Help, I am a noob... What program for what I need?

[agent8]

I was given a bunch of software when I bought my computer but I'm not sure which to use.

I am fairly familiar with windows movie maker and with the help of photoshop elements I was able to make a light saber video. ( this took hours as I painstakingly snaped a photo of every frame and did the layers, blur and all the other stuff and reinserted each one back into movie maker... ) Is there an easier way to rotoscope than how I'm doing it?

I would like to be able to film 2 different shots and merge them into one, like having a conversatiion with myself.
The videos dont need to interact or even go past the middle halfway point. Just a left and right side would be fine. Is there a program that can do this fairly easily? I have heard something about using a cookie cutter but Im new...


Here are the programs I have right now...

Pinnacle studio 9.3.5 plus hollywood effects= seemed a lot like wmm but maybe too simple?
Sony Vegas 7+ dvd= I hated the learning curve, couldn't figure it out...
Adobe premire 6= takes forever to load and is way over my head for the most part

I have some blue chroma key paper so If I could use it, that would be cool as well.

can I accomplish any of that with what I have or what should I consider buying? I tried searching the forums but could not get my answer. Any help at all would be very much appreciated, Thanks
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[guns1inger]

None of them are appropriate for what you are trying to do. You could do it in Vegas, but it would be time consuming.

What you really need is a compositing application that supports keyframing.

Free options include WAX2, ZS4 and Jahshaka

Payware options include After Effects, Combustion, Fusion and Shake.

If you though the learning curve on Vegas was steep, wait until you start to play with compositors.

http://fxhome.com/ started life a program designed specifically to do light sabers and muzzle flash effects. It has grown a lot since then, but it might be worth a look.