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What do you guys/gals use for video editing these days? I have to make a video for one of my classes and I'll need to do some light editing. Anything free would be great (that's not, you know, malware lol). The last video editor I used was windows movie maker so I'm clearly out of the loop.

Any recommendations would be helpful!

I haven't tried it but DaVinci Resolve is usually considered one of the better free editors.

Can you use something on Linux? Or must it be on Windows? I'm not super knowledgeable with video editors, but I have messed around with them from time to time.

On Windows, yeah, I miss Windows Movie Maker. Free software that comes bundled with the OS and is adequate is always a good thing. But since MS decided to axe it, I went with Adobe Premiere Elements. I don't want an expensive subscription for the full version of Premiere, since (at this time) I only use it once in a while. With Premeire Elements, you pay a flat fee upfront and then you own it for a Lifetime, although you only get updates for a year. I'm fine with that though, for the light amount of editing I do on a blue moon. It's watered down from the full version of Premiere, but to be honest I don't really know what I'm missing LOL. It has a couple of easy modes, but then it has a full non-linear mode.

It's usually $100 by itself, although there are sales occassionally (that's how I got mine). And if you're interested, you can get it bundled with Photoshop Elements for a discount, $150 I believe. Also, I think there might be student discounts on it. But as for Photoshop Elements, unfortunately I learned only after purchasing it that it's gimped way too much for me. But luckily the subscription for the full version of Photoshop is affordable, and I use it enough to justify having it.

As for free Windows stuff, I'd be interested to learn of anything current. The last time I used something free on Windows was Lightworks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightworks

It seems like it's powerful, but it will take a lot of time to learn how to use it. At least, that was my experience with it. Also, the free version is gimped in how you can export a project. IIRC, when I was using it you were only able to export to YouTube. I just read briefly on Wikipedia that you can export to HDD as well. Not sure if that's a new feature for the free version, but at least there's that. You still cannot create a DVD or BD, so you will need additional mastering software if that's what you need (Windows also use to have this!). DVD/BD mastering is also something Premiere Elements can do, which is another reason I went with it.

If you can use Linux though, definitely check out the repository on whatever distro you're using. A while back I needed something real quick when I had Mint on my laptop, and I found 2 or 3 that looked really promising. I installed a couple of them. I went with the one I that had a GUI I could most easily navigate without having to resort to a Youtube video to figure something out. I just needed to edit a few things real fast, but it looked like it would have worked at least as well as Premiere Elements has for me. Sorry, I don't recall the name of it. But just check the repository for non linear video editors. I bet there will be a few of them, just check them all out and go with whatever one you feel most comfortable with.

PretentiousHipster wrote:I haven't tried it but DaVinci Resolve is usually considered one of the better free editors.

I will look into it, thanks.

Ziggy587 wrote:~snip~

Thanks for the info.

My Windows machines have more RAM so I'd prefer to use those. Also, I'd try out Linux but that machine is being converted for my home theater setup.

I previously did go through the repository on Ubuntu and checked out a few. Wasn't impressed or got too many errors.

I may wind up reinstalling movie maker. LOL. I still have a download of it on a hard drive somewhere. Not sure that I'll buy anything 'cause this is literally one assignment (and the film part is optional but I want a good grade lol).

I don't blame ya for wanting something free, I would too. But just food for thought... I just looked up the Abobe Elements student pricing and apparently you can get Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements bundled together for $80. Again, it's a onetime purchase (you own them for life). Not trying to push these on you LOL, but $40/ea isn't a bad deal for these.

You can still Install Windows Live Essentials (the package WMM was moved into) on Windows 10
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 10a7c7d517

I don't do any video creation really, so I really only use specialize tool. For audio editing, sync and stretch I use an old version of Sound Forge, for cutting and joining, I use Lossless Cut. For deinterlacing, cropping, resizing and basic filtering I use Handbrake, and for muxing and similar, I use MKVToolNix GUI.

I wound up using windows media player. I know how to use it and I had to make the content quickly.
I'm still going to look into alternatives when I have the time. Some fancier editing features would be nice.

Here's a couple of resources I've found recently.
OpenShot is a pretty decent overall video editor for Linux. VidCutter is another good resource if you want to quickly cut a few clips without needing a full blown editing suite.