Do you spend money on fanediting?

[VarsityEditor]

Aside from buying the specific Blu-Rays/physical media needed — what is your attitude to incurring costs for doing this?

As it's a hobby which cannot bring in a return on investment, it's natural that people want to do it on the cheap. Since starting this in early 2023, I've probably spent about £400 on an external Blu-Ray drive, headphones, and extra hard drives specifically for editing. If you play golf, you have to buy your clubs, if you like to surf, you buy a surfboard. If you like to fanedit, you incur some costs. Maybe some people do it entirely cost free just using their computer and free software?

I don't mind spending a bit of money as it pales into insignificance compared to the hours poured into doing it, and speeding things up by for example using better hard drives is a worthwhile investment.

 

[Possessed]

Other than the media and ink (I like to print cases to put on my shelf) and obviously the movies, the only money I've spent was my NLE. Which is magix movie studio (formerly known as Sony Vegas).

Which I'm like gollum and the ring about. I love it because it's effective and easy to use with an intuitive GUI and a solid encoder with good quality tools to use to process the video. But I hate it because of ALL THE RANDOM CRASHES FOR NO REASON. He hates ... And loves the Vegas.

I used Womble for the longest time and I honestly prefer it. It's so easy and you can correct mistakes in a render without re encoding. I wish it was still a thing that had more modern features and I'd still be using it. I only even quit using it because I was tired of having to pre render things to import into it if I wanted to make a visual adjustment or edit individual channels in a surround mix. But for simple cutting and trimming, it was so easy to use. Rip

 

[Jrzag42]

When I first started, I was messing around with a pirated copy of Premiere. Then I ended up getting access to Premiere and other Adobe products through my school. If I ever return to editing, I might use something free like Resolve (which I did experiment with a bit a while back), or something relatively cheap.
But yeah, I found myself spending more on hard drives than anything else, plus a bluray drive down the line. The costs aren't something I ever thought of when I first joined the community.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Up to this point, I've only bought discs (more than I care to think about, some in the wrong region that I can only play after ripping), an occasional track and a spare hard drive. I use the free version of DaVinci Resolve for editing and a few other open source tools, am too cheap to pay for software!

Have an old (at least ten years and two replacements ago) laptop with a Blu-ray drive for ripping and I hope it lasts a while longer. A long-term project I am working on now will eventually require chroma-keying and audio recording, so will probably have to get a small greenscreen and half-decent microphone.

 

[MightyAttackTribble]

Since I returned to fanediting in earnest about nine months ago...

• £20 for Vegas Pro
• £85 for 2tb internal SSD
• £30 for 16gb RAM upgrade
• £100 for 5tb external hard drive
• £140 for external UHD drive
• £50 spent for various subscriptions (Adoble, ElevenLabs, webhosting/domain)
• £100 for Blu-ray sources

So that's £525 (around $660) and counting. I fully intend to get a surround system of my own this year, as I only have access to my sister's every now and then when I need to test my 5.1 mixes, so that will be another hefty chunk of change.

Which I'm like gollum and the ring about. I love it because it's effective and easy to use with an intuitive GUI and a solid encoder with good quality tools to use to process the video. But I hate it because of ALL THE RANDOM CRASHES FOR NO REASON. He hates ... And loves the Vegas.

Ah yes, the crashes. I generally only get them when I change my mind over something and press the undo button one too many times before it's finished undoing the previous action, but it's infuriating nonetheless.

 

[tremault]

I bought a 4TB external HDD and that's fine for me. My bluray drive cost me £30. Software, I find ways to get it cheap or use free software. I like to buy key codes off resellers and can get some good prices sometimes. I'm not sure how they get the codes, maybe promotional events or insider contacts, I only know I pay money to a website that I trust and get a proper code.

 

[VarsityEditor]

I fully intend to get a surround system of my own this year, as I only have access to my sister's every now and then when I need to test my 5.1 mixes, so that will be another hefty chunk of change.

I'm thinking of forking out about £110 for a basic surround sound system just for editing.

I'm not sure how they get the codes, maybe promotional events or insider contacts, I only know I pay money to a website that I trust and get a proper code.

A couple of years ago I bought a "legit" version of Photoshop from a website for about £30. Permanent use, not a monthly fee. It actually was a proper license which you validated on Adobe's website so from the buyer's POV it came across as very legit. The scheme was that the sellers had a licensed multi-user company deal from Adobe, and you were buying in to register as one of their users. It was ok for a while, but then Adobe rumbled them and shut it down for abusing the multi-user license system.

 

[addiesin]

When a source is rare or obscure or you need a specific version. Oof.

I needed the audio of a thing without the baked-in voiceover that's added to most versions, and it's only on one release, as a bonus CD ROM file, in lossy mp3 format, on the extra space of an audio CD, which is out of print, and in/from another country. 40+ dollars and one used CD later, I contemplate whether my choices were appropriate.

(Edit: It was Doctor Who - Marco Polo, btw)

 

[MightyAttackTribble]

When a source is rare or obscure or you need a specific version. Oof.

I needed the audio of a thing without the baked-in voiceover that's added to most versions, and it's only on one release, as a bonus CD ROM file, in lossy mp3 format, on the extra space of an audio CD, which is out of print, and in/from another country. 40+ dollars and one used CD later, I contemplate whether my choices were appropriate.

(Edit: It was Doctor Who - Marco Polo, btw)

I know the feeling. For my current edit I need a very specific shot – a vintage radio on a polished wooden mantlepiece in a warmly-lit room. I managed to find a piece of stock footage that is almost perfect (it would just need a slight tweak in the colour grade and the addition of film grain) but I'm reluctant to spend £70 for two seconds of footage.

I'm thinking of forking out about £110 for a basic surround sound system just for editing.

I'm looking at something in a similar price range, though I'm leaning towards something higher-end for more general purpose use.

 

[M4_]

Pretty much the only fan edit specific hardware I've had to buy is a blu-ray disc drive. A good pair of headphones, extra drive space, and anything else I'm forgetting are all stuff useful for other hobbies and general computer use.

That's also why I haven't made the jump to 4k, I think I would need to buy a new disc drive, a new TV/monitor would be nice for better 4k/HDR support, more storage space, not to mention updating my software and having to abandon my Adobe Encore workflow, not sure if you can even author 4k discs easily and semi-professionally at home.

 

[WilliamRedRobin]

I bought a lifetime license for Filmora for £70 when I first started because I was already familiar with it. I'd say that was a mistake, since the free version of Davinci resolve is a lot better. But I don't really regret it since it helped me get the hang of editing techniques with a very easy to use interface.
Other than that, I have subscriptions to Elevenlabs and an online photoshop-type service called Pixlr. I don't use them for every edit, but they've been indispensable at times. Those two subscriptions together are £11/month.
I do sometimes feel a little guilty when a charge pops up and I haven't used that service this month, but it encourages me to keep up fanediting in a way.

 

[Possessed]

Yeah I'd be wary of filmora if I were you. I've dabbled in it. I found it to not be frame accurate at all. Things were fine in the preview but the render was so loaded with flash frames I got so frustrated with it I ended up redoing an entire finished edit one time that I had previously done in filmora and I'll boycott it as long as I live out of spite because of that frustration

 

[unfair]

When a source is rare or obscure or you need a specific version. Oof.

I had the same issue with Resident Evil. For some reason Apocalypse extended edition was never given a US/UK BluRay release so the options were pay $30-40+ for a German/Japanese version, or just buy the 4k set for $60 which had Extended in the 4k discs. I opted for the latter because at least I felt like I was getting a little value for the spend. It would have been less annoying if I didn't already own the BluRay box set so all I needed was the 4 minutes of extra footage from that single movie.

 

[spence]

Other than the media and ink (I like to print cases to put on my shelf) and obviously the movies, the only money I've spent was my NLE. Which is magix movie studio (formerly known as Sony Vegas).

Which I'm like gollum and the ring about. I love it because it's effective and easy to use with an intuitive GUI and a solid encoder with good quality tools to use to process the video. But I hate it because of ALL THE RANDOM CRASHES FOR NO REASON. He hates ... And loves the Vegas.

I used Womble for the longest time and I honestly prefer it. It's so easy and you can correct mistakes in a render without re encoding. I wish it was still a thing that had more modern features and I'd still be using it. I only even quit using it because I was tired of having to pre render things to import into it if I wanted to make a visual adjustment or edit individual channels in a surround mix. But for simple cutting and trimming, it was so easy to use. Rip

I'm with you on Vegas, that's my biggest expenditure. Every couple of years I either shell out for the update or (hopefully) find it on a humble bundle deal.

I am working with version 19 currently and thought it does occasionally crash for seemingly no reason, it's SIGNIFICANTLY less frequent than it was with the older versions.

My movie collection is mainly on itunes, so when I decide I want to edit a film I usually pick up the cheapest copy I can find on ebay.

 

[Possessed]

I'm with you on Vegas, that's my biggest expenditure. Every couple of years I either shell out for the update or (hopefully) find it on a humble bundle deal.

I am working with version 19 currently and thought it does occasionally crash for seemingly no reason, it's SIGNIFICANTLY less frequent than it was with the older versions.

My movie collection is mainly on itunes, so when I decide I want to edit a film I usually pick up the cheapest copy I can find on ebay.

I'm still rocking 16. I should really probably update but eh...

 

[spence]

I'm still rocking 16. I should really probably update but eh...

Yeah I was on 15 and that thing crashed every time I looked at it funny. 19 doesn't do that. It'll crash if it doesn't like a file you are using, but otherwise, it's pretty stable.

The edit I'm wrapping up for Red Apple Crew has music replacement, titles, mixed sources, LUT's, the works, and it hasn't crashed a single time since I started work on it.

 

[Possessed]

I'll definitely add it to the list of things to get on my yearly bonus lol

 

[tremault]

A couple of years ago I bought a "legit" version of Photoshop from a website for about £30. Permanent use, not a monthly fee. It actually was a proper license which you validated on Adobe's website so from the buyer's POV it came across as very legit. The scheme was that the sellers had a licensed multi-user company deal from Adobe, and you were buying in to register as one of their users. It was ok for a while, but then Adobe rumbled them and shut it down for abusing the multi-user license system. To apologise to the buyers, the company emailed everyone out a link to download a cracked version of PS.

That sounds about right, I know one or two licenses were OEM versions and there was a different code on some of them. Last one I bought was win 10 Pro international OEM, because I got a new motherboard. £20. Much better than what the MS store are charging.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

• Upgrading vegas Pro through humble bundle whenever the opportunity comes up.
• Several external hard drives totalling a few hundred
• Upgrading to a reasonably powerful laptop specifically because I want to comfortably edit video
• External blu ray drive
• Yearly subscription to mega
• Buying movies I would never choose to own if I didn't think they might be worth playing with one day
• Buying movies I hate so I can see edits by editors I respect
• Buying movies because I may or may not find a fragment of footage useful

Yes, I've spent money on fanediting.

 

[daedal]

• Buying movies I would never choose to own if I didn't think they might be worth playing with one day
• Buying movies I hate so I can see edits by editors I respect
• Buying movies because I may or may not find a fragment of footage useful

Ah! This is both annoying and satisfying at the same time. And also true for me!
I bought a pair of headphones, because I was editing on cheap pc speakers at first--> not ideal.
I understand the desire to find free or cheap software solutions, I use them, but it's sometimes a compromise. I would still use Gimp if I'd never used Photoshop before, but now I know I can never go back