@sordine, Premiere/After Effects - to me it's bloated (the program is not streamlined). Some exports I have had a problem with playback on the Playstation 3. If it can playback on the PS3, then it's good enough for YouTube or Vimeo.
I have had more success with Sony Vegas Movie Studio/Pro with conversion to MP4. Have been able to playback on PS3 and YouTube/Vimeo. Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD (on my laptop) limits me with 4 video tracks; 4 audio tracks (video tracks are more important to me). Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD/Vegas Pro are not bloated; Sony developers streamlined the coding in the video editors. Sony Vegas Pro is great but I want to "graduate" onto another program with a lot more professional features. I can't afford Avid; can't afford a Mac for Final Cut Pro.
I've hit the limit with Adobe Premiere/After Effects/Sony Vegas. I felt I can learn more about video editing beyond what I have learned on After Effects/Premiere/Vegas. That's where Lightworks comes in. Lightworks has a lot of professional tools. The next version of Lightworks will have a free version; an educational license ($30/year) and a professional license ($60/year with supported usage of video codecs like AVCHD, full QuickTime ProRes, etc.)
A professional video editor at about $60/year, Lightworks has a lot of value (to me).
Plus, I have learned a lot more about editing; about different video conversions; organizing my video clips better. Those have been the things I learned from Lightworks so far. I'm even more excited to learn even more.
Sorry to bore you, I hope that answers your curiosity.
If you feel that Lightworks isn't really what you have been looking for in terms of easy-to-use free video editor, I don't blame you. You might as well looking into other video editing software that suit your needs.
