Level | Products | Input formats | Output formats | Pros | Cons |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
For beginners | Apple iMovie | DV, HDV, AVCHD, Apple Intermediate Codec, Motion JPEG/A, iFrame, h.264, MP4, MOV.. | H.264/MPEG-4, MOV, AVI, DV.. | Available on iPhone/iPad; Comptiable well with Apple ecosystem | Audio is copyrighted |
Avidemux | 3GP, ASF, AVI, FLV, H263, JPEG, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPEG4, MPG, and OGM | AVI, FLV, M1V, M2V, MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, OGM and TS | Clean and easy to use interface; Open source software without built-in purchase | Exporting process is slack | |
OpenShot | WebM, AVCHD, HEVC.. | MP4, AVI, MPEG.. | Provide free built in effects and animations; Support 3D title | Buggy at times; Freeze and crash often | |
ZS4 Video Editor | AVI, WAV, Image Files | AVI, WMV, WAV, Jpg, Png | More than 120 built-in video effects; unlimited tracks | User interface is not friendly | |
HyperEngine-AV | AVI, BMP, Cubic VR, DLS, DV, FLC.. | AIFF, AVI, BMP, DV Stream, FLC, MPEG-4.. | Includes twelve studio-quality effects; Create slide shows | Discontinued to release new version | |
For semi-pros | Kdenlive | AVI, MP4, FFmpeg.. | QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG.. | Open source software | Not friendly for greenhands; Update slowly |
Blender | STL, ABC, FBX.. | FBX, DAE, ABC.. | Fast poly modeling tools; Customizable input | Unintuitive layers system; Animation management is not smooth | |
For pros | Davinci Resolve | MP4, MOV, MTS, AVI.. | QuickTime, AVI, R3D, MXF, DPX.. | Learning curve is not steep; Offer advance color grading | Single screen editing workflow is not friendly |
Lightworks | MPEG-2, AVC, RED R3D, DPX, Apple Pro Res.. | MPEG4/H.264 | Package is lightweight; Only need 3GB RAM to use | Effect library is limited | |
HitFilm Express | H.264, AVCHD, QuickTime, AVI, M2T, M2TS, MTS, MXF | H.264, Apple ProRes, AVI | High level ideo effects compositor | No motion graphics feature |