I'm not looking for the commercial grade suite that costs thousands of dollars, just something similar to iMovie on the Mac.
User-friendly but powerful.
We have a nice sized library of videos shot either with a digital camera or on a cell phone. Some of the things I want to be able to do is ..
* Snip segments from a larger movie
* Basic fade in and fade out type effects
* Possibly add text overlays, floating text, etc. (not a requirement)
* Rotate movies (90 degrees, flip vertically, etc.)
BONUS would be if I could use the same software to edit videos already on DVD (but by no means a requirement). Why don't you try Windows Movie Maker? This is the equivalent of iMovie for Windows (comes for free with windows XP) and it does all the things that you have listed.
If you want to learn how to work with Window Movie Maker, check out the lessons for editing with at http://www.homevideomaking.com/lessons/L...
Select the beginner mode, go to the table of content (on the top right side of the window) and select the Editing lessons. You should be able to edit in less than 3-4 hours by reading these lessons. Premier
Pinnacle The best is Studio 9 version of a Pinnacle. It is simple and friendly user. I highly recommend Vegas Video or Vegas Movie Studio from Sony.
The GUI is extremely user friend and I find myself saving way more time and doing things a lot quicker using Vegas than Premiere or anything else.
It is very intuitive and easy to pick up and you can get very professional quality edits.
Here is just a small sample (mixed of video and picture slideshows).
http://www.moonlightediting.com/Daniel/
http://www.moonlightediting.com/Elijah/v... | 