Free/inexpensive a/v editor

Factual Questions
1

I’m not expecting the moon, but I’m hoping to find a cheap or free video editor which can:

*Convert between major formats.
*Compress video
*Let me add audio from my desktop mike, preferably right in the program itself rather than trying to add specific clips
*Easily cut and replace video, add splash screens at the start, etc
*Be really easy to use by someone who’s stupid enough to really screw it up (me)

I’ve done a little video editing, but not enough to know what I should look for. Anyone have experience in this field?

2

What computer / operating system are you using?

3

If you’re on Windows, Microsoft’s Movie Maker is probably good enough – but you’ll need VirtualDub (also free) and other codecs (often free) to convert to anything other than WMV.

Lightworks is another free option but a lot harder to use and full of limitations in its free version.

If you’re on a Mac, it should’ve come with iMovie.

And on the very slim chance that you’re on Linux, you can probably find a bunch in your package manager app.

4

I found this recently for a small editing job, and it worked pretty well for my needs. Certainly better than Movie Maker.

5

May I refer you to another forum to which I make the occasional contribution.

6

I forgot to say thanks to everyone for their help.