Staff Writer

You've read through our analysis of free and low-cost video editing suites. Now it's time to take a look at the industry's heavy-hitters: Avid, Adobe, Apple, EditShare, Sony and Grass Valley. Is there a best? That all depends on what you're trying to do.

In the first two parts of our series, we only spent your money on hardware and the software was free. But sometimes you get what you pay for, so perhaps its time to spend a little.

In Part 1, we set the table, presented you with our menu of software cuisines and recommended some tasty pairings of hardware configurations.

The world of video editing is simultaneously complex and yet more accessible than ever. In part one of our guide, we go over some of the basic concepts and hardware requirements.