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If you like creating your own videos, whether of family events or longer projects like films, you’re going to need to use a good video editing program to get the results you are after. However, some of these programs are quite expensive, and you may prefer to choose one of the free ones that are […]
If you like creating your own videos, whether of family events or longer projects like films, you’re going to need to use a good video editing program to get the results you are after. However, some of these programs are quite expensive, and you may prefer to choose one of the free ones that are available. Here are some of the best free programs that you can choose from, so take a look through these and find out which is the most suitable for you.
Free Video DubOne of the main advantages of Free Video Dub is that you can edit as much as you want without the program re-encoding the video so you don’t lose any quality. This can therefore be very useful if you have a lot of footage. Apart from that, it has many of the basic features that you would expect from a video editing program and is a good option.
Windows Movie Maker is very easy to use. It features drag-and-drop functionality, and allows you to assemble your videos quickly and add a large number of special effects and transitions. It also supports a wide range of video formats, and you can upload your finished videos directly to YouTube. From there, people can then download your video using a program such as YTD.
This powerful editing program has a large number of features, including good multi-cam support, and some very good trimming tools. The downside is that there is a lot to learn before you can start to get the most from it, so you will have to spend some time reading through the documentation. It is therefore a better option for more experienced editors.
iMovie is only free when you buy a Mac, but if you do manage to get it for free you will find it a very capable and easy-to-use program. It has a wide range of tools that allow you to trim, add fades and create other effects to make your videos more professional, and for basic editing it is very useful.
This is a fairly basic but very competent editing program that allows you to do all of the basic things that you require to make your home videos look more professional, such as adding a soundtrack. It won’t take you long at all to work out how to use it, but because it has some limitations it is more suited to simple projects.
This program is highly functional and allows you to make use of some very powerful editing tools. However, again the learning curve is steep and the documentation could be better. If you stick with it, you will get a lot out of it, and you can use features such as filters, effects and transitions. You can then optimise your finished video for various devices or burn it straight to a DVD.
There are many free video editing suits available, and the great thing about these is that you can download them and try them out for yourself without paying anything. Experiment with a few of the above programs and decide which one works best for you. They all have different advantages and disadvantages, so try them out for yourself and find one that does everything you want it to do.
Make sure to remember to respect IP with video downloads.
Steven Young likes to look for and use free programs. He also likes to share his opinions of them by posting online.
