Windows Movie Maker can do pretty much everything most people need. It comes free on your windows computer but different OS's have different versions. I found that the most useful version is 6, but it was only available on the earliest Vista machines. If you are on an XP machine, you most likely have version 2.6 or 3.2. Both are OK, but don't support many video file types. If you have Win7, you have Windows Live Movie Maker, which I find to be completely useless and a terrible "advancement" from previous versions. If you need version 6, I have a downloadable version I can send you if you contact me through a private message here on the forums.
The main editor I personally use is Corel VideoStudio Pro X3. It costs $40 (when I bought it, may be less now). Its a bit more complicated to use than Windows Movie Maker but offers many more editing options. It has much better effect and transition options (nothing too fancy, but more than enough for what it sounds like you want to do). I personally use it for my farming guide videos that I produce each week as it allows me to overlay webcam footage with in-game footage.
I recently bought Pinnacle Studio: Ultimate Collection from BestBuy. The software allows for green screen effects and includes a green screen for a bundle price of $99. The software allows you to change to fade out color of the screen, so you can do in-game green screen footage (easiest would be to film segments at the end-of-the-world glitch and fade out the blue background).
After you go past $100, you're mainly paying for features you most likely wont use for video game videos, so I don't suggest any of the more expensive softwares.
As for photo editing, GIMP is free and has relatively the same controls as Photoshop. It has more than enough for cropping and resizing pictures.
|