself wondering what to do next. Although this software will require more time to understand, it still seems very promising. This program has many technical features that most professionals tend to use. I will most likely try using this program again when I have more time.

Since I already use Windows Movie Maker with my classes, I will continue to do so. However, now have new program to try with my students. They will absolutely love Video Spin! It is simple enough for my 3rd and 4th grade students to use. They will enjoy adding in the music and sound effects to their projects. DebugMode Wax software will not be utilized with my elementary students. It is far too complicated. This software will be better suited for me to use for the creation of teaching-related tools.

Overall, I was pleased to find two additional resources to use. These programs will be great resources to share with the teachers on my campus. The actual research and usage of the software gave me insight into the pro and cons as well as some experience using the software. This assignment was highly beneficial to me.