I use videopad too... I used to despise it too. After reading tons of positive reviews about it I actually bought it for 50 bucks. my 1st video came out OK. It has a very simple & understandable interface, BUT... it's unstable, unreliable, extremely BUGGY... I downloaded a bunch of other software, got much worse results! Most of them crashed when just importing the clips! So I decided to stick to what I already own and doesn't cost 500$. By now I think I learned to cope with it. It seems to run OK when nothing else runs in background, and internet is off. It may be a good idea to save project after every couple of actions, but even if i didn't, it allows to load last project's latest state, if crashed. It's text editor sucks. If i need complex texting i export video and continue editing in Movie Maker. Also I noticed, exporting is faster if you export natural size. --- After a few months of using videopad i'm not even considering different software, i feel like i can do anything in it. p.s. I heard good stuff about Adobe Premiere (i think that's what it's called), but it requires monthly payment.