[underground]

I need something that's easy to get hold of, preferably without having to speak to friends of my friends in clink. It also needs to be operable by a total beginner - and also someone else for whom the Ctrl key was a recent revelation...

What are man dem using / should I be using?

[GCW]

Have you tried Windows Movie Maker.  Does the job for basic shit.

[underground]

'Tried' but I don't have the option available to download codecs - so the file imports OK, but is invisible in the preview window. wmv format work but avi and mpg and mov don't

[GCW]

They sould all work fine.  Which version are you using, and have you tried downloading the latest?

[highrepute]

you may also need to update to the latest version of windows media player.

I've heard that the best free one is the one that comes with apple macs, not much use if you're a PC tho

[Tris]

'Tried' but I don't have the option available to download codecs - so the file imports OK, but is invisible in the preview window. wmv format work but avi and mpg and mov don't

Download this codec pack (it's free) http://www.cccp-project.net/download.php?type=cccp

It should fix any video codec problems you may on your machine. You should then have no issues in Movie Maker for the other formats.

[underground]

Thanks Tris, done that and WMM is seeing the codecs now. Still only showing WMV files as video. It doesn't appear to support MOV files - but MPG it appears to be seeing them as audio files as that's the only place it allows them to be added to the timeline.

Vexed. Will keep trying when the nippers are in bed.

If I were to abandon my initial criteria of the software being for total beginners, and legit, what options do I have. Suspect Adobe stuff might be overkill.

[Tris]

If I were to abandon my initial criteria of the software being for total beginners, and legit, what options do I have. Suspect Adobe stuff might be overkill.

Other options would be to try another basic free editor called videospin.

Or you can buy the more advanced PowerDirector or get it via an 'alternative' method here

It's supposed to be one of best consumer video editing packages. (I haven't used it so can't comment, but it has glowing reviews)