A bit dim!!!

babyemily

My son is 15 years old he is autistic amongst other things and he is a complete genius at computery things. He is really into making movies and editing them, things like putting special effects on and noises etc...I am not very computery minded so I probably sound like a right dimwit here! He keeps asking me for software to help him do his movies and I really want to get him some but at £80 plus for the ones he is showing me - I just cant afford it :-( I cant work anymore hours then I do to earn more money and I was wondering if someone on here could recommend something to buy that wont cost a fortune or am I asking the impossible? I just think that this is something he could acually use as an adult but failing that it could easily become another obsession for now! Anyone got any ideas please? Many thanks. x

santer_2

See if he gets on with these, which are free or have free versions

avidemux allows turning video into a series of images

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

http://www.virtualdub.org/

http://www.cinefx.org/cineplay/

http://www.videospin.com/Redesign/

babyemily

Thank you for that santer x He is actually really good at doing this and spends hours creating props etc... Quite frankly I am amazed at what he does!!! I hope you dont think it is mean of me not to buy him the software btw because if i had the money I would gladly buy it for him x

birkee

babyemily wrote: »

Thank you for that santer x He is actually really good at doing this and spends hours creating props etc... Quite frankly I am amazed at what he does!!! I hope you dont think it is mean of me not to buy him the software btw because if i had the money I would gladly buy it for him x

Sympathy with your situation, but good for you regarding not spending money you don't have. You might end up in the 'help wanted' posts, and have something different for you to worry about.

Try the free software that's available first, but don't forget, this is an area that attracts people who NEED(?) the latest versions of software. e-bay may provide last years software at a reasonable price.

santer_2

Hope they are useful, scroll down below the buy now ones for more free versions

http://www.solveigmm.com/en/downloads/

There are some good free options around, so I wouldn't worry about them not costing anything, and they will be a good training ground.

This is for images, but am amazed it is free

http://www.fotosketcher.com/gallery.htm

Click the direct download link if you decide to use it

http://www.fotosketcher.com/download.htm

WLM21

Nice request ... good luck to your son in his new interest.

Sorry I don't know anything about video editing but felt I must comment.

Kind regards to both of you

birkee

Try here for recommendations:

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/01/free-video-editing-software-for.html

http://www.desktop-video-guide.com/top-5-free-video-editing-software-review.html

Fifer

babyemily, it might be an idea to post the names of the £80 packages your son wants, then people might be able to suggest specific lower cost or free alternatives.

davester

You could even write to the software company and maybe tug at some heart string to get a free copy of it.

But prices are always high for the professional software , due to the actual limited customer base.

Microsoft windows seems to buck this trend as 95% of people use it.

CoolHotCold

If you could tell what program he wants and what he currently uses that would be a big help.

babyemily

Thank you all so much for your answers WOW I am gobsmacked x My son will be here about 4ish when he comes back from school, I will ask him all the names of stuff and then I know I have them right!!! I dont think he would mind if the software is not brand new so Ebay sounds like a good idea....Have you all any advice as to what would be a decent older software? Thank you all again x