According to Hunter Cressall, you pretty much have to be using a Mac to do home video editing. I don't have one. Are there any decent programs for the PC out there where I can edit video for a video blog or a YouTube channel and stuff that anyone here uses or recommends?

Windows Movie Maker suffices for everything I need.

There are loads. I don't know who Hunter Cressall is, but he is wrong. I used to do movie editing on my PC all the time ("used to" only because I haven't had a need for it in a couple of years). Windows movie maker is just fine for most things, like Hank said. I've used other tools like virtualdub to remove commercials from pre-recorded TV programming before burning to disc as well, and tmpgenc to create VCDs and DVDs with menus. Also "Super" is an excellent program for converting file types, in case you want to take an avi and turn it into an mp4 to play on a phone or PS3.

I use Power Director, which came with my video camera. It's a step or two up from movie maker, and can do most things you would want to be able to do.

Me, too. Especially for just Youtube and video blogging. Easy as pie to edit a video for that kind of use (which usually involves taking one video and just snipping out the parts that shouldn't be in it).

And its free as part of Windows 7. It's a module that has to be pulled down from the Web, but it's included in the license price.

Windows finally got smart and stopped trying to include everything in the basic build. If a user needs an enhanced capability, he can download as needed.

Expensive, but Adobe After-Effects is used by the pro's.

Hunter Cressall is wrong.

I don't know who Hunter Cressal is, but he's an idiot. Video editing can be done on any OS. I am in the editing field and worked on Windows and OSX for editing. There are also systems that run on Linux. 90-95% of everything produced for TV or Film is edited on Avid's Media Composer, which will run on both OSX and Windows. You can download a fully functional version of Media Composer for free as a 30 day trial. Final Cut Pro will only run on a Mac. Adobe Premiere Pro runs on Windows and OSX and you can also download a trial version from Adobe's website. There is also Vegas Video from Sony. Pinnacle, now a subsidiary of Avid, has some widely used editing programs as well. Microsoft has Movie Maker which you can get for free as part of the Windows Live Essentials package.

I use Pinnacle too, but find it's a buggy little bugger.

VideoSpin is free and I've reviewed it highly for PC World.

This is Hunter Cressall...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEvYETWVK6M[/youtube]

And, yeah, it looks like he's wrong about video editing needing a Mac...

The last time I used Windows Movie Maker it was crap. Maybe it's better now, I don't know and I don't particularly care. But hey, it's free.

If you want to do simple cuts, no transitions or text, and the file you want to edit is a DivX/Xvid AVI then VirtualDub is the best. There are plug ins for other containers and codecs but I've had mixed successes with them.

My main editing program has been Adobe Premiere Pro, but it's too extensive and expensive for casual editing. I recommend the casual user Adobe Premiere Elements, which is an easier to use version.

Sony Vegas isn't half bad either, but I think it's more expensive than Elements.

I never liked Pinnacle. Ugh.

That video was from what, nearly 7 years ago? And, even when he made it, many of
his statements were wrong. My students used to love pulling that video up to make
sure that I saw it.

Rang pretty true to me when I saw it in 2004 and I was editing video on an Apple for a living. The thing locked up on me almost on a daily basis.

Like other posters said, try Windows Movie Maker. Though, it can be buggy as hell and not render the video if you're using the version that comes with XP. I've used Pinnacle Studio and little and thought it was a decent editor despite having bug issues. At work, I mainly use Camtasia Studio 7 ($299). It's more of a screencasting program, but works well as a straight editor.

Can music be dubbed onto or over the soundtrack of a movie you make on the PC. I have some videos of my dogs that I'd like to overdub music onto. Some of them are just routine footage of them walking and not doing much.