We've put all the top options through their paces to create together this list of the best video editing software on the Mac. Read on for our top recommendations, followed by advice on how to choose the software that best fits your needs.
Final Cut is one of the pioneers among nonlinear computer video editing programs. Before a revamp several years ago, it was a daunting beast of a program, only suitable for dedicated professional editors. Since then, it's become far more intuitive, yet still remains among the most powerful and feature-full video editing applications available. It leads in support for new standards like 8K RED RAW, ProRes 422, VR and wide-gamut color spaces. It also offers slick tools for multicam editing, color grading, and intelligent motion tracking. Its unconventional but brilliant "trackless timeline" is unique, and workflow features for media management and collaboration are aces up its sleeve.
The Best Video Editing Software For Mac
Premiere Pro is a powerhouse among pro video editing applications, and Adobe keeps adding more pro-level features, such as with its acquisition of the leading online video collaboration platform, frame.io. You get top-notch color grading, multicam, effects, VR editing, motion graphic templates, and speech-to-text tools. Another big reason to go with Premiere Pro is its tight integration with other Adobe products like After Effects and Rush. If that's not enough, it supports a wide range of third-party plug-ins.
Yes, Premiere Pro is definitely for pros. It's also for enthusiastic amateurs, YouTubers, and those who want to get a foot in the door of professional video editing. It's certainly a deep, demanding applications in terms of learning curve, but Adobe has recently been adding features that make Premiere Pro more accessible to nonprofessionals. Those unwilling to pay a recurring subscription fee will want to look elsewhere, however.
Apple iMove not only comes free with every Mac, but it also offers some nifty video editing capabilities in a clear, usable interface. Despite its simplicity (it shares Apple's unique trackless timeline interface with Final Cut Pro), you still get advanced tools for chroma-keying, color-matching, and working with audio. The Storyboard and Trailers features are unmatched for giving amateurs guidance on how to create compelling productions.
CyberLink PowerDirector has long been a PCMag Editors' Choice winner among Windows video editing software options, and the product made the jump to the Mac relatively recently, where it continues to excel. Standout features include its Mask, PiP, and Title Designers, as well as a beefy selection of templates and stock content. The included Audio Designer lets you play with sound, with pitch shifts and radio effects, wind removal, and denoise options. LUT support means you can apply a studio-like color language to your movie, and seamless transitions, speech-to-text transcription, and motion graphics make for captivating YouTube posts.
PowerDirector is for serious amateurs who wants to create impressive videos but don't want to take a postgraduate course in editing and production. Despite its depth of features, CyberLink PowerDirector is fairly simple to figure out and use. Single-purchase and subscription options are both available, with the latter getting frequent content, stock media, and feature updates.
DaVinci Resolve is at the forefront of professional digital video post production. It's more of a suite, rather than a single application, as it combines video editing with motion graphics, color coding, and audio production. This software has been used on recent movies and TV shows, including Dune, Jurassic World Dominion, and Top Gun: Maverick. Clearly, any effect or edit that can be done in the medium, you can do with Resolve.
DaVinci Resolve is a standard in professional video editing, but for the consumer audience it offers something extremely compelling: a very capable free version. That said, it's doesn't sport the lowest learning curve, so be prepared to study and figure out of its interface and processes, which differ from those of average consumer video editors. The best part for our consumer readers is that the free version lets them do quite a lot. The paid version adds Neural Engine, many more special effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, stereoscopic 3D, optical blur, mist effects, and more.
Adobe Rush started out as Adobe's mobile app for quick video shooting, editing, and posting to social channels. It's still that, but now it's also available as desktop apps for Mac and Windows. Rush isn't overburdened with features, but you get enough titles, effects, color correction, and audio tools to create something visually appealing. Another advantage is that your projects can be stored in the cloud and you can then edit them in Premiere Pro.
Wondershare Filmora is one of the easier-to-use and low-cost video editing options around. The company is continually adding impactful effects like motion blur, filters, animations, and transitions. The interface is slick, clear, and pleasing, and performance is speedy. You get a good selection of stock content and templates with the app.
That said, Apple still has its own indisputable inducements, most notably terrific screen options with accurate, wide-gamut colors, not to mention exclusive access to the previously mentioned Final Cut Pro software. Some Mac laptops include a partial touch screen known as the Touch Bar, which may be useful for some video editing procedures, and you can use an iPad as a touch-screen peripheral via the Sidecar feature.
Beginners and dabblers in Mac video editing who just want to join clips and add transitions and text and basic effects on Macs will need look no further than the included iMovie app. For those who want to go deeper into the intricacies of the craft, I recommend the free version of DaVinci Resolve, which encompasses the full range of professional video editing. A couple of other free options include the open-source ShotCut and Kdenlive, both of which are powerful but lack some usability creature comforts and hand-holding.
Premiere Pro can be used for all common video editing tasks necessary for producing broadcast-quality, high-definition video. It can be used to import video, audio and graphics, and is used to create new, edited versions of video which can be exported to the medium and format necessary for the distribution.
Alternatively, if you're used to Adobe software such as After Effects, Photoshop, and other software in the CC bundle, then Premiere Pro is more suitable. But if you can break out of the chain, then DaVinci is the best choice between these two video editors.
We think Macs are easily the the best computers for video editing and here we take a closer look at the best video editing software for Mac of 2023 for both professionals and beginners.
The latest M1 MacBook Pro for example can not only edit up to 30 streams of 4K video but even 7 streams of 8K video which is as good as any video editing workstation out there.
In our testing, we found that by far the best video editing software for Mac is Adobe Premiere Pro which continues to set the standards for professional video editing on all platforms.
Adobe Premiere Elements makes it very easy to apply transitions, use chroma-keys and automatically stabilize video to help produce professional results even if you have very little video editing experience.
iMovie is made by Apple and easily the most well known free video editing software for Mac. iMovie is the best video editing software for beginners on Mac due to its ease of use, lack of complex features and macOS integration.
The basic version of DaVinci Resolve is free but DaVinci Resolve Studio costs $299. However, for this you get free lifetime updates which makes DaVinci Resolve Studio a bargain for a video editing software on this level.
Little more than a year after the first M1 chips were released, Apple released the even faster M1 Pro and M1 Max chips with the 2021 M1 MacBook Pro which are easily the fastest Macs for video editing on the market.
One of the reasons we chose Adobe Premiere Pro For Mac as the best video editing software for Mac is because it works natively with Apple Silicon M1/M2 chip Macs without the need for Rosetta.
Many free or open source ones still do not however or at least limit the resolution you can export videos to YouTube so make sure the software you buy supports exporting to video sites if you need it.
Filmora is one of the finest video editing software out there. Its USP is a simple drag-and-drop interface with over 800 video effects, including professional plugins like OpenFX, Boris FX, and NewBlue FX.
This is a top video editing software for Mac from a reputed brand like Adobe has everything that most users are looking for. It can edit 8K and virtual reality content, making it unique and one of a kind in the segment.
Right from 8K video editing to color correction, audio post-production, and many more, DaVinci Resolve 17 got it all. It features a neural engine that uses machine learning to enable facial recognition, distinguishing itself from others in the list.
DaVinci Resolve 17 rocks VFX features to further enhance and spice up your video footage. It offers over 500 royalty-free foley sounds from Blackmagic Design. The software also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ projects. it is easily one of the top video editing software for Mac.
Another noted video editing software from Adobe suite is the Premiere Elements 2020. It is capable of automatically arranging the videos and photos and creating final output, thanks to the Adobe Sensei AI.
It provides you access to a plethora of amazing effects and royalty-free media right from the timeline. This best video editing software on Mac comes with a set of tutorial videos. Lightworks lets you export the content to a wide range of formats.
After recording, Capto lets you cut, trim, and join the video clips. You can also drag and drop the images to make the videos more informative in this best video editing app. After arranging and editing all the clips, you can export the content to other apps with a single click. 2ff7e9595c
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