Film Editing Software For Mac
Advertisement Apple computers have long been aimed at the creative professional, with emphasis on photo and video editing. The only problem is that industry-leading packages like, and Apple’s own series aren’t cheap.
Since iMovie is no longer free, decent Mac video editors are hard to come. Nothing is quite going to match the premium might of Adobe and Apple’s in-house software, but there are a few free video editing applications to sink your teeth into. The Studio version of Da Vinci Resolve costs nearly $1,000 — but the basic version is completely free. Better still it includes the same high quality image processing abilities as the pricier version, a powerful video editor, some of the best color correction capabilities on the planet and even works with external hardware panels for faster editing. There are limitations of course, the main one is that Resolve can only output in SD, HD and Ultra HD (only!) which is likely going to be more than enough for most users.
There are limitations on some of the more advanced grading and tracking tools too of course, but these limitations are mainly in place to convince professional users that they need to upgrade. There may be quite a learning curve, but Da Vinci Resolve is one of the most powerful video editing suites on the planet and you get a hell of a lot for free. Verdict: Powerful, feature-rich, with limitations that are mostly aimed at professional commercial users. Definitely worth a shot for free. Built with the aim of providing a stable, free, and accessible video editor, OpenShot is a cross-platform open source video editor that’s been around since 2008. The project last received an update in August of 2016, with version 2.1 being released to the public.
The has grown over the years to include great support for a variety of formats, keyframes for animation, unlimited video and audio tracks, transition and compositing support, titles, and a heap of extra features you’d expect from a modern video editor. Past criticisms have cited OpenShot’s reliability, but it’s still worth a shot for free. Verdict: A great cross-platform open source option, with an impressive list of features. The interface feels a bit old-hat, which may put some users off. Another free, open source, cross-platform video editor; Shotcut is still very much under active development.
The features are just as impressive as OpenShot, but Shotcut also features a great-looking interface that more closely resembles a pro-tier application than a free open source effort. In addition to supporting a wide range of video files and formats (including 4K video), Shotcut also includes great support for working with audio, an impressive list of video effects including compositing and transitions, and a flexible UI from which to work. Verdict: Shotcut is definitely worth a look if you want a free and feature-rich video editor but can’t afford to drop hundreds on a premium package. Blender is a free 3D modelling and compositing application that’s been used in some Just like its previous short films online, the Blender Foundation used only open-source or free software to produce movies of at least 10 minutes. What many don’t realise is that it’s also a capable non-linear video editor, provided you’re willing to take the time to learn. We’ve Completely free, and a tool that has dozens of applications allowing you to try your hand at the challenging world of computer-generated artwork. Did I mention it's free?
At MakeUseOf, though with a focus on the 3D modelling aspect with only a brief mention of Blender’s potential as a. It might not be pretty, it’s not exactly easy, and it won’t match the top-tier packages — but it’s not bad at all for free. Verdict: Not purpose built, but powerful if you have the time to learn. Lightworks is one of the most powerful apps on this list, and I’d happily recommend it above all other packages if it wasn’t so restrictive for the free user.
The free version includes video effects, multicam editing, titling, as well as the usual multi layered timeline approach you’d expect from a comprehensive editor. Unfortunately rendering (exporting your project) is limited to 1080p output on Vimeo, and 720p output to YouTube. You can also render to Lightworks Archives, but there’s no proper H.264, MP4, or even DVD export options.
So while the toolkit is vast, Lightworks isn’t a very appealing free editor unless you’d like to thoroughly try it out for free and upgrade at a later time. Verdict: A powerful editor with plenty of features, but rendering is restricted to 1080p on Vimeo and 720p on YouTube until you rent for $24.99 per month or buy outright at over $400.
Better known for its compatibility with Linux (of which it’s one of the better video editors), Kdenlive is a free and cross-platform video editor that will probably mean more to your average Linux user than Windows or Mac types. If you're searching for a decent, all-in-one solution for editing video on. can be compiled to run on macOS from source, with packages available via. While developed has moved full-steam-ahead on Linux, the Mac packages available are currently over a year out of date. Kdenlive has developed quite a bit over the years, and now looks more like a professional editing suite than the it used to.
The latest version features multi-track video editing, support for a large number of video formats, effects and transitions, the ability to add titles, support for keyframes and a customizable interface. While there are a lack of features found in the big commercial suites, Kdenlive is a straightforward and functional non-linear editor with plenty of friendly folks to help you out if you get stuck. Verdict: Great range of features for free, but Mac packages are outdated so some features won’t be available. (CineFX) Jahshaka, previously known as CineFX, combines video editing, 2D and 3D animation, compositing, color correction, and video effects into across-platform over Mac, Linux and Windows package. It is probably best compared to in terms of what it delivers, but for free it might be worth a punt. The doesn’t seem that active, but it’s still nice to see a truly open source cross-platform stab at a market dominated by Adobe. Developers have recently set their sights on the VR market with the launch of a new toolkit called. Many of the tutorials on the website date back to 2013, so you might want to spend some time experimenting on your own to get the most out of the latest version.
Verdict: More of a video processor than an editor, Jahshaka focuses on effects rather than providing a non-linear workspace. It’s also a bit outdated, but appears to be under active development. Another oft-listed Linux variant is Avidemux, and though it’s basic in nature it works well for simple editing tasks and supports a wide variety of input and output formats. The project undergoes several updates a year, with development continuing at a steady pace. Parity is maintained between all three major versions, so you won’t miss out on any features if you opt for the Mac package. The last time I used Avidemux for any kind of project it was capable, fiddly, and crashed on a semi regular basis. Six years have passed since then, and things are considerably better, though it’s still lacking in features you might expect from a modern video editor. Verdict: A capable freebie, but lacking in polish and features. One to watch: Still in the early stages of development, VideoLan Movie Creator (VLMC) is a non-linear editor based on the daddy of all media players, VLC. The project still isn’t available for general release, it’s not even reached beta stage at the moment.
You can compile VLMC from source yourself if you really want to, but there are no binaries available at present to simply download and try out. If you’re scratching your head at the mention of VLC then you might want to familiarise yourself with the. Verdict: A promising-looking open source free application that’s not quite ready yet. The Rest There were a few video editors that caught our eye but either don’t qualify as free, or don’t seem to be actively under development any more. You might want to check them out though:.
— free to try, simple to use, cheap enough at $70 for a lifetime license. — free to use, unclear as to whether it’s still under development. Emphasises “chaos over order” and compositing. — Apple’s own entry-level video editor, used to be free but now costs $22.99. Mixed reviews but simple enough to use. Conclusion Judging by the available software, the reputation that Apple’s desktop and laptop computers have earned as all-in-one video editing stations has a lot to do with the commercial software available. With all the money, time and development resources the respective companies have to throw at their video products, it’s no wonder.
Da Vinci Resolve is surprisingly feature rich, Blender is open source and powerful but complex, and the rest provide some free and open source alternatives that will never quite match the might of Adobe and other creative powerhouses. Which video editor do you recommend for Mac? Image credit: Explore more about:,.
The need for an easy video editing software solution has become steadily more relevant in recent years as the major video editing software companies have battled each other in a game of one-upmanship. The end result has been that the average consumer level video editing software has become incredibly feature rich but in the process, has become quite complicated as well. You can’t keep adding features without having to add access to those features through the user interface and this inevitably results in complexity. They all carry the claim of being “easy video editing software” or “simple video editors” when being described by their respective marketing departments but the truth is, they have become progressively more difficult to use. I have been asked on a number of forums and through this site to recommend some truly simple video editing programs or an easy video editor that anyone can use.
Something that has all the basic features that a user would need without the shiny “bells and whistles” and complicated interface that comes with it. I have listed what I think to be the best of this class below but keep in mind that just because they are classified as simple video editing software programs they are not crippled in any way. They offer all of the basic features you will need to create your own videos with ease.
If you are just a beginner or really don’t see yourself spending hours alone in a darkened room editing your footage, or you just want to get your video masterpieces out as soon as possible with a minimum of fuss then you would be well served by the ones listed below. They all cover the basic actions of cutting, slicing and dicing with transitions, audio control and a wide range of output formats.My standard disclaimer applies: Please, use the trials first to see how you like it and how it likes you and your computer setup before committing to a long term relationship! Wondershare Filmora Wondershare Filmora is a recent re-branding of the company’s simple video editing software which comes in versions for both PC and Mac. Previously it was just called Wondershare Video Editor and although not really an inspired naming you have to admire the efficiency of it!
In terms of ease of use and simplicity without sacrificing functionality I think you would be hard pressed to go past this one. The guys at Wondershare have been bugging me to take a look at it for a while now and unfortunately I have always put it in the “to do later” file and never got around to it until recently. To put it bluntly, this little editor is awesome! It’s so well easy! It downloads and installs very quickly and I was up and running within minutes.
The interface is a “non-techie” dream come true with no hidden menus or menu items that you have to know in order to access them, it literally is “what you see is what you get.” Everything is available through an icon that sits in the little menu bar smack dab in the middle of your screen. Take a look at this intro video they created using the software itself to get an idea of what you can do with it and how easy it is.
Film Editing Software For Mac
The key to how they made it so good is in the time Wondershare put into the backend of the software rather than the interface. “Intuitive” is a word that is often bandied about in the software world but what it really means is that within Filmora they have thought about every details of what the average person will be doing with the software and have anticipated those needs. It doesn’t mean they don’t let you do things, it means they have designed the software so that you don’t have to keep answering endless technical questions about, “Do you want to do this?” or “Do you want to do that?” If you want to add files to your library Filmora just asks whether it’s from your computer or another device not which device, not which version of the device, not what kind of file.
It’s just “give us a little clue and we’ll handle the rest!” The same goes for every step of the editing process and even then the software has a wizard based semi-automatic interface that you can use to make it even more simple. On the Wondershare website there are 5 videos you can watch and really, if you just watch those you will have already seen just about everything you need to see to get up and running. Filmora handles all the basic editing functions as far as cutting, chopping, slicing and dicing goes. There is a range of filters for color correction and effects as well as simple yet effective audio controls. It can deliver picture-in picture effects and even some still and motion graphics and on top of that can do green screen and capture still images from any frame in your video.
As far as sharing goes it comes with perfectly configured pre-set parameters for output to a wide range of mobile devices, online services like YouTube and FaceBook as well as burning DVDs. All in all Wondershare Filmora is my new best friend when it comes to an easy video editing software program anyone can use. You can read my complete here or click the link below to check it out on their site. Muvee Reveal Finale If you are looking for easy video editing software in the strictest sense of the word “easy,” then it doesn’t get much better than totally automatic!
And that is just what this one does. Hard to believe I know but the fact is that muvee can achieve some pretty remarkable results given that the process is almost completely automated.
By using some very specialized scanning technology it can quite accurately identify various components of your videos and stills and at the same time analyze the speed of your chosen music. In the end it slaps the whole thing together based on its calculations and voila! Well ok, maybe not Hollywood magic but pretty darn good! Although it may sound a little too good to be true there is a very large community of Muvee users who absolutely swear by the product. Outside of the automated features it still offers a good set of manual editing tools that you can use to make final adjustments. Muvee Reveal Express Reveal Express is about as easy as video editing software is going to get while you still actually do it yourself! This is the chopped down version of muvee Reveal specifically designed for those who want to automatically create their videos and only upload to the internet or to mobile devices.
It comes with a bunch of preset styles that you can use to make the video or control the transitions, music, audio and panning and zooming on still images yourself. Alternatively you can just load everything up in order and let muvee Reveal Express do it automatically. The results of doing it like that may surprise you and before you finish you can step in to make final adjustments.
It can handle WMV,.mov, MPEG4, H.264 and regular DV-AVI files which should cover most of the modern methods of capturing video. It outputs to formats for all the current mobile devices and can directly upload to YouTube and Facebook. Click Here To See Reveal Express CyberLink PowerDirector 16 PowerDirector is my top choice at the moment for a fully fledged consumer level editing program and you can read the.
From an “easy editor” viewpoint the CyberLink product contains within it a wizard based simple mode which the user can choose to enter either each time the software opens or as the default opening module. Most of what I would describe as the “full” editors around today have a similar feature but for some, the implementation works more as an ill-conceived afterthought rather than as a genuine choice for the user. Of the available choices I would easily rate the CyberLink offering as superior to the rest and part of the reason for this may be that the simple mode was developed as a stand alone concept instead of a hack of an existing program.
Of course any time you want to get out of that simple mode you can instantly switch over to the full editor. This one is worth taking a look at if you suspect you may at some point get bitten by the editing bug and may want to take your productions up a notch.
Some Other Good Alternatives and some not so Some readers may be surprised that I have not included a number of well known products on this page. Here are a few and my reasons for not including them: Roxio Creator, Nero Multimedia Suite, and Cyberlink Media Suite. All of these are multimedia packages rather than just easy to use video editing software. They are all good products and if you have a use for ALL the features offered by these full program suites then yes, they are great and have good, easy to use video editing capabilities. They all offer an image organization feature plus reasonably good image manipulation capabilities, audio editing, video editing and disc creation along with some kind of file distribution feature such as uploading to YouTube etc. My only reservation with all of them is that most likely a dedicated video editor will have these features anyway while offering the full editing experience.
My pick of the bunch would be the Cyberlink offering because of a superior editing feature set, image manipulation and audio control. Anything Else? There are literally hundreds of video editing software programs out there and many that claim ease of use as their selling point. You can spend the next year checking them out and still be no closer to a decision. What I do know is that the software on this page is reliable, fits the criteria of easy or simple and will work very well for the majority of people. Some Final Thoughts What do most Youtubers Use to Edit their Videos? A number of people have been asking me this question for a while now so I thought I would add it as a footnote to this page.
If you try to search online or especially on YouTube the most common answers to this question all refer to the absolute high end, professional video editing programs. So, first of all let me be clear here, that concept is absolute rubbish!
Answers like that are either ego driven nonsense or an effort to get you to spend way more money than you actually need to. Look at it this way. All videos on YouTube roughly break down into about 7 different types. They are:. Informational or educational videos including “How to’s,” demonstrations, explainer videos, tutorials and Q&A sessions on various subjects. Vlogging which covers unboxing videos (sometimes overlapping into reviews) as well as lifestyle and opinion based video. Musical performance videos of both established artists, new artists and newbies doing their own thing.
Original Content covering memes, comedy and skit videos as well as the occasional serious subject such as opinion pieces and amateur “news” type videos. Product or service reviews. I think that just about covers it and if you can think of anything else you will probably find it can fit into one of those categories. The ONLY type of video listed above that would require any sort of advanced video editing software would be professional music videos. The reason for that is that those videos are most likely shot in a broadcast quality format and were not specifically created for YouTube.
Every other type of video above can be created perfectly well in an entry level video editor like Filmora as listed at the top of this page. My biggest problem with Filmora is the very small audio wave form on the timeline. If you’re trying to edit tightly to the audio, it’s challenging to the point of unbelievably frustrating. I’ve suggested they improve that, but apparently it’s not a big concern to many people other than me. 🙂 Also just downloaded Pinnacle and Corel Video Studio to try – wow, whopping file sizes, both of those are over 1GB. I think I’ve used all of these over the years, never terribly satisfied with any of them.
Guess I will upgrade CyberLink Power Director. It’s the closest to the way I like to work. Hi Vicki, Yes you are absolutely right! Unfortunately most of the current consumer level video editing packages are rather weak as far as audio goes. This applies to both the features and control on offer as well as just the simple convenience of being able to SEE IT! For most people what they provide seems to be enough although as you have probably seen by your testing Pinnacle and VideoStudio are slightly better. This year CyberLink released PowerDirector 17 and with the new audio module built-in, they have completely leapt to the front of the pack.
Here is my problem. I use a camcorder to record my pastors sermons. The audio of his voice is muddled and hard to understand, So I’ve been recording his voice on a digital audio recorder hooked to our sound board.
This audio is very understandable. I’ve been using Microsoft Movie Maker, but lost it when my computer died. I cannot download it anymore and it was not that good at syncing the separate audio track to the video track. I need a simple editor that can add in a new audio voice track and sync it to the video. Hi Corey, At the moment Filmora and CyberLink are recommending the following as minimums: Intel Core™ i-series or AMD Phenom® II processors or above. Personally I would recommend an i5 as the absolute minimum especailly if you are dealing with HD footage.
Graphics Processor (GPU) Standard Video: 128 MB VGA VRAM or higher RAM Both state a minimum of 2 or 3 gig of RAM which is just delusional! First up get a 64bit operating system as a non-negotiable then get as much RAM as you can afford.
8gig as a minimum. I have read your reviews and am leaning to the Power Director 16 or the Muvee Reveal Finale. I will try both but I have 70 years of movies that have been converted from Legacy Box and now sit on my computer. My biggest issues has been finding a way just to shorten what may be 6 hours of Christmas day with the kids down to a 15 minute video that is fun to watch. Also, all of the old movies from my parents and hopefully enhancing the video quality. I am 63 years old and just starting out on this journey with little tech knowledge.
I am looking for the easiest program that I can sit down for 20 minutes and not have to re-learn what to do. Am I looking in the right direction? Hi Pat, OK, so I have taken a look at the Legacy Box service so my question is what format did you choose for those movies to be converted to? Secondly as far as “enhancing the video quality” goes you pretty much already have the video quality you are going to get from the conversion process so your job at this point is to maintain quality. Finally, I think your choices are a little off for what you want to do. Muvee Reveal Finale is kind of designed for a straight upload from a camera and an semi-automatic construction of what you have into what you can watch. The sheer amount of footage you have would make that process rather inefficient.
On the other hand PowerDirector whilst being able to do what you want is going a little over the top there! My choice would be Filmora because it has the tools you will need but n the other hand is quite easy to learn. It also has the added advantage of a dedicated Video Cutter so that instead of loading clips endlessly into the main editor to edit out the bit you don’t need it allows you to just load each clip, cut it and output to a new one that you can use for editing. Finally, given the amount of material you are dealing with the key to ALL of this is going to be that you get yourself organized seriously! Thanks Lance. I was going in the wrong direction completely. Legacy Box put everything on a flash drive that I then downloaded to my PC.
They also sent it in DVD form. Getting organized is the challenge but once I get the hang of an editing program that should become easier.
Back when my kids were applying for college and we were putting golf videos together to send to coaches, a friend who was into videos editing had a program that made it look easy. It showed and played the video at the top of the screen and he would just section off the area we wanted, then would drag it down to the newly created video we were making. I have been looking for something that would allow me the ability to do that but what I have been trying to work with is what is on my computer now which is “Movie Maker”. I have limited tech skills and I seem to forget how to do this every time I sit down., I will try the free trial for Filmora to see if I can get the hang of this. Again, any suggestions would be appreciated. This is really a big help. So Pat the process you are describing is pretty much the same in every video editor!
Generally you will have three areas visible when you are editing. The library, the preview window and the timeline. You can click on a clip in the library, preview it in the preview window and in most, trim it and then finally drag it down on to the timeline as part of the project you are working on. Lather, rinse, repeat! Anyway, there are some basic videos available on the Filmora site that deal with all of this and believe me, after repeating those basic actions about a hundred times you WILL remember! Hello, Thank you for all the information! Yet, I am still unsure which software package to purchase.
I have 12 family VHS tapes that were converted to 12 DVD’s, and now converted into 12 MPG files(extension does not say MPEG)to view on my Windows laptop. Not sure if this matters for the software purchaseMy Windows 8.1 will not play them as did my Windows 7. My goal is to grab the best scenes from the 12 MPG files and condense them down to just one 60 minute movie. My biggest concern is working with 12 files which are 2 hours each in length.
After reading the reviews it seems like Filmora is appropriate as I just want to delete the boring parts, and insert transitions between scenes. Yet Womblempeg Video Wizard sounded like it is best suited for MPEG files – again I don’t know if my MPG files qualify as MPEG. Price is not an issue, I just want to condense 24 hours of video without wishing I had purchased something different, and to have fun in the process. I do not mind spending more money for features I don’t need if it makes handling 24 hours of video painless, and faster. Which of “all” the software listed do you suggest for this specific project?
Thank you very much. Hi Sara, OK, so I am going to go through this item by item to see if we can get some clarity!
-I have 12 family VHS tapes that were converted to 12 DVD’s, and now converted into 12 MPG files(extension does not say MPEG) to view on my Windows laptop. Not sure if this matters for the software purchase My Windows 8.1 will not play them as did my Windows 7. The file extension.mpg indicates they are MPEG files, the mpeg file extension hasn’t been used for a long time.
They are most likely MPEG2 files which is the standard file type used for DVD files or files that are being prepared to be put on a DVD. As far as 8.1 not playing them goes, who knows, it’s a Windows thing so let’s not dwell! -My goal is to grab the best scenes from the 12 MPG files and condense them down to just one 60 minute movie. OK so here we need to clarify a major misconception about DVDs.
The capacity of a DVD blank that you buy to use for burning at home is always 4.7 Gb. Very often they also show some kind of reference to being able to add 1 hour of video to that disc. This is not strictly true.
The truth is that the disc’s capacity is determined by the amount of data and NOT the running time of the videos you want to put on them. So figure that on a standard DVD you will get approximately one hour of playing time depending on how high a quality setting you choose. If you raise the quality to above average then you lose playing time, if you drop it below average to gain playing time. So if you want you can get 10 hours on the disc but the quality would be so low you probably couldn’t work out what it was anyway! -My biggest concern is working with 12 files which are 2 hours each in length. This concern is valid however it has nothing to do with whatever software you use.
The real question is whether your computer can handle that amount of data. To make this easier on your computer you should load all the footage into one folder but only ever work on one file at a time. Make the cuts and changes you want to that file then export it to a new completed file. Place it somewhere you can remember and then start on the next one. Once you have all the new cut versions completed then you can load all those smaller files into the editor and have the computer create one final completed file that you can use to make the final DVD. Remember, that final file HAS to be slightly less than 4.7 Gb.After reading the reviews it seems like Filmora is appropriate as I just want to delete the boring parts, and insert transitions between scenes. Yes you are correct.Yet Womblempeg Video Wizard sounded like it is best suited for MPEG files – again I don’t know if my MPG files qualify as MPEG.
My fault entirely and I should have fixed those Womble pages ages ago! I included Womble many, many years ago when editing MPEG files was a new concept and at that time Womble was king of the mountain. Since that time the world has changed and now Womble is like a 50 year old guy trying to pick up 20 something’s at a night club just a little sad.Price is not an issue, I just want to condense 24 hours of video without wishing I had purchased something different, and to have fun in the process. I do not mind spending more money for features I don’t need if it makes handling 24 hours of video painless, and faster.
Which of “all” the software listed do you suggest for this specific project? Totally understood but paying money for something you don’t need is pointless. Flimora will do everything you need. Good morningI have a simple need as a Private Detective who documents WorkComp fraud.
I video the subject’s activities and then upload such into a video editor. We do NOT record voice, music or sounds of any kind as the end result often goes to court. Is there such a thing as a SIMPLE video editor that allows 1) video capture from our digital cameras, 2) editing capability that allows us to delete unimportant frames (Ex. I’m shooting and a UPS truck enters, blocking our shot or we take video of other people not subject matter).
I pull the frame down onto a track or story board, deleting from either end of all the frames. 3) movie maker then makes the final video movie.
Nothing fancy, just documentary video.