Glory's Sun

I'm a die hard Avid user but FCP is also a great editing solution.

as far as doing your overlays..well it's relatively simple. It just depends on how fancy you want to get.

If this is for a podcast or for the web, then you could always cut your video in an NLE, throw it into after effects.. do your title, overlay work there and use the XFL functions to convert the comp into flash format.

The newest version of flash will directly import your comps from After Effects and keep the layers, etc in place..

I don't do any thing of that sort since most of my stuff is DTA, so you may want to check out the adobe flash forums for more information on the flash stuff. However, do not compress your footage before you put it into your NLE, this is just bad news. You should on do an encode and/or compression when the final sequence is done. Just do a capture straight from your tape, HDD, or cards (depending on what your camera uses) and then just edit the native footage. Make sure your project settings are the same settings as what you are importing.. for instance, if you shoot in 24p, you can't set up a project with 60i settings..the footage won't translate.

It sounds like what you are doing is pretty simple so you could go with Premiere or Vegas as you wouldn't need anything as robust as FCP or Avid. Premiere is better than vegas, but.. it has a following..

ok I'm going to shut up now.. I ramble on this subject and go on for days.

I'm moving this to technology by the way.

edit: had a look at will's Top 5 list and all I can say is "MEH!"

you get what you pay for.. especially in this area. Avid Free DV lacks alot of function that you will get from the Media Composer setup..

and ditch the Hi8..

depending on your budget I can give you some camera options.