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
1 - Free Video Editor for Mac Free Video Editor for Mac is easy-to-use video editing software for Mac with the main function to crop, split and merge video clips. You can also add effect or watermark to your videos. Sometimes, as the video is recorded with shaky hands, you can also use this free Mac video editor to stabilize the video and enhance the quality.
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
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.
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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Mac users don’t have to worry as today we are going to share with you best video editing software for Mac. There are many video editors that are made for both Windows and Mac users but few editors are only available for Mac. If you want to see the list of best video editing software for windows.Click here
It doesn’t matter whether you use macOS or Windows 10, it’s just a matter of time until your device will refuse to start, which could happen for many reasons, including (and not limited to) file corruption, hardware failure, and buggy update. Mac boot from cd.
We have extracted the video editors for Mac that are considered to be the best in the business.
Best video editors available for Mac users
Video editing is a real fun if you have a good system and a premium video editor. For Mac users, there are video editors that are specially made for this platform. See the collection below of best video editors for Mac that are both built-in and third party as well.
Final Cut Pro X
Final cut pro X is one of the most used video editor on Mac. Taking few tutorials before you start and you will adapt to the software interface so quickly. That is why Final Cut Pro X is best suitable for beginners. Lots of effects and premium features make Final Cut Pro X a professional video editing tool. 360-degree and 4K video is supported. You need to have an 8GB RAM and 256MB video card for best experience.
Price: 30-days free trial version is offered and you can buy Final Cut Pro X in $299.99 USD.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Adobe Premiere Pro CC as we have shared many times before, holds a place in the list of the best video editors. Available for Mac and Windows, Adobe Premiere Pro CC is editor’s choice. Once you have passed the learning phase, Adobe Premiere Pro should be your first priority. Thousands of editing options, filters and effects make Adobe Premiere Pro CC a premium video editor. 3D and 8K videos are easily supported by the software.
Price: Adobe Premiere comes with a 30-day free trial. You can buy Adobe Premiere Pro CC in just $240 USD.
Apple iMovie
Apple iMovie is considered to be the best video editing software for Mac. The main reason is that it is free. Compatible with both Mac OS and iOS, Apple iMovie allows you to edit videos on both your iPhone and MacBook. Latest version of Apple iMovie supports 4K videos which means you just need to make videos from your iPhone and convert them into movies using Apple iMovie.
Price: Apple iMovie is free of cost for both iPhone and Mac OS users.
MacXvideo
MacXvideo as the name suggests comes specifically for Mac users. It is programmed after analyzing the Mac machine deeply. MacXvideo works effectively in Mac OS environment. MacXvideo you to process High Definition videos quickly. You can cut, trim, crop, copy, paste, adjust colors, hue and sound adjustment etc. easily. MacXvideo is compatible with all video formats.
Price: MacXvideo is available for free trail and you can buy it at staring price of $59.99 USD.
Camtasia Studio
Camtasia Studio is best known for editing tutorial videos or making slideshows and presentations kind of things. It is also available for windows too but Mac OS users can also get their hands on this simple, intuitive and easy to use video editor.
Price: Camtasia Studio is available for a 30-day free trial and you can buy it at starting price of $240 USD per year.
Software For Editing Videos On Mac Download
We hope you liked our collection. Comment us your experience and help others finding the best video editor for Mac. There are many video editor’s which are best for Mac like Wondershare Filmora, Lightswork, Adobe Premiere Elements but we have tried to share those which are only built for Mac OS platform.