UKC

At the moment, I'm using Windows Live Movie Maker and am long due an upgrade. Are there any free editors out there which will suit my needs Or is it time to bight the bullet and pay for some decent software and if so which one?

My main use for the software  is creating climbing videos, from 1080 video and upto 30MP stills. The features I need are:

-Able to see wave-forms for audio tracks (and the audio of the video) so allow synchronising cuts/transitions to changes in audio (and occasionally from an additional mic or camera). 

-Able support multiple audio tracks (and allow cross-fading).

-Allows audio/video volume to be changed within a track.

-Allows export of videos at resolutions of at least 1080 and frame rates of 60 (preferable higher).

-Crop/zoom/pan functions for video clips

-Decent selection of transitions, captions etc

-Supports inclusion of stills

-Allows speed of videos to be changed

Try lightworks. It's got a free version which is good.

I use hitfilm https://hitfilm.com/express and it's pretty good, there is a pro version you can pay for or the free express. Plenty of youtube videos on it too 

I use Premier Elements.  It ticks all your boxes however I edit my sound with Audacity and then reimport back into Premier Elements.  Nearly all my Youtube clips were done with Elements.

However I think I may be outgrowing Premier Elements as I want to experiment with colour grading all my clips to make them look as professional as an amateur can make them.

I've found Shotcut to be good, pretty sure it ticks all your requirements. Helpful online support community as well

I love light room, but be warned the output from the free version is limited to YouTube quality. 

I use the free version as I only output as low res.  

DaVinci Resolve 14.

As long as the editing is not commercial, it’s also free.

You can use the Lite version for Commercial use.  The lite version though does have some features locked that you would need if you were doing work at the kind of ongoing depth. 

I use Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve 14, Colour grade in DR then edit in Premiere Pro with proxy files as I use the Blackmagic Cinema Camera in RAW mode a lot. 

I had a play with that but my brain hurt.  Also I struggled using LUTs so I went back to what I knew.

maybe I'll try again.

Thanks All! So far, Light-works is in the lead: I find the UI very intuitive, the only downside is that the free version is limited to exporting in 720 rather 1080... Although that's probably because It's the only one I've had chance to have a proper play with...

• I've tried the 1 week free trial of Premiere Pro, but didn't like the UI as much, it didn't have the Dolby audio codecs built in, and the free trial, well ended.
• I've downloaded the free version of Shotcut (but not had chance for a proper look/play yet)
• Hitfilm (both Pro and express) don't install properly on my PC. (just crashes when I try and open).
• DaVinci Resolve also didn't install correctly - missing some Dll files, so doesn't open.

Also have a look at Cyberlink PowerDirector

Does everything on your check list