Cheap or free MTS editor?

[yuppicide0138]

I need to edit MTS files.. my friend sent me a bunch of concerts he recorded. I need to combine the files together for one concert, overlay name and logo in the beginning, and encode to upload to YouTube. Right now I only have one full concert to work with and a few files of other concerts. He sent me about 10 MTS files.

My Computer Specs: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit, 24GB memory, Samsung 840 Pro SSD, etc.

1 - What software should I get? I tried Adobe Premiere at a friends and it couldn't open it. I can open it in Windows Movie Maker, but that's crap.

2 - I was going to try a version of Cyberlink PowerDirector. I believe I tried an older Version 10 trial.. but it won't run. Has an error and quits. Should I even consider purchasing PowerDirector 11?

2 - My friend has about 300+ MiniDV tapes (in PAL) he recorded. The problem is his DV Player (or camcorder not sure which) broke, so I need to find him something else. For the future, how should I tell him to send me files? I'm thinking I'll mail him an external hard drive, he can store files on that and send to me. But how should he extract the files and send them? Should I continue working with MTS?

[aedipuss]

you're not going to find any free ones. you could take a look at sony's lower priced movie studio line. they offer a free trial.

[yuppicide0138]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm trying out Sony Vegas Pro 12 I believe it is on a friends computer. So far it's fairly easy to use.. I imported MTS files, I added a title and a logo and a transition and fade in and out.

Now, let's say I purchase this for my desktop computer.. What can I do while waiting for an hour long video to render? I'm nervous to even surf the web for fear of dropped frames or something going wrong.

Here's my system specs:

AMD FX-8350 4Ghz 8 Core processor, 24GB RAM (I bought 32GB, but with the big CPU cooler it won't fit), Radeon 6850 with 4GB memory, Samsung 840 Pro SSD (the fast one) as my main drive, and various traditional hard drives for backup.

Am I safe to do something such as a flash game or surfing the web? YouTube watching? Or how about watching a movie with Media Player Classic or listening to a song?

[transporterfan]

AMD FX-8350 4Ghz 8 Core processor, 24GB RAM (I bought 32GB, but with the big CPU cooler it won't fit), Radeon 6850 with 4GB memory, Samsung 840 Pro SSD (the fast one) as my main drive, and various traditional hard drives for backup.

Show off!

With them specs you could probably run three instances of Vegas simultaneously. Lol.
You'll be fine surfing...

[yuppicide0138]

LOL! Well, I've been building computers for a long time. I remember what it was like back in the to even burn a CD and you try to do something else and it ruins the CD. So, that's where my nervousness comes from.

I'm probably going to buy Movie Studio, though. I'm not about to pay like $600 for software. I only tried out Vegas because someone I know had it. I don't know exactly what he does, but I do know he does weddings and made a few DVD's for the weddings and vacation.

At least right now the videos I have can be combined and ready for YouTube and in the near future when I get more I'll do them on my computer.