Video editing software on Mac.
Now, there's a ton of options out there,
and some awesome new players that
have entered the market over the past few years.
For anyone who's considering options,
it can be pretty overwhelming to know where to start,
whether you're already using the best software,
and what your upgrade options are.
So after testing a heap of options, in this video,
we are going to cover my recommendations
across every price bracket.
No matter what your budget, whether you are just getting
started with video, you don't know where to begin,
you're considering an upgrade from your current software,
or if you've been editing for years
and you just want to know that you're
using the best software out there for you, then stay tuned.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi, it's Justin Brown from Primal Video,
where we teach you to get better results with your videos
faster.
So now on to the software.
We're going to break this down into three categories,
so you know exactly where to look,
no matter what your budget.
And first stop is free software.
So the free software options are just going ahead
in leaps and bounds.
Some of the free software that's available these days
totally beats out a lot of the paid options
that were available just a few years ago.
In this pricing bracket, you would expect
to see things like iMovie.
But as it turns out, iMovie is not actually free anymore.
So we'll cover that in the next category.
So in this category, we've actually got some new options.
And they're really good.
We've got things like DaVinci Resolve, HitFilm,
and Lightworks.
Now, all three of these are actually
cut-down, or live, versions of the full parent
software, the full professional package of that software.
But that doesn't necessarily make that a bad thing.
All three of these options are really
good options for free video editing software.
And they all then have the upgrade path
to the full professional version,
if and when you need it.
All there are quite comprehensive packages
and they offer a high degree of flexibility
for all new and intermediate editors.
I personally really like the interface and the workflow
of DaVinci Resolve, not to mention its insanely awesome
color correction capabilities.
I really like HitFilm for its simplicity
when it comes to video editing, but also its special effects
capabilities.
Lightworks is also a really solid solution
and it's also really powerful.
It also works on Linux as well.
So for all of you Linux users out there, then check it out.
Now, it's a really tough choice, but if I had to pick one,
my pick would be DaVinci Resolve.
I really like the way that it almost mimics Adobe Premiere.
It's got an awesome workflow.
It's really easy to use.
And it's got incredibly awesome color correction capabilities.
If you are going to be editing videos that
were created on cheap consumer cameras and not
professional cameras, then it's highly likely
that you'll have to convert or transcode your video files
before you are able to edit them in DaVinci Resolve.
If that's going to be a problem for you,
then check out HitFilm or Lightworks,
because they both seem to support a larger range of file
types straight out of the box.
Next up, we're jumping to the sub $199 price point.
We are talking US dollars here.
Now, really, here, the difference
between the free software and what
you'll find in this category in most cases
is that your software packages are
a complete end-to-end solution.
So for example, Lightworks Free, which we spoke about
in the free software category, has a limitation on the files
that you can export.
In Lightworks you actually can't export a full master
file, or full completed video, of your video.
All you can do is export to Vimeo at 1080p or to YouTube,
you can actually only export at a maximum resolution of 720p.
So back in this pricing bracket of sub $199,
you can expect that your video editing software is generally
an end-to-end solution.
There aren't many restrictions, if any, placed
on the video editing software.
So what that really means is in most cases,
you won't have to convert or transcode
your footage to a different format to be able to edit it.
You shouldn't have any limitations on the video files
that you are able to export.
So in this category, you've got software
like iMovie, which they now sell for $14.99,
you've got Wondershare Filmora, you've got ScreenFlow,
and you've got Adobe Premiere Elements,
which is the cut-down version of Adobe Premiere Pro.
And these pieces of software are also
bringing in things like 4K video editing, 360-degree VR footage
that you're able to edit as well, things
like GPU rendering, which is where you you're using
your video card, or your GPU, to take most of the load
off your processor, so your rendering
times are a lot faster.
The standouts for me in this category
are ScreenFlow and Adobe Premier Elements.
ScreenFlow is awesome for screen capturing,
but also for video editing.
Editing in ScreenFlow is so easy, but still really
powerful.
I really like the interface and the workflow,
and the power that you have over your editing in Adobe Premier
Elements just makes it really easy
to get your content in and out quick.
And also with there being a sort of cut-down down version
of the full Adobe Premiere Pro, then it's
great to have that as an upgrade path.
If you get used to one and you're
looking for more features, then it's
an easy logical step to jump to Premiere Pro.
And the other one the need to mention is Wondershare Filmora.
Really, for under the $50 price point,
it is a great video editing software
and it's really powerful as well.
So if I had to pick one of those,
my choice would be Adobe Premier Elements.
Again, I really like the upgrade path to Adobe Premier Pro,
but I also really like the interface and the workflow
of Premiere Elements.
So now we're going to look at the $199
and above pricing category, which also includes
subscription options as well.
So really the biggest difference with this category
is that this is your full professional video editing
software.
These programs are all insanely powerful,
they'll all allow you to get right down to frame-by-frame
based editing, so so much control
over your actual storytelling.
You'll have great audio controls.
You'll be able to mix your frame rights,
mix the file types that you're bring in,
and you won't need to convert your files in order
to be able to edit them.
So all the latest and greatest technology
when it comes to video editing, it's in these packages.
So the software in this category includes things
like Lightworks Pro, Final Cut Pro X, HitFilm Pro,
Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, an AVID Media
Composer.
Now, one thing to note that Adobe Premiere Pro
in this category is subscription only.
You can't go and just pay the one-off fee
and then you own the software.
The only way that you can get Adobe Premiere Pro,
or get the licensed version of it anyway,
is to sign on for a monthly or annual fee.
Lightworks and AVID also have subscription options,
but at the time of recording this video,
you can still buy them outright as well.
Now, before we jump into my recommendation,
it's really important to note here
that it is personal preference.
Really, there's that many options
out there, and what works best for me,
may not work best for you.
The best editors out there can jump from platform
to platform, or program to program,
because they are just tools to getting the job done.
So when you look at them that way, probably
the best thing you could do is to try
as many different programs as you can to see which one does
everything that you're after, to see
which one is the easiest for you to use,
has the most power and performance for what you're
looking to achieve, but at the end of the day,
it's which one is going to allow you to tell the stories
that you want to tell.
So after testing and using all of these, the standouts for me
are Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro.
I really like the way that Final Cut Pro X just renders
everything in the background.
And it's easy to get great results
and get your videos in and get them out really quick.
I really like the power on the performance in Adobe Premiere.
I really like the integration that it
has with After Effects and Photoshop,
so the whole Adobe Suite just works so well together.
Now, if I had to pick between the two,
my personal preference would be Final Cut X.
Now, I never would have thought that I would have said that,
and not that long ago, I definitely
wouldn't have said that.
But purely based on the background rendering
and how powerful that is, and how much time that that saves,
for me, that's a game changer, and it's totally
changed my editing workflow.
I still use Adobe Premier Pro a lot, but right now my go to
is Final Cut X.
So before we do a quick recap of my top recommendations,
wherever you can, download either
as many of the free versions as you can
or get as many 30-day trial versions
of the different programs as you can and try them,
and see which one works best for you.
So in the free category, my recommendation
is DaVinci Resolve.
In the sub $199 price category, my recommendation
is Adobe Premiere Elements.
And in the $199 and above pricing category,
my recommendation is Final Cut Pro X.
So as you can see, there's a ton of options out there,
and they all have different workflows.
The best way to figure out what's right for you
is to trial a few and see what works.
Starting with these recommendations,
you really can't go wrong.
If you're looking to improve the quality and the speed of you
video editing, then make sure you
grab our free guide running through the ultimate video
editing process.
There's a ton of tips in there to help you create
awesome quality videos faster.
And it's completely free.
Just hit the link on screen now to grab your copy.
If you've found this video helpful,
we'd really appreciate a share, a thumbs-up, and a comment.
It really makes a huge difference.
Make sure you head over to primalvideo.com/subscribe
to subscribe to our weekly video updates.
I'll see you next time.