We purchased a new HD camcorder for Xmas, and now I'm looking into editing some of our footage. What software do you guys recommend? Free is better, but if there's some awesome Adobe app or something, I'd like to hear about it, too.

PC not Mac.

I don't know about free, but your best bet is probably Adobe Premiere Elements. I think you could get a copy for like 100 bucks.

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Shit, PM me too if it's not too much trouble.

Thanks Rabbit - So, is Adobe Premiere the accepted leader in this type of software?

I wouldn't necessarily say that. It depends partially on whether you're talking about consumer or professional. Most large production companies are still using Avid, but smaller groups and your average consumer utilize Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro.

My preference is Final Cut Pro, but it's obviously Mac only. There are some differences between Adobe and FCP, but a lot of it is user preference, IMO.

AVID isn't really the leader, anymore. FCP has taken a lion's share of the market. AVID really screwed up a few years ago when they started having shoddy customer service and their product was astronomically priced compared to software-based Non-linear editing programs. AVID has a new CEO or COO or something like that now is making strides to open up to third-party developers, which hopefully will make it better. Also, they've brought their prices down, though not significantly.

Premiere is great if you have the Adobe suite, because of the quickkeys and the instant saves, which AVID is sorely missing. I've haven't worked a ton on FCP, but I know its a great program from what I've done on there. Premiere is definitely making leaps and bounds since they came out with the "Pro" model to this CS4 version. The line between FCP and Premiere is definitely slimmer.

All are used by professional production houses. Like Hegel said, it all depends on what yr preference is. At our TV station we run AVID Adrenaline and Premiere. But, we also extensively use After Effects and Photoshop so another Adobe product makes sense. On the Avid we've got all types of Boris add-ons so that's fun.

For what yr doing, Premiere will be more than you need probably.