Anybody got any suggestions on what program to use? I need something affordable and yet good enough to put together a dvd with.

In a pinch, Windows Movie Maker works ok; and it should already be installed on your PC. Although not free, another good program is Pinnacle Studio 9.

Another thing to try is doing a search in Google for video editing programs. There's plenty of programs out there, and most have a free trial version that you can download to see if you like them. I'd say to try a few out, as you might be impressed. I have a DVD camcorder, and I was having trouble getting any of my current video editing programs to recognize the video files. I ended up finding a program (which I can't rememer it's name right now) online, and downloaded the trial version. So far, it seems to work pretty good.

get a Mac

Yeah, MAC SUCKS in my opinion, however when it comes to only digital editing MAC PWNES.

quote Originally posted by jstntlvr: get a Mac

why buy a 2000+ dollar computer when it doesn't even "exceed" in video editing over the competition. For the 2000 bucks that i would save the money by not buying a mac, i'd get a bitchen program like premiere, or something relatively decent like pinacle studio and save a sh!tload of money. Mac's are "suppose" to be great for the media stuff, but when push comes to shove, why waste the money when they don't even make it that easy.

-Coop

Just curious what camcorder you're using, unless your video is from a different source.

I've been using Pinnacle Studio 10 for a few months now. I've made several DVD's from digital camcorder mini-DV tapes, old analog 8mm camcorder tapes, and old VHS tapes and recordings. Took me a while to get to know my way around all the little tweaks and tricks, but I can stumble through an authoring project pretty good now.

I picked up a gadget at a bargain bin at Radio Shack a while ago, called a video processor. It stabilizes and removes noise from old analog tapes, and it helps a little bit in the final product.

I also have used the Nero VisionExpress a few times as well. The Pinnacle is a little easier to use in my opinion.

quote Originally posted by Coop9200: why buy a 2000+ dollar computer when it doesn't even "exceed" in video editing over the competition. For the 2000 bucks that i would save the money by not buying a mac, i'd get a bitchen program like premiere, or something relatively decent like pinacle studio and save a sh!tload of money. Mac's are "suppose" to be great for the media stuff, but when push comes to shove, why waste the money when they don't even make it that easy.

Why ***** about someone else's computer choice?
Use whatever you've got (if you buy a whole new system for one task, then you get what you deserve).

I work on both PCs & Macs. I do graphic design & video work... on both systems. Is one easier to use than the other? Sure... whichever one you're most used to working with! Personally I do find that Macs generally have a simpler interface for video editing (it's amazing what even my boss can do on his Mac when it comes to making DVDs with iMovie - they really do look great). All the PC-based software I've worked with thus far is either oversimplified (and therefore hard to work with because you can't get it to do exactly what you want it to), or overly complex (I learned video editing using Adobe Premiere many years back - now it's generally too much for doing simple edits).

I'd love to find a good, easy-to-use, and well-functioned editing program for my PC as well!

for most basic stuff Window Movie Maker is GREAT! i use it and with some enginuity have done some neat things... but if youre goig hard core.. d/l limewire (9.0) and then "borrow a copy" of something...i did it on my old comp