Software

Gelardin New Media Center

Gelardin New Media Center

Video Editing

iMovie

A simple video editing application. Great for novice editors and short video projects. Very simple, and lacks many professional features. Not recommended for projects utilizing a great deal of text or effects.

Final Cut Pro

A very rich, professional-grade video editing application. It has a steep learning curve, but is the platform of choice for most video projects. Use Final Cut Pro if (a) your project is going to be longer than 5 minutes, (b) you want to add completely customized text to your project, or (c) you will do another video project in the future. Taking the time to learn the basics of Final Cut Pro is well worth it if you want complete editing freedom and control.

Video Encoding

Adobe Media Encoder

This simple encoding application can convert video (and/or audio) into many formats, but is primarily used to convert video files to the Flash format .flv or .f4v. PRO TIP: Converting content to flash is not necessary to upload your video to hosting services like Youtube.com or Vimeo.com.

Compressor

Gelardin's premiere encoding tool for audio and video. Only necessary for specific encoding needs. For the most common exporting options, such as encoding for DVD or for Youtube, export directly from iMovie or Final Cut Pro.

Effects & Animation

Color

A beefy, professional-grade color-correction suite that works seamlessly with your project in Final Cut Pro. This application is only recommended for advanced editors who require more color-correcting tools than the versatile tools already built into Final Cut Pro.

Motion

A professional-grade animation and special-effects creation tool. While very rich, this application is complex and only recommended for users who are willing to invest significant time learning the software in order to create their own intricate text effects or special effects.

Publishing & Disc Authoring

Toast

Toast makes copying discs easy. With one-click disc copy, you can make multiple copies of your CD, and DVD discs.

iDVD

This is the recommended DVD-authoring tool for student projects. With iDVD you can premiere your movies or photo slideshows on a professional-quality DVD with animated menus, buttons, scene selection, and more. It is also easy to create a DVD with no menus at all, for those students who simply need to submit single video projects on a DVD.

DVD Studio Pro

Summary

The premiere DVD publishing tool for professional-quality menus and encoding. Design a DVD as effortlessly as you edit video, with intuitive, time-saving tools and customizable templates. DVD Studio Pro 4 works behind the scenes to create the code, allowing you to focus on creating the look you want. This program is not recommended for publishing student projects, due to the high amount of training it requires to learn.

Gelardin New Media Center

Audio Editing

Garageband

A powerful audio editing and mixing application part of Apple iLife suite. Our recommended software for simple audio recording and editing projects, such as for radio-style programs.

Audacity

Audacity is a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. Requires a download. Available for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux.

Soundtrack Pro

A powerful audio editing and mixing application part of the Final Cut Studio suite. A good choice if you want to try to clean up audio (including audio that you recorded with video). Note that it is extremely difficult to fix common problems such as clipped audio (recorded too loud), excessive echo, or excessive background noise. For tips on recording good audio, speak to a multimedia specialist.

Audio Encoding

Gelardin New Media Center

Graphic Design

Adobe Illustrator

Good for designing vector graphics for logos, banners, web pages, and line art, or mock up an entire website.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the premier program for photo editing, design, web mock up and even video.

Document Design & Publishing

Adobe Dreamweaver

A great application for building and creating mostly from-scratch website layouts using Adobe's web authoring tools. Only recommended for either (1) trained designers, (2) useres committed to learning a complex design tool, or (3) users who need a tool for quick HTML editing.

Adobe InDesign

Application for designing, and publishing documents for print, online, or to mobile devices.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

A simple way to scan and create PDF documents. Acrobat can also create interactive PDFs containing editable content, web links and embedded video.

Adobe Fireworks

Great for mocking up and exporting interactive website layouts.

Gelardin New Media Center

Video Software

Video Editing

iMovie

Final Cut Pro

Video Encoding

Adobe Media Encoder

Compressor

Effects & Animation

Color

Motion

Publishing & Disc Authoring

Toast

Toast makes copying discs easy. With one-click disc copy, you can make multiple copies of your CD, and DVD discs.

iDVD

DVD Studio Pro

Summary

Audio Software

Audio Editing

Garageband

A powerful audio editing and mixing application part of Apple iLife suite. Our recommended software for simple audio recording and editing projects, such as for radio-style programs.

Audacity

Audacity is a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. Requires a download. Available for Windows, Mac, and GNU/Linux.

Soundtrack Pro

Audio Encoding

Graphic Design & Scanning Software

Graphic Design

Adobe Illustrator

Good for designing vector graphics for logos, banners, web pages, and line art, or mock up an entire website.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is the premier program for photo editing, design, web mock up and even video.

Document Design & Publishing

Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe InDesign

Application for designing, and publishing documents for print, online, or to mobile devices.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

A simple way to scan and create PDF documents. Acrobat can also create interactive PDFs containing editable content, web links and embedded video.

Adobe Fireworks

Great for mocking up and exporting interactive website layouts.

Other Software

ArcGIS

GIS allows us to create interactive maps that help to visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. The ArcView mapping software is loaded on 7 computers in the Gelardin New Media Center. Copies of ArcView software and data are available for checkout by Georgetown students, faculty and staff for use on Georgetown campus computers.