Tips and Tricks | Choosing Video Editing Software

With the best video editing software, you can transform raw footage into a slick, polished package. Whether you’re aiming to specialise in video editing, or you’re a vlogger who needs to assemble their own footage, there are plenty of programs out there that can potentially suit your purposes. The trick, of course, is just figuring out which is right for you.

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make is whether you want to opt for a subscription-based software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, or a one-time purchase that’s yours for life, like Apple’s Final Cut Pro. While the upfront cost is often considerably more for one-time-purchase programs, you can end up saving money in the long run, especially if you plan to use it for many years to come.

In this guide, our experts have gone through a few of the main options for video editing, listing each of their pros and cons, as well as the key features that are worth being aware of. Let’s take a closer look…

Adobe Premiere Pro / Elements

Pros:

• Monthly and one-time-purchase options
• User-friendly interface

Cons:

• Elements lacks a lot of advanced features
  
  

There are two versions of Premiere; Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Premiere Elements. The biggest difference between the two is its audience. The first one has been created for professionals whereas the Elements range has been developed for beginners and enthusiasts. 

The price also reflects this, as Adobe Premiere Pro costs (at time of writing) £21.98 per month (individual) or £238.42 annually, whereas Elements only cost £86.56 for a lifetime. Alternatively, you can also purchase all apps in the Adobe Creative Suite for a healthy £56.94 a month. 

This can be the best option for creative freelancers as you can also work with After Effects when subscribing to this plan. One thing that many editors particularly like about working in Premiere Pro is its holistic nature — you can perform basic time-line editing, colour grading, and sound mixing all in one handy program.

Key features of Adobe Premiere Elements:

• Adobe Sensei AI Technology facilitates the automatic creation of stunning photo and video slideshows and collages upon launch.
• InstantMovie creates simple videos of your selected clips accompanied by music, titles, and effects.
• Video Story allows you to pick an overall theme for your creation. Simply select the clips you want in each chapter and Video Story will do the rest for you including clip trimming, transitions, and music.
• Quick Edit Mode takes you step-by-step through the video editing process.
• Ideal for wedding videos, birthday collages, memories, and simple travel videos to share with your friends and family.

Key features of Adobe Premiere Pro:

• The leading video editing software for film, television, and the web.
• The app facilitates integration with other Adobe Creative Apps such as After Effects and Audition for a much faster and convenient post-production workflow.
• Tools for sound mixing, colour grading, and graphics are included.
• Premiere Pro comes with Lumetri Colour which makes colour correction simple yet powerful.
• Users can dial down or remove background noise and reverb thanks to the Essential Sound Panel.
• Infographics with Motion Graphics templates come in useful for web b2b videos and can be used as a much more simplistic alternative to After Effects.
• This software is powerful enough to support the creation of end-to-end VR 180.
• Keyframing offers precise control over your footage.
• Feature films such as David Fincher’s Gone Girl (2014) and James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) have been cut on this software.
• The interface is incredibly user-friendly with a simple and easy to understand design.
• Finally, there are many plug-ins that can be incorporated into the software depending on your creative needs.

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 19

Pros:

• Basic version is completely free
• Brilliant tools for colour grading
• Includes audio editing options

Cons:

• Quite resource-hungry
• Not the easiest to use
  
  

One of the most notable things about Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 19 is that the core version is absolutely free. That’s right — you can download and install it right now and start editing clips within the hour, without paying a penny. The professional Studio version does come with a price tag, for which you get high-end tools like 8K video support, as well as improved performance. It’s a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, and at £245 currently it’s a pretty reasonable outlay.

The latest version of the software incorporates Blackmagic’s DaVinci Neural Engine AI tools. The software particularly excels for colour grading, and offers plenty of built-in tools that just make life easier, such as the in-built video stabilisation functionality, or the clever Magic Mask that lets you isolate specific subjects for localised edits. It doesn’t offer as wide a suite of tools as Adobe’s range of programs for different purposes, but it’s still an impressive proposition for video editors.

Key features of Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 19:

• This industry-grade colour grading software offers a combination of pro 8K editing, colour correction, visual effects, and audio post-production.
• It has been designed for multi-user collaboration perfect for production houses. This allows editors, assistants, colourists, VFX artists, and sound designers to work live on the same project.
• Functions include custom timeline settings, keyframe curve editor, image stabilisation, facial recognition, tape-style audio scrubbing, and smarter encoding.
• Depth Map feature allows you to quickly and easily grade the foreground and background separately.
• Magic Mask allows for selection, tracking and grading of specific subjects
• Supports Blackmagic RAW
• Ideal for getting started with video editing as the basic version (which is still powerful) is absolutely free

Final Cut Pro 

Pros:

• Works great with features on advanced Apple computers (e.g. the Touch Bar)
• Superb organisational tools

Cons:

• Mac only
• Premiere Pro offers more features
  
  

Final Cut Pro, Apple’s editing software for Mac, has come a long way and become more professional-grade over the years, to the point where some editors consider it to be of the same standard as Premiere Pro. On balance it is probably more suited to beginners, YouTubers, vloggers, etc., but there are many types of editors who might find it suits them well — not least those who don’t want to be tethered to eternal subscription payments. 

Currently, Final Cut Pro costs £299.99. It may sound like a lot, but that’s for a lifetime of use, and it’ll only take a few years of using Premiere Pro before you’ve paid a similar amount. It’s great for those who want beautiful colour correction and SFX presets but don’t need professional filmmaking-level software. Its organisational tools are also second to none, so if you’re working with a lot of footage and need to create a searchable catalogue/archive, it’s an excellent choice.

Key features of Final Cut Pro

• No Country For Old Men (2007) directed by the Coen brothers has been edited using Final Cut Pro X as well as Cold Mountain (2003) edited by the legendary Walter Murch.  
• As with the other editing software, this one also supports editing, audio, and motion graphics in addition to advanced colour grading, HDR support, and ProRes RAW. 360-deg video editing and VR headset playback are also available. Other features include video editing tools, organisation tools, motion graphics, audio, and delivery.
• Video noise reduction function eliminates unwanted grain from your footage.
• Can import and edit 8K video, as well as ProRes, ProRes RAW, and all major professional camera formats.
• The famous Magnetic Timeline can fluidly adjust adjacent clips, eliminating gaps, collisions and sync problems.
• Organisational tools allow you to rate, keyword and categorise your clips for easy archiving.
• Suite of plug-ins for audio including compression, EQ and more.

Avid Media Composer

Pros:

• Still the professional industry standard – so is worth learning
• Very powerful

Cons:

• Complex and takes some getting used to
• A bit clunkier than other programs
  
  

Avid is a beast of a program, capable of processing complex VSFX that Premiere Pro can’t handle. It is professional-grade and is very much aimed at advanced editors. Films such as The Dark Knight (2008) directed by Christopher Nolan, as well as a bundle of Oscar-winning and nominated films, have been edited with Avid. There is a perception that if you want to make it big in Hollywood as an editor you need to learn Avid Media Composer. It is also the preferred editing software to teach students at the New York Film Academy. 

It has a more complicated interface that can put people off; however, it is very powerful. If you can master it you can pretty much edit using any other program mentioned in this blog post. The consensus is that Avid is far more advanced and professional with a long history of industry use. Feature films and TV broadcasts used Avid for years, and there are many employers who appreciate editors that have knowledge and experience of operating Avid Media Composer — even if day to day they mostly use Adobe — as it shows proficiency.

Like Resolve, Avid also offers a stripped-back version that is free to download — Media Composer First. While it lacks plenty of the features that make their way into the more advanced versions, it’s still a solid starting point. Also, like Adobe, Avid has hopped onto the subscription train, so its programs come at an annual subscription cost rather than a one-time perpetual licence.

Key features of Avid Media Composer:

• Oscar and Emmy award-winning software.
• Any type of footage can be edited with this piece of tech including HD, UHD, 8K, 16K, HDR, stereoscopic 3D, and IMAX.
• Latest version includes automated speech-to-text transcription features.
• Subscription-based service — no longer a one-time purchase
• Professional standard across many parts of the industry — most contemporary Oscar-nominated films are still edited using Avid.
• Patented multi-camera editing tools.

FAQs

What is the best video editing software for beginners?

If you’re at the start of your video editing journey, you will want some editing software with an intuitive interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and easy-to-use editing tools. Look for software with built-in tutorials, templates, and basic effects, ensuring you can learn quickly without feeling overwhelmed.

How do I improve video quality when editing?

You can try to improve video quality by focusing on adjusting brightness, contrast, and saturation. Sharpening and reducing noise can also help. But the best thing to do is optimise before you get to the edit. Using higher-resolution footage and ensuring proper lighting during recording will help with the video quality and yield better results in post-production.

How do I edit videos for social media platforms?

To edit videos for social media, first, check the platform’s specific video dimensions and length requirements. Trim unnecessary footage, add captions, and consider including catchy intros and outros. Keep the content engaging, fast-paced, and optimised for mobile viewing.

What is the difference between rendering and exporting a video?

Rendering refers to the process of processing all video effects, transitions, and layers to create a smooth, final video. Exporting is when the fully rendered video is saved in a specific file format, ready for sharing or uploading.

How do I reduce the file size of a video without losing quality?

To reduce video file size while maintaining quality, compress the video using codecs like H.264 or H.265. Adjusting the bitrate and resolution also helps, but avoid reducing these too much to prevent significant loss of clarity.