Well I have the camera HG10 and i now have the computer but I don't know what software to get.

My Compter
-Intel Core2 Quad 2.4ghz
-Windows Vista 64bit
-4gigs RAM
-ATI Radeon HD3850 256mb
-Dual layer DVD w/ Lightscribe.
-500 gig HD

I want to be able to make movies with chapters and effects, insert music, edit for picture quality, and post to Vimeo. It would also be nice to be able to do this without making my head or wallet explode.

TIA

Very informative thread for HG10 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=970462

Nero 8 is the answer for you. Its less than $100, encodes AVCHD the fastest among all other encoders and it also has the option to export in AVCHD format. It is not a professional grade program, so if u require really advanced options, u may wanna look elsewhere.

I am not an advocate for Corel/Ulead since their service is the some of the worst in the industry.

On the other hand, I can confirm that Corel/Ulead VideoStudio 11 can work with .mt2s files, has an excellent interface and seems to have powerful features. I am just new with it though.

This is something new.

Maybe I should have said user friendly. I don't have the experience to judge it against other apps.

I am leaning twords Pinncle Ultimate. From the reviews I read it's fast, easy and has a lot of features. Plus it's only 30 bucks more then Nero and it comes with a 30 dollar rebate. Any reason I shouldn't

IME, Nero bites & I'd say don't waste your money on it. I've never used Pinnacle, but I do love Sony Vegas Movie Studio & have used it for over five years.

I was wondering why you say Nero bites? What is it about Nero that you don't like? I've not purchased AVCHD edting software yet, as I am a newbie and am still sifting through the tons of data found all over the internet. I don't need any heavy-duty bells & whistles, nothing fancy, as I am too new to Video to even know what questions to ask ;-)

Thanks,
LovCom

The editing solution that includes the ability to burn DVDs (and blue ray when they are practical) is Movie Edit Pro 14 Plus which is available from Magix.com for $90 or less. It is extremely powerful for both the video and the audio and provides a complete solution. See my posting:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t142346.html

I've used various versions over the years of Movie Edit Pro and have been very pleased with it as well as their (free!) email support. The previous version (12) was set up to handle HD editing, but was pre-Core 2 processors, and you need that extra power for HD.

It also appears that you have the equipment to handle the HD editing and viewing, although I'm using windows XP since it's less of a processor hog than Vista.

Bob