Have you recorded a movie with your smartphone or your camcorder and are wondering which is the best video editor, to edit it and make it even more beautiful? Then I think I have what you need. In today’s guide, in fact, I will offer you a review of the main programs to edit videos that you can use, both free and paid, on the main operating systems for computers, smartphones and tablets. Many of the resources that I will mention are used daily in the professional field, but even those who are beginners can learn to use them easily. Again, it all depends on your needs and previous experiences in the field of video editing. So, what is the best video editor that suits for your work?
Best free video editor
Let’s start with a review of the best free video editors you can currently find on the web. Whether you have Windows, macOS or Linux, you are sure to find what’s right for you!
Avidemux (Windows / macOS / Linux)
Avidemux is one of the best free and open source video editors available on the market. Compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux, it allows you to edit audio / video files in all major formats. The interface is in Italian, quite intuitive, even if, compared to other programs in the sector, it requires a certain experience in editing movies. It offers many filters to apply to videos but also, there are very few automatic tools.
Wondershare Filmora (Windows / macOS)
Wondershare Filmora is one of the best video editors currently available for Windows and macOS. It is proposed, in fact, as a complete solution for the post production of videos able to concretely support content creators for social networks, those who work in Web marketing, those who need to make company presentations and many other professionals. At the same time, being extremely easy to use and it is also ideal for personal video editing by video editing enthusiasts and beginners.
It offers all the most useful tools for editing videos, adding effects, filters, writings, background music, transitions, etc. and offers predefined templates related to different areas, from sports to gaming, to create professional content in a few clicks. With Wondershare Drive, then, you have the ability to quickly share videos, documents and multimedia content on the Web while keeping their quality intact.
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The most recent version of the software, Filmora 11 , improves some features that users had already come to love, for example that Mask which now has an improved interface to work even more simply and effectively on keyframes, and implements more. new. Among the most interesting innovations we find the Speed Ramping, with which it is possible to adjust the speed of the videos by also intervening on the individual frames (in order to speed up or slow down some parts of the video in a cinematic style), with the opportunity to automatically synchronize the track audio with video, regardless of the source of origin.
In this regard, it should be noted the presence of a vast catalog of royalty free content, including music tracks to be used in the Automatic beat synchronization mode with which to create montages in which the video is analyzed and automatically synchronized with the most suitable music track.
Also of note is the collaboration of Wondershare with partners such as Boris FX and NewBlue FX, a leading company in the software plug-in sector, which made it possible to include in Filmora 11 many visual effects and animated graphics that can be included in your projects.
How Filomar works?
Once you open the editor, you find yourself in front of the familiar Filmora interface with the toolbar at the top, the video preview on the right, the contents in the center and the timeline at the bottom.
The toolbar at the top of the window allows you to quickly access all the main sections of the software: Multimedia files, through which you can import the contents to work on and browse the available color, video and green screen samples; Audio, to browse and import lots of music tracks suitable for all contents into your project; Titles, Transitions and Effects with tons of ready-to-use title templates, transition effects and special effects (including those from Boris FX and NewBlue FX); Elementswith shapes, icons and other elements to add to the videos, and finally Split Screen to create videos containing multiple videos divided into specific areas of the screen.
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Other useful tools are located above the timeline (where the contents to be used in the project must be dragged and sorted). By selecting a video clip or audio sequence, you can use the icons to crop content, adjust speed , change colors , activate motion monitoring and much more. Once the job is complete, to export it, click on the Export button (top) and choose whether to export it with a watermark (logging in with your Wondershare account or creating one at the moment) or whether to switch to the full version of the software.
Filmora 11 allows you to export videos for free, but by applying a watermark to them; to remove the watermark and obtain the possibility to export videos at a higher resolution (e.g. 4K), it is necessary to switch to the full version of the software. You will have two options here, one is the monthly payment and the other is one time payment for lifetime license. In any case, you can try the premium features of the program for free for 3 days.
Kdenlive (Windows / macOS / Linux)
Kdenlive is a free and open source program that, like Avidemux, can be installed on Windows, macOS (where however development is currently stopped, so its use is not recommended) and Linux. Compared to Avidemux, it is more focused on video editing rather than applying effects and filters.
However, it offers various editing functions and is compatible with all major multimedia file formats. It has a rather “clean” and intuitive interface, with an organization of the menus that allows even the less experienced to understand what the individual functions are for.
Once the main window of Kdenlive is displayed after installed, go to the container box of the project (top left) and click on the Add clip or folder button (also top left) to choose the videos to edit, then drag them to the timeline in bottom and modify them with the help of the buttons and the player located at the top right. At the top you will find menus to manage projects, markers, timeline, settings etc.
iMovie (macOS)
If you own a Mac and need to make home or prosumer level video editing, you can only turn to iMovie: a free video editor developed by Apple that manages to combine particularly advanced features with an extremely intuitive interface.
It is particularly suitable for those who do not know anything about audio visual editing, but it also satisfies the most experienced who want to have excellent results in a short time. It also has several automatic settings. iMovie is included “standard” on many recent Macs, alternatively it can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store.
At start-up, it allows you to choose whether to create a movie (so whether to edit a video to import from your computer) or a trailer (by inserting existing videos and photos into a movie-style trailer template). For simple video editing, you have to choose the “movie” option.
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Next, you need to import the videos to edit in iMovie by dragging them into the program window and then onto its timeline at the bottom. At this point, you can use the tabs in the upper left to insert audio, titles, backgrounds and transitions into your project and the icons located in the upper right (above the preview player) to trim / rotate the selected clips in the timeline, adjust its speed, colours and many other parameters.
Best video editor for Windows
Now it’s time to browse the best paid video editors for Windows . As can be easily understood, these are professional solutions, more suitable for an operator in the sector than for a novice, but they can also be used profitably by those who are still learning.
Adobe Premiere
Adobe Premiere is undoubtedly one of the best video editors for Windows (and macOS) you can find. Easy enough to use even for beginners, it is especially appreciated by professionals.
After a 7-day free trial, it requires a subscription to the Creative Cloud service (which also includes programs such as After Effects, to add cinematic effects to videos). Check here for Premiere pro plans.
Download Process
To download the trial version of Premiere, connected to the Adobe website and first click on Free trial version and then on the Activate trial button, in the Premiere Pro box. Subsequently, provide your email address in the appropriate field, press the Continue button and choose a valid payment method between credit card and PayPal (to avoid charges after the 7-day free trial, you will need to deactivate the automatic renewal of the subscription by clicking on the the circle icon located at the top right in Premiere and by going to Adobe Account> Plan Management> Cancel Plan). Once this is done, click on the Start Free Trial Version button.
Once Premiere has started, go to the File menu (top left) and select the New> Project items from the latter, to create a new project. After that go to the File> Import menu and choose the videos to edit.
The software interface is quite intuitive with, at the top, the tabs to access the various sections of the software ( Learning, Assembly, Assembly, Color, Effects, Audio, Graphics and Libraries ), in the center the player with the preview of the video to edit and, below, the toolbar with various editing tools and the timeline. At the top of the window, on the other hand, there are the classic menus for managing files, sequences, markers, etc.
Best video editor for Mac
Remembering that Adobe Premiere is also available for macOS, I’m going to show you the best video editors for Mac. I don’t think you will be surprised that there is only one solution, namely Final Cut Pro X, which being a software developed directly by Apple, is perfectly optimized for macOS and is able to provide better performance than competing products.
Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro X is the video editing program on Mac. One of the great advantages it offers is the ability to edit the same formats available in iMovie. Basically, you can start from that and improve the work with Final Cut Pro X, without quality loss. The interface incorporates that of the “little brother”, adding more professional elements that complement the features, such as support for 360 ° video, multicam and HDR, advanced noise removal and much more.
If it has a limit, it is precisely that of working only on macOS, regardless of the differences that place it in constant competition like Adobe Premiere among professionals in the sector. This feature is also its strong point. You could start by recording a video on iPhone and then refine it on Mac, being able to make the most of your computer’s performance. Being an Apple program, in fact, it guarantees the best integration with macOS and its services such as iCloud compared to competing software.
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You have two options to get Final Cut Pro X: you can start a free 30-day trial or go straight to purchase option on the Mac App Store. To download the free trial version of Final Cut Pro X, linked to this web page, fill out the form on the left and click on the Download free demo button.
At this point, start Final Cut Pro X, import the video to be edited into it (by dragging it to the appropriate box located at the top left) and use all the tools included in the program to carry out your editing.
Best video editor for Android
What if I want to edit movies from my smartphone? Here is a list of the best video editors for Android that you may want to consider.
ActionDirector Video Editor
ActionDirector Video Editor is an application for Android with very special features. It was created, in fact, to edit movies that reproduce moving action at a resolution of up to 4K. The app is free, but contains advertisements: to remove them, you can start a 7-day trial period or purchase its full version. The paid version also activates Ultra HD support and removes the watermark from the generated videos (these last two functions can be unlocked for each edited movie even by watching advertising content).
Once you have downloaded the ActionDirector app, start it, press the Accept and continue button, then the Edit button, choose the video to edit and first tap the (+) icon next to it and then the (✓) symbol.
Once this is done, you just have to use one of the buttons located at the bottom (eg Edit to crop or rotate the video; Action, to change its speed, etc.) and press the Produce button (top right), to start the exporting the movie in one of the supported formats.
As an alternative to ActionDirector, you can also try KineMaster, a fairly advanced video editor that offers many interesting editing functions for videos (free, with advertising and watermark) or one of the many apps that I pointed out to you in my post on video editing apps.
Best video editor for iPhone
Finally, a review of the best video editor for iPhone cannot be missing, a very powerful smartphone (at least as regards the top-of-the-range models) that can count on a series of apps to edit videos with surprising potential: here are some examples.
iMovie
iMovie is not only a Mac program, but also an iPhone and iPad app. It is free and adds multi-touch support to the functions of the Mac software. The interface and features are almost identical to the Mac version, but you may also be interested in the video recording functions here. It is ideal for making cuts and assemblies “on the fly”.
To use it, start it, click on Create project and choose whether to create a Movie (to edit video) or a Trailer (to take advantage of the predefined trailers by inserting your videos and photos inside them), then press the + button to select videos, photos and audio to add to the timeline. If you want to create content in real time, click on the Snap button instead .
At this point, press the gear icon located at the bottom right and choose whether to add a filter to the video or to apply a theme . Then press on the video in the timeline and use the icons that appear in the toolbar at the bottom to recall the tools of your interest (eg the scissors to divide the scenes; the clock to adjust the speed of the movie; the “T” to add texts and so on).
To save the final result, click on the Finish button , then on the iOS share icon and choose one of the available saving or sharing options. For more information, you can read my guide on how to use iMovie .