First post, sorry if I'm just bringing up an already repeatedly asked topic (which I'm sure I am).

I'm currently filming with a Samsung digital camcorder that records in MPEG-4 format. I'm having trouble retaining a decent quality when I post my videos to youtube because I've been using Windows Movie Maker which converts my video files to WMV.

I've been looking around for relatively inexpensive video capture and editing software to use in place of Windows Movie Maker, that can either not change formats, or can do so without destroying the video quality. I've only been doing so the past few days and have found myself confused by all the different info from everyone out there.

I was wondering if anyone had anything in mind to solve my dilemma. Any help would be appreciated.

While you cannot really do nonlinear editing with it, VirtualDub is a free and excellent program for video capture.

If you're looking for cheap and easy to use editing software, I used Pinnacle Studio for a few years. The software was very buggy and constantly frozen, but when it *WAS* working the interface was very good for beginner editors. I had Studio 10, but now they have Studio 12 and its owned by Avid so maybe they've improved it by this point.