What software for a complete young newb ?

[newbs]

Hi all, I'm looking for some vid edit software for a my boy. He's nearly 13 yrs old and for that reason I don't want to end up buying something which is going to be over complicated so he ends up loosing enthusiasm.
Main points are
Cost (around £50 mark)
Features (sounds ,effects etc)
Ease of use

Tools
Laptop (new dual core, 4gb ram ,1gb dedicated graphics)
Small vid recorder capable of HD 1080

So far he's only been using an ipod touch which with the help of some pretty basic apps he's added effects and sounds etc but it gives quick and quite impressive results considering.

Any advise appreciated
Thanks

[Midnight Blue]

Sony Vegas Studio is a good feature packed editing package and it will come in under budget. Or if you want to push the boat out a bit there is the platinum version at around £59.

I don't work for Sony but they should pay me for all the times I recommend their software.

[enc]

I don't work for Sony but they should pay me for all the times I recommend their software.

yes they should, you really could pay for your daughter's education with the royalties from it

@ original poster, are you aware windows has its own video editing program ?

its listed under accessories in the programs list.

unfortunately, in its present version with Windows 7 its horrendous and i couldn't really recommend it.

but to someone who has never edited before .... could be an ideal taster ?

[Midnight Blue]

I agree the current Windows Movie Maker is not as good as the XP version that's why I didn't recommend it.

I checked my Google Ads thing and I'm up to 33p, Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. May be we can afford Christmas in the Midnight household this year.

[newbs]

Thanks for your input, even if there might be a little err favouritism
I will give the windows software a look which at the very least might give him an idea of what he wants. The laptop will be my first taste of windows 7 but tbh its on order so I haven't used it yet.
Sony is defo on the shortlist along with Adobe premiere and Pinnacle studio. Is there much between them or is it all down to personal preference and priorities?
Thanks again

[Midnight Blue]

I've never used Premiere but I know up to version 11 Pinnacle was very unstable. I liked the software but found it limiting after a while.

[Marc Peters]

I understand Vegas has a good upgrade path, which makes it great for a beginner. I know the Vegas users here used to suggest that upgrading from the basic version works out cheaper.

[Marc Peters]

Is there much between them or is it all down to personal preference and priorities?
Thanks again

Pretty much down to personal preference. They are all straightforward to use for simple edits, but Vegas lends itself well ti those that want to get techy. Premiere has typically been one for the arty types used to the photoshop interface, and pinnacle was typically bundled with hardware and hence had a good following with new uses.

[enc]

I checked my Good Ads thing and I'm up to 33p, Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey. May be we can afford Christmas in the Midnight household this year.

.

[TimStannard]

Whilst there are many entry level NLEs (and by entry level, I mean something which allows you to do 99% of what you might ever want to do, amateur or professional) on the market, in my mind your choice boils down to Pinnacle Studio, Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere Elements. Other products may be as good or even better but there is far more help available out there for these three, simply down to their popularity.

Pinnacle Studio is a great way to get into video editing - so long as you find it stable. And there's the rub. You won't know until you try it whether it's going to work with your footage on your machine. At least one member at my club uses it successfully. However, he's progressed to the point where he wants to get a more pro NLE - and that's another problem. He'll need to re-learn how do do things differently.

Premiere Elements and Sony Vegas Studio are both subsets of the Pro versions, therefore, should your son get seriously into editing, progressing to a pro version will be ery easy - he'll just have more facilities available.

If he is familiar with and happy with the Photoshop type interface, then Premiere is probably the way to go. Personally I found it all rather cluttered with all these tabs taking up so much desktop real estate whereas with Vegas it seemed to me everything was still available but tucked neatly away in menu options/right clicks. The fact is both workspaces are customisable and I'm sure with some work one cold make one look/feel much like the other, but customising workspaces is not something one gets into until after one has become familiar with the workflow.

Marc is probably right about his Vegas lending itself to a more "techie" approack. If you like breaking things down into manageable chunks (in teh way a programmer might) then Veags may have a greater appeal - you work at four levels: the "event" (that is part of a clip or sound on the timeline); the track (ie all events on one track on the timeline); media (ie all events created from that "clip" will have the same effects applied) and the output (the whole film)

It was alson always the most stble package with mixed media (different sources in the same film) tough whether that's still the case I'm not so sure.

Still, you'be probably bought something by now!