- One of the questions I get asked most frequently
is what video editing software do I use
when I'm editing videos myself.
So in this video, I'm gonna show you exactly what I open up
when I'm editing on Mac or Windows.
Now, if you've already seen
one of our best video editing software roundup videos,
you'll know that there's a lot of options out there
when it comes to video editing software,
but there is no single best option for everything.
They each have their different strengths and weaknesses
and different use cases.
So that's why for video editing,
I actually use five different applications.
Each one for a different use case.
So I'm gonna take you through each of them one by one
so that you can see exactly what I use them for,
and why I like it for my particular workflow.
So starting off with the most basic one first,
it's QuickTime
this one is free.
It comes built in on your Mac.
Unfortunately, there really isn't equivalent on PC.
But on a Mac, what QuickTime lets you do
is really basic, really simple, really fast edits.
So for example, if I've got a video
where I only need to trim something off the start
or something off the end
or there's just a really small piece
that I need to take out from the middle somewhere,
that's the perfect use case for QuickTime.
And you might be thinking,
why would you bother with QuickTime for that
when a more advanced application's gonna give you access
to more features and things?
Well, what I love about it is
it is so fast to perform those super basic edits
but also there is saving or no rendering time.
You literally hit save
and the file saves out pretty much immediately.
So I only use it for super basic quick edits
literally just trimming something or removing something
and getting it saved out quick.
And for that specific use case,
really nothing else compares.
So moving on to app or tool number two,
it is VN Video Editor.
Now this is one that we've covered off quite a lot
on this channel.
It's taking out some of the top spots
on our best video editing apps and software videos.
And we also have a full walkthrough tutorial
which I will link up in the cards.
It's not only is VN video editor great
for simple and basic edits,
it's also good for more complicated edits as well.
It is super fast to edit in.
It is real easy and really intuitive and it's free.
It works on iOS.
It works on Android.
There is an amazing Mac app as well,
and there is a workaround to get it working on PC too.
And probably the biggest standout thing for me
and why I like it so much on desktop
is it really takes the interface and the workflow
from their mobile app
and brings it over to the desktop.
So it's a totally the different approach
and different way that you're looking at your editing.
And editing your videos down
instead of the more traditional Adobe Premier, Final Cut,
Avid, DaVinci Resolve,
where it's a full timeline experience,
this is more of a touch experience.
It feels more futuristic, more modern,
but it's also much more intuitive and much faster,
making it great for someone who is an absolute beginner,
never edited before.
Right through to someone at kind of that intermediate level,
but someone not looking for the most advanced stuff.
So I use VN Video Editor for anything that's more advanced
than the QuickTime basic edits,
where we wanna be adding in any music or titles
or even some effects
but not to the level of, say, creating our YouTube videos.
You'll have to stick around to see what we use for that one.
So it gets used a lot for things like Instagram stories,
reels, YouTube shorts,
quick edits with music and simple effects and transitions.
Now, again, that's not to say
that you couldn't create more advanced videos
in VN Video Editor,
but again, for us, that's the best tool
for creating those short, sharp creative pieces of content.
Tool number three is ScreenFlow.
Can you tell by now I'm primarily a Mac user?
ScreenFlow is a Mac only application.
The equivalent on PC would be Camtasia,
which is a great option as well.
But where I use ScreenFlow for is screen recording.
So when I'm creating a video editing tutorial,
I'm doing the screen recording in ScreenFlow.
We're also doing a lot of the basic edits in ScreenFlow.
So it's not just screen recording software,
it's also a really powerful video editing tool as well.
And what I like about ScreenFlow
for those types of videos and editing
is that it makes it really easy
to make an engaging screen recording video.
We've got the ability to ease the show on your screen,
all the keyboard buttons
and keyboard shortcuts that you're pressing.
You can also make your mouse cursor bigger or smaller
or automatically zoom in to sections of your video
while you're playing it through all super quick.
I also really like the video export times
in ScreenFlow as well.
It's really well integrated with the Mac hardware
and the exports are super fast.
Now ScreenFlow's not free.
You can currently pick it up for $149.
Or again, if you're on PC,
then check out Camtasia cause it's very similar.
Tool number four is Descript.
This is one that I am so pumped on.
I really think it's changing the game
when it comes to content creation
and making it easier for people to edit.
So what Descript does is it transcribes your video using AI
and it does a really good job at that,
but it gives you a document on screen.
So you can edit your video down
just by moving and deleting chunks of text.
So an edit in Descript is really quick
because you can see all of your mistakes
and everything you've said,
literally just highlight the text and delete it,
and it's gone.
Meaning that you don't need to go
and learn complicated editing tools
to be able to edit your videos down.
It also makes it really easy
to create those meme style videos
or videos where you've got the captions
or the text written out word for word on screen
because hey, you've already got the text there
from when it's transcribed.
So for us, we use Descript with our longer form content.
We're able to drop our videos into Descript
get that AI transcription happening.
And then we can go through
and remove any of the bad takes, any of the mistakes,
and do it all really, really quickly.
Now while we could be creating an entire video in Descript,
the rest of the editing tools in there aren't as advanced
as something like Final Cut or Premier or DaVinci Resolve.
So we use it for doing that base edit or that first pass.
And then instead of saving out a video,
Descript lets you save out a project file
that you can then import
into a lot of your major video editing applications.
So we can send that edit then
straight to our primary video editing tool.
And we're able to continue the editing in there
knowing that at that point,
we're only working with the stuff that we want to use
in our finished video product.
So I just love how fast it is to be able to go through
and just see all your mistakes and multiple takes on screen
so that you can quickly figure out
the stuff that you want to use.
In terms of pricing, there is a free version.
So if you wanna jump in and test it out
and see how awesome it is,
it's not gonna cost you anything.
But I would imagine that most people are gonna be jumping
on the Creator plan for $12 per month,
or the Pro plan for $24 a month
to unlock a lot more features in Descript.
And there is a lot in there.
It's amazing.
We've got another video covering Descript
which I will link up in the cards.
So that brings us to number five,
probably the one you've been waiting most for,
our primary video editing tool.
The one that we edit most of our YouTube videos on,
and also our content for our accelerator program.
And that is Final Cut Pro.
For years, I was an Avid video editor.
It is all I used,
and I seriously thought that Final Cut was just a toy.
It was just iMovie plus.
But it is so much more than that.
Now I can't even open Avid
without feeling like it should be in a museum.
So I really love the way
that Final Cut approaches video editing.
I think the magnetic timeline
and how easy it is to keep all your clips
and everything in sync is amazing.
Again, I hated it at first.
The first thing I did when I opened Final Cut
was turn all of that stuff off
so that it felt more like Avid and more like Premiere,
which I'd been using a lot as well.
And I remember paying for Final Cut, opening it up,
and just thinking I'd just wasted my money
and that there was no way I was going to use it.
It wasn't until like a year or so after that I went,
"You know what?
I really want to try and figure this out
because it does look pretty cool."
So once I've gone through the process
of figuring out how Final Cut worked
and really unlearning a lot of the things
that I'd been doing in Avid and Premier
that's really where the magic started to happen
and where I was really starting to see the power
and the performance in Final Cut.
The fact that Apple makes the software and the hardware
really can't be understated.
The performance is pretty much second to none.
It even got to the point
where some of the client projects
I was working on in Premier
on the same Mac computer,
I transferred over into Final Cut.
And the render time went from two hours,
down to around four or five minutes.
Ridiculous.
Same computer, same footage,
same hard drives.
Why was one so much faster than the other?
So once you've experienced how fast it is
and how fluid it is to edit in,
it's really hard to go back to some of the others.
Now don't get me wrong.
I'm not anti-Premiere at all.
I still love Adobe Premier.
I still use it when I'm on PC.
But if I had to choose between the two of them,
I'm gonna go with Final Cut on a Mac
just for how fast and how well it edits.
But that's also probably a great segue into this
is that I don't think
that there is actua&lly a perfect video editing solution.
I mean, in this video here,
I've just shared how I use five different ones.
I don't think that there is one perfect solution
or one app to rule them all.
Depending on what videos you're creating and your skillset,
your goal should be to find the best tool for you
to create and edit videos, to get the job done.
So it could be
that QuickTime might do everything that you need
or you might find for your skill set
and the types of videos you're creating
that Final Cut or DaVinci Resolve
is the one that's best suited for you.
And this is where even though we make those videos,
best video editing software on Mac,
best video editing software on windows,
really what it comes down to
is you trying and testing a couple of different options
to see which is going to be the best one for you.
There is no point trying to learn
and figure out some program
that might be way too over complicated
for what you'll ever need,
just because some big YouTuber
or someone you saw online is using that program
and said that it's really good.
It's good for them, for their skill set,
the videos they're making,
but that doesn't mean it's the best one for you.
Now no matter which video editing software you are using
or you're going to be using,
here's some quick resources
to help you level up your videos faster.
For music for our YouTube videos,
we get it from Artlist or Epidemic Sound.
For stock video footage,
we go to Storyblocks and Artgrid.
And for video and logo, animations and motion graphics,
we go to Videohive and Placeit.
All of those are amazing resources
that we use almost every single day.
And I'll have links to those down in the description.
And if you wanna learn how to edit faster, more efficiently
in any video editing application,
then check out the video that's linked on screen,
where we take you through the most efficient way
to edit your videos down
with minimal wasted time and rework.
Because at the end of the day,
if you learn the editing process,
you'll be able to jump and switch
between different tools and different programs,
all to help you edit videos faster
using the tools that are best suited for the job.
So check out that video linked on screen,
and I'll see you in the next one.