BleepingComputer.com: Windows Movie Maker / Converting MP4s

Ladies and Gents,

I've just gotten a Flip HD cam. It's a great little thing. The problem is that Windows Movie Maker, the software that came on the computer, will not accept MP4 format. I've tried converting (using Magic Video Converter) to AVI, but all I get is audio without video. So I download codec packs (ffdshow, Divx H.264, etc), with no result. I've got to be doing something wrong.

So, here are my questions:
1. Is there a free movie editing software that will let me play with MP4s, making the whole problem moot?
2. Is there a better file converter? Magic, in addition to not working well, constantly reminds me to pay, which is mildly irritating
3. Is there a better set of codecs? Maybe that's something I'm not doing to activate them?

I'm leaving in a couple of days for a place without internet, where I'll stay and (try to) put together some great videos. But I've got to get this up and running beforehand. I'm only semi computer-literate (limited to big shiny icons and unadvanced preference menus). The people of this site have saved my ass from a number of computer ailments before, and Google brings so much conflicting information on the issue I'm not sure where to start. Can you help me?

UPDATE: MP4-AVI converters seem to work fine -- I can play the converted AVIs in Windows Media Player, but still no image in Movie Maker. WTF?

This post has been edited by CannibalZ3: 07 April 2010 - 04:48 PM

VLC player is able to convert video files, and it has support for MP4 so in theory it should convert MP4's. I don't know cause I never tried. But VLC player is free and stable so you can't really go wrong.

Alternatively, you might look at Virtual Dub and Virtual Dub Mod. They are advanced, open source video manipulating utilities, but I don't know if they are still updated and have support for mp4's.