Home Movie Editing

For a while now I'd thought about upgrading my trusty DV camcorder for a new, swanky HD model. I put it off for a while, because the DV cam is just great in low light and I couldn't see anything which really came close in the current crop of AVCHD models.

The one thing which I have started to tire of though, is tape. It's just not a friendly medium when you're on holiday or out on a trip and having to think about how much time you've got left before you change the tape.

With the majority of consumer camcorders now boasting high definition frame sizes and convenient removable data storage all in a diminutive package, it's easy to see why us consumers are wowed by this new technology.

But what does it mean to those of us who aren't content with plugging the device straight into the TV to view our holiday clips?

If you have a personal computer, the good news is that there really is not much else you will need to get started with editing video.

Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems all have free video editing software either included or available by download. For example, Windows XP and Vista offer "Windows Movie Maker" and Mac OSX offers iMovie and iDVD.

The most fundamental question, and the basis for this site, really.

Have you ever had to endure the seemingly neverending holiday video? You know, the one where the enthusiastic holiday-goer comes back from the trip of a lifetime, invites the family round, plugs the camcorder into the TV and presses play?