From home 8mm cameras to Betamax, VHS and Hi-8, film and video technologies have presented us with ever more affordable ways of preserving memories and occasions. Although these technologies could preserve images, however, editing them wasn't possible.
But digital video has brought a change in how we capture and view our moving images in ways never before contemplated.
While analogue video editing is a laborious and expensive process - needing two VCRs, mixing desks, a pile of other equipment and limitless patience - with digital video editing you can drag and drop whole scenes, add sound, titles and effects, and output your finished movie to anything from streaming website video to DVD.
Gone are the chores of fast-forwarding and rewinding: the storyboard/timeline approach of digital video-editing software means you can jump to any point in your film instantly.
These days anyone with a reasonably specced PC can set themselves up as a movie maker for less than £500, and make the most of the advantages of quality and longevity that digital video has over its analogue counterpart.
In this Special Report we'll be showing you some of the video-editing technology and products available today.
Get video editing tips in the Computeractive forums here
Browse our Sight & Sound workshops here
