Lightwork excels especially at quick editing, you can easily add real-time effects, trim video clips, add voiceovers, do multi-cam editing, and more. It is meant to be usable as a professional video editing tool, and it shows. Lightworks was the editing software of choice for movies from Pulp Fiction to Wolf of Wall Street. Lightworks imitates in many ways Avid, the non-linear editing system of choice for those working in the film and video industry. It is incredibly powerful and able to manipulate 4K quality video blisteringly fast while iMovie and others on this list stutter. Lightworks is another of the best free video editors you can get for Mac, designed for quick and easy editing of videos imported into the software. For everyday video editing though, iMovie gets the job done spectacularly well. IMovie is reflected at the consumer market, and this shows when you’re trying to edit hour-long clips at 4K or trying to compress its large video files. Effortlessly import music or videos from iTunes, go back and forth using iMovie on your iPhone or iPad as you edit, and enjoy the simple and intuitive interface that is standardised across Apple products. The interface is aesthetically pleasing and very uncluttered, so the stress is taken out of editing.Ībove all, iMovie’s biggest selling point is the deep connection iMovie has to the rest of the Apple ecosystem. IMovie supports 4K graphics video editing, high-fidelity filters, and can utilise every feature on a mac device including the newest models’ touch bars to make video editing as intuitive as possible.

Not quite as powerful as some other options on this list, iMovie still packs a punch and does everything a video editor will need. iMovie is now over twenty years old, and that history has meant its developers have a great understanding of what its users need. So we’ve compiled some of our favourite video tools for an editor on a budget to bring into their collection.įree video editing software is available on every new and refurbished MacBook air the moment you open it up. The king of all video editing tools, Adobe Premiere Pro, is more expensive than most students are willing to pay for. Many people buy refurbished MacBook airs specifically for this. Video editing has become an essential tool for animators, film students, and people hoping to make a splash on YouTube or Twitch.

Best video editing software 2018