Best Video Editing Software for Amateur Movie Makers

What did surprise us a little is that the Movavi Plus video editing software offers quite an extensive library of visual effects for such affordable software. There are over 160 filters, over a hundred transitions, almost 50 text styles to create titles of nearly any kind you can imagine. You will also find here more than 80 stickers and 40 or so callouts to adorn and liven up your movies with emojis, comics effects, and thematic elements. Keyframe animation, Chroma Key feature, and even the option to either highlight or, to the contrary, conceal certain elements. The latter will be useful if people in the video do not want to be recognized for some reason.

Moreover, Movavi has recently launched the Movavi Effects Store with tons of unique effects sets and effect packs. The set collection includes holiday, wedding, blogger, travel, fitness, education, technology, cinematic, family, eco, and seasonal options.

The packs are also quite advanced and exquisite with their fantasy, mystical, zombie, sci-fi, and many more effects.

What is great, Movavi often provides special offers and discounts for the effects. Plus, all the options come with a 30-day money-back warranty. So, actually, you have nothing to lose.

Besides the aforementioned features, Movavi also offers a large selection of export formats and an option to log into your YouTube account for instant uploading. This software will be most useful for video bloggers who make all kinds of content and have something to say, be it skincare advice, celebrity news and gossip, or a book club of sorts. Vlogging today is so varied that every topic, however weird it is, will find its audience. In fact, the weirder the better sometimes. So, basically, if you have a topic you can and want to talk about, a decent camera, and the Movavi video editor, you can become popular in no time.

Getting back to basics, Filmora9 has all the essential editing tools allowing you to adjust volume, fade clips in/out, equalize your sound, adjust pitch, and reduce background noise.

The Filmora9’s timeline enables users to add up to 100 video tracks and 100 audio tracks, which gives you a great opportunity to create complicated projects.

As for the video effects, the program comes with 200 of them. They can take almost all the guesswork out of making your video looking appropriate. For instance, the filters can give your video a retro feel, the effect of a bad TV signal, cinematic flares, and more. In addition to that, you can complete your videos with music tracks. The software offers 50 free options, or you can import music from your iTunes library.

Also, you'll get over 200 transitions for your projects from simple fades and roll to more complex sweeps and warps.

When you're done with your videos, you'll be able to import multiple files all at once. Take note that the software is able to import ultra-high-definition 4K resolution or tailor videos for specific devices like Apple TV or Xbox consoles. But what completely sells the product is the ability to upload directly to YouTube or Vimeo. And do that within the software. The greatest feature for avid YouTube vloggers.

Another perk of Filmora9 that makes it even more appealing for novice editors is the free option. Unlike other programs that offer just free trials, you can get the free Wondershare Filmora9 software with all the tools included (unlimited access). The only hitch here is that all your exported videos will have the Filmora9 watermark. However, if you find it too distracting, you can pay $39.99 for a year subscription or $59.99 for lifetime access. The watermark will go away and you'll get all the updates to the software for free

The interface had been considered a major downside of the Pinnacle Studio video editing software for years. Dedicated long-standing users had gotten used to it with time but there had been quite a number of complaints nevertheless. The designers have finally dealt with this issue in Pinnacle Studio 21: the new interface looks more sophisticated, smooth, and is much easier to work with since it has become quite intuitive. In fact, it now looks fairly similar to many other popular video editing software for Windows, with its three-part window and flat icons for features within easy reach—right there at the left edge.

There is also a unique feature no other video editors seem to offer: simultaneously shown Storyboard and Timeline. Usually, they are two separate modes with Storyboard being the "easy" one and Timeline used by the more experienced users; but here in Pinnacle Studio 21, you can turn them on at the same time. If you find it redundant, though, or simply do not find the Storyboard necessary, you can hide it or replace it with the Navigator panel. The Storyboard makes rearranging and ordering your clips much faster and simpler whereas the Navigator is good for quick zooming in/out and positioning.

Also new for the Pinnacle Studio, the 21 edition has a 3D Title feature. It is not exactly unique to the Pinnacle but it's not a feature you find in every video editing software either, including, by the way, some professional video editing software. The 3D Title in Pinnacle Studio 21 Plus is, same as the whole new interface, pretty intuitive in use: you can adjust every parameter of your text by simply choosing it. From fonts and text color to texture, material, positioning, scale, etc. Combining several titles is also possible. Furthermore, the editor mode also enables you to create an animation out of the text by adjusting all the parameters frame by frame with smooth transitions. Titling can make a video livelier and lovelier so take advantage of this pro-level feature.

The PowerDirector interface is simple enough for even a complete beginner to master in almost no time at all. All the functions are set on a convenient panel with pictograms and floating descriptions.

The app has three main modes you'll see upon launching: the full timeline mode, the storyboard mode, and the slideshow creator. The latter name speaks for itself, and as for the former two—the storyboard mode is somewhat simplified compared to the timeline one (which is, again, not difficult at all itself) but it does offer most of the same features. The most interesting one, though, would be the Auto mode you'll see under the main modes. It is a peculiar thing we've found quite entertaining and useful for fast hassle-free video clip creation. In this mode, you can simply drop your source video clips, add music (if needed), adjust the correlation between the two with a slider—more video sound or more music or something in between—and the time for the target clip, then select the template from the PowerDirector library. The software will analyze the video, find the best parts of it, and create a clip from them, adding the transitions and effects from the template. Granted, the video might look somewhat generic, but this is called an auto mode for a reason. It is a good way to quickly make a video for some occasion like a birthday party, for example.

CyberLink has a very large library of effects, transitions, styles and everything else an amateur video editor might find useful. To make their video editing software for Windows not too "heavy" for most computers, all those additions are stored in a special part of the CyberLink website called the DirectorZone. Upon registration, you can download specific ones you like or need. The selection is truly remarkable: thousands of Picture-in-Picture (PiP) templates, particles, titles and title sets, transitions, styles, DVD menus, presets, sounds, and even complete express projects. The latest addition is the Blending Effects, called overlays in some other video editing software—a way to make your movies cuter with just a couple clicks.

PowerDirector by CyberLink is a powerful tool that includes nearly everything to create stunning videos with next to no efforts. And if you decide to purchase one of the two offered suite options, there are additional programs like AudioDirector, ColorDirector, and many more effects from famous creators like BorisFX included.

Trying to highlight all the features this video editing software for Windows offers would be like trying to seize the unseizable since there are somewhere around 2,000 of them. There are, however, several we find interesting enough to underscore.

Grouping
There might be a moment when you need to apply the same effect to all or just several separate clips on the timeline, for example, when you make a movie from several files or you have cut some parts from the one clip and thus now have a number of shorter ones. Applying effects to each one by one can be supremely aggravating, especially if there are many parts and you want to adjust the effect. So, in this case, the Corel Video Studio offers you a grouping feature—you group the clips and applying the effect to any one of them applies it to all the clips in the group. Really convenient and makes editing faster and more joyful.

Portrait Videos
We don't always remember to rotate the smartphone or tablet when we record videos. Later, when it comes to editing those clips, we regretfully crop the video to fit it into 4:3 or 16:9 or other traditional aspect ratios. Either that or we end up with those ugly black bars at the sides. No more need for that since the Video Studio movie editing software has a way to make portrait-shot videos look stunning using those 20 overlay tracks and masking! Check out the tutorial on the Welcome tab when you launch the program.

Multi-point Motion Tracking
Where a standard motion tracking tool uses a single point to try and track the object (and everyone who has tried that knows it does not always work as expected), here in Video Studio, you can set up to four points to create a kind of canvas that will move with the image. It is the best way to conceal parts like faces and car plates when you need it for security reasons.

Highlight Reel

This is a unique smart movie creator allowing you to make short videos of your latest trips and show off the highlights. All you need to do is just import your photos and videos to the program - Highlight Reel will automatically analyze your media and extract the best parts of it to create memorable videos followed by the beat of the music.

The answer to that question is quite simple—a mask can help you highlight a certain element in your video. For example, with it, you can make a black-and-white video with only the shapes of people or certain objects colored, or sharpen a specific element while blurring everything around it. The possibilities are limitless when you have a masking tool at your disposal. The Mask Creator is exclusive to the Ultimate edition of the Corel's Video Studio and it also incorporates a motion track feature. Although it is not perfect (the motion tracking will need adjustment with tiny objects and you might want to use a drawing tablet when you outline your mask with a brush) but it is one of the most advanced features and it generally can't be found in such a cheap video editing software.