I am looking for a video editing software. In some tests they mentioned 3 programs in the first three ranks:

PowerDirector
Pinnacle Studio
Magix Video

I checked a lot of reports and the amazon user comments. All 3 are told to crash often with HD videos, support is bad and updates are rare.

Adobe Premiere Elements is also told to crash very often (Amazon user comments).

So is there any alternative or do I have to accept that these tools are all not stable?

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/moviestudiope

in my opinion this is the most powerful consumer video editing software.

If you have enough Money: Adobe Premiere or After Effects. Premiere ist supererb for cutting and so on. if you are searching high qualitity effects than chose after effects and have a look at www.videocopilot.net

As I mentioned, many users wrote that Adobe Premiere crashed very often. The Amazon rating is less than 2 stars.

I have no idea about After Effects though. For now I ordered Movie Studio from Sony (thanks to the hint of Ventilator). I got a direct download form their website right after ordering it.

Well I've been using Magix Video Deluxe in two different versions (none with HD support though) and I think it's the best piece of software if you're on a budget. It has a nice interface is easy to learn and has a satisfying set of features and effects to apply...

I have to admit though that it crashed for a couple of times. Crashes weren't the rule though but just appeared rarely and when trying to do the very same thing it worked flawlessly on 2nd try. So while I cannot comment on the latest version of it I'd say that when saving your project often you should be safe...

after effects is a compositing software. kind of like photoshop with a timeline. it's not meant for editing/cutting longer videos.

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if you want to edit hd videos it also could make sense to look into an indermediate codec like cineform or DNxHD. they can be nicer to work with than the mpeg4 format many camcorders use.

Never had any problems with it, but that was some time ago with Premiere 7. Didn't work with it since, maybe it's the never versions that have problems, or it's a PEBKAC situation.

Yes, it must be a problem of newer version. Also Pinnacle Studio users and PowerDirector users told, that older versions did not crash that often. But older versions also did not support HD.

I work since years with magix video maker. Latest version which I bought was 16. They update the prog over the internet regulary. When I cut hd videos, I work with a good laptop (toshiba quosmio) and have nearly no crahes. In fact, I do not remember one and I work very often with mvmaker16.
Magix Crash Prog Nr. 1 is Magix Music Maker. I hate it but need it for quick results.

Great advantages of magix video maker are the many effects on a very high level and of course the cheap price. But If you want to make high end videos for pro, of course then you need maybe better equipment. Btw.. a friend of my works in munich / Pro7 - and he also uses for private the magix products.

One of the best video editing software is "Sony Vegas". Very easy to use and have a lot of features. It never crashed since I used it (I only edit HD videos).