Telecharger.com has selected the best free video editing software on Windows
We hear his name on everyone's lips. Adobe Premiere dominates the video editing market, forcing fans and professionals to commit financially every month. The free offer is however not absent from the perimeter of video editing, usually offering features similar to those of paid solutions, taking into account the level of each. Telecharger.com has therefore selected for you the best free video editing software on Windows meeting the needs of beginners and more experienced.
shotcut
Shotcut offers a convincing editing solution aimed primarily at beginners. Spartan in appearance, the tool actually draws its strength from its modular structure. Only feature panels that interest you can be integrated into the main window that fits your needs and requirements.
Interesting originality: Shotcut offers two ways to make a video montage. Thanks to the playlist, users do not bother with the subtleties of the timeline. Slipped-deposited sequences in the block provided for this purpose are linked together, with the possibility of modifying their order or editing them independently of one another. The more experienced editors benefit from the traditional timeline multitrack. Although more technical to master, it offers the ability to add sound, effects, transitions or titles, bringing a certain added value to the final video.
The encoding conditions depend on the FFmpeg libraries on which Shotcut is based. There is little concern about the compatibility of codecs which, with rare exceptions, are all supported by the software. On the export side, you can count on 4K UHD.
Download 32-Bit Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 64-Bit Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 32-Bit Portable Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 64-Bit Portable Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 64-Bit Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 32-Bit Portable Shotcut for Windows (Free)
Download 64-Bit Portable Shotcut for Windows (Free)
VSDC Video Editor
VSDC Video Editor instantly puts its users in trust. Its home page knows how to guide less experienced people who, at a glance, learn about all the editing solutions available to them. Also listed are the main features of the program referring to intelligible online tutorials.
When creating a new project, VSDC Video Editor invites you to enter all the technical characteristics of your future editing: name, copyright, resolution, number of frames per second, frequency, background color. Import and export formats are numerous enough to allow you to find your happiness.
In terms of ergonomics, VSDC Video Editor presents an austere but rather practical modular interface. The Project Explorer plays the detailed content of your current montages when the Object Explorer offers a hand on the organization of scenes, transitions, effects, and titles that make up a particular project. The main block is traditionally organized around the timeline and the preview window. The somewhat cluttered overall look of the over-represented toolbars dissipates as quickly as you learn to coax each feature.
With its overall display reminiscent of the Office suite, VSDC Video Editorreassures even more beginners who can navigate serenely between tabs. This is also where we access the few video and sound effects that embellish the most creative montages.
Kdenlive
Simple and powerful: Kdenlive respects the credo of the KDE community. Initially intended for GNU / Linux systems, the software benefits from Windows porting thanks to GSOC projects. Although it is still a beta version, there are features and comfort of use similar to those of the original version.
Kdenlive relies on the MLT framework. By default, its interface is organized around essential areas: rush manager, effects list, preview window and timeline. Advanced users deepen the personalization of their work environment, adding or removing modules at their convenience, configuring keyboard shortcuts. Support for multitrack audio and video infinity allows the creation of very complex projects.
Because it relies notably on FFmpeg libraries, Kdenlive handles almost all audio and video formats, without conversion or re-encoding. You keep your hands on the extensive editing of the rushes thanks to several multimedia analyzers including a spectrometer, a histogram and a vectorscope.
Interesting originality proposed by Kdenlive : the management of intermediate clips. By automatically generating low-resolution copies of your footage, the software allows you to manipulate lightened clips and work on your editing without over-running your PC. The magic continues to operate on the export of the project since the rushes of low quality give way to the original rushes. Cups and effects played on the middlemen are at the same time applied to HD, Full HD or Ultra HD sequences.
Lightworks
Preceded by his reputation, Lightworks has long worked with film professionals. He is responsible for the editing of cult movies such as Pulp Fiction or Infiltrates . Opened to the general public in a simplified version since 2012, the software remains a complex tool intended for advanced users.
Lightworks displays a fully customizable modular structure. One composes his workspace according to his needs and his habits with possibility to move, lock, hide, enlarge the windows of functionalities. Always with a rigorously professional focus, the software stands out with its "rooms". These isolated spaces make it possible to treat the components of the same project in complete independence. One can create a room for audio settings, another for calibration, or another for data management. All changes made to a room have no effect on the entire assembly, which allows you to delete them and recreate them at will without fear of damaging the overall project.
The formats supported by Lightworks cover such diversity that it is possible to import ProRes as Avid DNxHD without transcoding. When exporting, count on MPEG4 / H.264 in 720p for the free version with possibility to upload your work directly to YouTube.
HitFilm Express
HitFilm Express wears the double-cap. In addition to offering a very complete video editing software, it has many compositing tools that avoid you to go through a third-party program for special effects.
The interface of HitFilm Express is comfortable although minimalist. The preview window is juxtaposed to that of editing plans and overcomes the famous timeline. Multitrack management makes it easy to integrate sounds, transitions, and titles that you edit from the dialog box for the occasion. The integration of special effects is done directly via the software that supports 3D for an even more refined rendering. HitFilm Express has just over 400 free presets and special effects including a green background designed to seduce youtubers.
Youtubeurs also fully benefit from the compatibility of HitFilm Express with social networks since it is possible to associate your YouTube account to directly upload its montages. Apart from this feature, software users can locally export their projects in Ultra HD 4K with a color depth of up to 8 bits.
HitFilm Express is very resource-intensive. It is therefore necessary to have a computer powerful enough to launch and use the program.
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve offers a comprehensive solution that allows you to do editing, calibration and compositing. The diversity of its functionalities implies that the program is primarily intended for professionals. Otherwise, extremely sophisticated amateurs can try to get a grip on the software.
In terms of editing, DaVinci Resolve offers an interface riddled with options that you must learn to master because it can not be modulated. The management of the multitrack is obviously included and we take advantage of the high performance multicam support which favors the realization of complex projects. The synchronization of video and audio tracks benefits from the automatic analysis of sound waves, guaranteeing a successful result. The compatibility of the software with OpenFX plugins makes it possible to perform compositing tasks without going through a third-party solution, guaranteeing speed and preserved quality of the images.
It is worth remembering that DaVinci Resolve is primarily a calibration software, an area in which it excels. Colors and brightness are easily adjustable thanks to the powerful tools that it embeds. The color wheels - lift, gamma, gain, offset - operate primary arrangements, while a complementary module deals with the corrections imputed to specific areas of the image.
In its free version, DaVinci Resolve limits the export of projects to Ultra HD format and does not support HDR calibration or 3D.
AVID Media Composer First
AVID aligns itself with the competition with Media Composer First . This lighter version of Media Composer allows you to become familiar with the interface of the pro version as well as with most of its iconic tools. Not surprisingly, the software is aimed at semi-pros who evaluate the complexity of its handling before investing in a more complete version.
To compete with Resolve, Media Composer First incorporates advanced options such as multicam support and powerful stabilization tools. The multitrack is included but restricted to four video tracks and eight audio tracks. AVX and AAX plugins are managed from the AVID Marketplace. Most of the usual codecs are compatible with this light version which allows the export of projects in 1080p and promises uploading facilities on YouTube and Vimeo.
It's audio processing that Media Composer First really does well. Although it lacks 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, the proposed sound management has its own recording and editing module. Everyone is free to compose their soundtrack and mix different sources to accompany their video project as accurately as possible.