Audio/Video Production/Conversion/Editing & My Web ISte?

Hi! 

I'm kind of new to all of this and pretty non-technical, to boot.  So Justin suggested I post a plea for help on this forum.  (Smile)

My ultimate objective is to put several things on my WP site so people can watch &/or listen to them: a "live" video, a "slideshow" video, an audio recording and, lastly, a copy of an earlier webinar currently residing on another website..

I n general, my problems seem to come down to this: the output files that the different software I'm using to produce these items aren't compatible with (can't be played by) the only thing I've been able to figure out how to put on my blog to play them with so far .. the FLV Player.

In particular:

1) The "live" video I shot with my Sony DSCTX7/L digital camera is in an MPG format.  I found a good, free video converter from AVS4 that converted the MPG format to an FLV format. But it puts a discrete little watermark right in the middle of the video.  And besides, I'd like to do some basic editing on the video, too.  I'm about to buy the paid-version of the AVS4 suite of software, which includes a converter, editor and more - unless somebody can suggest a good, free version of software that is *also* relatively user-friendly for 65-year old (broke) non-techies like me.  (smile)

2) The 'sideshow" video I created with Windows Movie Maker 7, using audio I created with the open-source software, Audacity.  When I "merge" (?) the AU audio file from Audacity with the WMM7 video, it creates creates what apparently is a proprietary WLMP format file that I can't get to play with thr FLV player I have embedded on my site.

What is the best way - preferably using low-cost/no-cost software that is non-technical-user-friendly - to create a slideshow-with-audio type of video .. and what is the best video player to put on my site to play it with?

BTW, I'd rather not use embedded YouTube code for different reasons.  (Thanks.)

3) The Audio recording I made with Audacity, recording it from a webinar with the sound on my PC turned way up. 

3A) The resulting sound [quality & volume] was OK .. not great .. but OK.  Any suggestions?

3B) How do you get an audio recording to play on a WP site .. just do an "Insert" of a file?

4) Copy of a Web-based Webinar:  The only way I could figure out how to download a webinar that I have permission to use, is to open the web site where it resides with RealPlayer and then convert it to FLV (so, again, it can be played with the FLV Player on my site).  The "problem" is that I'd have to buy the 'pro' version of RealPlayer for something like $49.95, which I'd rather not do.  Any suggestions as to how I might download or otherwise obtain a copy of this webinar (from this other web site) so I can put a copy of it on my site .. and would I be able to use the FLV player - or something similar - to play it with?

Thanks, in advance, for your time & help!

Richard