my no0b moment -- WMM ?

Because at some point, if you have a creative bone in your body, you're going to want to do something that you can't do with that basic consumer software.

I've never used WMM but I imagine it's similar to iMovie, Apple's bundled editing software. iMovie is really great software and I admit I've used it a handful of times to make web videos. However it is lacking some important pro features like the ability to add masks or custom transitions.

Premiere Pro is the software I use and it's on the completely opposite end of the spectrum - the learning curve is incredibly steep, but it is ridiculous how much more you can do with it than with bundled editing software.

Gonzo_Entertainment said:

Because at some point, if you have a creative bone in your body, you're going to want to do something that you can't do with that basic consumer software.

Click to expand...

I feel like this is, perhaps, not the answer the OP is looking for!

WMM is fine software, and it's what most people start on (or iMovie). But it also has a lot of limitations – multiple tracks, rendering large files, displaying waveforms, linking with other softwares, organising files, time codes, markers...etc. The list goes on.

If you haven't hit a technical wall with WMM, then don't worry. I don't think it has anything to do with creativity, but larger, more complex projects will be beyond the capacity of the more basic NLEs. But you're right in that, as a means of cutting clips and sticking them together (although you can't do it with as much accuracy), WMM is fine.

I played with 2.6 for a long time (back when XP was still around... RIP). It doesn't handle large projects well at all, and generally froze on me if the timeline was longer then 5 minutes, but it was decent. I don't know about 6.0, but you could write your own codec profiles, transitions, and effects for 2.6. It was a pain, but quite fun, and helped me learn about rendering colors and media encoding.

If you never need more powerful features, there's no real reason to switch software, except to prepare for the unexpected necessity. Personally, I like playing with tools even when I don't put them to practical use, because I enjoy learning. I would definitely give any and every software a shot.

I do use 6.0 and I'll admit to being more than a mere beginner with Premiere Pro. But 6.0 does display waveforms. It's truly truly lacking multiple tracks. This is one of the main reasons for my even switching. It does not handle large projects well, as stated, but I've rendered my 70 minute videos in it and it did fine. But I do need to force myself to start using Premiere Pro more maybe to the point of uninstalling WMM6.0.

But there are some GREAT plugins for WMM that really can make it compete (on the low end) with some of these more advanced software.

Glad I posted this. Thank you guys for the insight.