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Any video editing advice?

iUniqueUser

iUniqueUser

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 20, 2025
32
15
Australia
I have a Windows laptop, and after using iMovie, I can't go back to Windows Movie Maker. So, do you guys have any video editing software..

  1. That works on Windows 10 & up
  2. Is free
  3. Isn't simple as hell (VideoThang, Movie Maker)
 
I'd recommend Microsoft's ClipChamp; it's a free download for Windows 10 users and is often bundled with Windows 11. It's web-based, meaning you need an Internet connection to use it, but it's definitely more feature-packed than Windows Movie Maker. At times it's akin to the current iMovie, but you can work with more than two video tracks, and you get some nice image correction tools, a good title utility and a nice library of customizable video effects. BUT, unlike iMovie, the free version only exports up to 1080p, and you can't do "rubberband"-style audio volume edits the way you can on iMovie.
 
dandeco said:
I'd recommend Microsoft's ClipChamp; it's a free download for Windows 10 users and is often bundled with Windows 11. It's web-based, meaning you need an Internet connection to use it, but it's definitely more feature-packed than Windows Movie Maker. At times it's akin to the current iMovie, but you can work with more than two video tracks, and you get some nice image correction tools, a good title utility and a nice library of customizable video effects. BUT, unlike iMovie, the free version only exports up to 1080p, and you can't do "rubberband"-style audio volume edits the way you can on iMovie.
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I have experience with Clipchamp and felt really limited.
 
I use Avidemux. Easy to use and does everything I want. Cut out unwanted sections of Video. Crop. Resize. Fade in and out etc. Works with any format and converts to any format. And it’s free. Been using it for years. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube that are easy to follow.
 
iUniqueUser said:
I have a Windows laptop, and after using iMovie, I can't go back to Windows Movie Maker. So, do you guys have any video editing software..

  1. That works on Windows 10 & up
  2. Is free
  3. Isn't simple as hell (VideoThang, Movie Maker)
Click to expand...
For free? You will not find anything better than DaVinci Resolve. All the other suggestions you are getting are toys not intended for any kind of serious work.

That said, I use Final Cut Pro on Mac. But if you are stuck using Windows, Resolve is the best you can get and there is tons of free trying material online

But a lot depends on what you need to do. For some people "editing" means culling out the worst mistakes for some vacation videos. But for others, that are putting together a narrative story and have separately recorded audio tracks and maybe a second camera.

If you have put effort into shooting, it is worth it to ue decent tools in post.

But in the end, what matters is the footage and the story, People used to do this work with razor blades and film cement and they made great films that way. Modern tools help but the best thing is to study editing
 
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It's actually a pain in the but to use two video editors. The usual video workflow is that you import all your footage, audio clips and stills and then sort and label them. This intake phase has to be redone in the other editor, and there is no sharing.

Editing video is not at all like editing a still image, where there is just one file you could open in one of many editors.

Its ok to edit one project in one editor and then the next project 4 months later in another. But you can't use two editors on one project
 
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I get that but sometimes theres something you wanna do in a video editor that doesn't have it so you use another video editor
 
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iUniqueUser said:
I get that but sometimes theres something you wanna do in a video editor that doesn't have it so you use another video editor
Click to expand...
That's right. It also depends on the needs of your project. I edit many of my vlogs and simpler 16:9 projects on iMovie. For my YTPs and certain other elaborate projects, I use Final Cut Pro. For anything else elaborate where I don't want to clutter up my FCP event libraries with all the files I'm using in it (like various graphics and sound effects) then I use Adobe Premiere Pro or Cyberlink PowerDirector for Mac.
 
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iUniqueUser said:
Thanks! I'm actually considering using Corel Video Studio 8 but it doesn't hurt to have two video editors
Click to expand...
That's a mistake.
Download DaVinci Resolve (it's free!) and watch this YouTube to teach yourself how to use it. It's a two hour video and after about 20 minutes I knew enough to edit videos, add voiceovers and graphics, and mix audio... all by watching that video. I still haven't even gone through the entire video.
 
Alameda said:
That's a mistake.
Download DaVinci Resolve (it's free!) and watch this YouTube to teach yourself how to use it. It's a two hour video and after about 20 minutes I knew enough to edit videos, add voiceovers and graphics, and mix audio... all by watching that video. I still haven't even gone through the entire video.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation to watch that YouTube video.

I haven’t watched it yet, but I was so intimidated by DaVinci Resolve, that I (think I) deleted it from my computer. I could see the potential, but I couldn’t cope with the learning curve, and nothing made sense to me in the programme. I have switched to Shotcut and I’m coping a lot better.

But if I can find something that will teach me Resolve (in more ways than one), then I’ll be happy.
 
Kandrew said:
Thanks for the recommendation to watch that YouTube video.

I haven’t watched it yet, but I was so intimidated by DaVinci Resolve, that I (think I) deleted it from my computer. I could see the potential, but I couldn’t cope with the learning curve, and nothing made sense to me in the programme. I have switched to Shotcut and I’m coping a lot better.

But if I can find something that will teach me Resolve (in more ways than one), then I’ll be happy.
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I watched the first 20 minutes of that video and that was all I needed. It didn’t take me 20 minutes… I had the YouTube and Resolve open, and I’d watch a bit of video, pause, try it, watch a little more, and so on. I still haven’t gone through all of the video!! Not even half of it.

You don’t need to learn everything about Resolve to make a great video. BUT, if you start with Resolve, then, when you think, “I want to add subtitles,” or “I want to mix audio”, or whatever… you can look up how to do it.
 
Alameda said:
I watched the first 20 minutes of that video and that was all I needed. It didn’t take me 20 minutes… I had the YouTube and Resolve open, and I’d watch a bit of video, pause, try it, watch a little more, and so on. I still haven’t gone through all of the video!! Not even half of it.

You don’t need to learn everything about Resolve to make a great video. BUT, if you start with Resolve, then, when you think, “I want to add subtitles,” or “I want to mix audio”, or whatever… you can look up how to do it.
Click to expand...
I understand the distinction you made now.

I’ll get to it soon, when I’m not as pressed for time and deadlines. (How does that happen when you’re supposed to be retired?)
 
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