Blog by Mitchell Vanlerberg – Digital Storytelling Ninja, Learn to Flourish

At Learn to Flourish, we create training and marketing videos for our clients and also teach people how to do it themselves. This means that we have to stay up to date with a video technology industry that is rapidly growing.

In the world of video creation, new tools continue to emerge to provide people with the resources for creating professional quality videos. In a previous blog article we reviewed four different template style video tools that are absolutely perfect for someone who has no experience with video creation. https://www.learntoflourish.com/how-to-choose-the-best-video-software-for-your-business/

In today’s article we are reviewing new tools that allow you to edit raw video footage and take you videos to the next level, while maintaining budget friendly and easy to learn options.

Learn to Edit Video | Learn to Flourish

Promo

Expert level: Beginner

Overview

Promo is an online video editing software that enables users to create short promo advertisements for their business. They have a wide variety of customizable templates that help reduce the time it takes to create a video as well as making it simple to edit. It features a large library of stock footage that is eligible to be used in your promo, and it also has the option to upload your pictures or videos to edit. There is also a royalty free music library. You can select a song from the library to use in your promo videos. Promo mainly focuses on creating advertisements for social media platforms and has options to export the video to the approximate dimensions for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

You can create five video projects for free using Promo, but after that, you have to upgrade to one of their plans for future use which start at $45 a month.

Access: All Devices (online tool)

Pros:

  • Library of customizable templates
  • Simple to use
  • Library of stock footage
  • Library of royalty free music
  • Able to export to social media dimension sizes

Cons:

  • Can only create five projects for free
  • Limited to only creating short advertisements
  • Not free

 

Cost: $45 a month for basic plan

Movavi

Expert level: Intermediate

Overview

Movavi is a video editing software available on both Windows and Mac computers. It is currently listed for $80 for purchase. It is very simple to use in terms of dragging in your desired video clips, adding transitions, and overlaying text. It also features a built-in video converter that enables you to convert video files to your desired file type. Another cool option is that it not only has a video editor but a photo editor as well. Other features that are worth mentioning is that it has a screen capture option, which allows you to record your computer screen if you wanted to create a tutorial video.

Access: PC and Mac

Pros:

  • Simple to use
  • Built-in video converter
  • Photo Editor
  • Screen Capture option

Cons:

  • Not free
  • Basic effects and transitions

Cost: $80

 

HitFilm Express

Expert level: Intermediate

Overview

This video editing software is completely FREE to use and one of the best video editing software to use to create professional looking videos. It can create complex VFX (computer-generated digital effects) but also has the simplicity to create basic promotional videos.

There are hundreds of VFX that can be created by using HitFilm and it is relatively easy to learn how to use. It has the capability to have multiple video and audio layers to overlay text, logos, pictures, or other videos over top of each other. The built-in tools allow you to mask pictures and video, as well as keyframe VFX and transforming clips. It is also available on both Windows and Mac computers.

Previous experience with video editing software would be helpful because some features are a bit advanced, but HitFilm Express can be used to create simple videos as well. If you are wanting to make professional looking videos from scratch for free, HitFilm is the software for you.

Access: PC and Mac

Pros:

  • Can create professional VFX
  • Multiple video and audio layers
  • Built-in masking tools
  • Keyframing

Cons:

  • Some features are advanced so familiarity with other video editing software is helpful

Cost: FREE

Blender

Expert level: Advanced

Overview

Blender is one of the largest open source video creation programs out there that are free to use. Although it is mostly used for creating 3D animation it does have a video editing tool to put together videos. It has several advanced video creation tools such as adjustment layers and keyframing effects, but it can also be used for the basics like cutting and trimming videos together. Blender is a very powerful program, but it can be very overwhelming. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend using it as a video editor unless you have a lot of experience with video editing.

Access: PC and Mac

Pros:

  • 3D animation
  • Adjustment layers
  • Keyframing

Cons:

  • Very advanced
  • Need a powerful computer to run software

Cost: FREE

iMovie

Expert level: Intermediate

Overview

If Blender was too complex for you, then iMovie would be a better option. It is only available on Mac computers, but it has a very user-friendly interface for editing videos. It allows you to simply drag and drop video and audio into the timeline to be trimmed or cut. You can apply basic transitions in between clips and can crop and zoom in on video clips. iMovie would be the software to use if you are unfamiliar with other video editing tools and just want to create a simple video to suit your needs.

Access: Mac

Pros:

  • Simple to use
  • Easy to learn

Cons:

  • Only on Mac computers
  • Basic editing tools

Cost: FREE

 

Swish

Expert level: Beginner

Overview

Swish is an app that is designed to create and edit video from your phone to be used for advertisements. It is simpler than Promo in terms of having a library of customizable templates and music, along with being able to export videos to the appropriate dimensions for social media. To use royalty free video and images, the app takes you directly to Getty Images to purchase any media you might need. The app is only available on Apple phones, so if you don’t have an Apple device, you’ll have to use another video editing software to create your videos.

Access: iPhones

Pros:

  • Library of customizable templates and music
  • Export video to social media dimension sizes
  • Simple to use

Cons:

  • Only available on iPhones
  • Have to purchase stock video and images
  • Limited to only creating short advertisements

Cost: FREE

 

InShot

Expert level: Beginner

Overview

This video editing app allows users to edit and trim videos from their phone while on the go. It meets all the basic video editing needs and includes various filters and effects that further enhance the video. It is also able to add text overlay to the video, which is perfect for advertisements. InShot is able to directly share your newly created video to your social media platforms through the app. I would only use this app for creating short video advertisements, since it has difficulties handling videos over ten minutes in length.

Access: iPhone and Android

Pros:

  • Slow motion tools
  • Crop tools
  • Filters and effects
  • Add text and stickers

Cons:

  • Very basic tools
  • Can’t add transitions
  • Has small watermark in bottom right hand corner

Cost: FREE

 

Conclusion

Which software is best for you? That depends on your current skill level and budget.

For a video editing software, I would highly recommend HitFilm Express. It’s completely free, available on both PC and Mac, and easy to learn for beginners. Once you’ve mastered the basic video editing tools, there still is room to grow by trying to master all of the VFX they have in their software.

If you’re wanting to create short advertisements and don’t have any experience with video editing, then Promo is a good tool because it is very easy to use and fast at creating advertisements in a timely manner. However, it comes at a high cost of $45 a month.

If you are just getting your toes wet with video creation then start simple and even free. Try out one of the free tools that we have listed here. For even easier to use tools go back to our article How to Choose the Best Video Software for Your Business where we reviewed and recommended inexpensive and easy to use video template tools.

 

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