now if you've seen any of the iMovie tutorials on my channel you know that iMovie is a very capable
video editor and it gets better and better with each update along with being able to edit video
in iMovie you can do color correction change the speed of your clips add titles add effects
add and mix together different audio clips do green screen compositing and basic animation
well if iMovie can do all of that then why would you need to upgrade to professional level software
like Final Cut Pro Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve well there are actually a few reasons
why you might want to upgrade to pro level video editing software the first and most obvious reason
to upgrade from consumer level video editing software to professional level video editing
software is if you're working on a professional project like for a television station this is
a document i received from a television station that lays out in fine detail the industry standard
technical specifications your video and audio need to meet in order to be accepted for broadcast
there are specifications for color space resolution aspect ratio frame rate
audio levels file delivery formats and much much more mess up any of these specs and your
project will be rejected so how exactly do you make sure your video and audio are up to spec
well professional level editing software has tools to make sure your video and audio are up
to industry standards for example video scopes video scopes allow you to precisely measure
and adjust the luminance or brightness color distribution and color saturation values for your
video knowing what these values are and how to precisely adjust them is essential to things like
color correcting or color balancing your footage video scopes also help you make sure your video is
within industry standard specs same goes for your audio professional level video editing
software has audio meters to help you precisely gauge and adjust the audio levels for your video
loudness meters measure the perceived loudness of your soundtrack in industry standard units called
LUFS which stand for loudness units full scale a strict quality measurement for broadcast tv
and when you're working in a professional environment often you need to share your
project with other artists like a sound designer working in Avid Pro Tools for example
professional level editing software allows you to export your project in formats like xml so your
project can be easily shared with other industry professionals and when it's time to deliver your
finished show pro level software allows you to export your project in industry standard
file formats like MXF for television broadcast now if you're not working on a television show
but you still want precise control over every aspect of the video and audio in your project
you may want to upgrade to professional level video editing software
professional level editing software gives you inspector controls that allow you to adjust pretty
much every attribute of your video and audio with incredible precision another reason you may want
to upgrade from consumer to pro level video editing software is if you're working on long
complex projects with lots of different clips of media pro level software has all kinds of ways to
effectively organize and quickly locate specific clips of media in your project
Final Cut Pro for example has things like smart collections favorites ratings keyword collections
and search filters Final Cut Pro also has a powerful feature called the timeline index
the timeline index allows you to see all the different media in your project at a glance in a
list format you can search the timeline for clips using clip labels or keywords you can also filter
the timeline index to show only certain types of media pro level features like the timeline
index in Final Cut Pro make finding the exact clip you're looking for quick and easy which saves you
tons of time during editing another big reason to upgrade from consumer level video editing software
to pro level video editing software is the use of multiple tracks or layers of video and audio
iMovie gives you only one extra layer of video above the main timeline to work with now you can
do a lot with it you can use it for b-roll cutaway shots you can use it for picture in picture
you can even use it for green screen compositing but it's still limiting pro level apps like Final
Cut Pro Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve give you almost unlimited tracks or layers of video
and audio to work with this allows you to do much more with your editing software than just edit
with multiple layers of video you can create complex composites by layering different video
clips on top of each other in creative ways multiple tracks or layers of audio
give you the freedom to add and mix together different sound elements like synchronized sound
music narration and sound effects to create rich immersive soundtracks now this may not be the
first reason you reach for a professional level video editing software package but
it's a big one at least to me and that's animation pro level video editing software
tends to have pretty capable animation tools Final Cut Pro for example lets you animate the
different properties of your clips using keyframes it also has a clip timeline system that gives you
very precise control over your animations having capable animation tools right inside your editor
means you don't have to jump into an external animation program like Adobe After Effects or
Apple Motion in order to do all of your animation you can do a lot of it right in your editor that
saves a lot of time another reason to upgrade from consumer level to pro level video editing software
is eye candy in the form of effects and transitions pro level software like Final
Cut Pro Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve have extensive libraries of sophisticated effects
for both video and audio effects can change the look and feel of your footage
dramatically allowing you to really set the mood for your project and unlike the clip effects in
iMovie where you get what you get and you don't get upset the effects in pro software like Final
Cut Pro are highly customizable you can tweak them and animate them to your heart's content
same goes for transitions there are many of them and they too can be customized
now this next reason or two reasons really to upgrade from consumer to pro level video
editing software are major ones because they can really expand the capabilities of
your editing software which in turn expands your creative possibilities and those are plugins and
templates plugins are packages of code that add functionality to your editing software there is
an entire industry devoted to developing plug-ins for pro editing software like Final Cut Pro
from color and distortion effects plugins to titles motion graphics even 3d animation
effects that would be difficult and time consuming to create from scratch templates on the other hand
are pre-built projects and project elements designed around a theme that you can customize to
make them your own templates are real time savers if you can find a theme that has the look and feel
that you're looking for but of course all of this power and flexibility comes with a price
many plugins and templates cost money Premiere Pro requires a subscription
Final Cut Pro costs you several hundred dollars up front DaVinci Resolve offers a free version but
it will still cost you in terms of time and energy because it has a fairly steep learning curve so
what do you do do you upgrade or do you stick with your consumer level software like iMovie
well if you're working with iMovie and it's doing the trick it's doing what you needed to do and
you're making the videos that you want to make and you're comfortable stick with it the big advantage
of jumping into pro level video editing software right away is that you're future proofing yourself
you're going to be able to make pretty much any kind of video that you can think of right away
but if the cost of going pro is too steep for you both in money and in time and effort for
a learning curve i can show you how to squeeze some more production value out of good old iMovie
have a look at these other videos on my channel thanks for watching and i'll see you next time