# What's a good and inexpensive Windows video editing software? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2005, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226 "2005-11-22T09:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/1 "2005-11-22T09:35:24Z")
The RickJay family recently got a new baby, so we also got a new Panasonic DVR camcorder to make baby movies with. What are the leading Windows XP - based video editors? “Microsoft Movie Maker” seems pretty basic, so I’m looking for something a little better. Note: I do know Macs are better at this sort of thing. I can’t afford another computer, so don’t bother suggesting it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/2 "2005-11-22T11:26:37Z")
You might like to take a look at [Zs4](http://www.zs4.net/) - a nonlinear video editing/compositing tool that is free for noncommercial use. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/3 "2005-11-23T16:31:24Z")
Movie maker is kind of basic but I’ve used it successfully many times. Give it a fair try before you move on to something else, it does the basic stuff pretty easily. ---
**Author:** ![Skipper\_Too](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Skipper\_Too](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skipper_Too)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/4 "2005-11-23T17:02:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The RickJay family recently got a new baby, so we also got a new Panasonic DVR camcorder to make baby movies with. > > What are the leading Windows XP - based video editors? “Microsoft Movie Maker” seems pretty basic, so I’m looking for something a little better. > > Note: I do know Macs are better at this sort of thing. I can’t afford another computer, so don’t bother suggesting it. I like Vegas from Sony it gives you good options for transitions and pan and scan with both stills and video. I have also heard of Pinnacle but have not tried it. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/5 "2005-11-23T17:19:32Z")
Check out Ulead’s products. I use VideoStudio 8. It’s relatively cheap and it works. You can move up to MediaStudio if you want even more functionality than Vs. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/6 "2005-11-23T17:30:48Z")
I don’t have a DVR, so i have no experience with actually using this product, but you might give [Avid Free](http://www.avid.com/freedv/index.asp) a try. As the name suggests, it’s a free video editing package. Obviously it’s not going to be as full of features as Avid’s rather expensive pro software (features comparison [here](http://www.avid.com/freedv/features.asp)), but i’ve heard good things about it on some other boards. They also have a bunch of flash-movie [tutorials](http://www.avid.com/freedv/tutorials/index.asp) that will help you get started. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/7 "2005-11-23T18:15:42Z")
I use Pinnacle 9 right now and have not had problems, except the rendering process takes _forever_ (like, longer than the play time of the project), and I’ve heard people have problems with glitches on some machines. There is a version 10 out right now that uses a different engine, but you can still buy 9 for around $40. Pinnacle is said to be one of the most intuitive and most powerful editing software in the price range (less than $100). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/8 "2005-11-23T18:26:00Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > I use Pinnacle 9 right now and have not had problems, except the rendering process takes _forever_ (like, longer than the play time of the project)… How fast is your computer? I was under the impression that rendering or encoding video was more a function of processing powwer and memory than the software being used. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-and-inexpensive-windows-video-editing-software/332226/9 "2005-11-23T21:21:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > How fast is your computer? > > I was under the impression that rendering or encoding video was more a function of processing power and memory than the software being used. Not in this case, it is software bound. My machine is plenty beefy, with 3.0ghz, 1G RAM and a decent video card. It’s only a few months old. It is a known issue with the software. I render at night and by the morning the rendering is finished and the DVD is burned (I put the blank DVD in the tray and set it to automatically burn when rendering is finished). Not a huge problem since the software itself works very good for me except for this detail.