Owned by several different companies throughout its history, in 2009 it was acquired by EditShare who announced that they would make it available as open source. Today, Lightworks is billed as 'the professional video editor for everyone' and is available as a free download for Mac, Windows and Linux systems.
Macs and have long been up a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G for some time now. Professionals were cutting and chopping in Avid back in the late 1980s, and iMovie debuted in 1999 alongside the FireWire-enabled iMac DV. Today’s Macs are much more powerful than their ancestors, and that means even free apps are capable of doing some amazing things with video. It’s surprising how much you can do without spending any money: in some cases the only difference between free apps and their extremely expensive siblings is a handful of features only pros will need. That’s a smart business strategy; the tinkerers of today could be the pros of tomorrow. There’s one program we’re disappointed not to include: (VLMC). It's based on VLC – one of our must-have apps – but it’s still in alpha, which means it’s not reliable enough or finished enough for prime time just yet.
Check out the for Windows: free and paid 1. Free programs don’t get better than this. Lightworks puts professional editing tools within the reach of all Mac owners, regardless of budget might look a bit frightening if you’re not used to high-end editors. And that’s about the only negative thing we can say about it, because Lightworks is one of the most powerful free apps you can download for your Mac. The same technology that’s been used in proper films like Pulp Fiction and 28 Days Later is completely free for home use. Lightworks can be as light or as complex as you want: it’s as happy trimming a single clip to size as it is adding real-time effects, correcting colours or adding voiceovers.
It’ll happily output in a format and resolution suitable for YouTube and Vimeo, but the highest quality options – 4K, 3D, Blu-Ray – and massive list of supported file formats are only for paying customers. TechRadar readers can get 40% off a monthly license using the voucher code TECHRADARLWPROMONTH2017. Apple’s own movie app is easy to master and ideal for simple editing Apple's own video feature used to be free with new Macs and chargeable for everybody else, but these days it’s completely free for anyone who wants it (provided they have OS X 10.11.2 or later). It’s fairly simple to learn and packs a lot of useful features including audio adjusting and colour correction, and since last year it’s supported 4K video too. Don’t expect blisteringly fast 4K performance on a low-end Mac though, as it’s very demanding. IMovie isn't Final Cut Pro and it doesn’t pretend to be: it’s designed for home and small business users who want to make or perfect videos and who don’t need complex, expensive apps, and it’s great for beginners.
Another professional editor that's free to install on your Mac Here’s another app you’ll find in professional toolkits. Is a US$299 (£299, AU$499) app designed for post-production and packed with tools for adjusting, editing and correcting both audio and video. The free version, is almost identical, with some limits you probably won’t notice. Its 4K tops out at UHD 3,840 x 2,160, whereas the paid product goes up to 4,096 x 2,160.
Filters for film grain, lens flare and lens blur aren’t available to free users without watermarking; you don’t get the extensive collaboration and workflow tools of the Studio version, and the really complex audio and video filtering is greyed out. That sounds like a lot of omissions, but it really isn’t. DaVinci Resolve delivers a serious set of pro tools for free. Perform quick edits and take total control over video and audio encoding is a handy app for simple tasks, so if you’re looking for something you can use to make quick cuts this may well be the free program for you. Unlike most programs for Macs, there’s no timeline with multiple tracks to cut between and you don’t get any flashy wipes or transitions. What you do get is an exceptionally quick way to trim footage and rearrange sections.
Avidemux also includes practical filters for removing noise and other irritants. Its most useful feature is its superb exporter, which gives you total control over the video and audio encoding rather than just asking you to pick a file format. The audio options are particularly good. Surprisingly powerful without being a pain to learn is an interesting alternative to better known apps, and while it takes a bit of setting up (for example, to use animated titles you’ll need to install the free app too) it’s surprisingly powerful. OpenShot offers transitions with real-time previews, timeline-based editing, 3D titles and special effects, audio mixing, and a range of visual effects including color correction and chroma key compositing. As is often the case with open source computing, the interface isn't as slick as commercial alternatives, but don’t let that put you off. OpenShot is an excellent free program for macOS, and it’s really easy to get to grips with.
Brilliant for beginners, but also powerful enough for more advanced users Some video apps put every single feature on screen at once, which is enough to make even experienced users feel a bit lost. Not – its interface stays out of the way, bringing up what you need when you need it without filling the screen with things you don’t want. Shotcut covers all the essentials, but our favourite feature is its filtering.
There are stacks of audio and video filters that you can layer to create interesting effects. There’s no preview before you apply your filter, but it’s non-destructive editing so you can easily roll back if it doesn’t do what you hoped.
There are lots of export options, and while there aren’t presets for specific devices (something that’s handy if you’re making movies for mobile) it’s easy to fine tune settings and codecs. Much more than just rendering – Blender is also a capable free tool We know what you’re thinking:? Isn’t that a 3D rendering app?
Yes, it is, but it’s also a really good free tool, too. It cuts, splices and masks, mixes audio and has up to 32 slots for adding items, masks and effects. There’s a good selection of file formats, with AVI, MPEG and QuickTime as well as the various 3D file formats. The interface can be as simple or as complex as you like, and because the app is in constant development it’s constantly getting better and better. Blender might be overkill for basic home movies, but if you’re keen to learn new things it’s a fantastic tool for doing so. Thinking about a new laptop? Check out the.
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Best Free Video Editing Software for Mac Video making has become an integral part of everyday life. Everywhere around the world, people record their daily lives or moments they want to remember using various technology like the mobile phone, camcorder, digital camera, iPad etc. Now after taking these videos, what next? A good option would be to edit the videos to make them have a seamless finish and then you can decide to make them into movies or trailers so as to better preserve them and make them easier for sharing.
To do this, you would need a good video editing software to ensure you get top quality work. If you have an iMac or use a MacBook, below is a list of the best free video editing software for Mac to make the job of editing your videos easier and faster. If you're a Windows user, click the button below and check our article on the best video editors for Windows. This is a freeware for quality video editing and it is available on every new Mac (OS X). Hence, as it is free, you don’t have to pay for it. IMovie is compatible and can be used with a lot of iOS devices like iPod touch, iPad Mini and iPhone too.
The app lets you perform many functions like importing photos and videos to your MacBook using the FireWire interface or through USB and with it, video clips up to 4k can be edited, you can add effects or any music of your choice too. As one of the best, iMovie comes with top features like a movie trailer, audio editing, and one step effect. Pros:. It can be used to edit 4k video clips. iMovie is compatible with all Apple devices. Cons:. The output controls it offers are limited.
It doesn't have a wide range of effects to choose from. Lightworks is another one of the best free video editors for Mac.
As a video creator, after making your movie or film, Lightworks allows for quick and easy editing. It is recommended as it is compatible with and for many video formats and acts as a high precision video trimmer. In addition to this, it includes features like video effects, multicam editing, titling, and many other functions which makes it a perfect choice for all your advanced video editing needs. Pros:. It has many advanced features. It offers multicam support for video editing.
Cons:. The free version expires after 7 days after which you have to register. The free version only allows an output of 1080p and 720p on Vimeo and YouTube respectively.
This is one of the best video editing apps for Mac. It is very good for encoding, filtering and cutting videos and it can be used with different video formats such as DVD, MPEG, AVI, and many more. In addition, it supports audio formats like WAV, AAC, MP3 and many more. Beginners need not worry that it may be too complicated as it has a simple and user-friendly interface and even provides first time users with a detailed tutorial to help them navigate the program. Pros:.
Its interface is user-friendly and easy to understand. It is compatible with many video and audio formats. Cons:. It doesn't offer many features. It has limited editing tools.
Video editing made easy is what DaVinci Resolve delivers. Advanced trimming, multicam editing, color correction, audio mastering are some of the top-notch features it offers and it also allows full 3D editing particle systems to let you edit your videos to the fullest capacity and gives you a professional output.
If you need high-quality professional video editing to be done, then this is the program for you. Pros:. Its color correcting tool is very good.
It offers a wide range of features to use for video editing. Cons:.
Beginners may find the interface hard to understand. Some tutorials it offers are not free so you may have to pay to view them. This good video editor for Mac is free, easy to use and is a completely open source. It offers many great features like unlimited layers and audio mixing and the editing tools it comes with assists in clip resizing, scaling, trimming, snapping and rotation. As an added bonus, when you create a transition between clips, it allows you to preview them in real time. Pros:.
The app gives many top-notch video editing features for video creators. It has a simple and easy to understand user interface.
Cons:. It doesn't offer many video tutorials for beginners to help them navigate.
It allows easy interaction with many video and audio formats. This is a top free video editing software to assist video/movie creators in making and editing professional videos. Suitable for both beginner and advanced users, Blender will allow you to cut your videos and splice them too.
As an added bonus, it allows you to carry out more complex editing tasks like making videos. It has very effective tools for animations and has excellent animating features such as modeling, rigging, interface, animation, shading, UV unwrapping, real-time 3D game creation etc. Pros:. Its features are very suitable for advanced users. It can perform many different tasks and is lightweight.
Cons:. Beginners may find it difficult to use this software.
It has a huge array of features one might not know how to use. Ranked as one of the best video editing apps, Kdenlive lives up to its name.
Also known as KDE Non-Linear Video Editor, it is an open source Mac video editing application that supports a wide range of video and audio formats and also lets you add files to its multitrack timeline. Using this software, the videos created and edited can then be exported to a DVD device. When the video file to be edited is huge, it offers tools to make the editing experience smoother. Pros:.
It supports many audio and video formats. It allows you to edit different audio and video files at once. Cons:.
It has a complex interface. It doesn't have many video editing tools. Jahshaka is an open source tool that is available on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It has very good features (for example, it can create 3D content), but the rather complicated interface means that the user will probably have to study a lot before starting the program and achieve some decent work. Besides, some users can experience difficulties with installation. Despite this, this tool offers professional results that can’t be achieved with other editors.
Pros:. It has a lot of advanced features.
It is able to 3D create content. Cons:. It requires reading some tutorial before starting to use it. Users may face troubles with installation. Among this awesome video editing software is Movavi Video Editor. It has an easy to use and easy to understand interface with many different features and editing tools to assist you in video making and editing so that your edited videos have the best quality.
Be sure to download these apps and start making videos that will capture a lifetime of memories that you can keep or share whenever. By Edited: April 4, 2019.