Top 7 video editing software for windows 10 in 2020
If you find yourself in the lookout for video editing software that runs on windows 10 there is no shortage of options. We will focus on the different implementations and user experiences that these video editors offer and study some of the best products for both professionals and novice users.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Probably one of the most popular video editing software on Windows 10, Adobe Premiere Pro is a full-featured tool that is mostly used by advanced and professional video editors usually hired by production companies. Freelancers also use it but it is not as popular in that category. One downside of such an advanced tool is the time investment required to fully master it, that said once you start grasping its secrets the editing opportunities are wide open.
There are many audio and video filters available, support for a very big number of raw file formats and even support for 360 videos, another advantage while using Premiere Pro is the tight integration with other Adobe software.
On the downsides list, there is the overwhelming learning curve, frequent crashes which are reported by users, difficult to set-up and use collaboration tools and the expensive set-ups required for a good experience.
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve comes from the same category of products as Adobe Premiere meaning that it is aimed at advanced and professional editors that work in production companies. We picked it for this comparison because it offers a free version that is very capable and we thought that is very interesting when comparing it directly with Premiere Pro.
Its key strengths are the color correction features, all-in-one solution for video editing, visual effects and audio editing, tabbed timelines and the fact that it is free. There is also a version called DaVinci Resolve Studio with even more features for the most demanding of users.
While users report that the software is quite stable compared to Premiere Pro, collaboration is still very difficult to achieve, meaning that there is a lot of friction when multiple editors want to work on the same project at the same time.
Camtasia
Camtasia is also a desktop based video editing tool that is mostly used by advanced editors but not so much in the film industry, it got a big update in 2018 which improved some of it's core features and added a few more.
Probably one of it's key benefit is the ease of use, users report that it is easier to pick up compared to editors mentioned before in this list. Of course with that also comes into play the lack of flexibility in the editing process but there is a very important point to make here, and that is that not everyone needs that much complexity. For most purposes besides film editing Camtasia will do fine. Camtasia also comes preloaded with some intro and lower third presets that makes your life easier if you want to do some quick effects.
On the other hand, Camtasia still relies on your computer for rendering and transcoding which, depending on your setup can be a big downside with very long rendering times as a result. Collaboration and communication are also difficult in Camtasia and usually, you will have to fiddle with hard-drives or with external cloud storage solutions to share your work for feedback or to share projects with team members.
Moovly
This tool is one of the first to offer a totally new approach to video editing in the sense that it runs the web browser. It falls in the same category as Camtasia with the added benefit that it is accessible on many operating systems besides Windows 10, including Linux and Chrome OS.
Moovly also includes templates, lower thirds and intros but it is more limited compared to Camtasia and the editors above in terms of sheer functionality. It comes with many pre-made shapes and with an included library of assets though some of these features are available on the paid version only.
This tool is a good indicator of where the industry is going when it comes to casual to advanced video editing. The web has clear benefits that can make it easier for everyone who needs to edit a video, still at this moment most of the web editing tools come with a big downside which is rendering time. With most of these, Moovly included, you are placed in a waiting list for your render to happen this means that even if your video is 3 minutes long you might be waiting for 1 hour until it is ready, the only benefit you have is that you can still use your PC at full speed in that time.
Clipchamp
Clipchamp is sort of an interesting solution because it works in the web browser but it performs rendering and transcoding locally without any connection to a server. While you will indeed get rid of the rendering queue I mentioned above you are still left with the downsides of rendering locally adding to the fact that you have to keep your browser tab open and visible for best results, also rendering with Clipchamp takes a very long time. In terms of functionality Clipchamp is simpler to use but at the same time offers less functionality compared to the editors previously mentioned.
This is an interesting product and we will have to see how well it will do in the future with it's out of the box approach.
Animoto
Animoto is a totally different type of product when compared to all the video editing software in this list. While they state that they target businesses with their tool, they are clearly targeted at those that create videos at a casual pace.
The user interface is also very different compared to traditional editing software. When you start creating in Animoto you will go through some very well defined steps of choosing a design/template, adding media, text, sound and a few more in-between. The process is very simple but the results are very basic too, with few options outside of the provided predefined settings.
Where Animoto falls short is the requirement to render the video each time you want to see any changes you make which can take a long time depending on your project.
Flixier
Flixier is an up and coming video editing tool that is cloud powered. This means that it uses powerful cloud rendering technology to render any video in under 1 minute without needing to wait for a render queue or having to use your hardware like some of the other options.
Besides all the innovative cloud features Flixier also includes templates, professionally made motion graphics, motion texts and call to action items that you can use in your videos.
Other benefits of the Flixier Pro technology include powerful collaboration tools, allowing you to easily share your library and projects with team members and an included communication solution for quickly gathering feedback from any involved stakeholders just by sharing a link of the project that accepts time based comments and real time editing with co-workers just like in Google Docs.
This is our view of the video editing software available for Windows 10 at the beginning of 2020, the landscape is quickly shaping into very well defined categories with each product trying to aim a very specific niche.
