Well, having spent the last few days (and nights!) trying out the Premier 6.5 I have to admit that am finding a little complicated. Therefore I went for option 2 and downloaded the trial version of Premier Elements 4 and immediately noticed a difference. I have found it a lot easier to understand the basics and am leaning towards this as my 'learning tool' in the first instance.

The only problem I have now encountered is that I am unable to capture from my Sony Handycam via my firewire connection on the Canopus Capture card through Elements 4. The screen shows the camera as being off line, however I can capture from the camera, using Device Control through Canopus DV Capture via the same firewire connection.

I have tried everything I can think of, so if anyone can help me solve this one please, I may be able to hold on to some of my hair! I did forget to mention that I do have a dedicated 108gb drive for capturing the videos on.