Gopro. What software have you found is best and cheapest or free?

[K1SUP]

Just got the HD camera and want to start playing with some video.  I know this question has been answered here before but I couldn't locate the thread when I searched.   Using windows based system. 

[Admin]

Just got the HD camera and want to start playing with some video.  I know this question has been answered here before but I couldn't locate the thread when I searched.   Using windows based system. 

What version of Windows?  Prior to Windows 7 most versions came with Moviemaker which was decent for a basic editor.  For 7 you can still download a version of Moviemaker. 

[stoneaxe]

Like Admin said moviemaker is decent for basic editing.

I just bought a new HP laptop and it came with Adobe Premier Elements...the basic consumer version of Premier. Has a subset of the controls and commands. You can create and burn in a lot of different formats, 1080P included. Multiple video and audio tracks...PiP, etc.. What looks like a nice feature I have yet to try is the ability to burn DVDs with menus for viewing on a standard DVD player.

[RainWaves]

 The Windows movie maker is great for learning the basics, but it doesn't like (at least for me) the Quick-time files that the GoPro spits out. (Apple vs. Windows..?). I have to convert mine to a WMV. file to use the Movie maker. I downloaded the " Freemake" video converter (free), and it has been doing a good job of that.
 You need to pay attention when going through the options to make sure it gets converted in HD ( "same as file source"). I first tried a different program, but the conversion was crappy, so I went to the Windows Movie Maker forum to get some help, and the Freemake was suggested. Hope this helps!

[Brendon]

Apples Imovie is pretty rad and comes with any Apple Computer. Very easy to use and effective. It renders while you are editing which is a major plus.

Brendon

[Takeo]

I had been using Windows Live Movie Maker since it was free, but when you choose your video clips, WLMM has to prepare the file for editing, this can take a very long time, especially if you have 30 minute clips.  Another option is to convert the file to say avi first, but this also takes a long time, at least with the free programs I have used.  It was literally taking me 4-5 hours to convert, trim, and edit a video 6-9 minutes long, and that's not counting upload to vimeo or youtube. 

I finally broke down and purchased Sony Vegas 11.  The version I got is $99 and what I particularly like is the fx like stabilization.  I tried the free stuff and just couldn't get it to work.  It takes a while to learn all the functions on Sony Vegas, but there are a lot of youtube instructional videos.  The trimming and rendering is much faster than on WLMM and I'm sure once I learn all the features, I will be saving even more time editing my clips.