My favorite video making software

[Kurt]

I recently moved to a new PC and reinstalled my favorite video making software and left the other stuff I don't use on the old PC. One thing you'll notice is, none of them, other than VideoMakerFX, are promoted in the typical "WSO IM circles". And there's a couple you may not have heard of.

Also, I got some timely deals on a couple of them (Camtasia and Pinnacle). And the only one I consider expensive is CrazyTalk Animator, which I have a couple of versions of.

Audacity - Sound editor - free
Camtasia 9 - Got it on HumbleBundle for $20
CrazyTalk Animator PRO - Animates cartoon characters - $hundreds
DP Animation Maker - Animates still images. $40 + I bought an extra extension pack for $10 more.
Easy GIF Animator - Edits GIFs - $35?
Google Earth Pro - Images and videos of pretty much everywhere on Earth and beyond.
Pinnacle Studio 24 - Potent video editor with some unique features - Got it on HumbleBundle for a few $.
PowerPoint - Love it. $9.95/month for multi device license. Only $6.95 for a single.
VideoMakerFX - I use it for kinetic text. $29 + some extra slides.
Youtube Movie Maker - Has some unique features, especially for use with lyrics, which can be used in a lot of cool ways. $30 for gold edition.

What's missing? What are your favorites?

[Kurt]

I forgot one... Magic Music Visualizer.
https://magicmusicvisuals.com/

It's has a bit of a learning curve, but once you figure it out, it's pretty easy to use. While it's main purpose is to "visualize" music, it can be used to animate all sorts of things, you just use sound instead of the usual animation "functions". One use for it is to add a visual component to things like podcasts to convert them to videos for Youtube.

[10x]

I bought the Camtasia deal you mentioned a couple of years ago. The $20 purchase was good but now gotta pay the piper. It seemed a little too complex to me.

I've been learning more about PowerPoint. We are a Microsoft shop so we use it in our business for other things but I had never made a "movie" until the other day. I was surprised at how well it came out and how easy it was to make. But I'm not a graphical person so my taste is probably a lot different than a pro. 

So, I'm focused on exploring PP's capabilities currently.

[Kurt]

I bought the Camtasia deal you mentioned a couple of years ago. The $20 purchase was good but now gotta pay the piper. It seemed a little too complex to me.

I've been learning more about PowerPoint. We are a Microsoft shop so we use it in our business for other things but I had never made a "movie" until the other day. I was surprised at how well it came out and how easy it was to make. But I'm not a graphical person so my taste is probably a lot different than a pro. 

So, I'm focused on exploring PP's capabilities currently.

I use PPT and Camtasia the most, but not always together. The others I usually use to add to videos predominately made with PPT or Camtasia. IMO PPT is really underrated as a video maker, although it isn't really a video editor, which I use Camtasia for.

Check out this thread for using PPT to convert a text file to video:
https://pheeds.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=351

Also, check YouTube for videos how to use the PPT Photo Album feature:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...hoto+album

These two features are the easiest way to get started making videos. I'd like to figure out how to combine the two, but don't think it's possible.

[Kurt]

I bought the Camtasia deal you mentioned a couple of years ago. The $20 purchase was good but now gotta pay the piper. It seemed a little too complex to me.

I've been learning more about PowerPoint. We are a Microsoft shop so we use it in our business for other things but I had never made a "movie" until the other day. I was surprised at how well it came out and how easy it was to make. But I'm not a graphical person so my taste is probably a lot different than a pro. 

So, I'm focused on exploring PP's capabilities currently.

I'm a little biased, but PPT King Tuts a really good PPT training you can download from the Video for Marketing VIP:
https://pheeds.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=237

It shows you just the stuff you need to create videos using PPT.