Question for you folks that have some experience with somewhat higher production quality editing: good Windows software options for a modest budget? Basically, some gaming vids and processing some aerial camera videos and pictures.

Things it must have:

* Color key masking
* Timeline stretching (that doesn't take 15 steps to accomplish)
* Track blending (multiply, difference, etc.)
* Concurrent multiple-format support (be surprised how many apps do not import well)
* 1440p output (nobody I know has 4k TVs)

Things that would be nice:

* Title effects
* 3D transition/offset (e.g. angled surfaces with video rendered on them)
* Batch mode where I could save a few projects at the final edit and then render a bunch in series

Honestly, I don't know enough to know what features I'm missing yet, and I am cognizant of perhaps needing to spend a bit more so I don't have to go back and re-buy the next upgrade to get there after I realize I'm limited by software.

I've been playing with the evaluation version of Sony Movie Studio Premium 13, and so far it's been capable of most of the above and is pretty intuitive in terms of what clicking or dragging things in the timeline does. So far my only real complaint has been that if I enable multi-core and GPU rendering options, the thing crashes early and often. It also crashes twice every time I close the app. Not a deal-breaker but a consideration. Price is about $80US. The Movie Studio 13 Suite is about $140 and looks like it has advanced titling and some support for external effects packages. The full Sony Vegas Pro is about $600-800US but not sure I will ever need its features.

I tried using HitFilm Express for a bit and while it seems quite capable, it's like trying to use WordPerfect in that everything is a 15-step process with naming conventions that don't really lead a relative novice to intuit what the tool or filter is designed to do.

Anywho, comments and suggestions welcome.
Cheers,
Ugh