When you create a video file filming on your digital camera or mobile phone, it is stored on your device, and you can easily watch it anytime. But what if you want to string multiple video clips together side by side, and what if you want to add titles or some filters, which are also called color grading and transition between your clips?
Well, now you are entering the realm of video editing. To edit a video, you will need software to take all the pieces of media you want and put them into a particular order. And render a unique clip or movie. Editing a video can be tricky if you are entirely new to it, but that is not the case, especially when you have the foundational understanding.
No wonder Mac has always been the first preference of all video creators worldwide because of the quality Mac gives while editing and rendering videos are unmatchable. It’s great if you have a Macbook and thinking of beginning video editing. Here are the most in-demand video editing software for macOS available in the market.
Top Best Video Editing Software for Mac for All professional enthusiasts & Beginners
We hope this will work with all Apple’s Silicon M1-series, M1 Pro (MacBook Pro), M1 Max (MacBook Pro & Mac Studio), M1 ultra (Mac Studio), M2 chip of 2022 (MacBook Pro & MacBook Air) Or Intel chip Mac computer.
#1. Adobe Premiere Pro:
Premier Pro is a video editing software that helps you to edit and create videos. It is the best choice for professional video editors who want to work in a high-quality editing environment. This software provides various features like audio mixing, color correction, effects, and many more. You can also use this program on Windows or Mac operating system. As far as video editing software goes, Premiere Pro is pretty powerful; if you want to string together a couple of different clips in order, it can do that. Premier Pro’s ability to edit together a Hollywood-level movie makes it so demanding. It has an insane number of different features that are used to enhance the quality of videos.
The place where you can attach all the clips is called a timeline. On it, you can move the video clips around and stack them on each other in an infinite amount of vertical layers. You can also add things like sound effects and ambiance. Premier Pro has many tools to manipulate the audio you will attach to your clip, including basic stuff like adjusting the volume up and down and more in-depth tools like adjusting the actual characteristics of the sound.
A range of effects is available to you, from basic things like blurring your video to more advanced ones like stabilizing a shaky video. Now the final task of any video editing software is to render all of your work, also called rendering. Premier Pro can dynamically link with other Adobe Products such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Audio or Adobe After Effects. You can take all the other project files and place them into the software to create an output.
2. Adobe Premiere Elements:
Elements is a great video editing and audio recording program for creating professional quality videos and podcasts. The program has been on the market since 2006 and is still one of the best programs available today. The software is designed for beginners who want to make short videos or podcasts with simple effects like transitions, titles, music tracks, and more. It makes it perfect for people who don’t have much experience in video editing or podcasting. You can also edit your content if you want to learn. It’s easy to use, but the advanced features are unnecessary for most users. This software has three modes: Quick Mode, Guided Mode and Expert Mode.
Quick Mode: This mode lets you perform the most common editing tasks. This mode is for those who are just getting started with video editing. Use this mode to add titles, effects, transitions, and background music to your clips.
Guided Mode: As the names suggest, the guided mode consists of a built-in set of guided edits, and each item takes you to a series of steps to help perform a task. This guided approach allows you to learn Adobe Premier Elements quickly.
Expert Mode: This mode is for those with a firm grip on video editing and producing advanced outputs. The Exports modes give you all the essential tools that you would require to edit your video. According to Adobe, this mode has more options for effects, transitions and tools than the quick mode.
Adobe Premiere Element is best suitable for primary to advanced editing. It increases the processing time by offering built-in enhancements. It comes with the right amount of tools that you can use to create videos for your social media handles. It is the best choice for those creators who used to shoot vlogs and edit daily.
3. Movavi Video Editor
Movavi Video Editor is an excellent video editing software option for Mac users. It offers a comprehensive set of tools and features that make it easy to create professional-looking movies, slideshows, and presentations in no time. The user-friendly interface makes the entire process intuitive and straightforward.
The first thing you will notice when you open Movavi Video Editor is its sleek design that allows you to easily navigate through the various features and functions available. The software comes with a range of built-in tools such as video stabilizer, chroma key, audio dubbing, slow motion editor, special effects, two-way audio playback, crop/rotate support, blur/sharpen filters and a picture-in-picture module. These tools make it possible for anyone – regardless of skill level – to unleash their creativity with ease.
Moreover, Movavi Video Editor has a vast library filled with royalty-free music tracks and sound effects that can be used as background music for any project. This library also includes stylish transitions such as panoramic slides and wipes that can help to make videos more vibrant and dynamic.
Movavi Video Editor also supports the latest 4K Ultra HD video resolution, which makes it possible to create stunning videos without any compromise on quality or performance. Finally, Movavi Video Editor offers direct compatibility with YouTube so that you can quickly share your completed projects online without having to go through extra steps or use other applications.
Overall, Movavi Video Editor is an excellent choice for Mac whether you are just starting out or a seasoned professional looking to take your video production skills up a notch. With its powerful features and intuitive user interface, anyone can easily turn their ideas into amazing masterpieces.
Download Movavi Video Editor for Mac
4. Final Cut Pro X:
Final Cut Pro is a professional video editing software used by advanced-level editors. Final Cut Pro remains the only industry-standard editing software with a one-time fee and no yearly subscription. Since you can connect your Apple ID with multiple devices, Final Cut allows you to use this software on five different computers.
Final Cut Pro is a highly intuitive and easy-to-use software. It comes with a clean interface and is easy to access controls. It is also built on the ease of access that comes with iMovie and is something that early video editors love: the drag and drop feature to apply different effects. Other editing options are hidden in the menu structure, but these are advanced features. It is also a robust tool for seasoned pros.
The speed at which the software can render your video depends on your computer specs, the footage quality you are using, and what effects you have added to your footage, but all these actions will be done in the background, saving tons of your time while you export.
Now let’s explore some more advanced features of this software. Losing your project that you may be working on for hours is every editor’s nightmare, so the Final Cut Pro auto-save part will save your work automatically at timed intervals. Also, Final Cut Pro is built on an excellent foundation, making crashes irregular. Although the software has default effects like texts and transitions, the library isn’t huge. However, Final Cut Pro has made it easy to install third-party plug-ins ranging from free to paid.
The major drawback that this software has is that it is only compatible with Mac, so it is essential that the other person you are sharing your file with should be using a Mac only. But you can work together collaboratively on the same project as this software does not have the feature.
5. Apple iMovie:
If you have a Mac, then video editing software is already sitting on your machine, and it is called iMovie. iMovie is free software available with the new versions of Mac. Many people overlook iMovie as a serious video-editing application and think it’s just a simple tool to make home movies. So is iMove capable of more polished and professional-looking videos?
An essential feature that a professional look for in any video editing software is color correction. Colour correction allows you to fix your video’s strange and distracting color effects caused by lighting or incorrect white balance settings in your camera while recording. iMovie has a simple built-in color correction feature that allows you to adjust your video’s brightness, contrast and saturation. Besides, you can share video clips directly to YouTube or send videos to iPhone or iPad in just a few minutes.
Clip speed control is another feature that one should look for in any video editing software. Change the speed rate to speed up and slow down the video clip. Multiple tracks videos are a must-have feature. You can use additional video tracks to add cut-away footage to your project quickly. Having numerous video racks gives you incredible flexibility when it comes to editing.
Other features like graphic overlays are also important. Graphic overlays are custom images or graphics you create in other applications that you can bring in and add to your video project. But to use graphic overlays, your video editing software needs to be able to use graphics that use transparency information or what’s called alpha channels. The alpha channel only supports specific image formats such as PNG and TIFF. iMovie can import both PNG and TIFF files, including their alpha channels.
Keyframe animation is a feature that you may not consider necessary in video editing software. Keyframe animation allows you to move objects around the screen and determine when they appear, disappear, shrink, or grow.
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6. DaVinci Resolve:
Da Vinci Resolve is a professional video editing program that allows you to edit your footage intuitively, fast, and easily. DaVinci Resolve is based on the same technology as Final Cut Pro X, but it has been optimized for color grading and finishing. It also includes many tools that are not available in FCPX, such as advanced audio tools, offline rendering (for a faster workflow) and more control over the final output of your project. Da Vinci resolve is one of the best video editors offering professional tools for everyone without asking for any paid license or subscription. This software comes with loads of different workspaces to trim media, correct colors, and add special effects and audio adjustments, all in one place.
It is available for Mac in two versions, one free and another paid, called studio; it is packed with more advanced tools such as a neural engine, 3D audio, and more.
As you open Da Vinci Resolve, the project manager page opens, showing all your existing projects made. These can be locally saved on your computer or hard drive or shared using any network or the newest Black Magic Cloud Service, requiring your black magic account.
The new project opens in the main interface, divided into several workspaces at the bottom. Click on the new project at the bottom to start a new one. Come back to the previous dialogue with the home button.
Inside media, you can open, import and manage your files; you trim these files correctly with the cut. Switch to edit to make and build the main video—open fusion to add professional and custom effects. You will apply proper color adjustments with color, and for appropriate audio correction, you can go to Fairlight. And finally, you click on click on deliver to render the video.
Download Davinci Resolve for Mac from App Store
Best GoPro video editing software for mac
7. Adobe After Effects:
After Effects is a video editing and motion graphics application for creating professional-looking videos. This software has always been the prior choice of professional editors in movie studios.
After Effects is visual effects and digital compositing software, it is used in post-production processes in movies, games, special effects and ad productions, among other things.
After Effects has also been used in different VFX processes, such as tracking videos and compositing in adding elements into the movie and 3D animations, this software is heavily relied on by the big and small VFX studios. But the rate at which it has been used depends on the size of the studio and project.
Adobe After is used to work on different commercials ads projects as it can generate motion graphics to combine 2D and 3D elements by importing them from Adobe Illustrator.
Another important field is After Effects is used to engage content for social media handles. Since video represents an engaging portion of content online, Youtube creators chose to take their content quality to a new level by creating friendly and entertaining effects templates using Adobe After Effects.
One of the advanced features of Adobe After Effects is compositing which is being used to add multiple elements and create a final output which is either sci-fi or a highly advanced action scene.
First, a scene is recorded using a green screen and then imported into the software where other elements like a smoke, explosion, or even a 3D character are added to it according to the script.
This software is used for quick screen replacement for a product demo or blurs a logo using the 3D camera tracker.
One easy way to get started with After Effects if you are unfamiliar with it is by using the Adobe Help tutorials. A list of videos to help you understand the software better.
Most people have trouble finding the difference between Adobe after effects and adobe premiere pro.
Adobe Premier Pro is a video editing software in which you can do the basic editing, whereas Adobe After Effects is a Manipulation software. And it is used to create hardcore Animation and VFX. All of the movies and videos you see with high-level VFX have a chance that Adobe has only done it after effect.
8. Camtasia:
If you have never been exposed to video editing, it is essential to find software that is good for beginners. Camtasia is a fantastic video editor for new creators. Most people yet to edit their first video need a simple video editing experience, and Camtasia is a great option. It is all in one screen recorder, webcam, and video editor.
They release a new update yearly, focusing on new features and improvements. This year, they have been focusing on the cursor effect and mouse. You can enlarge the mouse so it is not pixeled.
Usually, the first thing creators want to do when editing is adding text to their video. And Camtasia made it super easy by using the Annotation tool. Go to the Annotation section on the left side of the program, where you will find all the different styles. You can also find the cursor effect on the left column, automatically identifying the mouse or cursor on your screen record.
You can also do that if you want to add any effect to your audio.
The audio panel is on the left side, showing the fade-in and fade-out options. Drag and drop your audio effects into your video file.
To be good at any software, you need to practice consistently and work on it. And if you work on any software regularly, you must increase your efficiency. And one of the best ways to do that is to make things you often do more easily accessible. Whether it is an audio effect, transition, or anything you regularly use, star it and put it into your Favourites Tab.
9. Lightworks
LightWorks is a non-linear editing system for professionals and beginners. It has two versions available, free and paid. The free version allows you to create small projects while learning the editing skills and export them in 720P. You can even render your videos without a watermark.
Lightworks has a clean user interface that is easily understandable. When you open Lightworks for the first time, you are greeted with a simple hub where all your projects would be as well as a message that lets you know that the user can register for an account and sign in for free, which you will have to do when your guest account expires. But do not worry if you register, it’s still free, and all you have to do is sign in.
The more you work on this software, the more familiar you will become and the better you can use the tools. It also provides multiple windows specifically for editing, audio, visual effects, and even the simple log page where you can import all your clips.
Lightworks gives you its own unique sets of LUTS, filters that contain the data to convert your one type of color space into another easily. The quick conversion LUTS aims to transform your footage from log color space to rec.709 color space. It is the elementary color grading.
Compared with other video editing software, the playback on Lightworks is smooth and responsive, plus the software keeps a well-optimized editor for a wide array of systems out there.
10. CyberLink Power Director 365:
CyberLink PowerDirector is a video editing application that allows you to create high-quality videos on your computer. CyberLink creates short films, makes music videos, and even records screencasts. The application has many features like adding text or images to your videos, adding titles and effects, cutting clips from other sources, or importing them into the program. This software allows you to add a transition between each video clip and adjust audio levels in your video files. Some great tutorials are available online if you want to learn more about this software, but it’s effortless to use once you get started.
There are, in total, four modes available in this software. They are:
Full mode: In this mode, you will have full access to multi-video track editing, where all of the program’s features are available to use.
Story Board Mode: This mode provides a graphical storyboard display of all of the video clips and images on the first track in the timeline.
Slideshow Creator: Using this mode, you can instantly turn your photos into stunning for presentation, even as keepsakes.
Auto Mode: This is perfect for beginners to learn to edit. The Magic Movie Wizard will take you through a step-by-step process to help you create your first movie from scratch.
The workspace in the edit module is where you will spend most of your time editing using Power Director. Look to the left; the library windows contain all the media. And the different room has effects, titles, and transitions that you can apply to your project.
Meanwhile, you can also preview the video you are working on to check how the editing is going. This software works in the drag and drop mode, where you can pick the effect you want to add and drop it into the timeline.
11. Adobe Premiere Rush:
Premium Rush is Adbode’s first all-in-one video software that you can use for editing and sharing videos quickly and easily from smartphones, tablets, and computers. Rush includes the power of Adobe’s Pro Tools. Within, you can edit, color correct, record, and clean up audio, customize animated titles and graphics, and even publish to social media. Just like Premier Pro CC, Rush includes built-in access to professionally designed motion graphics templated. You can also find hundreds more Adobe stock; select the template you want, customize it to your liking, and your project is nearly done.
Rush is also for the mobile and fast-paced video creator. Your Rush project is saved in the cloud, so when you make an update on one device, those changes are reflected across all your device through automatic project syncing.
Your mobile app version of Rush has all the same features as your desktop app, so you can do everything on a tablet or mobile phone as you would do on your Mac.
When you first open up Rush, you are presented with an interactive step-by-step tour on how to create, edit and share your very first project so you can get started. And from there, you will also be able to capture and import media to start your first project, and once you select all of your media, you can edit your timeline by trimming clips or re-arranging them to build your story.
Using Rush, you can create the same video in all the different aspect ratios; portrait, square, or landscape simply by clicking a button. And after you have all of your video clips in place, you can also add your style with customized motion templates, transitions, and some unique color filters.
12. Avidemux
Avidemux is intelligently designed to cut and filter the videos with enhanced picture quality only. The software supports different OS platforms like Mac OS, Linux, and windows. Besides, you can edit videos, pictures, or audio with all the major formats such as MPEG, MP4, AC3, ASF, AAC, JPG, and many more.
The design of this software is user-friendly. Anyone new to this can handle this easily.
13. Blender
Blender offers smart 3D graphics application that is why it is the leading software. However, it consists of a lot more advanced features such as powerful character animation tools, Python for embedded scripting, modifier-based modeling tools, and a node-based material and compositing system.
The software can be useful for professional editors for texturing, creating an interactive 3D app, non-linear editing, rendering, skinning, etc. An attractive background on the front page will never make you feel bored, although it will make you an enthusiast for it.
14. HyperEngine-AV
HyperEngine-AV is the best free video editing tool specially made for Mac. The software can perform a bundle of activities like organizing videos, editing, exporting video and audio, creating the slideshow, and much more.
It consists of 12 studio qualities regarding Arboretum’s Hyperprism audio processor to give superior audio resolution. Show credits, title, karaoke lyrics, sub-titles, and other texts with unique text features. Besides, you can also edit fonts, and change color, scroll direction, alignment, and style with this.
Download HyperEngine-AV for Mac
15. HitFilm Express
Hit Film Express is a unique and innovative video editing software that allows you to create professional-looking videos in minutes. Hit Film Express has been designed to be easy to use yet powerful enough for more experienced users. HitFilm Express comes with many features such as:
You can edit your videos on the go using the free mobile app (available for iOS and Android). An intuitive and user-friendly interface makes navigating through each feature set easy. A wide range of transitions, including fade-ins/fade-outs, wipe effects, dissolves, and wipes.
HitFilm comes in two main versions: HitFilm Express, a free version of the product, and an essential feature to make home video editing. Hitfilm Express is a professional video-editing software for any purpose, a valid alternative for Adobe Premier Pro CC and After Effects CC. You can edit media and text and apply effects, transitions, and power layers with a workspace suitable for beginners and expert users. At the same time, HItFilm Pro is the complete version, including loads of professional visual and audio effects and advanced video compatibility.
HitFilms opens on its home workspace, showing the latest official news and trick from the internet. On the left, you find the list of all the projects made and several effect packs you can pack. On the top, you can use the New and the Open button to start from a new project or an existing one you are browsing. If you start with a new project, you must define its properties by choosing a ready template on top or setting a custom width, height, and frames per second on the frame rate and audio sample rate.
Then you have multiple options such as compositing, effects, and transitions, adding titles, and audio mixer.
16. WonderShare Filmora
Wonder Share is a company that has been on the market for a long time. It is famous for its fantastic tech products such as data recovery software, media compressor and converter, and many more. There are three versions available of this software in different price ranges. Filmora is one of them. If you are working on an average processor computer, then Filmora can be an excellent option for you as it functions smoothly and provides stability. You can name your new project the first time you save it, and it also has an auto-save option, so you do not have to worry about your work. Filmora only has a playback monitor where you have to open a full video and make necessary changes, such as trim.
Wonder Share Filmora is a tool that also lets you upload videos to your YouTube channel and share them with friends. It’s like a video version of the popular photo-sharing app, Instagram.
Also useful: Get the right chaise for the best iMac for video editing. If you are looking for iOS, then get here the best Video Editing Apps for iPhone and iPad
For those users who want to convert Video on Mac, we offer this top Video Converter for Mac.
Conclusion:
Editing is probably video creation’s most challenging and intimidating aspect. To do it well, you need a firm grasp of video storytelling and the ability to use video editing software effectively. But which video editing software should you use?
I hope this blog has helped you deal with this question well, and you must select the one that fits your need. Advanced features, user-friendly, easy interface, affordable, etc., are some excellent video editing software traits.
