Video editing software?

For the "what's free" folks in the crowd who want to sequence stills as part of their video productions, there's also Microsoft Photo Story ( www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digita...tostory/default.mspx ) - it's a free download that will let you sequence stills, and it will come up with some default toming and start/stop positions for zooms and pans, all of which you can change pretty easily. Once you get a sequence you like, you can pull it into WMM and use it just like any other video clip. Not quite Adobe After Effects, but neither is its price...

As Tim notes, you get more controls and options with pay-for software that's aimed more at pros/"prosumers" but you also tend to have a somewhat steeper learning curve. The pro level folks I know seem most happy with either Avid or Final Cut Pro, and as this thread already shows, there's a range of happy folks using each inbetween level of software.

Sam - I'm curious if you have more details on your problem. If you care enough about this to PM me, I may know folks who could suggest a few things that would get you working better again.

Thanks for the post Randy.  What should a person do if they already have SP2 and are still having issues?  My machine came with SP2 already installed and I typically let Windows Update install any fixes that come down the chute.  I literally cannot launch the program w/o it crashing within 2 seconds.  It would be great if I could just uninstall WMM and re-install it.<br><br>Edited to add: Jim, I saw your reply after I wrote this. When I get home, I'll try launching the program and see exactly what the error message says.

Probably you've already seen this Sam, but in case not:<br> www.papajohn.org/MM2-Issues-Acceleration-and-Codecs.html
(just one of the first google hits)

10/15/05 (Microsoft) If MovieMaker is crashing on startup then that is generally caused by having a lot of DirectShow filters on your system. Typically you can work around the problem by temporarily renaming applications that have installed DirectShow filters. <br><br>... You can find the list of the DirectShow filters that you have installed on your system by running the "dxdiag" program, clicking Save All Information. It will create a text file with the information...

Sam - Randy and PapaJohn (who Phil points to) are the guys on this one, but again, if you need some more help send along some details and I can check in with Randy and/or some other folks who may have good clues.

Thanks for the tip on Photo Story, Jim - I was just wondering how to incorporate stills into the mix.

Probably you've already seen this Sam, but in case not:<br> www.papajohn.org/MM2-Issues-Acceleration-and-Codecs.html
(just one of the first google hits)

<br>No doubt, I have a pantload of DirectShow filters (whatever the heck those are). But that site doesn't go into any detail as to how to fix the problem.<br><br>Randy, I just sent you an email. Any help you can offer will delay my dropping the $$$ for something more highpowered. Thanks!