Video Editing

Popular standby iMovie comes bundled with Mac OS. Like many native Apple apps, iMovie is uncomplicated and uses a simple drag-and-drop interface for moving files from your drive to your workstation. It’s an easy way to build powerful videos to boost your YouTube marketing efforts. 

A big advantage to iMovie is that files are saved on Apple’s cloud, meaning you can work on your project interchangeably on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. iMovie is constantly being updated as well, so you can always look forward to new features and improvements.

Features include:

• Support for 4K resolution, allowing users to create cinema-quality films
• Cloud-storage functionality that allows you to work on the same project from your iPad, iPhone, and Mac
• Dozens of studio-quality title animations for professional-looking credits
• Stylish, contemporary video filters built for specific film genres, such as Western and sci-fi
• Built-in music, sound effects, and voiceover recording so your sound and picture editing are always consolidated
• Speed controls that let you make high-octane action scenes faster and sports highlights slower

Lumen5 markets itself as a tool that turns blog posts into social promos. While the process isn’t perfect, and you’ll likely have to do some tinkering to get your blog content looking just the way you want it, the rest of the video creation process is a cinch. Merely refine some copy that teases your blog post; drag and drop some gifs, screengrabs, or video clips; add some music; and your engaging social video will be ripe for Facebook and Twitter.

Animaker has its own online video editor that enables anyone to easily create videos from their own videos, photos, text, and audio. Absolutely no video editing experience required. It’s a lightweight app that works in your web browser, so there’s no complex timeline, layers, or complexity. Just an intuitive drag-and-drop experience to tell your stories.

One of the cheaper options around ($49.99), Nero Video holds its own on this list—it comes well-stocked with a lot of the tricks and effects you’ll find among other products vying for video editing supremacy, and as far as software for beginners, you can certainly do worse. If you’re going to spend money learning how to edit videos, however, you might want to steer clear. Nero just doesn’t have the speed and functionality of some of the other products listed here, and if its value proposition is its price, $50 is still not all that cheap.

Corel VideoStudio has all the characteristics of the other top-of-the-line products on this list, including 360-degree VR and 4k support, but it also has the distinction of being the first piece of consumer video editing software to offer motion tracking—which, if you’re not already familiar, is a feature that allows you to track specific objects throughout your cut (if you wanted, say, to point an arrow at one of your characters, blur out his face, or bestow him with a funny hat). Most of the products on this list come equipped with motion tracking, but VideoStudio still boasts one of the best motion tracking systems around.

When it comes to video editing software, Filmora is about as multi-faceted as they come. Filmora is Wondershare’s standard, simple, high-quality video editing offering; but Wondershare also offers FilmoraGo (for mobile editing) and Filmora Scrn (for screen recording and editing). The design is intuitive and easy to use, and comes replete with filters, overlays, motion elements, transitions, and a small selection of royalty-free music.

4k and gif support are boilerplate features for most video editing products today, but one thing Filmora does particularly well is titles. Title tools are trending in video software, and while Filmora’s doesn’t have the functionality of say, an Apple Final Cut Pro X, which can superimpose 3D titles over your videos and rotate them on three axes, it nonetheless has some snazzy titling features for the money you’re spending.

We included CyberLink PowerDirector on this list because its interface is, at the end of the day, pretty straightforward. Head to the product page, run through the tutorials, and you’ll be alright. There is within the interface, however, an embarrassment of options and effects. If you’re not willing to invest the time in learning all of them, it can get a bit overwhelming.

In terms of rendering, PowerDirector is regarded as one of the fastest video editing systems around. It also operates consistently in the sphere of the innovative and cutting edge. PowerDirector led the charge in the switch to 4k, and today, it’s one of the first systems to support 360-degree virtual reality footage.

Blender video editing is a free, open-source 3D creation suite. It includes features to help model and render 3D animations. The software is a collaborative creation of hundreds of developers from around the world. The huge community of users gives Blender’s software an extensive group of tools.

Blender is designed as a 3D animation suite but comes with a functional video editor that should be enough for most users’ needs. It can also tackle more complex edits, like video masking, making Blender a flexible video editor for both novice and experienced users and an excellent option for more advanced projects that may involve 3D animation.

Features include:

• Path-tracer engine for realistic rendering of animated objects
• Advanced rendering processes to speed up the saving and exporting of your project
• Option to code game logic into the software for video game development
• Advanced character animation tools for realistic kinematics
• Extensive library of visual effects and vignettes

You never have to download software or worry about losing your progress. It’s completely browser-based and the editor holds up well even after being stocked with transitions, stickers, frames, and other tricks and features.

The editor is equally suited to both beginners and advanced users, as beginners can get a headstart by using any of the 4000+ templates on the platform, and advanced users can start from scratch. The 8Mn+ iStock catalogue also helps to spice up your creations.

Uniquely, InVideo has no watermark on its videos, even if you’re on the Free plan. If you’re starting out and not looking to spend a ton of money on software, InVideo is a great bet!

we’re here to say that at that price, you’re mostly paying for the name. In the time since Premiere Elements’ inception, too many other products have surpassed it in speed and capability for us to place it among the cream of the crop. That’s to take nothing away from Premiere Elements’ usability, though—specifically for beginners.

The Guided Edits feature makes Adobe Premiere a particularly attractive option for beginners, as it allows them to take on both quick edits and advanced projects with substantial assistance from the software.

With a virtually unmatched suite of features, 360 VR and 4k support, and a newly implemented ability to store, organize, and share assets online with a team, Adobe Premiere Pro is perhaps the most complete piece of video editing software around. Here’s a recent video promo for our free AdWords account structure guide we cut using Premiere Pro.

One of the more dazzling of Premiere Pro’s tools is the Lumetri Color tool, which offers color adjustment and manipulation on par with that of a Photoshop. The multi-cam feature is also a winner—whereas most systems allow you to work with a limited number of camera angles, Premiere Pro’s latest iteration allows for an unlimited amount.

Throw in a wealth of titling options, readily connected ancillary apps (like Photoshop and After Effects), and a flexible, easy-to-use interface, and Premiere Pro is a no brainer.

Beautiful slideshows, moving stories, presentations, ads and invites are simple to produce with Adobe Spark Video, a web-based, free online video editor and storyteller. You’re minutes away from realising the video of your dreams. Get everything you need to produce quick and compelling videos.

The creative’s first choice for designing visuals, After Effects excels at producing stunning graphics and eye-catching effects. The next step in visual production, After Effects is the most powerful app for animated graphics, compositing and effects design.

Adobe Premiere Rush is the free mobile and desktop video editing app for creativity on the go. Wherever you are, from your phone to your computer, you can shoot, edit, and share high-quality videos. Fun, intuitive, and as fast as social media, it’s the easiest way to star in your followers’ feeds.

for those among you who enjoy a challenge, and who aspire to some level of professionalism in video editing, why not go for it? Apple has made the transition from iMovie to Final Cut Pro more painless than ever—so if you’re the kind of guy or gal who enjoys him/herself an Apple product, and has worked with iMovie to the point of mastery, it might be time to splurge on Final Cut Pro. The power is still daunting; the interface, significantly less so.

Movie Maker 10 is a convenient video editing software for Windows for people looking to go back to basics. It’s great for making quick edits to short video clips you need ready right away.

Movie Maker 10 comes with a free version that includes its suite of video and picture editing tools as well as the ability to add captions with customisable fonts and colours.

Features include:

• Auto-preview tool for edits and effects
• Auto-movie options for creating customisable cuts of your video clips
• Animation tab to easily add music, titles, and credits