If video isn’t already an important part of your content marketing strategy, odds are it’s about to be. Web content is taking a turn toward video whether SEOs and content marketers like it or not. Nearly 50% of marketers are adding YouTube and Facebook channels for video distribution in the next year; one third of online activity is spent watching video; and video itself is projected to account for more than 80% of all internet traffic by 2019. 80%!
The best free video editing software can be surprisingly good. The choices vary widely and include include scaled-down, trial versions of professional suites, open-source alternatives with a. Mar 26, 2019 - We've selected the 11 best youtube video editing software including free and paid that can help you produce visual content that meets.
For those looking to continue to grow their organic traffic, that means one thing:
Not an expert? Don’t know how to edit videos, have a video studio, or have a bona fide video specialist to shoot and cut your features? That’s alright! The goal of today’s blog is to show you that with the right video editing software, you too can churn out sleek, professional video content—regardless of experience—and keep your content strategy ahead of the curve.
Let’s dive in! Here are our recs for the top 10 best pieces of video editing software or video editing apps for beginners—from cheapest (i.e. free!) to most expensive.
1. Apple iMovie
Ok—so to those of you working with PCs, this one won’t really apply; but we’d remiss to leave it off the list. If you’re looking for simplicity and elegance, it doesn’t get much better than Apple iMovie. iMovie’s ten high-fidelity filters are some of the classiest in the video editing game; and if you’re shooting on your iPhone, or have been editing a project on your iPad, you can use AirDrop to wirelessly and seamlessly transfer your project over to your Mac.
One of iMovie’s most coveted features is its green-screen, or “chroma-key” tool, which allows you to place your characters in exotic locations—Hawaii, say—at a moment’s notice. Want to overlay the scene with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”? iMovie ties directly in with iTunes and GarageBand, so you can easily implement custom tracks and sounds. When your movie’s finally ready to ship, release it into the wild using iMessage, Facebook, YouTube, or any other of iMovie’s succinctly connected platforms.
Standout Features: Seamless Apple product integration; green-screen; audio and social platform integration
Pricing: Free with the purchase of a Mac
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2. Lumen5: How to Edit Videos Without Much Technical Ability
We’ll put this more in the category of a video editing “tool” than video editing software, but for social media marketers who want to create fun, flashy social promos in the blink of an eye, Lumen5 is a no brainer. Here’s a short little feature we made for a recent blog post, 14 Fun & Festive Holiday Marketing Ideas for 2017:
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.
Standout Features: Blog-to-social-promo creation; drag-and-drop interface
Pricing: Create as many 480p videos as you want with the free version; or, for $50 per month, upgrade to 1080p HD.
3. Nero Video
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 it’s value proposition is its price, $50 is still not all that cheap.
Standout Features: Low pricing
Pricing: One-time payment of $49.99
4. Corel VideoStudio
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.
One of the knocks on VideoStudio is its speed, which lags notably behind some of the faster systems on this list, like CyberLink PowerDirector and Pinnacle Studio. Still: for a one-time payment of $51.99? You can do much worse.
Standout Features: Motion tracking
Pricing: One-time payment of $51.99
5. Filmora from Wondershare
When it comes to free 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. Here are a few more of the “basics” Filmora offers:
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.
Another Filmora feature beginners to video editing will find attractive is “Easy Mode,” which allows you to create fun, polished edits by merely dragging and dropping clips, choosing a theme, and selecting music.
Standout features: Title tool; mobile and screen editing; “Easy Mode”
Pricing: Starts at $59.99 for a lifetime license; or, $39.99 for a year.
6. CyberLink PowerDirector
So—we stretched the meaning of “software” a bit earlier; now, we’re going to stretch the meaning of “beginner.” 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.
Don’t be scared of CyberLink’s extra features; just be wary of your commitment level!
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.
Price: you get what you pay for! $79.99 gets you unlimited access to one of the most capable pieces of video editing software around.
Standout Features: Lightning-fast rendering; comprehensive suite of effects
Pricing: One-time payment of $79.99
7. Adobe Premiere Elements
We include Premiere Elements on the list mostly because it’s been an industry leader in the video editing game for some time. And $79.99 is not egregious, but 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.
If you’re not entirely sure what you’re doing, don’t sleep on Guided Edits!
So while Premiere Elements lags behind the competition in terms of speed, 3D editing, multi-cam, and some other advanced features, it’s still a great choice for the beginner looking for a comprehensive suite of effects, and some guidance on how to implement them.
Standout Features: Guided Edits; simple interface
Pricing: One-time payment of $79.99
8. Pinnacle Studio
At the higher end of the Corel product line is Pinnacle Studio—which, at $129.95 (the amount you’ll need to pay to edit 360-degree and 4k content with the “Ultimate” version), costs more than twice as much as VideoStudio. What do you get for the extra money? Well, not only does Pinnacle come readily equipped with all the features you’d expect from an upper-echelon product—motion tracking, 360-degree VR support, 4k support, multi-cam, etc.—but you’d be hard-pressed to find a faster product on the market in terms of rendering.
For all of its features, Pinnacle’s interface is still as user-friendly and intuitive as anything on this list. Thus, is you have the need for speed, and you don’t mind shelling out a few extra bucks for it, Pinnacle might be the product for you.
Standout Features: Top-of-the-line rendering speeds; full range of features and support
Pricing: One-time payment of $129.95
9. Adobe Premiere Pro
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.
Standout Features: Multi-cam and coloring options; title tool; easy integration with Adobe Products; straightforward interface
Pricing: $19.99/month
10. Apple Final Cut Pro X
For the most advanced, least fiscally prudent of beginners, there’s Apple Final Cut Pro X. $299.99 might be a little steep for a product you may well have a difficult time understanding; but 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.
Standout Features: Magnetic Timeline; Touch Bar support
Pricing: One-time payment of $299.99
Some Final Thoughts
Are you a content or social media marketer looking to get in the video editing game for the sake of keeping up with the growing video trend? Don’t stress! Any of the above software apps would make a fine choice for a beginner.
Think about your budget, your current level of expertise, and how much time you’re willing to devote to learning a new skill. Whether you're looking for the best video editing software for YouTube, or the responsibility has simply fallen on you to get your team’s video marketing strategy up to snuff—don’t wait around deliberating! Get invested in one of these video editing products, and make it yours.
If you've been around for the past year and a half, you probably remember YouTube video editor and its power of simplicity. Beginning video bloggers loved it. Nothing could beat the convenience of editing YouTube videos right there... on YouTube. Avoiding the hassle of switching between your browser and the desktop, downloading, converting, processing, saving, and uploading videos again felt great. Yet, starting September 2017 YouTube Video Editor has been gone. So let's take another moment of appreciation and move on to the solutions you can use to edit your clips instead. After all, you were looking for one, weren't you?
In this article, you'll find three pieces of software to help you handle the process of post-production and take your channel game to the next level.
Now, you're probably wondering why there are three products. Truth be told, even professional YouTubers barely stick to one product, so why should you? Some apps are just unparalleled at one particular feature, so you may want to use a couple of them to achieve better results.
VSDC - Free and Powerful Alternative to YouTube Video Editor for Windows (Download)
VSDC interface is slightly more tricky than the original YouTube video editor was. Yet, it offers a much wider feature-set, hence recognized by the community of technology enthusiasts.
Used by: a Drone Expert YouTuber Quadcopter 101.
![Editing Editing](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nKRRdOR5vDQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Recommended by: GoPro official community, gamer YouTubers, Techradar blog.
Received honorable mentions from a video editing expert Justin Brown at Primal video, VidProMom, and Steven Van.
What makes VSDC a great video editor for YouTube creators
First, it's non-linear. That means you'll be able to easily apply popular effects like picture-in-picture, news-style, split screen, gradual zoom, video-in-text, and many others. There is a decent text editor, so you'll be able to add contour titles and comments to a scene when needed.
Second, it's absolutely free. There is a Pro version you might want to consider to speed up video exporting (it's a $19 annual subscription). It activates hardware acceleration using more additional PC resources, therefore the program might double the rendering rate. Other than that, VSDC free version should be more than sufficient for you.
Third, you can upload videos to YouTube directly from the video editor interface, once you finish the process of montage. And it's a great time-saver, given that otherwise, you would have to export and save the file to your PC first and then publish it online.
If you're into creating reaction videos or tutorials, VSDC might also be a convenient choice for you because of the built-in screen capture and video recorder. You won't have to employ 3-rd party software to fulfill these tasks anymore. Finally, there is a mighty Chroma Key tool available, so if you're shooting with a green screen, you'll be able to easily remove it from the footage using VSDC Video Editor as well.
On top of that, there are over 200 video tutorials about working with this software uploaded to the official company channel on YouTube. So, if you're ready to invest a bit of time into getting familiar with the interface and some basic combinations, using VSDC as a primary video editor for YouTube clips will be a no-brainer.
For example, look how it takes less than a minute to create a beautiful video in text effect that will be an ideal intro for just about any channel. No video editing experience or special knowledge required.
Enhancements feature - consider using what's left after YouTube Video Editor
Although YouTube Video Editor is no longer available, you can still perform a decent number of basic but essential operations in the Creator Studio. Perhaps, it's not the ultimate solution for those having complicated project ideas in mind, but the Enhancements feature does a great job when you quickly need to polish a video, cut out a fragment or add an audio track to the video record.
In fact, among the list of not-so-uncommon filters, color correction tools, and speed settings, YouTube has few tools you won't find in other free video editors. They are: shaky camera motions stabilizer - great for videos recorded on the go without professional equipment, face blurring, and custom blurring - typically performed by means of masking tools in other video editing software. The latter is often used for confidentiality purposes rather than creative goals. You may consider blurring faces, numbers, names, brands, dates, GPS coordinates, car plates - what have you.
If needed, you can download your previously uploaded videos from YouTube in a 720p resolution and even retrieve the original files using Google Takeout.
While this is certainly not an ideal tool for an aspiring video vlogger, it's beneficial for you to know that there is no need to pay for 3rd-party editors if all you want is to fix a shaky footage or to blur a face of someone who wasn't supposed to be caught on camera.
Davinci Resolve - professional color grading video editor for YouTube
This desktop tool is a powerhouse of color correction, and we won't even try to compare it to what YouTube Video Editor used to be, because Resolve represents an entirely different level of post-production.
Recommended by: indie filmmakers, color grading enthusiasts.
Davinci Resolve might be a good choice for those having a more serious approach to video editing - say, this is something you're planning to do for a living, and it's a professional solution you're looking for, not just a cutter and a splicer. Think of it as of Photoshop for videos rather than an average editor. You'll be able to achieve some breathtaking results, but you should have some understanding of color grades and be passionate about it enough to invest time and effort into this software.
Certainly, there will be a steep learning curve even for those with experience because the program interface appears somewhat overwhelming. Luckily, there are dozens of tutorials and even online courses available for those willing to master Davinci Resolve. Before jumping to installation, you should also understand that if you choose such a powerful tool as Resolve, your machine needs to comply with its requirements. The absolute bare minimum is 8GB of system RAM, at least 4GB of graphics RAM and enough storage space. Note, that the installation file alone weighs 780MB.
You can download the free version of Davinci Resolve from the official website of Blackmagic Design - the developer company.
What makes Davinci Resolve a good YouTube video editor
Although we started complimenting Davinci Resolve for its color grading tools, it actually has the set of basic features as well. Thus, you'll be able to cut, split, trim, and merge video files, work with audio, use Chroma Key (remove green screen from your footage), add titles, create transitions, apply speed effects, composite a split screen effect, and much much more.
When it comes to trimming, Resolve is incomparably convenient because of the real-time timeline zooming feature (for a more precise cut) and a number of hotkey combinations you can use when applying repetitive actions. At the export level, just like VSDC, Davinci Resolve allows you to avoid extra steps and upload your project directly to YouTube (or Vimeo) in 1080p.
On top of that, Resolve is a crossplatform solution, which means it works on Windows, Mac, and Linux as well.
iMovie - probably the most overlooked free video editor for YouTube (Mac)
If you think you must use a fancy expensive piece of video editing software to stand out on YouTube, you're wrong. What really matters is your content quality, determination, and creativity, of course. So, if you're on Mac, your first best choice should be iMovie. In fact, according to the Influencer Equipment database, even after becoming well-known, some YouTubers still use this absolutely free default video editor by Apple. Tana Mongeau, Zane Hijazi, Trisha Paytas, and Brawadis are some of the most famous iMovie advocates.
Recommended by: vloggers
What makes iMovie a great choice
First, it's pre-installed on every new Mac, and even those having old Apple computers can install iMovie for free from the App Store (it used to be impossible previously). Second, it has a minimalistic intuitive interface and most operations are performed via a simple drag-n-drop motion. Third, known for meticulous attention to details and the visual components, Apple video editing software developers have embedded a library of themes and title templates. It comes in especially handy if you're working on a series of videos and willing to apply the same style to every episode.
And because Apple products create such a unified ecosystem, you can benefit from it in many ways too. For example, you can add pre-uploaded royalty-free audio tracks to your movie as well as quickly import songs from your iTunes and anything you have in your iCloud.
Finally, iMovie allows you to remove green and blue screens from your footage easily by the same old drag-n-drop movement where you just overlay the green/blue screen video on the video or image that is supposed to replace the background. Overall, there are more than 200 different effects available in this editor including the popular picture-in-picture, slow motion, fast-forward, fade transitions, zoom, freeze frames, and many others.
Afterword. Why you should consider free video editors for YouTube instead of paid solutions
You may be wondering what most YouTubers use. Truth be told, among the established creators working on their channels full-time, the most frequently mentioned video editing software is Adobe Premiere (cross-platform program, starts at $19.99/mo - if annual subscription purchased). Then comes Final Cut Pro (Mac only, $299) and Sony Vegas (Windows only, starts at $400).
Yet, is there any correlation between video editing software and their achievements? We seriously doubt that. Moreover, if you're following some popular channels, you probably know that quite a few started their blogging career as a hobby using the most primitive free video editors. In fact, it appears that many still use freeware for their channels, and that's noteworthy.
There's no need to break your piggy bank to purchase a video editor for your brand new YouTube channel. Experienced creators often say that it's always wise to focus your effort on the production versus thinking that post-production can turn a poor quality footage into a masterpiece. So if you're willing to invest, consider upgrading your hardware instead. A decent source of light and a microphone are already half a battle, as you probably won't have to sweat the color balance and the audio settings afterward.
What makes a good YouTube video editor anyway?
Great question. It really comes down to your skills and needs. For instance, if you're planning to publish game walkthroughs, obviously, you might need a built-in screen recorder. If reaction videos are your thing, look for an embedded video capture tool. If you are a person typically making a dozen of shots before merging them into one episode, you should certainly make sure the trimming tool is intuitive. Finally, download a free green screen sample stock video and quickly test the Chroma Key tool if this is what you're planning to use in the future.
Here is a checklist you may refer to when choosing a video editor for a YouTube channel:
- It should be a non-linear tool.
- It should comply with your PC or Mac resources and run stably. Check software system requirements before installing it to avoid unexpected crashes.
- It should allow you to export videos in 1080p (720p will do most of the times too, though, but 1080p is definitely a better option), ideally using H.265 codec because it will keep the highest quality with a minimum file size.
Let's recap the above said. While there are dozens of free video editors on the Internet, many of them won't make a good choice if you're looking for a YouTube video editor. Some are too primitive and lack crucial features - such as direct YouTube uploader, high resolution export, green screen, and text objects. Others put restrictions on the exported projects, such as a limited choice of format or a watermark. We believe, the editors reviewed in this article are great examples of a rich feature-set available at zero cost with no restrictions whatsoever. Hopefully, the list has been of use. If it hasn't, however, here are few more tools you may check out: ShotCut, Openshot, Videopad, and Hitfilm Express.
For those interested, here is a detailed review of free Windows 10 video editors.
Don't forget to share this article if you've found it helpful, and best of luck.