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? 5 BEST FREE Video Editing Software - 2021 - read the full article about video creation tips 2021, Video production and In motion from Kevin Stratvert on Qualified.One
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Hi everyone, Kevin here.
Today I want to show you my favorite top five free video editing software and when I say free these truly are free.
There are no watermarks.
There are no time limitations.
None of that.
Theyre just entirely free, and theyre also pretty good.
When you compare them to paid video editing software, in many cases these are just as good, if not better.
In fact, on my YouTube channel I use one of these free video editors to pull together all of my videos. As were running through this, if you decide you want to use one of these video editors, Ive included links in the description down below that will give an in-depth overview of how to get started.
All right, lets jump on the PC and lets check these out.
This brings us to the first free video editor, and this is probably one that you already have.
If youre running Windows 10, Windows 10 comes with a video editor.
What, yes, its true if you go down to the search field on your taskbar, simply type in video editor. Who would have thought and right up at the top as the best match, you should see video editor.
Lets click into this one.
This drops us into the Windows 10 free video editor, and if youre still scratching your head and wondering how you ever missed, dont feel that bad.
Its very difficult to discover.
The video editor is actually within the photos app and in the past you had to open the photos app and then you had to go into the video editor. Only recently Microsoft added video editor to the search field so it would pop up there.
Lets start with what I like about the video editor, and there is a lot to like.
It comes with your PC, so you dont have to download any other software to edit videos. Its also extremely easy to use. Here I can drag and drop some video files directly into the video editor, and here I can use this storyboard to pull together my video.
I simply drag and drop my different clips down and my video starts to take shape.
Over here I have access to all of the most common video editing tools.
You can trim, split, add text and the list goes on with what you can do. Up above, you also have access to background music, so here I could insert music and I can even sync it to my videos music beat.
Over here, I could also insert custom audio.
Lets say I wanted to include voice over. It has a lot of very nice functionality and in a pinch this works extremely well.
So this sounds like a pretty good video editor.
Are there any downsides? And unfortunately, there are a few. Right down below, one of the most glaring omissions is you cant add any transitions between clips, so all you could do is a hard cut between two of your clips on the storyboard.
Also, because it uses a story board layout that makes it very easy to use, but you also dont have any tracks, so lets say you want to do a picture in picture effect or basically you want to have one video play on top of the other.
Well, unfortunately you cant do that.
Also, we looked at this background music catalog and you have a lot of songs you can insert.
However, if you upload your video to YouTube, you wont be able to monetize with any of those tracks.
Also, probably one of the biggest drawbacks.
Once you pull together your video and you have your storyboard laid out, when you go to export your video, the highest quality that you can set it to is 1080P.
So lets say you have a new camera that shoots at 4K. Unfortunately, you wont be able to render your video in the top-quality level.
All-in-all, the Windows 10 free video editor is a decent option and you can pull together some pretty nice videos, but the drawbacks are somewhat of a dealbreaker, at least for me personally.
So lets jump onto the next free video editor.
And this brings us to number 2, the best free video editor, and that is the OpenShot video editor.
You can download and install it at OpenShot.org. Its free, its open source and you can install it on any platform, whether its Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Simply click on the download text right here.
Once you finish installing, this drops you into the OpenShot video editor and looking at this it looks pretty simple, but yet it also has a lot of power under the hood.
Right here I can simply drag in video files and they show up here under project files and here I can simply drag and drop my different files onto the timeline down below and here now I have multiple tracks so I can layer different items on top of one another.
If I pull in multiple items down onto the timeline below, this is a big improvement over the Windows 10 video editor.
Here I can insert transitions and there are many different transitions that you can choose from. Along with transitions, you can also insert different effects on top of your different media files.
As you start laying down all of your different media files on the timeline down below, you can preview the video over here on the right-hand side.
Now I mentioned it looks very simple, but it does also have some advanced capabilities. Here you can right click on any one of your media files and go into properties and you can set different keyframes and change the values on this clip.
So once again it also has a lot of advanced functionality.
So, are there any drawbacks? I mean it is free software and it does quite a bit.
Well there is one. Here if I go up and lets say you want to insert a title, you can insert a standard title just fine and this works well.
But theres also an option for an animated title, which sounds neat, but here if you select any one of them, you have to install another application called Blender which will allow you to do an animated title.
Now Blender is also a free application, so its kind of hard to complain, but it is a little bit of extra friction to be able to insert an animated title.
All-in-all, OpenShot is an excellent choice if you want a simple but yet also powerful free video editor.
This brings us to the next free video editing app and this one is called Shotcut. You can download this at Shotcut.org. Once again for all of these video editors Ive included links in the description down below.
Shotcut is free, its open source and it works on all major platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux.
To download this simply click on this, click to download text on the top of the page.
Once you finish installing Shotcut, youll be prompted to create a new project.
Here Ill click on start and this now drops us in the main interface.
Just like with the other apps, you can drag and drop your media files in and here now I see a playlist of all of my files. Just like with the others, you can select one of your files and you can drag and drop it down onto the timeline below, and here I can start pulling together my video. With Shotcut, you can add any number of tracks. Here I can right click and I can add additional video tracks or additional audio tracks and here I can drop in additional items. As my video starts taking shape, here I can preview what it looks like. Unlike the Windows 10 free video editor, Shotcut supports a massive catalog of transitions.
Here I could simply come down to my track and I can drag one of the items and position it over the others and thatll automatically insert a transition. Here if I click into properties, I can choose from many different transitions similar to OpenShot. Along with inserting transitions, I can also select one of these clips and here I can click on filters and I can add a massive catalog of different filters to this clip.
One other thing that I really like about Shotcut is depending on what youre working on, they have different views optimized to that task.
Here, for instance, Im currently in the editing view which shows me the timeline down below and the preview, but I could also jump into an FX view.
Or maybe I want to do some color grading so I can jump into the color view.
Theres also an audio view and a player view if I just want to review what my video looks like.
All-in-all, Shotcut is a very powerful video editor, and when I look at all the videos on my channel, I could use Shotcut to pull any one of them together.
So, are there any drawbacks? Well, Shotcut is a little bit more complicated than the first two video editors that we looked at, so the learning curve is a little steeper, so it really depends on how serious you are about video editing.
If you really plan on creating some advanced videos, this could be a good choice, but if you really just maybe want to pull together a simple video, this might have a few more capabilities than you really need.
This now brings us to the 4th free video editor and this one is called kdenlive. You can get it at the website kdenlive.org.
Once you land on the homepage, to download it, youll see a link right here and this works cross platform, so whether you have Windows, Mac or Linux, and once again this is also an open-source video editor, so its completely free to use. Choose your operating system and then go ahead with the install.
This drops us into the main kdenlive interface, and it looks pretty similar to the previous few video editors that we looked at.
Over here on the left-hand side you can drag and drop different files into the editor and here too, just like we saw before, you can drag the different items down below onto the timeline and here too you get multiple tracks on your timeline.
So here I could place them on the same track, or I could place them on separate tracks.
One of the key differences youll notice now that I have two different ways I can view my video. Right here, I can view the clips so I can jump into a clip and I can preview that and then I also have a separate view of my project.
So here I can see two different clips side by side. In terms of editing, you have many different tools to edit your videos.
In fact, you have whats referred to as normal mode, theres an overwrite mode, so if you drag a clip down, itll overwrite the existing clip, or you could insert it.
They also have a wide variety of different editing tools that you can use. Similar to Shotcut, there are also views that are catered to what youre doing or the task at hand. Up here, Im currently in the editing view, but lets say I want to work on audio, I could shift into a dedicated audio view. Or maybe I want to focus on effects. Or maybe I want to focus on color grading my video.
There are views that specialize in each one of those different tasks. Back on the main view, I can also add many different transitions. Here I have two different clips and if I click into compositions, here I have all of these different options.
Lets say I want to add a wipe transition between clips. Here I can insert it between these two clips and thats now added a transition.
I could also choose from many, many different effects that I want to add on top of any one of my clips.
All-in-all, you can pull together some very impressive and advanced videos using kdenlive, although similar to Shotcut, one of the drawbacks is you do have a lot of different options and a lot of different controls so the learning curve is a little bit steeper, however there are lots of help resources online that will help you get started with this video editor.
This now brings us to free video editor number 5, and thats Davinci Resolve 17, and this is the one that I personally use to pull together all of my videos on my YouTube channel.
Davinci Resolve is a very impressive application.
In fact, many different TV studios or film studios use Davinci Resolve to pull together their projects.
Davinci Resolve is a freemium product.
What that means is you get most of the core or foundational capabilities entirely for free; however, if you want additional effects or tracking, it costs some money for those, but Ive been using the free version and Ive been able to do all of the editing that I want to get done. To download Davinci Resolve 17, on this main site, once again, the link is in the description, scroll down and then click on download now.
When you click on download now youll have a few different options. There is Davinci Resolve 17. This is the most recent version.
You could also get an older version, however Id recommend going with the latest.
For Davinci Resolve 17, you have the standard version, and theres the studio version.
The studio version is the pay version. If you simply want to move forward with the free version, select Davinci Resolve 17 and then select your operating system right down here.
Davinci Resolve is a powerhouse video editor. Here, just like the others, you can pull your different media clips in and here I can pull them down onto the timeline and I could start organizing what my video looks like. Right over here, I have a clip viewer and then I also have my project viewer. Over here, I can adjust all sorts of different settings related to the video, the audio and different effects or transitions that I decide to insert.
One of the really nice things about Davinci Resolve is I have all of these other applications that are all part of Davinci Resolve.
Here I could load a view of all of my different media files.
Here I have a dedicated cutting view which makes it even easier and quicker to cut your different video clips.
Here you have your standard editing view, but also if I want to add any VFX, I have a Fusion page where here I can add all these different effects and I have a node view where I can start pulling them together. Over here I also have access to colors. The color view in Davinci Resolve is one of the industry leading ways that you can set color on your video. Down below, I also have access to something called Fairlight Audio and this is a super powerful tool that you can use to adjust the audio on your projects. With Davinci Resolve, they bring together multiple, what could be stand-alone applications, all into one interface, so as youre pulling together your project, you can very quickly jump between, say, the editing view and then the VFX view using that clip. Out of all of the video editors that we looked at today, arguably, Davinci Resolve has some of the most advanced functionality.
In terms of another application thats similar to Davinci Resolve, you have Hitfilm Pro and then you also have Adobe premiere, and those are comparable to what Davinci Resolve offers.
But whats great about Davinci Resolve is its entirely free to start using, and only some of the features are behind a paywall. Overall, Davinci Resolve is an excellent choice, and thats why I use it as my primary editor. Although the one downside is it has a very steep learning curve.
In fact, anytime I use this video editor, I feel like Im constantly learning new things about it, but thats also what makes it so exciting.
What you can do with this tool is pretty much limitless.
Weve looked at a lot of fantastic and free video editors today, but I did want to call out some other noteworthy free video editors beyond the five that we already looked at, one of them is the VSDC video editor, and this is also a freemium video editor, so you get most of the core functionality for free, but then a few items are behind a paywall.
This is also a good option.
Theres also Hitfilm Express, and this is similar to Davinci Resolve in terms of what you can do.
This also follows a freemium model where you get most functionality for free and then you can upgrade if you want to unlock more functionality.
And lastly another great video editor is called Videopad and this is made by NCH Hardware.
Now it is free for home use, but you do get an annoying notification that tells you and always reminds you that youre on the free version. There are also some limitations like you could only insert so many audio tracks, they limit the number of plugins, but once again for a free video editor this also works fairly well. All right, well that was a quick look at my favorite free video editors. Let me know down below in the comments which one are you going to use moving forward.
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All right, well thats all I have for you today.
I hope you enjoyed and as always, I hope to see you next time, bye.
Kevin Stratvert: ? 5 BEST FREE Video Editing Software - 2021 - Video production