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Recommended Program For Video Recording For Mac

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  1. Free Recording Software For Mac
  2. Video Recording Program For Pc
  3. Mac Video Recording Software
  4. Best Mac For Recording
  5. Best App For Video Recording On Mac

Here's a video recommending what I believe are the best music recording software for beginners on Mac and PC. If you're an aspiring rapper or singer looking to record vocals at home, definitely. Best Music Recording Software For Mac. Posted on June 10, 2017 95 out of 100 based on 873 user ratings. Best Music Recording Software for Beginners (Mac/PC). VIDEO: The Best Music Production Software For Beginners Duration: 5:45 ~ Size: 7.9 MB ~ Bitrate: 192kbps. Download Watch. Load More Songs. However, the software is indeed really powerful, and offers powerful recording with all sources imaginable for both audio and video, allows editing, can capture a number of different presets including specific window, region or full screen, allows changing several parameters when recording video, and more.

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Jan 04,2019• Proven solutions

There is no doubt that gaming is one of the largest entertainment sources for most of the people. The advanced technology has led to development of game recorders by which you can record the video of your favorite game and share it with your friends and viewers on YouTube.

If you are looking for a screen recorder which allows you to capture your gameplay, add markers to important point during playing, and edit the recorded gameplay video easily, then we recommend you to try Filmora scrn.

With Filmora Scrn, you can:

  • Add Markers to important points during recording
  • Record high paced games at up to 120 fps
  • Capture video, system audio, webcam and mic at the same time
  • Record the entire screen or just a part of your screen
  • Change video speed and add fade in and fade out with a simple drag
  • Detach audio and record voice narration during editing and reduce the noise
  • Use Blur effect to blur the private info or remove the watermark
  • Share videos to Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch directly

However, if you are looking for a video editing software which provides various gameplay elements, I want to recommend - Wondershare Filmora, an easy to use while powerful video editor that allows you not only cut, split, crop, resize, reverse your videos, but also offers you multiple video effects specially designed for Fashion, Beauty, Gaming, Travel, Education, etc. Check the video to know more fantastic features:

10 Best Game Screen Recorders for recording game videos

1.ShadowPlay

It is free video game capture software created by the Nvidia GetForce for streaming game videos. There are two modes of this video recording tool i.e. Manual mode and Shadow mode.

Features:

  • Instant replay and record
  • Excellent hardware i.e. a GPU-accelerated H.264 video encoder
  • It has minimal performance impact
  • Records up to 4K resolution at the speed of 130 Mbps

Compatibility: Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10

Pros:

  • Unlimited recording time in manual mode
  • Allow it users to capture full desktop screen

Cons:

  • Geforce GTX 600 and above is required to operate this software.

Price: It is available free of cost.

We have researched about how to record gameplay with Nvidia ShadowPlay, check this article How to Use Nvidia Share or ShadowPlay to Record Gameplay for the detailed information.

2.Camtasia

It is one of the best game recorders for recording professional videos on your PC. You can also import HD videos from an external source. The interactive videos can also be created by using this software.

Features:

  • Stunning graphics
  • Direct link to social media
  • Effective recording option
  • Drag and drop editing
  • Google drive integration

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8 and 7 SP1

Recommended Program For Video Recording For Mac

Pros:

  • You can easily include animated items
  • Video, audio and cursor tracks can be edited individually
  • Provides panning and zooming options
  • Incorporates webcam
  • You can also use green screen effect

Cons:

  • Free trail for only 30 days.
  • The users cannot record videos for commercial use in free version
  • Very expensive
  • Works slowly on large projects

Price: $299.00 USD but it can be reduced if you buy 5-9 licenses

3.Open Broadcast Software

It is an open source game recording tool having unlimited customization options. You can get idea about this software by its name i.e. the game streams can be broadcasted on various websites such as Twitch, YouTube, Hitbox etc.

Features:

  • Simple interface
  • H.264 and AAC Encoder
  • Limitless scenes and sources
  • It has file output to FLV or MP4
  • GPU-based video game capture

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 8.1, Vista and 7, Version for Linux and Mac OS X is also in the pipeline

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • High speed performance
  • Keyboard shortcuts

Cons:

  • A sharp learning curve
  • Difficult to construct scenes

Price: Free

4. Bandicam

It is a perfect choice for beginners as it is easy to understand. You can also record a video game that utilizes the Direct X or OpenGL technology and share on YouTube with a single click. The size of the window can also be adjusted according to your need.

Features:

  • Built-in compression feature ensuring high quality videos
  • Recording can be done for more than 24 hours
  • You can record videos at 4k Ultra HD resolution

Compatibility: Windows XP, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7

Pros:

  • Maximum frame rate i.e. 120 fps
  • Two different audio inputs can be recorded at the same time

Cons:

  • It does not proffer live streaming

Price: Free trial, $59 for two licenses, $39 for one license

5.EpicRewind

This software is developed recently introducing a unique feature i.e. RAM Rolling Buffer mode. It enables the user to replay the recording instantly. The buffer contents can also be saved by pressing hotkey.

Features:

  • You can conveniently capture screenshot and video from browser games or flash games.
  • Direct-To-Disk capture mode
  • Video Output Format and Codec can be configured with great ease.

Compatibility: It does not support windows

Pros:

  • Videos are not encoded all the time.

Cons:

  • It cannot be run on windows operating system.

Price: Free trial of base version

6.D3DGear

It is very simple and light recorder. This software compresses the recorded files in real time mode i.e. you are able to record screen activity even if there is less space in your storage drive. The videos can be shared over any social networking website.

Features:

  • User friendly interface
  • Built-in compression system

Compatibility: Windows XP, 7, 10, 8, 8.1 and Vista

Pros:

  • You can do live video streaming
  • The audio files can be saved separately.

Cons:

  • Pro version is very costly

Price: 15 day free trial otherwise it costs $34.95.

Free Recording Software For Mac

7. Fraps

It is one of the most famous game screen recorders having superb features. The average performance rate can also be measured by using this recorder. You can also save these statistics in a different file. It is also very light software similar to D3DGear.

Features:

  • It can be used as a benchmark tool.
  • Capture high quality footage

Compatibility: Windows Vista, XP, 7, 10, 8.1 and 8

Pros:

  • You can record videos at 7680×4800 resolution
  • Frames can be adjusted up to 120fps

Cons:

  • It does not have streaming options

Price: Free version with few features, full version at $37

8. Microsoft Screen Encoder 4

It is an advanced version of Microsoft screen encoder 3. It has wonderful graphics and live IIS (Internet Information Services) smooth streaming option. The Windows Media video as well as audio files can be produced with the help of this software.

Features:

  • Screen capture
  • GUI interface
  • Live template support

Compatibility: Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP service pack2

Pros:

  • High quality playback
  • Enables encoding using H.261Intuitive interface

Cons:

  • Less editing tools in comparison to other software
  • You cannot export your recordings to Sony Vegas11

Price: Pro version costs $199.95 while standard version is free having limited features

9. Tinytake

This game recorder is an ideal choice for making commercial presentations. This software allows its users to capture video from the selected region and upload it directly on YouTube or any other social media.

Features:

  • Drag and drop option
  • You can conveniently annotate the videos
  • Inbuilt online file viewer

Compatibility: It can work with Windows as well as Mac operating system

Pros:

  • You can develop custom shortcut keys
  • Bulk files sharing
  • You can run this software on mobile devices

Cons:

  • Files are saved only in MP4 format
  • Video recording can be done up to 2 hours
  • No free version is available for business purpose


Price: It ranges between $29.95 and $199.95 for yearly plan. You will also get storage memory space up to 2TB with business plan.


10. Ezvid

This screen software is specially designed for saving time of the users. It also increases the recording speed and video editing capabilities. You can also add text and watermark to the videos.

Features:-

  • Videos are uploaded on YouTube in a fast manner.
  • It provides computer speech for narrative purposes.
  • Modern and sleek interface

Compatibility: Windows XP SP3, 7 and Vista

Pros:

  • High quality video resolution
  • You can also select the most popular music tracks
  • It also has facecam and a video editor
  • You can also drag and drop videos
  • Professional videos can be created in few minutes

Cons:

  • It is glitch and leggy.
  • It requires 10GB free space
  • Less features as compared to Camtasia software

Price: Free

What to look for game screen recorder

There are many people who do not have any knowledge regarding game capture software. You must look for the following things before choosing a game screen recorder.

  • Option of personalizing the hotkeys
  • Number of built-in tools
  • How to begin and pause recording
  • Number of codes offered by it
  • Recording time
  • Editing feature like cut and paste
  • Custom-made Recording Resolution
  • Adjustable video frames

In addition to this, some game recorders also affects your in-game fps (Frame per second). You should also check whether it is compatible with large-sized files or not. The quality of video also depends upon the file size. The larger is file size, the higher is video quality. However, you can face problem while uploading huge size videos as online content distributors hardly support such files. So you must compress your video before sharing anywhere. There are also some recorders which provide a direct link to social networking sites. Thus you should consider these factors also before purchasing recording software.

You can easily run this recorder on your computer if it is updated and has 8GB of RAM. PC should also have two storage drives so as to install gaming software on one drive and record videos on another drive. It is also advisable to use computer than laptops for recording screen activities because laptops rarely have two storage drives.

Easy-to-use and powerful video editor for all creators.


Bring up your video to a professional level with straightforward tools.

Video recording program free

Pros:

  • You can easily include animated items
  • Video, audio and cursor tracks can be edited individually
  • Provides panning and zooming options
  • Incorporates webcam
  • You can also use green screen effect

Cons:

  • Free trail for only 30 days.
  • The users cannot record videos for commercial use in free version
  • Very expensive
  • Works slowly on large projects

Price: $299.00 USD but it can be reduced if you buy 5-9 licenses

3.Open Broadcast Software

It is an open source game recording tool having unlimited customization options. You can get idea about this software by its name i.e. the game streams can be broadcasted on various websites such as Twitch, YouTube, Hitbox etc.

Features:

  • Simple interface
  • H.264 and AAC Encoder
  • Limitless scenes and sources
  • It has file output to FLV or MP4
  • GPU-based video game capture

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 8.1, Vista and 7, Version for Linux and Mac OS X is also in the pipeline

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • High speed performance
  • Keyboard shortcuts

Cons:

  • A sharp learning curve
  • Difficult to construct scenes

Price: Free

4. Bandicam

It is a perfect choice for beginners as it is easy to understand. You can also record a video game that utilizes the Direct X or OpenGL technology and share on YouTube with a single click. The size of the window can also be adjusted according to your need.

Features:

  • Built-in compression feature ensuring high quality videos
  • Recording can be done for more than 24 hours
  • You can record videos at 4k Ultra HD resolution

Compatibility: Windows XP, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7

Pros:

  • Maximum frame rate i.e. 120 fps
  • Two different audio inputs can be recorded at the same time

Cons:

  • It does not proffer live streaming

Price: Free trial, $59 for two licenses, $39 for one license

5.EpicRewind

This software is developed recently introducing a unique feature i.e. RAM Rolling Buffer mode. It enables the user to replay the recording instantly. The buffer contents can also be saved by pressing hotkey.

Features:

  • You can conveniently capture screenshot and video from browser games or flash games.
  • Direct-To-Disk capture mode
  • Video Output Format and Codec can be configured with great ease.

Compatibility: It does not support windows

Pros:

  • Videos are not encoded all the time.

Cons:

  • It cannot be run on windows operating system.

Price: Free trial of base version

6.D3DGear

It is very simple and light recorder. This software compresses the recorded files in real time mode i.e. you are able to record screen activity even if there is less space in your storage drive. The videos can be shared over any social networking website.

Features:

  • User friendly interface
  • Built-in compression system

Compatibility: Windows XP, 7, 10, 8, 8.1 and Vista

Pros:

  • You can do live video streaming
  • The audio files can be saved separately.

Cons:

  • Pro version is very costly

Price: 15 day free trial otherwise it costs $34.95.

Free Recording Software For Mac

7. Fraps

It is one of the most famous game screen recorders having superb features. The average performance rate can also be measured by using this recorder. You can also save these statistics in a different file. It is also very light software similar to D3DGear.

Features:

  • It can be used as a benchmark tool.
  • Capture high quality footage

Compatibility: Windows Vista, XP, 7, 10, 8.1 and 8

Pros:

  • You can record videos at 7680×4800 resolution
  • Frames can be adjusted up to 120fps

Cons:

  • It does not have streaming options

Price: Free version with few features, full version at $37

8. Microsoft Screen Encoder 4

It is an advanced version of Microsoft screen encoder 3. It has wonderful graphics and live IIS (Internet Information Services) smooth streaming option. The Windows Media video as well as audio files can be produced with the help of this software.

Features:

  • Screen capture
  • GUI interface
  • Live template support

Compatibility: Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP service pack2

Pros:

  • High quality playback
  • Enables encoding using H.261Intuitive interface

Cons:

  • Less editing tools in comparison to other software
  • You cannot export your recordings to Sony Vegas11

Price: Pro version costs $199.95 while standard version is free having limited features

9. Tinytake

This game recorder is an ideal choice for making commercial presentations. This software allows its users to capture video from the selected region and upload it directly on YouTube or any other social media.

Features:

  • Drag and drop option
  • You can conveniently annotate the videos
  • Inbuilt online file viewer

Compatibility: It can work with Windows as well as Mac operating system

Pros:

  • You can develop custom shortcut keys
  • Bulk files sharing
  • You can run this software on mobile devices

Cons:

  • Files are saved only in MP4 format
  • Video recording can be done up to 2 hours
  • No free version is available for business purpose


Price: It ranges between $29.95 and $199.95 for yearly plan. You will also get storage memory space up to 2TB with business plan.


10. Ezvid

This screen software is specially designed for saving time of the users. It also increases the recording speed and video editing capabilities. You can also add text and watermark to the videos.

Features:-

  • Videos are uploaded on YouTube in a fast manner.
  • It provides computer speech for narrative purposes.
  • Modern and sleek interface

Compatibility: Windows XP SP3, 7 and Vista

Pros:

  • High quality video resolution
  • You can also select the most popular music tracks
  • It also has facecam and a video editor
  • You can also drag and drop videos
  • Professional videos can be created in few minutes

Cons:

  • It is glitch and leggy.
  • It requires 10GB free space
  • Less features as compared to Camtasia software

Price: Free

What to look for game screen recorder

There are many people who do not have any knowledge regarding game capture software. You must look for the following things before choosing a game screen recorder.

  • Option of personalizing the hotkeys
  • Number of built-in tools
  • How to begin and pause recording
  • Number of codes offered by it
  • Recording time
  • Editing feature like cut and paste
  • Custom-made Recording Resolution
  • Adjustable video frames

In addition to this, some game recorders also affects your in-game fps (Frame per second). You should also check whether it is compatible with large-sized files or not. The quality of video also depends upon the file size. The larger is file size, the higher is video quality. However, you can face problem while uploading huge size videos as online content distributors hardly support such files. So you must compress your video before sharing anywhere. There are also some recorders which provide a direct link to social networking sites. Thus you should consider these factors also before purchasing recording software.

You can easily run this recorder on your computer if it is updated and has 8GB of RAM. PC should also have two storage drives so as to install gaming software on one drive and record videos on another drive. It is also advisable to use computer than laptops for recording screen activities because laptops rarely have two storage drives.

Easy-to-use and powerful video editor for all creators.


Bring up your video to a professional level with straightforward tools.


  • Choosing Video Editing Software
  • Video Editing Tips

Edit Video on Your PC

Nothing makes an impression like moving pictures with sound. That's why digital video continues to grow in importance online. Couple that trend with the ever-increasing availability of devices capable of high-resolution video recording—phones, GoPros, DSLRs—and the case for ever-more powerful video editing software becomes clear. Further, the software must be usable by nonprofessionals, and it has to keep up with newer formats such as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) and 360-degree VR video, and it has to be able to handle 4K and higher resolution.

How can the answer be improved? What is a program like publisher for mac.

Increasingly, new capabilities trickle down from professional-level software to the consumer category. That's a good thing for nonprofessional movie editors, since the more consumer-oriented software tends to make easier procedures that can sometimes be pretty tricky in the pro-level software. Read on for a survey of the latest trends in video editing software along with our top picks in the field.

Multicam, Motion Tracking, and Yet More Motion

Advanced abilities continue to make their way into accessible, affordable, and consumer-friendly video editing software as each new generation of software is released. For example, multicam editing, which lets you switch among camera angles of the same scene shot with multiple video cameras, used to be a feature relegated to pro-level software. Now this and many other advanced effects are available in programs designed for use by nonprofessional enthusiasts.

Another impressive effect that has made its way into consumer-level video editing software is motion tracking, which lets you attach an object or effect to something moving in your video. You might use it to put a blur over the face of someone you don't want to show up in your video. You specify the target face, and the app takes care of the rest, tracking the face and moving the effect to follow it. This used to be the sole province of special effects software such as Adobe After Effects. Corel VideoStudio was the first of the consumer products to include motion tracking, and it still leads the pack in the depth and usability of its motion-tracking tool, though several others now include the capability.

The 4K Video Factor

Support for 4K video source content has become pretty standard in video editing software, but the support varies among the products. For example, some but not all of the applications can import Sony XAVC and XAVC-S formats, which are used by Sony's popular DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camcorders, and professional video cameras. The same holds true for the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. Most of the applications here now can import and export HEVC, though there are still a few holdouts.

360-Degree VR Support

Several of the products here (Adobe Premiere Elements is a notable exception) still support 3D video editing if that's your thing, though the this has been replaced by 360-degree VR footage like that shot by the Samsung Gear 360 as the current home-theater fad. As is often the case, our Editors' Choice, CyberLink PowerDirector was the first product in this group to offer support for this new kind of video media.

Other programs have jumped on board with 360 VR support, including Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro X, and Magix Movie Edit Pro. Support varies, with some apps including 360-compatible titles, stabilization, and motion tracking. PowerDirector is notable for including those last two. Final Cut offers a useful tool that removes the camera and tripod from the image, often an issue with 360-degree footage.

Video Editing 101

Of course, none of the extras matter if an app can't do the most basic editing tasks. At this point, however, all of the products included here do a good job of letting you join, trim, and split video clips. They also let you make use of special effects such as animated transitions, picture-in-picture (PiP), chroma-key (the technique that lets you place a subject against any background, often known as green screening), and filters that enhance colors or apply creative effects and distortions. With most of them you can add a multitude of timeline tracks that can accommodate video clips, effects, audio, and text overlays.

A tool coming to the latest versions of video editing applications is support for seamless transitions. Picture a scene showing people at a beach, and suddenly the sky zooms in and your in Rome or Paris, but it looks like you're in the same place because the transition glued the two scenes together using the sky. There are plenty of other examples of seamless transition; this magnificent video shows a good selection of them, and is partly responsible for starting the trend.

With Freddie Mac's Home Possible Advantage SM, qualified borrowers can make a down payment of as little as 3%; Typically buyers make down payments of 5 to 20% of the purchase price. Forty percent of today's homebuyers are making down payments that are less than 10%. Dec 08, 2014  Hoping to broaden the pool of home buyers and boost the real estate market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are launching mortgage programs with down payments as low as 3%. Fannie Mae's MyCommunityMortgage program and Freddie Mac Home Possible program allow qualifying buyers to obtain a mortgage with as little as three percent down. On top of that, these programs have other advantages which can make them less expensive than an FHA mortgage, both initially and over the life of the loan. Freddie mac little down payments for home buyer program. To locate down payment assistance programs for your borrowers, consult Down Payment Resource. Bridging the Down Payment Gap. Read this fact sheet for information on the common sources of down payment and closing cost assistance. Unlike Freddie Mac's Home Possible mortgage program, which also has a low down-payment requirement but is designed for low-to-moderate income buyers, the.

Video Recording Program For Pc

Color, LUTs and CLUTs

One of the capabilities that has been making its way into consumer-level video editing software is more-detailed color grading. Color wheels, curves, and histograms give editors control over the intensity of every shade. Related to this is support for LUTs (lookup tables), also known as CLUTs (color lookup tables). This staple of pro-level software lets you quickly change the look of a video to give it a specific mood. For example, think of the dark blue look of thriller movies like The Revenant. You can download LUTs for free from several sites or use those included with some video software to give your video a specific look. One well-known LUT type is the kind that can make a daytime scene look like it was shot at night.

Where the Action Is

Many video editing apps now include tools that cater to users of action cameras such as the GoPro Hero7 Black. For example, several offer automated freeze-frame along with speedup, slowdown, and reverse time effects. CyberLink PowerDirector's Action Camera Center pulls together freeze frame with stabilization, slo-mo, and fish-eye correction, and color correction for underwater footage. Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium includes the third-party NewBlue ActionCam Package of effects. And Wondershare Filmora lets you subscribe to new effect packs on an ongoing basis.

Mac Video Recording Software

Titles That Zing

I've been seeing a lot of attention paid to creating title effects in the applications over the past year. Apple Final Cut Pro X has added 3D title creation, which is pretty spiffy, letting you extrude 2D titles and rotate them on three axes. Corel VideoStudio in its latest version also adds 3D Titling, though not as powerful as Apple's. PowerDirector's Title Designer offers transparency, gradient color, border, blur level, and reflection in titles; Magix has impressive title templates, complete with animations. Premiere Elements offers a nifty title effect in which your video fills the text characters, and Corel recently followed suit in VideoStudio 2019. Look for an application that lets you edit titles in WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) mode, so that you can type, format, and time it right over the video preview.

Gathering Speed

Video editing is one of the most computing-intensive activities around, so you'll want the best laptop or desktop you can afford if you're serious about cutting your own movies. Most applications help speed up the editing process by creating a proxy file of lower resolution, so that normal editing and previewing aren't slowed down by the huge full-resolution files.

Particularly intensive is the process of rendering your finished product into a standard video file that will by playable on the target device of choice, be that an HDTV, a laptop, or a smartphone. Most of the software can take advantage of your computer's graphics processor to speed this up. Be sure to check the performance section in each review linked here to see how speedy or slow the application is. In rendering speed testing, CyberLink and Pinnacle have been my perennial champs.

Other measures of performance include startup time and simple stability. Again, video editing is a taxing activity for any computer, involving many components. In the past, video editing programs took longer than most other apps to start up, and unexpected shutdowns were unfortunately common, even in top apps from top developers such as Adobe and Apple. The stability situation has greatly improved, but the complexity of the process, which increases as more powerful effects are added, means crashes will likely never be fully eliminated, and they often raise their ugly heads after a program update, as I found with the latest version of Pinnacle Studio.

Free Video Editing Software

Best Mac For Recording

If you don't want to invest a lot of money and effort into your video editing exploits, there are a few free options. Of course, if you use a Mac, the excellent iMovie comes with it. For PC users, Windows 10's Photos app (as of the Fall Creators Update) lets you join, trim, and even add background music, 3D animated effects, and titles to video.

There are also some free video apps on the Windows Store, including Movie Moments, PowerDirector Mobile, Movie Maker, and Magix Movie Edit Touch. Some of these are quite basic, but the Magix app is fairly capable, with clip joining, transitions, and effects, in a very touch-friendly interface.

Free video editing software often comes with legal and technical limitations, however. Some widely used codecs require licensing fees on the part of the software maker, meaning they can't offer free software that can handle these standard file formats. That said, the impressive open-source Shotcut does a lot of the same things that the paid applications in this roundup do, including things like chroma-keying and picture-in-picture. Shotcut is completely open-source and free, while another free option, Lightworks has paid options that remove a 720p output resolution limit. Note also that both Shotcut and Lightworks run on Linux as well as Windows and Mac.

What About Apple?

Though Mac users don't have the sheer number of software choices available for PCs, Apple fans interested in editing video are well served, by four products in particular. At the entry level, the surprisingly capable and enjoyable-to-use iMovie comes free with every Mac sold since at least 2011. iMovie only offers two video tracks, but does good job with chroma-keying, and its Trailers feature makes it easy to produce slick, Hollywood-style productions.

In the midrange, there's Adobe Premiere Elements, which is cross-platform between Macs and PCs, and offers a lot more features and lots of help with creating effects. Professionals and prosumers have powerful, though pricey options in Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro. Final Cut is a deceptively simple application that resembles iMovie in its interface and ease of use, but it offers massively deep capabilities, and many third-party apps integrate with it for even more power. It also makes excellent use of the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, as shown in photo above. Premiere Pro uses a more traditional timeline and adds a large ecosystem of companion apps and plug-ins. It also excels in collaboration features.

Audio Editing

We still live in the days of talkies, so you want to be able to edit the audio in your digital moves as well as the images. Most of the products included here offer canned background music, and many, such as Pinnacle Studio, can even tailor the soundtrack to the exact length of your movie. All of these programs can separate audio and video tracks, and most can clean up background noise and add environmental audio effects such as concert hall reverb. A couple of the products have an auto-ducking feature, which lowers background music during dialog—a definite pro-level plus.

What's Not Here

There are more video editing software applications than we can fit into this roundup of the best options, which includes only software rated three stars and higher. The best known among them is probably Vegas Movie Studio, which was recently acquired by Magix from Sony. Sony's product used a very cluttered interface that more resembled high-end professional video editing software from the early days of the craft. Magix has made some progress in simplifying it and bringing it up to par with the competition, but more work is needed for it to be included here.

Best App For Video Recording On Mac

Another program, VSDC Video Editor Pro, simply has too outdated an interface, making common tasks difficult. Longtime pro video editors will note the absence of Avid Media Composer, which is simply too unwieldy for PCMag's primarily consumer audience. There are a couple of more interesting applications—NCH VideoPad and AVS Video Editor among them—that we simply haven't tested yet.

The Finish Line

The video editing application you choose depends on your budget, the equipment you're using, and how serious you are. Fortunately, you're spoiled for choice with the products available. Peruse our in-depth reviews of enthusiast-level video editing software reviews linked below to see which is the right one for you.

One final note about the features table at the top of this story: Check marks represent differentiating, above-the-call-of-duty features, rather than essential ones. So, just because Nero Video and Wondershare Filmora don't have any checks, it doesn't mean they're not good choices. In fact, both offer decent basic editing on a budget.

Best Video Editing Software Featured in This Roundup:

  • Adobe Premiere Pro CC Review


    MSRP: $19.99

    Pros: Clear, flexible interface. Lots of organizational tools. Responsive speed. Ultimate power in video editing. Rich ecosystem of video production apps. Excellent stabilization. Unlimited multi-cam angles.

    Cons: No keyword tagging for media. Some techniques require additional applications such as After Effects or SpeedGrade.

    Bottom Line: An expansive professional-level digital video editing program, Premiere Pro CC has everything today's pro video editor needs, particularly when it comes to collaboration.

    Read Review
  • CyberLink PowerDirector Review


    MSRP: $129.99

    Pros: Fast rendering. Clear interface. Loads of effects. The most 360-degree video capabilities of any video editor. Multicam editing. 3D and 4K capability. Motion tracking. Screen recording.

    Cons: No trimming in source panel. Number of options can make interface overwhelming. Weak color matching.

    Bottom Line: PowerDirector is one of the fastest and most capable consumer-level video editing apps for Windows around, and the first to support 360-degree VR footage.

    Read Review
  • Corel VideoStudio Ultimate Review


    MSRP: $99.99

    Pros: Wide selection of fun video-creation tools. Clear, simple interface. Fast rendering. Support for 360-degree VR, 4K Ultra HD, and 3D media. Multipoint Motion tracking. Multicam editing. HTML5 video page creation. Stop-motion tool.

    Cons: No keyword tagging for media.

    Bottom Line: Corel VideoStudio remains one of the most feature-packed consumer video editing packages around. The 2019 update adds powerful color-grading tools, seamless transitions, and text masks.

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  • Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Review


    MSRP: $129.95

    Pros: Clear interface. Edits 360-degree VR content. Fast rendering performance in testing. Tons of effects. Multicam editing. 4K and H.265 support. Tagging and star ratings for media. Good audio tools.

    Cons: Motion tracking issues on one test PC. Occasional crashes in testing. Uneven 360-degree VR implementation.

    Bottom Line: Pinnacle Studio is a fast, full-featured, near-professional-level video-editing application with support for 360-degree VR, 3D, and multicam edits. New color grading and four-point editing make it even more appealing, though our testing uncovered some instabilities.

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  • Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium Review


    MSRP: $129.99

    Pros: Lots of video effects. Multicam. Good titling tools. Trailer-like movie templates. Solid audio editing tools. Strong disc authoring. Fast rendering. Good stability. 360-degree media support.

    Cons: Not much help with difficult procedures. Lacks import and organization tools. Editing program for writers mac. Extra costs and coded downloads for some video formats.

    Bottom Line: Now with faster rendering, Movie Edit Pro offers solid stability, up-to-date support for 4K, 360-degree, and multicam editing, but it trails other video editing software in ease-of-use.

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  • Adobe Premiere Elements Review


    MSRP: $99.99

    Pros: Clear, simple interface. Guided Edits ease basic and advanced projects. Lots of video effects. Solid text tools. Powerful Audio editing. Good control over stabilization. 4K support.

    Cons: No 360-degree VR or 3D editing. No multicam feature or screen recording capability. Slow rendering speeds. No HEVC support in Windows.

    Bottom Line: Adobe's consumer video editing app adds a new start page, Auto Creations, a redesigned quick-editing interface, and faster performance.

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  • Wondershare Filmora Review


    MSRP: $59.99

    Pros: Pleasing interface. Inexpensive. Lots of effects and overlays. Good title tool.

    Cons: Action Cam and Cutter modes only allow one clip at a time. No search for effects or transitions. No motion tracking. No DVD menu or chapter authoring. Not a touch-friendly interface.

    Bottom Line: Wondershare's Filmora video editing software may not have multicam or the hottest new VR tools, but it does have a pleasing interface and lots of effects.

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  • Apple Final Cut Pro X Review


    MSRP: $299.99

    Pros: Magnetic, trackless timeline. Superior organization tools, including libraries, ratings, tagging, auto analysis for faces, scenes. Support for 360-degree footage and HDR. Multicam support. Fast performance. MacBook Touch Bar support.

    Cons: Nontraditional timeline-editing may turn off longtime editors. Can't import projects from previous versions without a third-party plug-in. No stabilization or motion tracking for 360-degree video.

    Bottom Line: Apple's professional-level video editing software, Final Cut Pro X, brings a wealth of power in an interface simple for pros and consumers alike. Recent highlights include rich support for 360-degree content and improved stability.

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  • Nero Video Review


    MSRP: $49.99

    Pros: Inexpensive. Plenty of video effects. Good audio tools. Solid file format support, including H.265. Compatible with 4K content. Burns DVD, Blu-ray, and AVCHD.

    Cons: Light on features. Outdated, unconventional interface. No 360 or 3D support. No motion tracking. No direct output to social networks.

    Bottom Line: For less money than the competition, Nero offers a wide array of enthusiast-level video editing capabilities, but the interface is dated and it trails in support for new formats and techniques.

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  • Apple iMovie Review


    MSRP: $0.00

    Pros: Beautifully simple interface. Color matching for consistent movie looks. Classy themes. Great chroma-keying tool. Lots of audio tools. Theater feature shares movies to all your Apple gear.

    Cons: Not as flexible as some PC video editors. In the name of simplicity, some useful controls are missing. Does not support tagging. Lacks multicam or motion tracking capabilities. Limited to two video tracks.

    Bottom Line: Apple's excellent entry-level desktop video editing application can turn your footage and photos into impressive productions.

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