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10 Best Video Editing Software for Mac [Pros and Cons]

Do you want to create professional videos to create for your project or you just want to edit a vidoe for yourself. So here we are going to discuss about the best video editing software for Mac both free and paid versions of the app.

You put the box on your table. The black logo beckons you to a world of fantasy and legacy until you snap out of your dream and decide it’s time to open it.

Off comes the wrapper, followed by the lid. The shiny grey metal touches your skin. It’s yours. Finally. After years of dreaming.

More – Best Screen Recording Software for PC – Windows and Mac.

Best Video Editing Software for Mac [Free and Pad]

Excited to get into the world of Macintosh, with the Macbook Pro 16″ that your company so genuinely provided, fingers caressing the scissor switches, you finally start to unravel that secret desire you had for a long time; video editing, and maybe a YouTube channel?

Or maybe you’re someone who is looking to get into the world of professional video editing.

Either way, we present to you some of the best video editing software for Macintosh.

iMovie

Cost: Free

Mac devices come with iMovie preinstalled. iMovie is the best video editing software for Mac; for beginners. It is one of the most accessible apps on Apple, even for beginners, as it is straightforward. Whereas other apps require a generous fee, it is free of cost. It supports 4k movies also.

iMovie
iMovie

If you are a newbie and don’t know much about video editing and are keen to start without having to master professional NLE’s, iMovie is THE place to start. You can easily create projects without getting overwhelmed by the Interface.

Features

  • Just choose the clips and add titles with user-friendly font size and another formatting.
  • Time-lapse, split-screen features greatly add to the special effects.
  • High-quality features with cinematic touch can be added in the background.
  • A voiceover can also be created with an advanced feature of over 80 smart soundtracks on ios.

Pros:

  • Transitions, effects, and backgrounds are as simple as a drag and drop.
  • Very well optimized for modern Macs. It can be run satisfactorily on older models. It feels snappy and can easily handle a 4k video smoothly, scrubbing through the timeline, applying effects, and rendering projects.
  • Apple’s magical integration shines. You can automatically import photos, videos, and audio from iCloud, mitigating the hassle of having to store the files locally and sync up with the iPad and iPhone.

Cons:

  • Useful features like Multicam editing, 360-degree footage editing are absent.
  • Working with more than two video tracks on top of the other is just not an option.
  • The user interface is not customizable.
  • It doesn’t support exporting the video in as many formats as professional editors.

iMovie: https://www.apple.com/imovie/

Check – 14 Free Best PDF Readers For Mac To Use.

DaVinci Resolve/DaVinci Resolve Studio

Cost: Free/$299

DaVinci Resolve is the best video editing software for Mac when it comes to free software. It blows punches with Adobe Premiere Pro and FCPX. It has all the professional editing tools that you can imagine.

There is NO catch when it comes to the free version. The premium version includes advanced features like “Neural Engine features multi-user collaboration, stereoscopic 3D tools, dozens of ResolveFX and FairlightFX plugins, HDR grading, film grain, blur and mist effects…” to quote the product page of the website. DaVinci Resolve contains built-in audio editing with Fairlight, and effects tools with Fusion, making it the best video editing software for Mac, in the minds of many.

DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve

It is a software application for Mac as well as windows developed initially by da Vinci systems. The basic version is generally free. It is currently version 16. It is best known for its color correction capabilities.

Features

  • The Interface is user friendly with metadata options.
  • The upgraded version has a high dynamic range and supporting ultra-high-definition and frame-rates greater than 60FPS.
  • Supports 3D audio mixing with up to 1000 audio tracks.

Pros

  • Best color grading tools.
  • GPU accelerated workflow, which is extremely fast if you have a good GPU like a 1080Ti, with hardware encoding available for H264, H265, and other commonly used professional formats.
  • Rolling edits and trimming clips are more comfortable with visual feedback in the timeline.
  • Neural Engine speeds up color matching, time effects, upscaling footage, leveraging the power of Neural Networks. (Only available in Studio)
  • Support for Blackmagic RAW.

Cons 

  • The very steep learning curve if you want to use it as a video editing software for Mac.
  • Running out of GPU memory for cumbersome workflows, where the software has to be restarted. Throwing more VRAM solves it.
  • Unusual, non-customizable layout. Automatic placement of windows on using dual monitors with no user control.
  • Fairlight is lighter when it comes to other audio processing software like Adobe Audition.
  • Node-based system for using Fusion, which makes motion graphics work over complicated when compared to After Effects.

Download link-https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/in/products/davinciresolve/

OpenShot

Cost: Free

OpenShot is an open-source and one of the best video editing software for Mac. It boasts a simple interface. One of the best thing of OpenShot that it can also create 3D effects and animated videos. You do not have to download and install extra software to make 3D animations. You also get free videos and audios template which you can use without any worries.

OpenShot
OpenShot

Pros

  • It can remove the background from the video, especially useful if you’re working with green-screen footage.
  • It can create 3D effects and animated titles.
  • Unlimited video and audio tracks in the timeline.

Cons

  • Not the best Interface in editing-land.
  • Stability is a big issue, especially with Mac.
  • Not as popular as some of the other options.

Download Link: https://www.openshot.org/download/

Now that we’ve exchanged pleasantries, it’s time to pull out the big guns. Let’s be honest; you’ve probably scrolled down to this portion already. Things are about to get interesting.

Read – 7 Best Free FL Studio Alternatives | Pros and Cons.

Lightworks

Cost: Free

Do you want to make and edit films like ‘The wolf of wall street’? The go-to video editor for this film was Lightworks. Since the editor is easily compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux, millions are widely used.

Lightworks
Lightworks

A free alternative to some of the prominent shot video editors.

Some features of this video editor are:

  • Its Interface is intuitive yet straightforward.
  • Video output is up to 4K.
  • The timeline editing and layering are pretty straightforward.

Download link-https://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=com_lwks&view=download&Itemid=206

Pros

  • Flexible and customizable Interface
  • Low system requirements. Setup takes about 200 MB, and a minimum of 3 GB of RAM is enough to make it work smoothly.
  • Access to royalty-free video and audio files.

Cons 

  • Being the free version of Lightworks Pro, it is restricted to outputting content in 720p directly to YouTube or Vimeo.
  • Video can’t be exported in all formats.
  • No user-definable project locations.
  • No timeline rendering or advanced project sharing.
  • Does not support for professional cameras like Blackmagic, AJA, Matrox, etc.

It is worth noting, however, that Lightworks offers three paid subscription models for unlocking most of the cons mentioned, but in my opinion, it’s just not worth the extra monthly cost.

Download Link: https://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=com_lwks&view=download&Itemid=206&tab=2

Also check – How To Uninstall Applications on Your Mac.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Cost: $20.99/mo (For annual package. Student discount available)

Adobe Premiere Pro is a full-fledged professional NLE. It is arguable “THE” video editing software for Mac when it comes to professional YouTubers, startups, or even some movies in Hollywood. Like Deadpool.

Adobe Premium Pro
Adobe Premium Pro

Pros

  • All around the beast.
  • Intuitive Interface with a moderate learning curve.
  • GPU accelerated presets and effects, with hardware encoding for H264 and H265 introduced in version 14.2, using NVENC encoder for NVIDIA and OpenCL for AMD.
  • Dynamic Link provides fantastic integration with After Effects and Audition.
  • Highly customizable Interface.
  • Multicam Editing, with pro audio syncing features.
  • Excellent support for custom keyboard shortcuts.
  • Massive support for third-party plugins.

Cons: 

  • Crashes unexpectedly, even though this has been severely reduced with recent updates.
  • Subscription-based pricing.

Final Cut Pro X

Cost: $299.99

One of the finest of Apple’s creation edits everything from 4K to 360p videos. Its predecessor was Final cut Pro. It uses a native 64bit application. Of course, an onetime payment is required to use this revolutionary application to the fullest.

Finat Cut Pro X
Finat Cut Pro X

FCPX screams Apple. Having come a long way from the old days, FCPX is the go-to software if you hate a subscription model. Since Apple has full control, it’s integration with the Apple ecosystem is heavenly, and it takes advantage of every voltage sweeping through any Macintosh, making it a no-brainer option when it comes to any video editing software for Mac. 

Pros

  • Takes full advantage of hardware on Mac, utilizes Metal for ultimate GPU accelerated workflow.
  • Features Magic Timeline 2 and Enhanced Timeline Index.
  • Support for a maximum of 64 camera angles with excellent audio syncing features.
  • Supports Apple ProRes, RED RAW, among others.
  • Rec. 2020 support

Cons 

  • Non-Traditional Timeline
  • Less efficient team collaboration tools.
  • Takes time getting used to for users coming from Premiere Pro

Download link-https://www.apple.com/in/final-cut-pro/trial/

FCPX: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/final-cut-pro/id424389933?mt=12

Blender

Blender is a free 3D graphics application. It can be used for various simulations as well as rigging, skinning, animating, modeling etc. I had to include blender because of its favoritism towards 3D, yes, you can use it to composite and create #d games, apps, animations, films etc.

Blender
Blender

It also has advance features like embedded scripting (python), node-based material and composting system and a collection of various character animation tools. When it comes to 3D, this is one of the best video editing software for Mac.

Features

Functions such as opening UV, interface, animation, training, modeling, game creations (all sorts of functions for movable objects), integrated tools, technological interface, CPU and GPU rendering, sculpting tools and brushes etc.

Pros:

  • Enough tools for visual effects, lots of add-ons, customizable inputs, fast poly modeling tools

Cons:

  • Strictly 3D animation /modeling, animation edition issues, complicated layer systems

Download now: https://mac.filehorse.com/download-blender/download/

Related – 8 Best Free PDF Editors You Should Use in 2020.

VEGAS Pro

VEGAS Pro 15, came to life on August 28th 2018, is an all-in-one video editing software for Mac that is expected to become a big rival of the famous brands in the market today such as Adobe Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro. The program is said to help us work faster, more efficiently with a customizable interface, Picture-in-Picture OFX plug-in, Powerful hardware acceleration technologies, ACES 1.0 support and DVD Architect for DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring.

Vegas Pro
Vegas Pro

Features

VEGAS Pro 15 offers flexible and customizable interface that is really helpful for beginners. You don’t need to learn a new layout, just drag and drop its toolbar Windows to your favorite position.

Pros

  • Affordable price for professional editors and Studios.
  • Great effects and transitions package.
  • Intuitive Audio Mixing Console.
  • Great Chroma key, text and title templates
  • Various input/output format support: HEVC, ProRes, AVC…etc.
  • No watermark in free trial period.

Cons

  • No free version, 30 days trial only.
  • Video rendering speed could have been better.
  • Rending limitation on free trial version at 2 minutes in length only.

Download link: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/in/trial-versions/

Hit film express

The name itself gives a hint about the software. This software has a variety to offer, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac, like powerful editing and special effects.

HitFilm Express
HitFilm Express

Some of the features of one of the best video editing apps are

  • A video editing software provides all the tools needed for editing a video amazingly, even for a beginner.
  • Over 410 3D visual effects.
  • Layering is possible for both videos and photos.

Pros

  • A wide range of audio and video mixing with soundtracks.
  • Tutorials are provided free of cost for beginners.
  • A green-screen effect is possible.

Cons

  • The upgrade is required for unlimited editing.
  • A bit difficult for the layman.
  • The output is of high quality.

Download link-https://hitfilm-express.en.softonic.com/

Shotcut

Another powerful free open source video editing software for mac, the shotcut is superior to most video editors. It features a wide variety of formats.

Shotcut
Shotcut

Some features of this software are

  • Flexible, user-friendly Interface.
  • The editor features a great variety of visual effects.
  • Advanced audio filters and color correction.

Pros

  • Almost no cons.
  • A free version can be widely used.
  • Impressive audio effects.
  • Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
  • The app provides video tutorials.

Cons

  • Requires a bit of practice for beginners.

Download link-https://shotcut.org/download/

More – Best Free Data Recovery Software for 2020.

Conclusion

Having arrived at the end, I hope your mind’s made up as to which software to use. There is no best software. You have to choose according to your want, need, and budgetary constraints. Each option is geared towards a different kind of individual. Happy editing!

Written by Mohit Rajora

I am Mohit Kumar, a freelancer Content Writer & SEO Expert from Delhi, India. With over six years of experience under my belt, I am your go-to guy for anything related to Digital Marketing

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