I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I'm going to take the time to research all of them. Right now I'm using a couple of fairly old computers (6-7 years) that will be upgraded after the first of the year to handle the task of video editing better. My video amounts to home movies of vacations and events like graduations and weddings. The problem is that I have many hours of them accumulated, and I want to pick out the best of the best and make some compilations that people would enjoy watching. My current hardware and software are not up to the task.
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I... (show quote)
If your HD footage is of the AVCHD type from Sony or Panasonic, hardware requirements may be higher than you think. Consider an SSD if you can.
If your HD footage is of the AVCHD type from Sony or Panasonic, hardware requirements may be higher than you think. Consider an SSD if you can.
I've already thought of that. Surprisingly, even though SSDs have been around for years and have gotten less expensive over time, there are few pre-configured computers being sold with them. I'm thinking of something like a Dell workstation. They build those for you with options you choose. Prices vary from a couple of grand to infinity.
I don't think you can beat Power Director for the money and the features. Also, the addition of Color Director and especially Audio Director gives added control over your editing.