Creating quality videos takes more than a decent camera and a good idea. To really take your footage to the next level some post-processing is required.
Depending on your video editing background and what you’re looking for, there are many free video editors in the market. Some of these programs allow professional-level editing while others are available for simple edits with an easy learning curve. Here are the top 5 free video editors for 2022:
Before the top 5: Adobe Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro is not free, but one of the best programs available to edit videos. The advanced tools and endless addons are unmatched. You can give it a shot for a free 1 week trial here. Now let’s get on to the free stuff…
1. Davinci Resolve
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The software many call the king of all free video editors, Davinci Resolve contains tools allowing professional level editing. It has been used to post process many television shows and movies. Features include HDR grading tools, AI based magic mask, powerful audio engine, and live effect previews. While the learning curve is slightly higher than with other programs on this list, it is well worth your investment.
2. Blender
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Blender is one of the best free video editors for both Windows and Mac. Besides its capabilities for editing any video you want, 3D capabilities are endless. Features include modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, and 2D animation pipeline. In other words, if your video requires 3D, Blender is your answer.
3. VSDC Free Video Editor
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VSDC Free Video Editor only works on Windows. However, all major video formats are supported. Features include color correction, object transformation, sound normalization, volume correction, Chroma Key tool, zoom, charts, and 360 video editing. The strongest point for VSDC may be it’s ease of use. It seems to have one of the lower learning curves compared to others on this list.
4. Avidemux
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Avidemux is an open source video editor that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Avidemux allows you to make many different types of simple edits to your videos. From joining clips to cutting them, there are also many filters you can apply including contrast, colors, sharpen, rotate, resize, flip, and brightness. This program is on the easier side when it comes to picking up – although this means some advanced features present in other programs are missing.
5. Lightworks
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Lightworks is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. There is both a Pro and Free version of the program.
With a wide variety of tools and capabilities, Lightworks is great free option. Believe it or not, it was actually used to edit some popular movies including Pulp Fiction and The Wolf of Wall Street. This editor features one of the best timelines tools on this list. The UI has a very professional feel to it. Advanced features included in this post processor make the learning curve a little more difficult.