Video Editing Reflection

Free Video Editing Software

This assignment was an eye-opener for me. I did not know that there was so much free software available online. I only had the opportunity to explore two for this assignment, but on my free time, I will explore the other ones. I hope to be able to find one that would serve my purpose of introducing my students to different tools they can use to do a school presentation.

The Desktop Video Guide (n.d.) for the top 7 video software for beginners pointed out that, “The cheaper programs will give you automated or 'quick-n-easy' methods of editing video, while the higher end programs will let you customize and tweak every video frame to your heart's content.” I was looking for something quick and easy. Unfortunately, the first one I tried, WAX, was not an easy one. I thought this program was a bit complicated for my purpose. It had too many tabs or buttons to push, and absolutely too many choices. It was not simple and easy to use. I thought if I introduced this software to my elementary students, they might just get frustrated with the whole video making process and forget about their projects. I wanted something that they could easily use so they could immediately present their ideas without wasting time on learning the software.

Then, I tried Video Spin 2.0 by Pinnacle and upon seeing the work space, I knew it was going to be easy. It looked similar to Windows Live Movie Maker – the program that I like to use because it was free and user-friendly. Sure enough, VideoSpin was very straight forward. I did not need to watch so many tutorials because it was very easy to explore. Thus, I decided to do my Podcast on Videospin because I actually liked using it. I would like my students to learn how to use it. Just a quick note though, Videospin will only edit video files with the AVI extension.

To help me with my planning for my podcast, I applied one of the suggestions of Janis Lonquist in making a multimedia production. She wrote that, “Prepare a shooting script, a storyboard or--if it is not a scripted production--an overview for your program. This will be the blueprint for your production” . Making the script and planning the images/videos that go with the script made the video making process easier and faster. A lot of the planning was done on the story board instead on the video editing software.


Finally, I am excited to share my knowledge of podcasting to my students. I believe it is something that they would love to explore. Students nowadays are always looking for ways for their ideas to be presented. Podcasting is something that I believe they will enjoy and learn a lot from.


Desktop-Video-Guide. (n.d.) Top 7 video editing software programs for beginners. Retrieved on November 26, 2011, from http://www.desktop-video-guide.com/top-7-video-editing-software-review.html

Lonnquist, J. (1994, November). The art of edit. Videomaker. Retrieved on Lonnquist, J. (1994, November). The art of edit. Videomaker. Retrieved on November 26, 2011, from http://www.videomaker.com/article/1691/.