Hello, I have been asked to see if I can give some input on this subject. I will try to keep things simple but can be and is a very complex subject. So in answer to the last question first, how hard can it be the answer is very hard if you are not familiar with post production process.
The first issue is that what you are asking is not quite as clear cut as you might imagine..However if you dont mind getting your hands dirty with computers the good news is that once you have worked out your video work flow, you dont have to change it unless you intend to supply the footage to a differant party. So if it just for making a DVD to give to people to watch on the TV then once you have a working post production workflow you will not need to change it...
This is not entirely correct but at this stage im happy to sweep a few issues under the carpet for now to simply try to help!
My first question would be what computer are you trying to work with?? MAC or PC? If you have a mac you are in better shape to tackle this, I have both and use the MAC for video footage mainly.
Then we really need to know your level of computer/video knowledge , for instance are you aware that there are different types of DVD for example and do you know what a codec is?
The simple answer is you are asking a question a little like ''I want to go to B&Q and buy a tool that will fix my house, what should i get, how hard can it be?'' Well if you want to put some shelves up get a battery drill, a drill bit and a spirit level''
What i mean by that is the question is still a little general, the job isnt that hard and will take no more than a morning to do even for a novice. But you need to get the right tools for the job. There is no one piece of software to solve this.....
So lets start,,the Canon EOS records amazing video, so good they use it on House, 24, george lucas and Ron Howard are using 7D and 5D mk11 as additional cameras now..Why?? Because if you need 5 camera angle for an action sequence or a stunt you do the action once and film it from 5 angles..This may seem obvious to people reading this. However it has never been done this way, films and drama are shot primarily on ONE camera and they do things 3/4/5 times shot from different angles..Why you ask, well 35mm film camera with a set of lenses are so expensive that people dont really own them they can only afford to hire them for the project..A single lens will cost around £20,000....
Now the shocker is the footage produced by these DSLR is comparable to the footage produce from the film cameras costing hundreds of thousands..
So how come the footage from my EOS 550d is almost as good as from full scale movie cameras?? There must be a catch??
There is, it the way the footage is record. Now without going into detail it basically put onto your memory card in a format that is great for internet viewing but xexexexe for video editing. Or to put it another way its a bit like saying the footage on you card is recorded in a viewing format NOT an editing format....
So step one and tool number one that we need is to convert our footage from the 7D (which is called h.264) and make it into something our video editing software will be happy to play with......but how do we do that and is it expensive i hear you ask??
Well here is the first bit of good news the software most people use is by a company called Squared 5 the package in called MPEG Streamclip and its FREE!!
Squared 5 - MPEG Streamclip video converter for Mac and Windows
Now i cant go into how to use this software on here, but look on you tube and Squared 5 website...
It is really very simple, it ingests the file/s you ask it to and spits out a converted version that you import into you video editing package...
To stop this from being an epic posting let me lay out the basic workflow
1 - Footage acquired from DLSR on card is transcribed with first package (MPEG streamclip will do)
2 - Footage is edited in second package (Movie maker on windows? I Movie on mac? I use Final Cut Pro on a MAC)
3 - Final cut version of film is outputted from editing package
4 - DVD is authored using you fav DVD burning package (something like NERO worked for me on PC....)
Sorry this was so long, its fair to say that video is as bigger subject than stills..just dont get too bogged down with the subject. As i say once you have your little workflow sorted its easy and you have a little production line that you can churn you films through..
it is a step learing curve to begin with but after the first one is done you can look back and say its really easy...
luv P
I am sure I will be bugging you again for some help at a later date.I disagree if Canon thought that the video would only interest people who were already really into video,there is a large percentage of new released cameras offering HD video,I wonder if those from Nikon Panasonic and Sony ect,are just as amateur unfriendly when it comes to sharing outside of computers ? I think it`s a shame it is so difficult to learn for the unknowing. 
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