Gun video, to be sure. Right now I have an HP Pavilion running Windows 7 using Movie Maker and a Canon Rebel 3Ti for camera. Yes, antique, out dated, weak, "poors", etc., I know. Worked well for chintzy little videos here and there. However I have a buddy who wants to upgrade things so I can do more professional looking video editing for his board and my own. So, having to stay with the same camera, what upgrades/programs would you recommend for those in the business/hobby, and yes, the option of throwing the whole thing out and starting over is apparently on the table...but I'd like to not have to spend more of someone else's money than absolutely necessary, if this actually happens.
Thank you for any constructive replies.

I use Windows 10 and a GoPro hero3. I use Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 for editing. Its getting to be an old program but it still does everything I need it to do.

Thank you. I apologize, this must be the wrong forum for this question.

I build video editing systems for a living.

Adobe Premiere (part of Creative Cloud) is now subscription-based, and by far the most popular editing software.  That's not a bad thing.  If you plan to do serious editing you're going to want to throw some pretty serious cash at the computer, especially with the rise of 4K as an acquisition format.  I would stick with a desktop, with the fastest CPU you can afford, and a minimum $500 nVidia graphics card.  It's a common misconception that the graphics card handles most of Premiere's rendering.  It's the CPU that does most of the work, although a good mid-range nVidia card will speed up certain rendering - effects like blur, color correction, etc.

Video storage drive (size and speed) is also vitally important, as is the interface.  Hard drives are where the rubber meets the road.  If you don't need file sharing (multiple editors sharing the same content) then a Thunderbolt 3 adapter with an external RAID array will be a great option.  USB 3.2 will get the job done.  Speed is life in the editing world.  I'd suggest a minimum of 10TB raw storage (5x2TB drives in a RAID-5 configuration gives you 8TB usable,) and the more drives the better.  The number of physical drives in an array is more important than the individual drive size.  You don't need SSD drives for video storage, although I'd highly recommend an M.2 SSD for the system drive.

Don't forget to spend money on a backup drive.  There's nothing worse than thinking RAID protects your data, then having a drive controller go haywire and trash everything.  An extra $500 spent to keep your video files data safe is money well spent.

Then I am REALLY out of place - just the lowliest garden variety YouTuber type of video maker, will never even win the Garbage Pail award.

I wish I had a few thousand sitting around and a studio - I would buy a system from you, as I always wanted to learn how to properly edit. Think at 52 it's too late to start a new career, maybe.
I will pass this on to the money guy and see what he says. I did see the Adobe Premier before, wasn't sure if it was a good choice or not. I also love desktop, HATE laptops and tablets, (I grew up with rotary dial phones, too), so that works out.
Dumb question if you don't mind - why multiple drives instead of fewer larger ones? I honestly don't know.
Thank you very much for the answers provided here.

I'm jumping in front of eracer and I'm sure he'll add his own thoughts, but...

The answer is throughput. Using a RAID5 configuration allows a little bit of the video stream to be written to (and read from) multiple drives at one time - and video is highly throughput-intensive. Think of the CPU using multiple straws to suck on several milkshakes at one time. The use of spinning media (still the most cost-effective balance of speed and capacity) means the read/write operation has to wait until the correct spot on the platter reaches the read/write head. This slows down the operation when using a single drive (kinda like using a single straw to get that mouthful of milkshake).

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Free-video-editing-software-for-newbie-/5-2286482/

Thread I made a few weeks ago, also seeking recommendations.  Shotcut isn’t too bad at all.

Speed is life.  An array is faster than a single drive, and RAID levels > 0 provide an extra benefit of drive failure tolerance.
With a RAID-5 for example, one drive can fail, and you can replace the drive and the data will be rebuilt while you continue to work.

You can still get your data back from a backup of a single drive, but only back to the date/time of the last backup.  With a RAID-5, you lose nothing if a single drive fails.

@tknogeek explained it well.

I do some pretty basic videos for my YT channels. I just use the iPhone iMovie maker and it works good enough for me.

I use it and a GO pro Hero 5-6. The go pro has bad audio and something I need fix but other than that everything is of ok quality.

For me I’m kinda at a cross roads with it. What I have been doing thus far is fine but if I want to take everything to the next level some cash must be spent. And I honestly just don’t want to do that right now.

When you're ready to spend ~$80, consider the Rode SmartLav+. That alone will improve your audio considerably. Connect it to your smartphone for a good "wireless" option for a solo operation.

This is what I am planning on doing. I like using the Go Pro on a tripod and recording and using the phone to check how I look if I am in the field of view or not. Also dont really record with the phone much at all maybe take a few photos to add to the video but not directly record with the phone.

Also the below is what is capable with nothing more than iMovie maker and a go pro. You can hear that the audio is bad at times but manageable. Also enjoy the dad humor.

That's definitely an improvement over the built-in mic. The lav mic will get better audio since it's closer to the source, but everything is a compromise.

Camera-mounted mics (shotgun, built-in, or otherwise) can work well if the subject is clearly within the performance envelope, but that envelope is constrained by the location of the camera. For example, I did a studio video that reinforced this point for me. I had a Rode VideoMicPro mounted on the DSLR and a backup SmartLav+ on the subject connected to an app running on my Galaxy smartphone. It was a simple business exec vignette in a good audio environment with the camera barely 6 feet away, but the difference in quality captured on the SmartLav was so much better there was no way I could in good conscience use the camera audio.

I've also done some vlogging-style videos (personal project stuff) using GoPro Hero hand-held with and without the lav mic (both direct-attached to the Hero and, separately, attached to the smartphone). Again, no contest that the lav mic audio was far superior.

Just passing along my experience for consideration - and I don't pay the bills with my video work.  

I wouldn’t mind a wired mic to my phone the issue I have is getting my audio to sync up with the video in editing. That’s the one downfall of the I movie maker is the inability to auto sync everything up. I have done it in the past with some videos of my daughter trying out a MRE. The audio was great but matching everything up was a nightmare. Every time I clipped it or faded to a new clip I would have to re sync everything up. It was awful. It’s more of a issue with the software that I’m stuck with.

And they’re maybe a better way than what I am doing.

This. It's the cheapest solution and I frequently use this technique when using multiple cameras capturing different views from a cockpit.

Also, this helps for just a few bucks more.

Regular audio, I just use the camera mic, but if it's windy I have a Zoom with dead cat mic.

Can a T3i even record video? I had a T2i back in 2011 or so, when the T3i had just come out.

If it does record video, I'd bet it only does 720p, and probably not at a great bitrate either. Not slagging you our your equipment, OP, but if I open a video and the video quality is shit, I'll close it and go watch something else.

Audio quality is another thing. That's actually a big thing among YouTube views. Bad audio causes people to click off and not watch.

I've done some videos flying my paramotor, where I use a (Sony) action cam, usually 1080p at either 30 or 60fps, then use a mirrorless camera for not-flying work. Up until November, I used an Olympus OM-D E-M5 mkII, but bought the MkIII when it came out since the auto focus is much much better, and it can do 4k. I use a Rode Video Micro mic with it, and the video and audio quality is pretty dang decent.

Before 2018, I had the original E-M5, which came out in 2012, IIRC. It would shoot 720p, but it looked like ass.

For editing... I use DaVinci Resolve. It's very powerful, and there's a learning curve, but it's worth learning how to use it.

This is the latest cheesy YouTube video I did with the Rebel T3i, if you can stand to watch it. I think it's a decent camera for what it is, and when I bought the camera it was $400, best I could get at the time.  Since finances don't allow for replacing it, I still use it. Of course I always set the playback at just below HD. Edit to add, forgive the Billy Mays infomercial looking thing - a friend requested to make the video. I just shot and used the free Movie Maker editor to give it that classic infomercial feel. Edit again - goofy video provided only to show what the camera is capable of in video quality, nothing more.