What is Video Editing Software?
Video editing has come a long way since the days of piecing together footage by hand. Nowadays, you can use free video editing software on your computer to edit videos with just a few clicks of the mouse. There are many great options available but here are our 10 favorite picks for best free video editing software in 2022.
The art of video editing has progressed significantly since its inception in the late 1800s. In fact, back in the day, video editing was a highly manual process that involved using a large camera and a tripod to take several pictures — which were later cut and pasted together. Fast forward to now, and video editing is a well-rounded skill that can be performed in software.
Best Free Video Editing Software
The best free video editing software is a vital part of any film, TV show, or commercial. The editing software is the reason why we watch gripping cliffhangers and laugh at comedy sketches. With such an intense demand, it can be difficult to find the perfect free video editing software for you.
A huge variety of video editing software exists today, but not all are created equal. We have narrowed the field down to ten of the best free video editing software options. Based on their popularity, feature set, and ease of use, we’ve ranked the best free video editing software.
Top 10 Best Free Video Editing Software
Now that you have a better idea of what editing software is out there, it is time to narrow down the list and choose what is best for you and your project. Here we discuss the best free video editing software, which is software that is free to use, which are compatible with Windows, and which are compatible with Mac. Keep in mind, there are other software options available, and most are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux as well. Depend on features and user reviews of each of the software options.
1. LightWorks – The best overall free video editing software
For the past 10 years, over 5 million people have downloaded free video editing software. The most popular of these is LightWorks, which offers a high-quality editing experience and an easy-to-use interface.
Lightworks includes powerful features such as multicam editing, audio editing, multicam editing, color correcting, chroma keying and more.
Lightworks comes with an easy-to-use interface, and it supports most of the latest video formats. It has also been ranked as the #1 free video editing program in the world.
Lightworks is used by all major studios including Pixar and DreamWorks.
Available for: Windows, Mac and Linux
Price: Free
2. Shotcut – Best Free Video Editor
Shotcut is a free video editor that has been used by many professionals since 2006. It is an open source video editor and it uses the GStreamer framework.
With the increased use of video as a marketing tool, many companies are now looking for cost-effective software to edit their videos. It has been rated as one of the best options with a free version available. Its not an editing suite like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X but instead provides a comprehensive range of tools for quick editing and exporting of videos.
Shotcut have advanced audio filters like equalizer, compressor, limiter, reverberator, sound analyzer and much more. Its support for audio and video files including HD-video files is excellent. It supports a wide range of formats including MOV, AVI, MP4, MP3, OGG, FLV, MKV, and more.
Available for: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Price: Free.
3. OpenShot Movie Editor
OpenShot is the best open source video editor among the 10 best free video editing software of 2022. This tool has it all, making it an excellent option for anyone new to video editing or simply looking for some more advanced features. It’s powerful, multi-platform, and easy to use.
OpenShot has an intuitive interface that is fun to use. The interface is divided into two main parts, the edit window and the timeline. The edit window, which is the top portion of the interface, is where you do all of your video editing.
Unlimited Undo and Redo provide the user with incredible flexibility. You are able to save your project at any time and resume editing from any point in your video. OpenShot also has many advanced features that include video effects, audio effects, and animation. Digital video effects are the most common video effects used in OpenShot. Digital video effects are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Powerful key-frame animation is included in OpenShot.
There are two different timeline modes, the visual mode and the movie mode. OpenShot is a video editor, but you can also use it as a screen capture tool. You can capture a part of the screen and save it as a JPG file.
Available for: Windows, Mac, & Linux.
Price: Free (for OpenShot) & Free-to-try (for OpenShot Pro)
4. DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is a professional color grading software that was designed from the ground up with a complete and powerful color grading pipeline in mind. Its combine of a powerful editing platform, a grading engine, a color grading timeline, and a fully integrated, easy to use work flow engine, makes it one of the best color grading software available today.
DaVinci allows you to edit and grade HD, 2K, 4K, 5K, 8K, and even 10K ProRes and other file formats. its high-performance grading engine can tackle up to 100,000 layers and 100K clips, and even supports DaVinci Resolve Lite. Its 16-bit floating point grading capabilities can handle all color spaces. DaVinci Resolve intelligent auto-editing provides a great experience for beginners.
DaVinci Resolve is a powerful standalone editing platform that allows you to edit all your footage in a single product.
Available for: Windows, Mac, & Linux.
Price: Free; $269 for the full Studio version
5. HitFilm Express – Perfect for beginners
HitFilm Express is a free video editing software that is made for beginners and offers a basic editing experience. If you are a beginner it can be a good option to try out. HitFilm Express has a wide variety of features. It works on all platforms and is free for personal use.
HitFilm includes animation tools such as timeline, layers, and audio and provides a range of other features to work with multimedia. It also provides an editing timeline, video and audio effects, audio mixing, transitions, and also includes a wide range of transitions, effects, and music. Export
HitFilm project has the ability to export to popular video file formats such as QuickTime and AVI, which allows for easy editing and distribution.
Available for: Windows, Mac, & Linux.
Price: Free, $349 for the Pro version
6. PiTiVi – a free and open source video editor for Linux
PiTiVi offers a free, open source video editor that is compatible with Linux operating systems. The PiTiVi editor is powerful enough for professional filmmakers while still being accessible to beginners. Users can make basic edits or more in-depth edits depending on what they want to do with their video.
Pitivi is intended to be the default video editing software for the GNOME desktop environment. It is the most popular open source video editor for Linux, and it offers easy to use features for users of all skill levels. With Unlimited video/audio track layers , the Pitivi editor allows users to work on multiple projects simultaneously. Sound mixing of multiple concurrent audio layers is also supported.
Pitivi has been translated into many languages, including French, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Chinese.
Available for: Linux
Price: Free
7. iMovie – Best free video editing software for YouTube
iMovie is a free video editing software that makes it easy to import, edit, and share your videos. It can help you make professional-looking videos without having to spend hours on the computer. With iMovie, you can easily upload your videos to YouTube or Facebook with just one click. iMovie comes preinstalled with every Mac and you can download the iMovie application from the Mac App Store.
iMovie has the ability to import videos from your computer, a web video link, a DVD disc, or from other apps. Dozens of video formats are supported including H.264, MPEG-4, AVI, WMV, MOV, QT, and QuickTime. You can also cut and copy video and add transitions between clips. Speed controls enable you to slow down or speed up the video while the audio remains in sync.
The iMovie editing software allows you to add text, photo, and music to your videos. There are more than 50 text effects including bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough. Cloud-storage functionality is built in so that you can access your videos from any device.
The iMovie program can also be used to create short movies with transitions, audio clips, and titles. The program can also add and remove titles, transitions, and other effects.
Available for: Mac
Price: Free
8. KineMaster – The best mobile video editing software for free
The 8th app on this list is KineMaster, which is one of the most well-known video editing apps in the world. One of the biggest reasons for this has to do with its ease-of-use factor. The UI is very simple to navigate so anyone can use it without reading a tutorial or watching an instructional video. All you need to do is download the app and start editing a video.
With KineMaster, you can easily cut, crop, add text, and add transitions. It have more than 100 transitions and effects. After editing you can share your videos through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Reels, Stories, or other social media sites. The only downside to KineMaster is that it doesn’t support 4K video, but it supports 1440p, 1080p, and 720p.
Available for: iOS, Android, Chromebook
Price: Free
9. Blender Video Editor – Professional video editing software with a 3D creation suite
In the past few years, video editing software has been evolving at a rapid pace. In particular, an open source program called Blender has become popular due to its speed and versatility. It is impressive that this software can be downloaded on pretty much any device today and unlike others, doesn’t require subscriptions. Some of the other best-rated free video editors include CyberLink PowerDirector, Avid Studio, and Wondershare FantaSplitter.
Blender is designed to be both a 3D creation suite and a video editor. Path-tracer is a feature that will help you to create amazing 3D animations. It works with a lot of the 3D models out there in the world. Other features include the ability to import 3D models from other programs, and to export your creations for use on different platforms.
Available for: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free
10. VideoPad – Best free video editing software for beginners
VideoPad is a free video-editing software that may not have as many features as professional video editing software, but it is very accessible and easy to use. It allows for a great deal of control over videos, with effects and transitions available. The user interface is intuitive and makes it easy to toggle between the various elements. You can edit your videos as you record, and the interface is simple to use.
VideoPad also has the ability to split your video into separate clips, add graphics, fade in/out, and edit your videos into a single video. Then export all your finished video clips and combine them into a single video like a video mashup. Social media sharing is also available with this app.
Available for: Mac, Windows
Price: Free
In conclusion, video editing is a process that makes it possible to transform raw video into a meaningful and understandable story for viewing. one minute can tell a lot about the world and its people, and video is one of the easiest ways to share stories with others. While it is possible to use a variety of software in an attempt to produce a high-quality video. It is important to have the right software, so be sure to choose one from this list of the 10 best free video editing software in 2022.
