Thanks very much Shy, Paumanok West and Wizeard for your prompt response.
I updated to the latest Corel Video Studio (I`m a previous Ulead user) when I had a new high spec laptop at the beginning of the year. It accepted the AVCHD files from my Panasonic camcorder. It was easy to pull the SD card from the camera and put it straight into the card slot on the laptop and edit my HD footage in this program. All my Reallusion related software is also installed on this machine. My skills and budget reflect aspiring amateur rather than seasoned professional.
I don't have the very latest version, but I do have Magix Edit pro v14 plus installed on the rapidly ageing desktop computer. I've used a USB stick to transfer some standard green screen video files to see if it will output the B/W mask. It has Chroma Key and the overlays work fine but like the Corel software I cant make it output a B/W mask video. I wonder if Wizeard has the most recent version and is able to confirm if it does produce the B/W video mask file format required?
I found Adobe Premier Elements 3 was also on my old desk top machine. I think it came bundled with a version of Photoshop elements. I tried this and found in the Keying options dialogue a tick box for “Mask only” This does export the B/W mask. I've used the USB stick to get the files back on the laptop. Pop video converter did it's stuff and produced the transparent background iwidget from these files.
I see from the web that the latest version of Premier Elements is 7. However, the interface has had a make -over to make it “more user friendly”. Taking Paumanok West`s “granny” comment on board I wonder if anyone can confirm if the “mask only” option has been retained in this version? It does accept AVCHD files so it may be a suitable Video editor for use on my laptop.
I don`t have Sony Vegas so can't comment on it`s suitability for use with Pop video converter. Perhaps Wizeard could let us know if he can get a mask only output.
Any advice, comments or alternative suggestions before I spend my money would be appreciated.
Perhaps Visconti or Peter E might think it worth compiling a list on the forum of Video Editors that do/don`t export the B/W chroma key mask needed for pop video converter. Following on from my experiences today they may feel the “any video editor” comment in the Pop video converter promo blub and stage 2 instructions needs amending slightly ?
Geoff.