Best Free Video Editing Software

Post date: Oct 08, 2015 8:45:40 PM

Most of us have Windows Moviemaker or Apple's imovie installed on our laptops, but in case you don't have access to these, or want to try something different, here are some of the top free software programmes available to download and also to use online for editing video:

Ebsynth

Ebsynth converts video or photographs into animation. You choose a keyframe from the video footage, draw over the top, and then the programme applies your drawing to the rest of the video. John is the person to talk to about this!

Website: https://ebsynth.com/ 

Clipchamp (easy and online)

This is simple video editing, and you can edit up to 5 videos monthly online without paying. You can trim, flip, rotate, crop, and adjust brightness, colour, and saturation. 

Website: https://clipchamp.com/en/video-editor

Avidemux (more advanced)

Avidemux is a small but capable open source video editor.

Platform: Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux

Avidemux can help you join clips, cut them (without re-encoding), and apply a lengthy list of useful filters (Add Logo, Crop, Flip, Rotate, Resize, Sharpen, Remove Noise, tweak brightness, contrast colours and more). While this sounds basic, there are lots of options and fine controls to help make sure everything goes as you expect, and an excellent online wiki which documents everything. Overall, Avidemux is well worth a look, as long as you're happy to spend a little time learning how it all works.

Website: http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

Lightworks (Advanced - for people who already know how to edit video!)

If it's real editing power you need, then Lightworks has the biggest set of features among the free pack. 

Platform: Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux

Its feature-packed timeline, strong multicam support, realtime effects and smart trimming tools are so impressive, in fact, that the program has regularly been used to help produce top Hollywood movies such as Mission Impossible and Batman. Editshare's baby is constantly updated and the latest version offers users the chance to edit videos with resolutions of up to 720p, has a modern looking UI, better export controls and content management, and the best part of all is that it remains completely free-of-charge. There is a price to pay for all this functionality, though: an extremely steep learning curve. This is not a tool for beginners, and you should expect to spend plenty of time reading the documentation before you can do anything useful at all.

Website: https://www.lwks.com/

Wax 2.0e (Advanced but really creative)

Wax is an interesting video compositing tool, short on editing features – and strictly AVI-only – but absolutely packed with special effects.

Platform: Microsoft Windows

We're not just talking about a few boring "sepia" or contrast-tweaking filters, either. Wax can map your movie onto 3D objects, display it with a professional video wall effect, create explosive or particle effects, paint over your video with custom masks, and more. Figuring out how all this works can be a problem, but there are some great sample projects to help you get started, and if you need more assistance then check out the tutorials and user forum on the author's site.

Website: http://www.debugmode.com/wax/