Windows Movie Maker 2 VS ?
 

I've got WinME and thinking about either getting WinXP ($100) to use Movie Maker 2 or a ($200-300) NLE like Premiere or Vegas

Movie maker 2 from what i've read has:

1 A Titler
2 Transitions
3 Ability to export to DV/AVI
4 Some effects (some pretty lame)

What would be the most important things I would miss by not getting a NLE like Premiere or Vegas Video?

I haven't used Movie Maker myself, but I cannot imagine that it
will hold up to any "serious" NLE on the PC like Premiere, Avid,
Vegas Video or any other of the applications out there!

From what I understand that product is mainly in there to allow
some simple "vacation" type of work to be done. If you know
someone with XP I suggest you try the program out (seriously!)
before you buy XP for that reason. You can also get yourself
a demo of Premiere to compare the two.

Ofcourse this is mostly "guessing" since I haven't looked at
Movie Maker myself.

Anyways, the magic keyword (as always when buying things)
is try before you buy!

l would not upgrade to XP just to get Movie Maker, but I would upgrade to XP just to get rid of Windows Me! XP will provide a much better environment all around. If you are not going to be doing any serious editting, Movie Maker will work for you. The newest version is available as a download and seems to work pretty well for simple projects (like home movies). Like others have said and will say if you are doing anything of any complexity it is much better to get a program like Premiere or Avid.

Thanks for the replies.

The reason I had asked what the differences are is because microsoft has some sample movies on their web page that are quite well done. In particular the Gen XP one is really cool. You can see it at:

microsoft.com/windowsxp/moviemaker/videos/default.asp

I was just wondering what additionally could be done with a premium NLE, that these video samples don't do. Aside from the obvious special effects like The matrix.

Could some one create a hollywood drama ie in the bedroom with such a simple editor?

I have a feeling that micro$oft might just use this as a foot in the door to start dominating this software field also. A Tablet PC hooked up to an XdvcameraBOX :)

There are too many advantages to a premium NLE like Vegas, AVID, or Premiere to even list.

Best thing I can recommend is try MM2 and download the FREE beta4 of Vegas 4 from www.sonicfoundry.com

just reading the readme file will probably show you all you need to know.

On the Introduction page of Michael Rubin's Beginners Final Cut Pro there is the sentence "This is a professional film editing tool:" followed by a picture of a cutting block, a simple metal block with a hinged blade use to cut film.

So now doubt, you can make professional looking stuff on Windows Movie Maker.

But a higher end NLE will give you:
- deep color correction tools
- audio editing
- multi-track video compositing
- graphics tools for your titleing
- improved workflow

So even if you want to do just simple cuts, fades, and white on black titles, you will find a use for the feature in a higher end NLE.

Using it...
 

I have been using MM2 since the beta was out. The main thing I have been trying to do is move old Hi8 stuff onto MiniDV, via my Sony PC120. I have been capturing 1-hour tapes in files of about 13 Gig. Then I add titles, effects, and transitions. All this basic stuff works well, with a big caveat. The big deal is that if any frames are lost, either during capture or transfer back to the camera, there are absolutely no error messages whatsoever. This means you have to painfully inspect everything. Might be fine if you are doing detailed work on a short clip, but not for big batch jobs.

My next step will be to buy Pinnacle Studio 8, I think.

Maurice

That is just insane. I mean if you loose a lot o frames you'll see
it, but I bet you cannot detect a 1 to 2 dropped frames every
once in a while with your naked eye!

Alternatives
 

Yup. I have an authorative answer from a Microsoft MVP that there is no way of knowing.