• MovieMator Free Mac Video Editor is a totally free but very professional video editing software for Mac which support 250+ HD and SD video formats and almost all audio and image formats.
• Buying a MacBook for Video Editing: What to Look For? Graphics The key to a fast render is a high quality dedicated graphics card, and while lower level work will likely be fine using an integrated card, you'll want a dedicated one for anything beyond the casual home video or Youtube vlog.

• Video Editor For Mac 10.6.8
• Best Video Editor For Mac
• Video Editor For Macbook Air

Edit Article How to Edit with Video Editor for Mac. Create great home video without video editing experience. Video Editor for Mac provides many functions to help you edit video for use on Mac OS X.

Screenshots

Description

Offering professional quality, VideoPad Video Editor is the perfect video editor and recorder to make movies that will impress your family, friends, and colleagues. With its intuitive interface, you can quickly and easily start editing your project by using the drag and drop features to pull your audio and video clips in the timeline.
Enjoy the ability to jump right in and start editing using the many editing tools available. Customize your project by applying stunning effects, transitions, color corrections, and filters. Once your project is created to perfection, share it with friends online or burn directly to DVD or blu-ray.
Video Editing Features Include:
Video Features
+ Drag and drop for speed and convenience.
+ Record video directly from VideoPad application or use pre-existing video files.
+ Select from over 30 transitions
+Edit 360 videos
+ Apply artistic effects and filters, like: ripple, dots, dream, hue cycle, two-tone, or x-ray.
+ Take advantage of plugins to gain access to thousands more effects.
+Add custom title cards or chose from animated title card templates
+ Make color corrections with color curves, exposure, transparency, and much more.
+ Edit in 3D and 2D to 3D stereoscopic conversion
+ Adjust clip speed and transition durations
+ Use the chroma key/green screen for image replacement
+ Add text and captions to create a storyline
+ Use batch edit to edit multiple files and clips at once
Audio Features
+ Drag and drop in audio files or make a recording right in the app
+ Edit sound by using cut, copy, fade, split, and other editing tools
+ Convert text to audio by using the Text-To-Speech feature
+ Include stock sounds from the NCH Sound Library
+ Tell your movies story by creating narrations
+ Load music directly from a CD
+ Apply audio effects, like: amplify, compressor, flanger, or reverb
Sharing Features
+ Share online directly to Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Dropbox, or Google Drive
+ Burn to DVD or blu-ray to watch later
+ Export your movie onto portable devices, including your PSP, iPod, or iPhone
+ Choose from resolution sizes of full HD, 2K and 4K (720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p, and more)
Supported file formats include: avi, mpeg, wmv, divX, Xvid, APGN, mp4, mov, vob, H.264, ogm, gif, jpg, png, bmp, tif, wav, mp3, m4a, mid, aiff, ogg, raw, dvf, and more.

What’s New

New UI with Dark mode
New Video Effects:
- Flip
- Crop/Letterbox/Stretch to Aspect Ratio
- Circular/Directional Blur
- Noise Reduction
- Fade (Cross Fade, Fade In/Out)
Variable preview playback speed
H265 (HEVC) export for mp4 and mov

THE WORST

I hate admitting it but this thing has made me cry multipe times over multiple projects. It can do a lot and is really easy to figure out, but is a nightmare once you finish what youre working on. I recently finished the first draft of a video, about a months worth of work, and everything was going smoothly until I started trying to go back through from the beginning again. Suddenly it takes about an hour to load and process the files when it didn’t even take a minute before, and it crashes after about a minute or two. What’s worse is I tried editing a video clip at the very beginning and it messed up EVERYTHING. Video clips are now overlayed and I have to find them to seperate them, audio is no longer aligned with the video, text and extra audio is all over the place. This insanity also started happening on my last project, but I was able to just save and export it before anything too bad happened to it, even though it wasn’t finished either. And I last about half my work on the video I finished before that one, just gone like I never did. I kept coming back to it because it can do most everything I want to do while being free, and I keep hoping maybe it was really me messing it up or that the updates will have fixed it, but it just keeps reuining projects I’ve spent weeks working on and will not allow me to fix them. It could be a great video editor if it didn’t destroy the every video you use it to create.

Developer Response,

Hello,
We are very sorry to hear about the inconveniences you have experienced with our application. I have passed along your review to our development team so we can investigate the issues you have brought forward. If you could message us with more details about your experience, including App version, OS version, any relevant file information, and anything you think would help us better look into the problem, we would appreciate it: http://www.nch.com.au/software/bug.html In the meantime, please reach to our support team. We would love to try to assist you with the problems you have faced and resolve them as soon as possible: http://www.nch.com.au/support/supportcontact.html?software=VideoPad
-NCH Software team

Best of a Bad Situation

Let me guess, you’re looking for a video editing app that isn’t $500 and is easy to use. VideoPad Video Editor definitely isn’t $500 (currently $99), and, while it is pretty intuitive, it’s not without shortcomings.
I’ve used the free version of VideoPad Video Editor to get by on small projects without much of an issue. The limitations are saving files in high resolutions (I believe anything over 1200x1200), no audio FX (minus fading in / fading out) and a few others. I’ve came so close to paying the $99 to fully experience VideoPad, but some of the lackluster qualities of it have really made me reconsider.
The biggest, and most frustrating, is crashing. Yes, there is an autosave, but, with my minute long video project, if I try to shorten any of the audio clips, the app crashes. There’s no worse purchase than food you don’t like, but spending money on a video app that prevents you from completing the task is a close second.
The second, though nitpicking, is the app is pretty dated UI-wise. I grew up using a variety of command line-only apps, so it certainly can be worse. The year is 2018, and a facelift would be a bit more welcoming.
In short, don’t expect the world from a free video editing app and dont expect it’ll get better just because you paid.
~~ I will gladly update this review if these issues are revised. If a log is needed for figuring out the crashes, feel free to respond with how and where to send, and I will do so promptly.

Developer Response,

Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to give us your well thought out feedback. We appreciate it as we are always aiming to improve our software. We do have a way you can report these issues so that our development team can investigate it located here: http://www.nch.com.au/software/bug.html
But for overall concerns with our software, please message our support team here (for assistance, for suggestions about UI, to address concerns that have made you reconsider the full product, etc.): http://www.nch.com.au/support/supportcontact.html?software=VideoPad
We hope to hear from you soon and apologize for any inconveniences you've had.
-NCH Software Team

Superb

I only recently got into video editing by accident. Wanted to crop a home movie and could not find inexpensive software that could do what I wanted. Have very little background on editing and related tools. I found the program fantastic in what it could do, versatile, and easy to use. I have been trying different stuff and I really like it, so much so that I am thinking of asking my boss to spring for a license or Pro version so I can use it at work. Very much recomend it.

Information

Video Editor For Mac 10.6.8

OS X 10.7.3 or later, 64-bit processor

• Family Sharing

  With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

Edit Video on Your PC

Nothing makes an impression like moving pictures with sound. That's why digital video continues to grow in importance online. Couple that trend with the ever-increasing availability of devices capable of high-resolution video recording—phones, GoPros, DSLRs—and the case for ever-more powerful video editing software becomes clear. Further, the software must be usable by nonprofessionals, and it has to keep up with newer formats such as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) and 360-degree VR video, and it has to be able to handle 4K and higher resolution.

Increasingly, new capabilities trickle down from professional-level software to the consumer category. That's a good thing for nonprofessional movie editors, since the more consumer-oriented software tends to make easier procedures that can sometimes be pretty tricky in the pro-level software. Read on for a survey of the latest trends in video editing software along with our top picks in the field.

Multicam, Motion Tracking, and Yet More Motion

Advanced abilities continue to make their way into accessible, affordable, and consumer-friendly video editing software as each new generation of software is released. For example, multicam editing, which lets you switch among camera angles of the same scene shot with multiple video cameras, used to be a feature relegated to pro-level software. Now this and many other advanced effects are available in programs designed for use by nonprofessional enthusiasts.

Another impressive effect that has made its way into consumer-level video editing software is motion tracking, which lets you attach an object or effect to something moving in your video. You might use it to put a blur over the face of someone you don't want to show up in your video. You specify the target face, and the app takes care of the rest, tracking the face and moving the effect to follow it. This used to be the sole province of special effects software such as Adobe After Effects. Corel VideoStudio was the first of the consumer products to include motion tracking, and it still leads the pack in the depth and usability of its motion-tracking tool, though several others now include the capability.

The 4K Video Factor

Support for 4K video source content has become pretty standard in video editing software, but the support varies among the products. For example, some but not all of the applications can import Sony XAVC and XAVC-S formats, which are used by Sony's popular DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camcorders, and professional video cameras. The same holds true for the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. Most of the applications here now can import and export HEVC, though there are still a few holdouts.

360-Degree VR Support

Best Video Editor For Mac

Several of the products here (Adobe Premiere Elements is a notable exception) still support 3D video editing if that's your thing, though the this has been replaced by 360-degree VR footage like that shot by the Samsung Gear 360 as the current home-theater fad. As is often the case, our Editors' Choice, CyberLink PowerDirector was the first product in this group to offer support for this new kind of video media.

Other programs have jumped on board with 360 VR support, including Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro X, and Magix Movie Edit Pro. Support varies, with some apps including 360-compatible titles, stabilization, and motion tracking. PowerDirector is notable for including those last two. Final Cut offers a useful tool that removes the camera and tripod from the image, often an issue with 360-degree footage.

Video Editing 101

Of course, none of the extras matter if an app can't do the most basic editing tasks. At this point, however, all of the products included here do a good job of letting you join, trim, and split video clips. They also let you make use of special effects such as animated transitions, picture-in-picture (PiP), chroma-key (the technique that lets you place a subject against any background, often known as green screening), and filters that enhance colors or apply creative effects and distortions. With most of them you can add a multitude of timeline tracks that can accommodate video clips, effects, audio, and text overlays.

A tool coming to the latest versions of video editing applications is support for seamless transitions. Picture a scene showing people at a beach, and suddenly the sky zooms in and your in Rome or Paris, but it looks like you're in the same place because the transition glued the two scenes together using the sky. There are plenty of other examples of seamless transition; this magnificent video shows a good selection of them, and is partly responsible for starting the trend.

Color, LUTs and CLUTs

One of the capabilities that has been making its way into consumer-level video editing software is more-detailed color grading. Color wheels, curves, and histograms give editors control over the intensity of every shade. Related to this is support for LUTs (lookup tables), also known as CLUTs (color lookup tables). This staple of pro-level software lets you quickly change the look of a video to give it a specific mood. For example, think of the dark blue look of thriller movies like The Revenant. You can download LUTs for free from several sites or use those included with some video software to give your video a specific look. One well-known LUT type is the kind that can make a daytime scene look like it was shot at night.

Where the Action Is

Many video editing apps now include tools that cater to users of action cameras such as the GoPro Hero7 Black. For example, several offer automated freeze-frame along with speedup, slowdown, and reverse time effects. CyberLink PowerDirector's Action Camera Center pulls together freeze frame with stabilization, slo-mo, and fish-eye correction, and color correction for underwater footage. Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium includes the third-party NewBlue ActionCam Package of effects. And Wondershare Filmora lets you subscribe to new effect packs on an ongoing basis.

Titles That Zing

I've been seeing a lot of attention paid to creating title effects in the applications over the past year. Apple Final Cut Pro X has added 3D title creation, which is pretty spiffy, letting you extrude 2D titles and rotate them on three axes. Corel VideoStudio in its latest version also adds 3D Titling, though not as powerful as Apple's. PowerDirector's Title Designer offers transparency, gradient color, border, blur level, and reflection in titles; Magix has impressive title templates, complete with animations. Premiere Elements offers a nifty title effect in which your video fills the text characters, and Corel recently followed suit in VideoStudio 2019. Look for an application that lets you edit titles in WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) mode, so that you can type, format, and time it right over the video preview.

Gathering Speed

Video editing is one of the most computing-intensive activities around, so you'll want the best laptop or desktop you can afford if you're serious about cutting your own movies. Most applications help speed up the editing process by creating a proxy file of lower resolution, so that normal editing and previewing aren't slowed down by the huge full-resolution files.

Particularly intensive is the process of rendering your finished product into a standard video file that will by playable on the target device of choice, be that an HDTV, a laptop, or a smartphone. Most of the software can take advantage of your computer's graphics processor to speed this up. Be sure to check the performance section in each review linked here to see how speedy or slow the application is. In rendering speed testing, CyberLink and Pinnacle have been my perennial champs.

Other measures of performance include startup time and simple stability. Again, video editing is a taxing activity for any computer, involving many components. In the past, video editing programs took longer than most other apps to start up, and unexpected shutdowns were unfortunately common, even in top apps from top developers such as Adobe and Apple. The stability situation has greatly improved, but the complexity of the process, which increases as more powerful effects are added, means crashes will likely never be fully eliminated, and they often raise their ugly heads after a program update, as I found with the latest version of Pinnacle Studio.

Free Video Editing Software

If you don't want to invest a lot of money and effort into your video editing exploits, there are a few free options. Of course, if you use a Mac, the excellent iMovie comes with it. For PC users, Windows 10's Photos app (as of the Fall Creators Update) lets you join, trim, and even add background music, 3D animated effects, and titles to video.

There are also some free video apps on the Windows Store, including Movie Moments, PowerDirector Mobile, Movie Maker, and Magix Movie Edit Touch. Some of these are quite basic, but the Magix app is fairly capable, with clip joining, transitions, and effects, in a very touch-friendly interface.

Free video editing software often comes with legal and technical limitations, however. Some widely used codecs require licensing fees on the part of the software maker, meaning they can't offer free software that can handle these standard file formats. That said, the impressive open-source Shotcut does a lot of the same things that the paid applications in this roundup do, including things like chroma-keying and picture-in-picture. Shotcut is completely open-source and free, while another free option, Lightworks has paid options that remove a 720p output resolution limit. Note also that both Shotcut and Lightworks run on Linux as well as Windows and Mac.

What About Apple?

Video Editor For Macbook Air

Though Mac users don't have the sheer number of software choices available for PCs, Apple fans interested in editing video are well served, by four products in particular. At the entry level, the surprisingly capable and enjoyable-to-use iMovie comes free with every Mac sold since at least 2011. iMovie only offers two video tracks, but does good job with chroma-keying, and its Trailers feature makes it easy to produce slick, Hollywood-style productions.

In the midrange, there's Adobe Premiere Elements, which is cross-platform between Macs and PCs, and offers a lot more features and lots of help with creating effects. Professionals and prosumers have powerful, though pricey options in Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro. Final Cut is a deceptively simple application that resembles iMovie in its interface and ease of use, but it offers massively deep capabilities, and many third-party apps integrate with it for even more power. It also makes excellent use of the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, as shown in photo above. Premiere Pro uses a more traditional timeline and adds a large ecosystem of companion apps and plug-ins. It also excels in collaboration features.

Audio Editing

We still live in the days of talkies, so you want to be able to edit the audio in your digital moves as well as the images. Most of the products included here offer canned background music, and many, such as Pinnacle Studio, can even tailor the soundtrack to the exact length of your movie. All of these programs can separate audio and video tracks, and most can clean up background noise and add environmental audio effects such as concert hall reverb. A couple of the products have an auto-ducking feature, which lowers background music during dialog—a definite pro-level plus.

What's Not Here

There are more video editing software applications than we can fit into this roundup of the best options, which includes only software rated three stars and higher. The best known among them is probably Vegas Movie Studio, which was recently acquired by Magix from Sony. Sony's product used a very cluttered interface that more resembled high-end professional video editing software from the early days of the craft. Magix has made some progress in simplifying it and bringing it up to par with the competition, but more work is needed for it to be included here.

Another program, VSDC Video Editor Pro, simply has too outdated an interface, making common tasks difficult. Longtime pro video editors will note the absence of Avid Media Composer, which is simply too unwieldy for PCMag's primarily consumer audience. There are a couple of more interesting applications—NCH VideoPad and AVS Video Editor among them—that we simply haven't tested yet.

The Finish Line

The video editing application you choose depends on your budget, the equipment you're using, and how serious you are. Fortunately, you're spoiled for choice with the products available. Peruse our in-depth reviews of enthusiast-level video editing software reviews linked below to see which is the right one for you.

One final note about the features table at the top of this story: Check marks represent differentiating, above-the-call-of-duty features, rather than essential ones. So, just because Nero Video and Wondershare Filmora don't have any checks, it doesn't mean they're not good choices. In fact, both offer decent basic editing on a budget.

Best Video Editing Software Featured in This Roundup:

• Adobe Premiere Pro CC Review

  
  MSRP: $19.99
  

  Pros: Clear, flexible interface. Lots of organizational tools. Responsive speed. Ultimate power in video editing. Rich ecosystem of video production apps. Excellent stabilization. Unlimited multi-cam angles.

  Cons: No keyword tagging for media. Some techniques require additional applications such as After Effects or SpeedGrade.

  Bottom Line: An expansive professional-level digital video editing program, Premiere Pro CC has everything today's pro video editor needs, particularly when it comes to collaboration.

  Read Review

• CyberLink PowerDirector Review

  
  MSRP: $129.99
  

  Pros: Fast rendering. Clear interface. Loads of effects. The most 360-degree video capabilities of any video editor. Multicam editing. 3D and 4K capability. Motion tracking. Screen recording.

  Cons: No trimming in source panel. Number of options can make interface overwhelming. Weak color matching.

  Bottom Line: PowerDirector is one of the fastest and most capable consumer-level video editing apps for Windows around, and the first to support 360-degree VR footage.

  Read Review

• Corel VideoStudio Ultimate Review

  
  MSRP: $99.99
  

  Pros: Wide selection of fun video-creation tools. Clear, simple interface. Fast rendering. Support for 360-degree VR, 4K Ultra HD, and 3D media. Multipoint Motion tracking. Multicam editing. HTML5 video page creation. Stop-motion tool.

  Cons: No keyword tagging for media.

  Bottom Line: Corel VideoStudio remains one of the most feature-packed consumer video editing packages around. The 2019 update adds powerful color-grading tools, seamless transitions, and text masks.

  Read Review

• Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Review

  
  MSRP: $129.95
  

  Pros: Clear interface. Edits 360-degree VR content. Fast rendering performance in testing. Tons of effects. Multicam editing. 4K and H.265 support. Tagging and star ratings for media. Good audio tools.

  Cons: Motion tracking issues on one test PC. Occasional crashes in testing. Uneven 360-degree VR implementation.

  Bottom Line: Pinnacle Studio is a fast, full-featured, near-professional-level video-editing application with support for 360-degree VR, 3D, and multicam edits. New color grading and four-point editing make it even more appealing, though our testing uncovered some instabilities.

  Read Review

• Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium Review

  
  MSRP: $129.99
  

  Pros: Lots of video effects. Multicam. Good titling tools. Trailer-like movie templates. Solid audio editing tools. Strong disc authoring. Fast rendering. Good stability. 360-degree media support.

  Cons: Not much help with difficult procedures. Lacks import and organization tools. Extra costs and coded downloads for some video formats.

  Bottom Line: Now with faster rendering, Movie Edit Pro offers solid stability, up-to-date support for 4K, 360-degree, and multicam editing, but it trails other video editing software in ease-of-use.

  Read Review

• Adobe Premiere Elements Review

  
  MSRP: $99.99
  

  Pros: Clear, simple interface. Guided Edits ease basic and advanced projects. Lots of video effects. Solid text tools. Powerful Audio editing. Good control over stabilization. 4K support.

  Cons: No 360-degree VR or 3D editing. No multicam feature or screen recording capability. Slow rendering speeds. No HEVC support in Windows.

  Bottom Line: Adobe's consumer video editing app adds a new start page, Auto Creations, a redesigned quick-editing interface, and faster performance.

  Read Review

• Wondershare Filmora Review

  
  MSRP: $59.99
  

  Pros: Pleasing interface. Inexpensive. Lots of effects and overlays. Good title tool.

  Cons: Action Cam and Cutter modes only allow one clip at a time. No search for effects or transitions. No motion tracking. No DVD menu or chapter authoring. Not a touch-friendly interface.

  Bottom Line: Wondershare's Filmora video editing software may not have multicam or the hottest new VR tools, but it does have a pleasing interface and lots of effects.

  Read Review

• Apple Final Cut Pro X Review

  
  MSRP: $299.99
  

  Pros: Magnetic, trackless timeline. Superior organization tools, including libraries, ratings, tagging, auto analysis for faces, scenes. Support for 360-degree footage and HDR. Multicam support. Fast performance. MacBook Touch Bar support.

  Cons: Nontraditional timeline-editing may turn off longtime editors. Can't import projects from previous versions without a third-party plug-in. No stabilization or motion tracking for 360-degree video.

  Bottom Line: Apple's professional-level video editing software, Final Cut Pro X, brings a wealth of power in an interface simple for pros and consumers alike. Recent highlights include rich support for 360-degree content and improved stability.

  Read Review

• Nero Video Review

  
  MSRP: $49.99
  

  Pros: Inexpensive. Plenty of video effects. Good audio tools. Solid file format support, including H.265. Compatible with 4K content. Burns DVD, Blu-ray, and AVCHD.

  Cons: Light on features. Outdated, unconventional interface. No 360 or 3D support. No motion tracking. No direct output to social networks.

  Bottom Line: For less money than the competition, Nero offers a wide array of enthusiast-level video editing capabilities, but the interface is dated and it trails in support for new formats and techniques.

  Read Review

• Apple iMovie Review

  
  MSRP: $0.00
  

  Pros: Beautifully simple interface. Color matching for consistent movie looks. Classy themes. Great chroma-keying tool. Lots of audio tools. Theater feature shares movies to all your Apple gear.

  Cons: Not as flexible as some PC video editors. In the name of simplicity, some useful controls are missing. Does not support tagging. Lacks multicam or motion tracking capabilities. Limited to two video tracks.

  Bottom Line: Apple's excellent entry-level desktop video editing application can turn your footage and photos into impressive productions.

  Read Review