Going Pro

Our Oscar goes to Apple Final Cut Pro 2 ($999), a superb all-around video editor that can handle editing and compositing (working with multiple layers). Final Cut is nearly a professional-level product, which unfortunately means the learning curve is steep. Its key advantage, however, is its real-time architecture: With supported hardware like the Matrox RTMac card ($999 alone, $1,347 with Final Cut), broadcast-quality effects and complex transitions require no rendering and no waiting. Another plus is the ability to work on multiple video projects at the same time, something you can't do with other packages.

The Windows alternative is Adobe Premiere 6, a strong midrange editor that's especially well suited for creating video for the Web. Premiere's multichannel audio mixer is a joy to work with. Titling, which requires you to make a separate project file, is not as well thought out. Its integration with other Adobe products like After Effects 5.0 ($649) and Photoshop 6.0 ($609) give it an edge when importing complex layered graphics to composite special effects.

Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5 is more awkward to use than Premiere—opening and closing separate applications for different functions such as audio editing and titling wastes time. But it does offer some distinct features like the ability to paint custom effects onto video frames (known as rotoscoping).

Home Studio

Among the more consumer-friendly video editing packages, we liked Pinnacle Studio 7 the best. It packs sophisticated features into a simple three-tab interface, and you won't ever have to consult the manual. Click to EnlargeThe program's SmartCapture feature lets you work with preview-quality video instead of full files. This saves a significant amount of hard disk space. When you've finished your edit, Studio simply builds your movie by recapturing the selected scenes in full quality.

Apple's iMovie 2 is a viable alternative for Mac users, and because it's free with any new Macintosh, it's definitely worth a look (it can also be downloaded from Apple's Web site for $49). It shares many of the features found in Pinnacle Studio 7, like automatic scene detection, varied effects and transitions, and an efficient, attractive interface. Similarly, it's a pleasure to use.

MGI's VideoWave 4 works well for casual users—its interface is clean and appealing, emulating the familiar VCR. MGI also offers 10MB of hosted video storage at Share.videowave.com. However, VideoWave lacks some of the utilities in Pinnacle Studio 7, like a time line view and the ability to run sounds or music across multiple clips.

If you don't already have a FireWire card, you may want to consider a hardware/software video bundle. The ATI DV Wonder with Ulead VideoStudio 5 ($49) and Adaptec DVpics with MGI VideoWave 4 SE ($89) combine everything you need to do basic video editing in a single package (albeit with old versions of the software). We preferred the ATI bundle, and at less than $50, you won't risk much by trying it.

Unfortunately, if your video is analog (VHS tapes) rather than digital you'll need an analog-to-DV converter, like the Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge ($300).