Looking for the best video editing software for youtube beginners free? I know how overwhelming it can be to pick the right program for your needs. You want to create videos of yourself or your kids, sharing your thoughts with friends and family. For better or worse, this is becoming more relevant.
People are turning away from traditional news sources in favor of social interactions. After all, nothing beats having an honest opinion of someone who has just had a real conversation with you.
Shortcut
It is an excellent free video editing software that can work on Windows, OS X, and Linux. The shortcut has the same principle of work as its expensive analogs – you place video and audio fragments on the timeline and apply effects and captions. Then you can convert the result in a video file.
First, they designed this app for Linux users, and only after a few years of work decided to create versions for Mac and PC users. That’s why the Shortcut interface is a little bit strange. They have many intuitive features, such as dragging a file to import them into your project.
Pros:
- Customizable menu;
- A wide selection of modifying options and filters;
- Mobility of tasks, for example, return to any stage of editing;
- Automation of all work processes for user requests;
- Configuration on multiple monitors.
Cons:
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
It is a popular video editor, which can easily modify the video, adjust colors, and process audio. A unique set of features for video editing allows processing any type of multimedia content in the original format on desktop PCs and mobile devices.
This software can be used for iOS, macOS, and Windows. You can subscribe just to Premiere Pro or get it as part of the Adobe package. They offer 360 VR and 4K support that makes it a professional tool to edit any kind of video. It’s the most complete tool in this list for both experts and newbies.
Pros:
- Plenty of customizable features, options, and plugins;
- Very convenient user interface;
- Ability to export a finished project in any of the existing formats;
- Integration with other Adobe products.
Cons:
Apple iMovie
If you are looking for elegance and simplicity, iMovie is the best choice for you. It is one of the most popular editors for Mac OS, iPhone, and iPad. It includes eight themes with music, transitions, and titles, ten video filters created by Apple, and a lot of different effects: image in the image, slow motion, split-screen, and fast forward.
The application also has tools for creating soundtracks. One of the best features in iMovie is their ‘green screen’ That allows you to place your subject in any exotic location, let’s say Bali or Greenland.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface;
- A rich selection of tools for working with sound;
- Theater mode for sharing video with various devices from Apple;
- Support for working with 4K video.
Cons:
Lightworks
Lightworks is a free software option for video editing tools. The program works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is a perfect platform for camera operators, editors, sound engineers, bloggers. It can be used in advertising and for personal purposes, for creating home video archives and filling social networks.
Lightworks is a perfect option for small or no-budget projects. You can import and render your footage on the background, drag editing windows around, and set custom keyboard shortcuts to simplify your working process.
Pros:
- Cross-platform feature;
- 3D video processing;
- Multichannel support;
- The ability to edit and crop the timeline.
Cons:
Final Cut Pro X
Apple developed this video editor for their Mac OS. The interface is very similar to iMovie. It has a vast selection of effects: video, audio, transitions, title effects, and it is possible to add additional ones. It integrates uploads to YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo, as well as a wide range of video output formats.
Final Cut Pro costs $300 that seems like a lot of money, but this software is packed with a lot of amazing features. You can add audio and title effect to your footage, use color-code for identification, group video, and another element so that you can move them together.
Pros:
- High resolution of output projects;
- The presence of libraries and the ability to create a keyboard collection;
- The ability to preview a particular effect without applying it to a file;
- Effects with scaling, without loss of image quality;
- Format flexibility;
Cons:
HitFilm Express
This free-to-use software is designed for those who need a compelling set of tools for video processing. It offers plenty of useful features and many built-in templates, enabling you to edit video content with no effort. After creating a video, you can quickly export it in high quality.
HitFilm allows you to easily trim clips, adjust colors, and export your footage to any video format. Beyond that, this free tool also lets you create custom video masks, set green screen chroma keys, and produce powerful footage with a range of 3D compositional features.
Pros:
- Reliable timeline editor;
- Intuitive, flexible export features;
- Support for 360-degree and 4K video;
- Work on Mac and Windows.
Cons:
Adobe Premiere Rush
This app for editing on mobile phones and tablets was previously released for iOS.
Premiere Rush is a simplified Adobe Premiere Pro CC program. Their target audience is content creators for YouTube and video bloggers. It offers the possibility of color correction, video resizing, working with audio, and other features.
The app features professional templates that allow you to create amazing title effects and then share it on social media in a few clicks. It is a convenient tool to work with videos that you capture with your smartphone.
Pros:
- Quick and easy editing;
- Optimization for social networks;
- Easy-to-use interface;
- Useful features for sound editing.
Cons:
Filmora 9
Filmora Video Editor is considered a decent alternative to Windows Movie Maker, which has everything you need to manage your video.
With it, you can easily create any type of professional video or movie with different visual and audio effects, including filters, transitions, overlays, custom captions, and elements, etc.
They also offer Filmora Go that is designed for mobile editing and Filmora Scrn that lets you capture and edit videos of your screen. It is a useful tool for Youtubers who share any sort of video tutorials.
Pros:
- Support various formats;
- Easy to use;
- Sound and music library;
- 4K support;
Cons:
Corel VideoStudio Ultimate
This application offers an extensive and diverse set of video editing tools that are simple, even for beginners. It has plenty of video editing features, such as video collage templates, which allow you to merge multiple videos into a single layout and eliminate distortion on action camera videos. You can edit 360-degree video with its further direct export to YouTube.
This powerful tool is equipped with many features, such as 360-degree VR support, motion tracking, 4k support, and Multicam. Besides, it’s the fastest product on the market in terms of rendering.
Pros:
- A wide range of essential features;
- 4K video support;
- Multicam editing;
- Music library;
- Affordable price;
Cons:
Blender
It is a free editor that is mainly used for three-dimensional graphics. Thanks to its cross-platform characteristic, open-source code, availability, and functionality, the package became very popular not only among beginners but also among professional 3D modelers.
Video editing is not the main feature of this application, but it is powerful. Blender works pretty good on Mac, PC, and Linux. However, it lacks control when it comes to exporting videos and support file types.
Pros:
- A detailed and intuitive timeline;
- Audio mixing;
- Live preview;
- Many fancy transitions and filters;
- Affordable price;
Cons:
Fotor
Whether you want to create a video thumbnail for a series of videos or just one, you can use a secure online editor Fotor. They offer a vast number of modern, beautiful Video thumbnail templates that you can use and customize in a minute.
Moreover, Fotor allows you to create a perfect Youtube cover for your channel. The first impression is significant to impress your followers and share your call-to-action. You can encourage them to subscribe to your channel with a beautiful cover, like this one.
Final Cut Pro
The best software for editing videos for YouTube on Mac
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: MacPayment model: One-off purchaseFree trial: 90 daysBest for: Sophisticated featuresTODAY’S BEST DEALSUS$299.99VIEW AT APPLE
REASONS TO BUY
+Professional tool+Used by top YouTubers
If you’re looking for subscription-free software for editing videos for YouTube, we’d recommend Final Cut Pro. Well, as long as you have a Mac, because it’s not available on Windows.
First launched in 2011, Final Cut was the only serious player in this field for many years, and has been used to edit countless Hollywood films. Famous YouTubers using it to edit their videos include iJustine, Marques Brownlee, Austin Evans, Dude Perfect and Jonathan Morrison.
It’s available for a one-off fee, so is a good choice for long-term YouTubers who don’t want to pay a never-ending subscription. Final Cut Pro is also a good choice if you do all your work within the Apple ecosystem, because it works super-smoothly with your iTunes and Photos collections. And there’s currently a very generous 90-day free trial, so you can be sure you like it before committing.
In terms of the software itself, Final Cut Pro is brimming with sophisticated features to help you raise the look and feel of your YouTube videos to new levels. These include support for 4K, 360-degree video and HDR, advanced filters, multichannel audio tools, noise reduction and advanced colour grading. Most notably, the proprietary Magnetic Timeline system makes finding scenes and moving them around very simple and intuitive, while its Multicam feature lets you view up to 16 angles simultaneously and sync up to 64.
In short, as long as you use a Mac, both Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro offer YouTubers sophisticated tools for editing your videos and giving them that high-class sheen that will help them stand out from the pack. For more details to help you decide between them, check out our article Premiere Pro vs Final Cut Pro.
- Read our Final Cut Pro X review
Conclusion
A lot of people are interested in becoming content creators for youtube, but they don’t know what the best video editing software is to use.