Top 12 Best YouTube Video Editors for Beginners and Pro

If you are a content marketer or a digital marketer, videos should be an essential element you need to focus on – if you haven’t already. And when it comes to videos, YouTube has been a strong player for the best video sharing platform ever. It has more than 4 million hours of content available on the platform.

1. Why use YouTube Video Editors?

Editing the videos that you share on YouTube is extremely important because the raw video you shoot will have a good number of mistakes. It needs to be cleared of the mistakes and needs to be organised well enough to ensure that you can get a better deal of visitors.

Not every one of us is a professional videographer. We do not have a video studio or have a special team to provide video editing facilities. That is where the best quality YouTube video editors would help get access to the best possible videos. We will check out the right YouTube video editor options for both newbies and professionals.

2. Top 5 Best Free Video editing software for Beginners

In this section, we will check out the best free YouTube video editors that offer you an excellent performance and an easy to use interface.

1. VirtualDub

Pros

• It is capable of handling a large number of videos
• It can help develop a video in Windows Bitmap.
• Supports DV capture from type 2 FireWire controllers

Cons

• Limited video editing capabilities
• Cannot handle MPEG 1 files

Availability – Windows, Mac  and Linux

Price - Free

VirtualDub is one of the most popular open-source options for the best video editor for YouTube and was first released in 2000. Of course, it does offer you a limited set of video editing capabilities and has not been updated since 2013. The free video editing software was quite popular in the 2000s and the popularity faded in the later years with the launch of other popular video editors. You can cut, edit and trim videos, but it can only offer support for AVI files.

2. iMovie

Pros

• Can fix a shaky video easily
• Stunning 4K video editing.
• Animated titles and credits
• Rich features

Cons

• Limited video editing capabilities
• The interface is not customisable

Availability – Mac and iOS

Price - Free

If you are using a Mac device, it should be an exceptional product for the newbies. It provides you with the basic editing features to crop, trim and arrange your videos. Support for HD and 4K would mean you can edit your videos shot on modern devices such as GoPro or iPhones. The sharing capabilities of the free video editing software are just awesome and let you stream your 4K video to YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo. You can even use the songs from iTunes library to embed into your videos.  A great option among the best free video editing software for Mac, undoubtedly!

3. Wondershare Filmora

Pros

• Offers more than 50 formats to choose from
• An intuitive, user-friendly interface
• Support for 4K editing
• Both basic and advanced editing tools.

Cons

• Cannot edit 360-degree videos
• Cannot track moving objects

Availability – Mac and Windows

Price - Free, $49.99 for the premium version

Filmora is one of the most straightforward YouTube video editors to master. It can be learnt and put to use irrespective of your skill level. The tool has a huge set of filters, transitions, and overlays that can be applied without the need for a steeper learning curve. 4K video support can be one of the excellent options for creating high-quality videos for YouTube. The music and sound effects offered by the tool can be one of the perfect options you can opt for making it the best video editor for YouTube.

4. Blender

Pros

• Offers 3D effects
• Advanced editing features such as compositing system and a node-based material
• Audio mixing and waveform visualization options

Cons

• Slower processing
• A little difficult to use

Availability – Mac, Linux, Windows

Price – Free

If you are into modelling, animation and VFX rendering, this should be a great choice for your needs. We found it to be the best free video editing software for YouTube with the basic video editing functions such as trimming videos, inserting transitions and applying filters. Options for features such as chroma vectorscope, live preview, and histogram displays should be an added advantage. The speed control and layer adjustment features should further be an excellent option that would make it one of the strongest options for the free video editing software you would want to opt for.

5. Shotcut

Pros

• Extremely powerful despite being free
• A huge number of output formats
• Chroma keys and filters

Cons

• Less intuitive
• No built-in sharing

Availability – Mac, Linux, Windows

Price – Free

Yet another tool similar to Blender, Shotcut is both free and open source. Of course, you do not have access to the best features available on paid tools. However, that should not mean the tool does not offer you plenty of options in terms of video editing. A huge number of tutorials offered on the platform would make it one of the prime options in the long run. Given the fact that there are not many tools available on Linux, it should be an excellent choice for the Linux users.

 

3. Top 5 Best YouTube Video Editors for Professionals

The video editors for Professionals would invariably be paid and commercial. As such, we will be focussing on the paid options for the best YouTube video editors.

1. DaVinci Resolve

Pros

• Offers a free version along with an optional paid upgrade
• Intuitive interface
• Good for color grading, compositing and audio production

Cons

• Huge learning curve
• No export option for sharing

Availability – Mac, Linux, Windows

Price – Free and $299 for a premium subscription.

It is a high-end YouTube video editor and provides you access to advanced options such as 8K editing, visual effects, audio post-production, and color correction. It would work with all post-production software options available. The GPU acceleration option should further provide an enhanced performance. It also offers a 2D and 3D workplace integration for the pros. It can also double up as the best free video editing software for YouTube.

2. HitFilm Express

Pros

• Powerful presets and effects
• Intuitive interface that is practically useful for beginners
• Offers 4K input and output

Cons

• Effect heavy interface

Availability – Mac, Windows

Price – Free and $299 for a premium subscription.

A few of the prime features that the best video editor for YouTube offers you would include advanced tracking and screen simulation, sky replacement tool, masking and layering tools, 3D models, and sci-fi visual effects. A huge suite of 150 plugins lets you use it for non-linear video editing with the help of the other tools. An improved 3D rendering should be one of the prime features. It should be the perfect one for a professional post-production. It also offers you the options for one of the best free video editing software for YouTube.

3. Adobe After Effects

Pros

• Excellent transition effects
• Easy to set up and initialise
• A good number of tutorials

Cons

• The learning curve is a little steeper
• Uses heavy RAM

Availability – Mac, Windows

Price – $19.99/month – billed annually.

Available since more than two decades, Adobe After Effects has been a market leader. No matter whether you are creating YouTube videos, motion pictures or TV shows, the software offers you an excellent set of features. It can be an excellent option for animations and cool transitions. The availability of Cinema 4D composition renderer should be one of the prime features we found an exciting option for all your needs in a pro-level video editing. One of the areas that it shines is the excellent color correction.

4. Final Cut Pro

Pros

• Quite convenient for YouTubers
• Non-linear and non-destructive video editing
• Support for 4K and 5K videos

Cons

• Supports only Mac version

Availability – Mac

Price – One-time payment of $299.99

The software is one of the excellent options for professional YouTubers and Vloggers. The intuitive interface makes it best suited for the beginners and newbies alike. Some of the features worthy of mentioning would include Multi-cam editing, XML importing and external monitor support. The color coding options available would further make it a strong contender for the right tool for the professional YouTubers.

5. DVDFab Toolkit

Pros

• Almost all tools under one package
• Easy to set up and initialise
• A good number of tutorials

Cons

• No severe cons found

Availability – Windows

Price – Free

DVDFab Toolkit is not actually a YouTube Video editor specifically, but offers you a host of features that should help you get access to the best video editing software efficiency to the core. In fact, it has proved itself to be an excellent tool in achieving the best standards in providing a professional look to your videos. It indeed doubles up as the best Windows video editing software for YouTube.

Some salient features that are offered on the platform would include:

• Speed Up Videos – This can be a great option when you have shot a larger video and want to speed up the video when it is shared on YouTube so that the users are not bored because of the slow progress.

• Convert Videos – You can make use of this module to convert your videos from one format to another. It can also be useful in converting your audio files to popular formats.

• Trimming Videos – The trim function lets you cut off the unwanted portions from the video and help your visitors get access to the best viewing experience.

• Deshake videos – The module can assist you in deshaking your videos if they have been shot in a shaky mode.

• Denoise the videos – If the video has any noises, you can remove the noise and add your own voiceover. This can help you get a professional video for your channel.

The tool has several options that form part of your several video editing needs. Ultimately, it is the best free video editing software for YouTube without watermark.

① Video: convert, trim/crop, mirror/flip/rotate, sharpen/unsharpen,deshake, denoise

② Audio: convert, trim/merge, normalise, remix, extract audio, and adjust the volume

③ Image: video to GIF/PIC, GIF/PIC to video

④ Watermark: add text/time/image to video

⑤ Subtitle: add subtitles to video, extract subtitles from video

 

4. YouTube Video Editor Apps to Edit Video on Mobile Phones

Having checked out the YouTube video editors for PC and Mac, here are a few good options for smartphones so that you can edit your videos or apply minor changes on the move. Here are a couple of the best free video editing software options.

1. Adobe Premiere Clip

Pros

• Simple and easy to use
• Creative Cloud support
• Efficient sync support

Cons

• A few functions missing

Availability – iOS and Android

Price – Free

While the tool is one of the excellent options for use with Adobe Premiere Pro, it can also be used as the best standalone app. The availability of Freeform and Automatic editing modes would further make it a perfect choice. Freeform is an option that provides you a complete control over your editing. The options for color correction and adding music to your files should further make it a great choice.

2. InShot

Pros

• An all in one functionality
• Best for basic videos

Cons

• The watermark in the free version

Availability – iOS and Android

Price – Free and premium with $ 2.99 one time payment.

In cases where you need not do any fancy editing or tasks like collages, a simple tool like InShot should be a great choice. Extremely fundamental in nature, it would offer you an excellent option for editing your videos on the move. An easy to use interface would make it something you would extremely be comfortable with despite your skill level. The cool features to add a background or apply minor video editing would further make it a great choice as the right YouTube video editor app.

5. How to Enhance the Quality of an Old Video?

There can be a few scenarios where you would come across an old video. Maybe as a part of your DVD and Video disc collection, or a video shot on an older device even before the technological advancements could dawn upon us. Is there a way to clean up and enhance the quality of these videos?

Well, there are several video enhancers currently available that can improve the video resolution and convert them into the best ones that can be shared on YouTube. However, when picking a video enhancer tool, it would be quite essential to focus on the features offered. A mere enhancement of the resolution will not improve the quality of your video, and a tool that does just that may not be the right one to opt for.

DVDFab Enlarger AI is one of the powerful options in this context and lets you improve the image quality of the video while improving the resolution. The tool uses the Super-resolution technology and opts for deep learning with AI to provide an enhanced video resolution. It can enhance the quality of the video from 480p to 1080p or even from 1080p to 4K with ease.

The software enlarges the images within the video by 300 per cent, thereby improving the quality of the video along with the resolution. You can find the tool to restore the original colors to the objects using smart color correction algorithms and thus provide a final video without any distortion or abnormal effects.

6. The Closing Thoughts

Editing the videos before they are shared to or uploaded onto YouTube would be one of the most important aspects one needs to focus on. In essence, this would be useful in achieving the best standards in a professional YouTubing.

The best video editing software for YouTube outlined here should definitely help you achieve the goal in a more professional manner. Check out the tools and give a new lease of life to your videos.