The Mac is hugely popular among creative professionals, so it’s no great surprise that there are lots of video editing tools available for it. Whether you just want to add titles, transitions and a soundtrack, or you want to add Hollywood-style effects and access to professional color correction there’s a Mac application that will do the job.
The really great news is that many of these programs are free. You might expect that free video editing software would have fewer features or produce less professional results than expensive software, but many of the free tools featured here are more than good enough to produce professional-looking movies. The only downside is that they tend to have a steep learning curve and they don’t walk you through the process of editing. However, there are plenty of video on YouTube to help you get started. Here are the best free and paid-for video editing applications for the Mac.
Best free video editing software for Mac
1. iMovie
Apple’s consumer focused video editing tool used to only be free if you bought a new Mac. But now everyone can download it free from the Mac App Store. It’s a brilliantly easy to use application. One of its best features are the movie trailer themes that allow you to create amazing cinema-style trailers in a few minutes.
If you want to create your own movies, there are tons of effects, transitions, sound effects and title styles to help you. And it’s easy to import your own audio tracks and photos and add them to your production. If you’re looking for a free video editor for Mac, iMovie could be the only tool you’ll ever need.
2. DaVinci Resolve
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If iMovie isn’t for you, give DaVinci Resolve a try. It’s the free version of DaVinci Resolve Studio, but being free doesn’t mean there aren’t many features. It’s loaded with professional tools like some of the best color correction and image stabilization there is. In the free version, you can work at frame rates up to 60fps and export your movie in SD, HD and Ultra HD.
It has a full digital audio workstation for sound editing, meaning you won’t have to leave the app to get the audio just the way you want it. It’s available on the Mac App Store, but if you want the full features of the free version, download it from the Blackmagic website.
Gimp (Free) Gimp is a free open-source photo editing app that has been on the market for over 22 years and is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Unlike many free apps, Gimp doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. Its grey interface might seem a little old-fashioned and it may be a bit sluggish when it comes to complex effects, though.
Adobe Photoshop Elements. Where you can use it: Mac and Windows Why we love it: While not truly a free photo editor, Photoshop Elements does have a free trial, and it’s far and away among the best photo editing software for Mac and Windows.The suite of automated editing tools — including for exposure, color balance, and reducing the effects of camera shake — make short work of the.
What the above software apps enable you to do, is to polish images, increase the lighting, sharpen the saturation as well as a million other things for a perfect look. If you love perfection, these are the options to go for. They are the Best free photo editing software for Mac 2020.
3. Lightworks
While DaVinci Resolve gives away lots of its high end features in the free version, the same can’t be said of Lightworks. There’s still plenty here though, including: effects, multicam editing, titling, and a timeline with multiple layers.
There’s also access to royalty-free video and audio content for you to include in your projects. However, output in the free version is restricted to 1080p on Vimeo and 720p on YouTube. And there are no detailed export options for H.264 or MP4. Also, if you want to use the free version for more than seven days, you’ll have to register.
4. OpenShot
OpenShot is an open source video editor with a user interface that’s much simpler than most. That doesn’t mean it’s short of features, though. It has templates for creating titles, effects, the ability to remove the background from your video, and slow motion and time effects. You can also create 3D animated titles and effects, there’s support for unlimited tracks, and for more than 70 languages. The interface isn’t the slickest you’ll ever use, and there have been question marks over its reliability in the past, but it’s definitely worth trying if you want a free video editor for the Mac.
5. Video Editor MovieMator
Video Editor MovieMator allows you to trim, split, move, and merge clips from a variety of different sources. It handles every consumer file format you’re likely to need and can import directly from your iPhone or GoPro. There are lots of built-in effects and transitions, and, of course, you can add titles too.
The interface is simple enough for most people to get to grips with quickly and the real-time preview makes it easy to see exactly how your video is coming along. There is a significant limitation on the free version of the app — exports are listed to videos that are up to five minutes long. Also, there is only one transition and a handful of effects in the free version.
Best paid-for video editors for Mac
1. Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro has come a long way since it was overhauled a few years ago and lost several features that caused lots of criticism to be directed at Apple. The fact that it’s designed by Apple means that it takes full advantage of hardware on the Mac, particularly the Mac Pro and iMac Pro. It pushes their multi-core CPU and GPUs to the maximum.
Features like the Magnetic Timeline 2 and Enhanced Timeline Index may be beyond the needs of most of us, but if you edit videos for a living, you’ll appreciate them. Support for up to 64 camera angles with automatic audio syncing is another feature that makes video professionals lives much easier. And of course, it supports the formats you would expect of a serious video editor including ProRes, RED, and XAVC, as well as H.264 from digital SLR cameras. When it comes to Mac video editing, Final Cut Pro X has all the bases covered.
2. Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Like all of Adobe’s professional products, Premiere Pro is only available as a subscription package and subscribing for a year will cost you almost as much as buying Final Cut Pro X outright. However, if you prefer your video organisation tools and especially the timeline to look and work like a traditional non-linear video editor, you may prefer Premiere Pro over Final Cut’s Magnetic Timeline.
In other respects, Premiere Pro is very similar to its Apple rival, offering a full range of audio editing and color correction tools, as well as effects, support for multiple formats (including Apple’s ProRes) and all the output options you’re likely to need.
One area where Mac users will notice a difference is in rendering performance, particularly on a high-end Mac like a Mac Pro or iMac Pro. Adobe’s application is designed for Mac and PC and so optimized or for the Mac’s multi-core CPU and GPU the way that Final Cut Pro is.
3. Adobe Premiere Elements 2018
The simplest way to describe Premiere Elements is that it is to Premiere Pro what iMovie is to Final Cut Pro. But Elements and iMovie are two very different apps. For a start, while iMovie is free, Elements costs $100. The other main difference is that Elements is set up to automate much of the process of creating your movie masterpieces. So, for example, Quick mode takes the clips and other media you’ve imported and throws them together on the timeline, you can then re-order them, trim them and add transitions and other effects. Even here, however, the emphasis is on letting Elements do the hard work for you. So, press the Fix button and it will apply image stabilization and other ‘fixes.’ If you want to be more involved, a guided mode prompts you with onscreen tips. Of course, if you’d rather work completely manually, you can. Elements doesn’t make it as easy to import media as iMovie does, and you’ll have to download much of its additional content, like music scores, individually.
4. Filmora
FIlmora allows you to import clips from your Mac’s hard drive, a camera, and even from social media accounts. It has a somewhat quirky interface, that may take some getting used to if you’ve used other video editors. But it has plenty to commend it including lots of effects, titling options, and audio controls. It’s neatest feature could be the lighting preset options that allows you to emulate the look of Game of Thrones, Star Wars, or House of Cards at the click of a button.
How to make space for video on your Mac
Working with video editing software means you need lots of free space on your Mac’s main drive — video clips use several gigabytes of space for every hour of content, and that’s before you export the final version. You should also make sure your Mac is running at its optimal speed, you’ll need every ounce of power to render video.
One quick and easy way to both improve your Mac’s performance and clear space on its hard drive is to use CleanMyMac X. CleanMyMac identifies “junk” files that sit on your Mac’s drive, taking up space and slowing it down. It makes removing the files very easy and could claw back tens of gigabytes of space. You can download it free here.
The best video editing software for Mac is, ultimately, the one that does what you need to do in a way that you enjoy working. There’s lots of Mac video editing software, and much of it is free. Take time, try out as many applications as you can and choose the best one for you.
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I personally tested and reviewed over 20 free and paid tools.
And you can filter through the following top 5 list to find the best software for editing green screen on Mac.
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1. Best Overall: Movavi Video Editor
Operating system: Mac, PC
Supported Input Formats: It offers support for most media formats including image, audio and video
With the Movavi video editor it’s easy to build fun videos even if you’re a beginner with video editing. You can drag and drop all of the media files into the timeline just as you would in any other simple editing tool. Unlike other types of video editors you can also make quick changes to the clips by rotating, cutting and trimming them away from the timeline.
This software is one of the best ways that you can add multiple transitions, stickers, titles and effects for any type of video.
By shooting a video against a green or blue backdrop and then using the editor to remove the backdrop from the area, you can add in background video clips and then have professional editing tools available right on your desktop.
The picture-in-picture tool also makes it easy to freeze the video at any location and add effects as necessary. You can send out video cards and formats that can be enhanced through the effects onboard. Whether you’d like to adjust the contrast, saturation or brightness in the video this can all be done with a simple toolbar.
Reducing motion distortion and improving stabilization are also available in the program.
Free Video Editing Software For Macbook Pro
Advantages:
The big advantage of using Movavi starts with the sheer amount of tools that you can use as a beginner. The program offers 4K video support, 14 languages, a simple interface for use and even improvements for hardware acceleration support.
Drawbacks:
A view of the UI elements that are found within the program could use a bit of work and the controls are somewhat limited for effects. This is a program that is really tailored towards beginners.
2. Runner-up, Best Overall: Filmora
Operating system: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
Supported Input Formats: Support for most input media formats (including video, image and audio)
Windows Movie Maker Free Download
Supported Output Formats: Support for most output media formats (including video, image and audio)
Price: $59.95/lifetime
Wondershare Filmora is a program that’s available for iOS, android, Windows and Macintosh. It offers support for most types of media formats including image, audio and video and it can also export in many compatible sources. For $59.95 for the license code, you can make sure that you can continue using the program for amateur filmmaking and more.
Filmora has two different modes depending on your comfort with video editing software. Users can jump in with the easy mode or the full feature editor to unlock the full focus of the program.
Picking out the videos and audio that you want to use can also be made easy through the theme focus. There are a series of features and effects which can complement various themes and this can be helpful for improving transitions or for finding various effects in the program without having to go rooting around.
The preview mode and the music tracks that are available from the themes also make it easy to enhance your video.
The full feature mode can give you access to even greater levels of control, this is where Filmora seems much more like an actual video editor. You can drag images, sound, and more into different tracks as well as perform advanced effects.
The full feature mode delivers on the chance to use green screens, premade filters for color correction, cropping, cutting, splitting and combining with simple tools and more. The full feature editor also comes with an audio mixer and equalizer as well as the chance to burn your items to a DVD, Facebook, Vimeo and more.
Advantages:
It can be a program that’s easy to master even if you have never used a video editing program before. There’s plenty of visual effects and premade effects that can help you make a great looking video within a few minutes. The 4k video support is also helpful.
Drawbacks:
it does lack a few advanced features like the option for motion tracking, multi-camera support and assistance with 360° videos.
Supported Output Formats: .mov, JPEG, DV and AIC, AAC
Price: Free
The apple imovie system actually has some history to it. The software has been available since the year 1999 and it released alongside the iMac DV. In a way this has been an entry-level moviemaker for nearly 20 years.
The latest version of iMovie is a much more professional and powerful application that’s also completely free to download and use. Apple has worked at regularly updating the application to keep up with the latest in advances as well as to make sure that they can handle the best in new camera formats too. From UHD to modern iphones recording in 4k, the latest version of iMovie can keep up with these formats with ease.
Final cut software free. IMovie today also comes with a chromakey green screen tool that makes it easy to work with this effect.
Advantages:
The biggest advantage to using this program is that it’s always been designed for beginners. It has simple interfaces as well as abundant tools that can be used for making professional looking, theater quality videos. The program also supports 4K movie making and a series of sharing solutions for its users.
Drawbacks:
It does lack some support for multicam, 360° features and more. It also has limited output controls as part of its use.
Supported Formats for Exporting: MPEG files, H.264 and more.
Price: Free
Davinci Resolve actually has two versions including a full studio version which is available for $299. The free program actually has a surprising number of features from this program by some of the professional tools like team collaboration and video noise reduction cannot be applied without the full license. Most of the features that are on board the free version will work just fine for professionals and hobbyists.
The Davinci Resolve program is considered to be a professional grade editor Ed does offer some advanced tools like exporting, audio mastering, color correction and more. The program can also work especially well for arranging audio clips and video and for its wide selection of effects and filters. The extra color correction and adjustments that are available here can also help with HDR support and getting more professional results when working with RAW data from the camera.
Davinci Resolve is also known for one of the finest color grading programs. With the chromakey tools that are available, the results on video can be extremely powerful. With the quick tutorial that’s on board, it doesn’t take long to actually figure out how use this effect.
Advantages:
Multicam editing, pro audio, precise controls and a series of intuitive features that can improve editing time will all lead to improvements with using this program.
Drawbacks:
The big drawbacks with this video is that there are no features for 360° video editing, it can be somewhat complex for many novices and the program currently offers no 4k support.
5. Best Green Screen Editor Online for Mac: Wevideo
Price: starts at $4.00/mo, billed annually.
With a price of just four dollars a month this is a program that features massive compatibility with nearly 20 different input and output formats. Most of the common input and output formats like NT 4.0, avi, 3gp and more are well represented.
If you are planning on doing green screen options online and you don’t want to install any software to access a full-featured video editor, this could be one of the best alternatives for you.
WeVideo stands as a cloud-based solution that extremely powerful and very simple to use as a video editor. There is a real reason why it’s one of the most popular online video editors available. There are options on board for this for photo animations, clip transformations, voiceovers and more. You can also work in enhancing your video with a series of premium features for screen casting, custom branding, and a wide range of free tracks that you can use with copyright free music.
It’s simple to control almost everything in videos with this online editor from motion effects, the green screen technology to scene transitions.
Advantages:
This is a multiplatform video editor that works with intense compatibility online. You can use it on almost any device. The interface is also quite simple and it has some tools that are used by the pros as well as a format that most people can easily understand.
There is a full licensed library of songs with over 100 tracks you can use royalty-free. The cloud storage also ensures that you can pick up a project on any device that you won’t. Cloud access anywhere gives you more time for efficiency and handling your workload.
Drawbacks:
The program only currently supports 720 P resolution in some of the cheaper plans and there’s limited minutes allowed with editing if you are only going to use the trial free plan.
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Hey, My name is Paul – nice to e-meet you ? I’m a freelance video editor who has over 4 years experiences of making all types of videos. I founded this website to provide step-by-step and easy-to-follow instructions to first-time editors or beginners like you who want to start their journey in video editing.