Yay! :D I'm really glad that you found this useful, especially given how long and rambling it is. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to contact my via PM. I can't promise to answer correctly, but I'll give it a shot. There really ought to be more linux-vidding in the world!
As to using OpenShot first, yeah, it's certainly a much more intuitive and simpler interface. The only real downside is that you can't import a long clip then cut it down to size before dropping it on the timeline - once the clip is imported to OpenShot, you just have to resize on the timeline. It's something I hope they change in future versions but so far no joy. It's a shame because that's something of a dealbreaker for me since I hate clipping (I just use the ripped episodes and search through them and select sections of the episode to drop onto the timeline).
As another option, I've become more impressed with Kdenlive since writing all this up. It still crashes some on my computer but not as much as it used to and I hear that most others have very good stability. It offers a mid-level of usability above OpenShot and below Cinelerra. Accordingly its interface is less userfriendly than OpenShot but still an absolute dream compared to Cinelerra - it's really pretty usable. The only thing I'd say is that some things it can do - for example, annoyingly, dropping only parts of imported clips onto the timeline, aren't immediately obvious (though are usually pretty easy once you know how). However, it does have a fairly comprehensive wiki that usually offers easy instructions on this.
Cinelerra is still my choice because of it's powerful capabilities should you want them, and because once the learning curve is learned it's no harder than any other program. But it is a little intimidating at first and I probably learned as easily as I did because I had already used a few other programs.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know you found this useful! :D
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As to using OpenShot first, yeah, it's certainly a much more intuitive and simpler interface. The only real downside is that you can't import a long clip then cut it down to size before dropping it on the timeline - once the clip is imported to OpenShot, you just have to resize on the timeline. It's something I hope they change in future versions but so far no joy. It's a shame because that's something of a dealbreaker for me since I hate clipping (I just use the ripped episodes and search through them and select sections of the episode to drop onto the timeline).
As another option, I've become more impressed with Kdenlive since writing all this up. It still crashes some on my computer but not as much as it used to and I hear that most others have very good stability. It offers a mid-level of usability above OpenShot and below Cinelerra. Accordingly its interface is less userfriendly than OpenShot but still an absolute dream compared to Cinelerra - it's really pretty usable. The only thing I'd say is that some things it can do - for example, annoyingly, dropping only parts of imported clips onto the timeline, aren't immediately obvious (though are usually pretty easy once you know how). However, it does have a fairly comprehensive wiki that usually offers easy instructions on this.
Cinelerra is still my choice because of it's powerful capabilities should you want them, and because once the learning curve is learned it's no harder than any other program. But it is a little intimidating at first and I probably learned as easily as I did because I had already used a few other programs.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know you found this useful! :D