When you take a quick look at the range of free video-editing softwares available, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly usable. AviSynth has a fair bit of power, but it has no graphical interface and is controlled by writing special programs for it, rendering it useless for the common user. LiVES seems to be another well-known software, but doesn't run on Windows, again making it useless for the large majority of users. Jahshaka has it all - it's free, powerful, runs on every operating system and has a usable interface. But it's in 'alpha stage', meaning still in development. Again, not very useful to us.

This is where Avidemux comes in. It's not the most stylish or advanced piece of software that you'll ever use, but it's available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux users - as well as having the benefit of being free.

Despite not being the most powerful video-editing software available, Avidemux does have its share of features. It works comfortably with most video formats, handles subtitles and audio editing, converts between different video formats - and all this from a graphical interface. One of its highlights is that a whole project - including all options, preferences, and everything else - can be saved into one project file - pretty neat.

The top toolbar does basic functions such as opening and saving projects. You can also use it to preview what a movie will look like when you export it, but be warned - it doesn't take the effects of compression into consideration. The player's controls are under the video area, and are suitably advanced for a video editing program - that is, more than you'd see on a normal video player.

On the whole, this is a program for an amateur - or perhaps a low professional - video editor. It's free, and when you get used to it then you can get quite a lot out of it. After a couple of projects, you should be well into its interface. However, the preview functions aren't that great and some of the toolbars are a little simplistic. Then again, what can you ask for from a free program.