newb needs help : trouble editing mpeg 2 files off of a hard drive camera

[butachan00]

Hey all! I'm relatively new to the video editing world, just having gotten a camera about 3 months ago. I got the Panasonic SDR-H18 because it was cheap and I didn't have enough money to get a hi-def camera at the time when I went to Japan to Study Abroad. Now I've come back with lots of video that I want to edit down into a kind of documentary of my travels, however, the program that came with the camera (called Image Mixer 3) Is an absolutely terrible excuse for an editing program. Even simply cutting and editing my clips down is an impossible task with a terrible "drag bar" being the only way to cut. Oh, and the drag bar remains the same size no matter how large the clip which = I can drag the bar the smallest amount possible on one clip and it jumps 5 min. while on a smaller file will only jump 5 sec. Stupid Stupid Stupid. I am now trying to find a professional editing (or semi-pro) program that will allow me to edit the mpeg-2 files that are ripped from my camera's harddrive. Any suggestions? I already know that Adobe Premiere Pro won't work, and I don't want to waste more money on a program w/o knowing whether it will work or not. Thanks everyone!

[Baldrick]

Mpeg Video Wizard.