How can i annotate videos of usability sessions?

What is the best method to take notes from videos of a usability session?

Consider the scenario you recorded a usability test (remote or local) and want to do a review of the whole session by taking notes and annotating interesting situations.

I have tried professional tools like Morae Observer, used plain Excel tables (without timestamps) and heard of free tools like VideNoteTaker. Are professional tools of this nature a good way to do this, or is there a better alternative method I should consider?