Best Free Non Linear Video Editor
Best Free Non Linear Video Editor
Video editing software is the most important in any film or video making that’s why all extreme professional video editing software is too much expensive for an individual person. But if you are an amateur video maker or just want a video editor that can give you some capabilities those are exact to professional video editor Softwares; then there are some free and open-source video editing software programs those can take your video quality and effects to next level.
- The Video Editor includes: Live preview, luma waveform, chroma vectorscope and histogram displays. Audio mixing, syncing, scrubbing and waveform visualization. Up to 32 slots for adding video, images, audio, scenes, masks and effects. Speed control, adjustment.
- Like Lightworks, VSDC is a non-linear video editor that’s able to compete with more expensive video editing packages. It comes in both free and premium editions, and there are pleasingly few.
I am also creating YouTube videos for this website and certainly looking for some best video editing tools that are free and open-source software (FOSS). The YouTube videos are now in trending and everybody is creating some unique kinds of stuff to make some partial income source. A beginner YouTuber wants only a simple video editing tools which he can use for his basic video editing and trim tasks with some video filter and special effects to create a masterpiece.
Best for Real-Time Editing: LiVES. Buy on Lives-video.com. LiVES (available as a free download for Linux with a version for Windows in the works for later in the year) is a non-linear video editor with bonus applications geared toward a specific type of user: the video jockey, or VJ. Lightworks is the best free option for anyone who wants to create professional-quality movies and videos without paying a penny. While it still can't be considered a match for a program like Adobe.
Non Linear Editor Software
If you are using macOS then I don’t think so you need to look for any third-party video editing software as it owns iMovie is enough. But in windows the only video editor you get pre-installed is Windows movie maker but that is only available in Windows 7 Pro version and not in Windows 8 or 10. That’s why if you are a Windows user then you need a good video editing software to edit videos.
Free or Opensource Video Editing Software
Also with the emerging smartphone’s good camera quality, people have a video maker in their hand, and now, what they need is a good video editing tool or app to make their own videos more professional. Let’s have a look at some of them:
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve video editing software is the most professional free video editing software available for Windows. It is also the best alternative to Avid and Adobe Premiere video editing software. It is a non-linear free professional video editor with advanced colour corrector techniques. DaVinci Resolve video editor is completely scalable that’s why you can use it anywhere from a small studio or in some large video production environment. From creative editing and multi-camera television production to high-end finishing and colour correction. It gives a complete set of tools to manage all your video workflow. This video editing tool is also used in Hollywood feature films.
- Website link: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
- License: Free
- See: DaVinci Resolve Linux edition: How to Download and Install on Ubuntu
Shotcut Open source video editor
Shotcut is a free, open-source, cross-platform video editor. It supports a ton of audio and video formats and codecs thanks to FFmpeg. This open-source video editing tool can do almost all common video editing works that a common video maker or YouTuber needs. The Shotcut multi-track compositing and visual effects may slow down playback during as it not hardware accelerated, however the final version play normally. It supports all popular image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF as well as image sequences and 4K resolutions. It is the best free alternative video editor to paid Camtasia Video Editor.
- Website Link: https://www.shotcut.org/
- See: How to install Shotcut video editor on Ubuntu 19.04/LinuxMint
- License: Open-source
Lightworks
Lightworks video editor has been from a long time in the video editing industry and used in many films as website claims such as The Wall Street, LA Confidential, Pulp Fiction, Heat, Road to Perdition, Hugo and The King’s Speech. It is very easy to use and comes handy to edit videos for social media, YouTube or for a 4K film project. The free version comes with a 7-day trial that can extend by simply registered free of cost. For all tools and export formats, you need to upgrade to Pro.
- Website Link: https://www.lwks.com/
- License: Open-source
Hitfilm Express
HitFilm 4 Express is a free editing and VFX software which is a strip down version of Hitfilm pro version. The free version is not the most advanced but it enough to create high quality professional and presentable videos.
HitFilm 4 Express a free video editorincludes 2D and 3D effects compositing, compatible with Mac & Windows, over 180 visual effects, free video tutorials & training, editor with transitions & unlimited tracks, MP4 H.264 Import & Export, QuickTime Import (QuickTime install required on Windows) and supports AVI, M2T, M2TS, MTS, MXF (DVCPro HD), DV, HDV, WMV Video Import.
- Website Link: https://hitfilm.com/express
- License: Free
VSDC Video Editor: A Free Software
VSDC is a non-linear video editor which is completely free with no hidden cost, trial period or watermark. You can use it for editing video files and creating videos with various visual and audio effects. The interface of this Windows video editor is simple and intuitive. It also provides some pro options such as colour correction, object transformation, object filters, transition effects, and special fx.
- Website Link: http://www.videosoftdev.com/free-video-editor
- License: Free/proprietary
KDEnlive: KDENon-Linear Video Editor
Kdenlive is an open-source video editor started in 2003 and built on Qt and the KDE Frameworks libraries. The video processing in this software is mostly done by the MLT Framework. This framework depends on many other open-source projects like FFmpeg, frei0r, movit, ladspa, sox, etc. Kdenlive also integrates many plugin effects for video and sound processing or creation.
- Website Link: https://kdenlive.org
- License: Open-source
Flowblade- free and Opensource
Another open-source multitrack non-linear video editor which meant to cater beginner to pro users. Flowblade can be installed on the Linux system along with the FFMPEG library for proper functioning. It supports 146 video formats, 78 video codecs and 58 audio codecs. Furthermore, it features Advance timeline workflow; Composite, mix, filter, animate for images and audio; G’MIC tool (an open-source image filtering technology) and intuitive user interface which is similar to Adobe premiere pro.
- Website link to download
- Platform Linux
- License: Open-source
OpenShot
OpenShot is a free, simple-to-use, feature-rich video editor for Linux, OS X, and Windows. It has the simplest user interface with drag & drop and video effects. If you are totally a newbie to videos editing you can go for this.
- Website Link: http://www.openshot.org
- License: Open-source
Pitivi Video Editing software
Pitivi is a free video editor with a beautiful and intuitive user interface. It is still new in the video editing industry and you can give one shot due to its good interface.
- Website Link: http://www.pitivi.org/
- License: Open-source
Vidcutter – free and Opensource
Vidcutter is also open source but very simple to use. It is available on flatpack that means you can install on almost every popular Linux operating system (Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, Mageia, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu). It includes mpv, FFmpeg, MediaInfo and associated codec libraries.
Apart from Linux, it is also available for Windows as an executable file and under Chocolatey packages. Furthermore, the developer didn’t leave out the MacOS and have made it available for it too. We can install on macOS it via Homebrew
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When youtube and other similar platforms are proliferating then need of the best video editor software is at its zenith and if we get something in free and opensource to edit our videos than it would be ‘icing on the cake’.
Now, we are in 2020 and already the Open-source software has gained a good reputation in the IT sector. It is because of the source code which is available for everyone that is not the case with closed software thus also reduce the risk of having spies or other third party spy software.
List of Top free & opensource video editing software in 2020
However, we don’t have free and open-source video editing software range like paid and free programs but still whatever is there is enough to handle quite extensive editing tasks for Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Linux operating systems, here are some of the best open source video editing programs.
1. OpenShot Video Editor
With the free and open source program “OpenShot Video Editor” we can easily edit our videos for Youtube and other projects quickly on Windows and Linux systems.
The functionality of the video software includes 3D animations, curve-based camera movements, various transitions and the mixing of audio tracks. There are up to five video and audio tracks available for video editing, which can be linked together in numerous transitions and effects.
Since the software is based on the FFmpeg library, it supports the most common audio, video and image formats both for importing and for the final output of your video. Simply drag and drop the project data to be used into the program window or directly into the multi-track timeline, where you can then edit the clips. It helps a lot to newbies those have just started video editing.
Furthermore, the user can create videos up to 4k resolution with max with a maximum frame rate of 60 frames per second. The soundtracks support a surround sound of seven channels. Also, OpenShot contains an autosave mode, which saves your project automatically after an adjustable interval.
It supports all common video and audio plus image formats and even can handle GIF files. Over 400 different transitions, effects and animations can be added using it.
Some Key features:
- Trim & Slice
- Animation & Keyframes
- Title Editor
- 70+ Languages
- Audio Waveforms
- 3D Animations
- Video Effects
- Unlimited layers for watermarks, background videos, audio tracks, and more.
OpenShot is a cross-platform video editor, with support for Linux, Mac, and Window. Also, provide documentation to know how to use it.
To install OpenShot in Ubuntu, Debian or Linux Mint, one can use these commands:
Best Free Non Linear Video Editor Software
2. Blender
If you are have ever searched for free tools for 3D animation then I am sure you would have seen the Blender, it is also a good tool for video editing but not a beginner.
Blender allows the modelling and texturing of 3D mesh models. The program also allows character animations using keyframes and skeleton systems. You can also use the included physics simulation tools to simulate fire, smoke, particles, water, textiles and solids.
Blender includes a non-linear video editing system that is available in all the current stable versions for Debian, Ubuntu and other Linux using Snap store including executable for Windows 10/7…
See how to install blender on Ubuntu. For Windows 10/7 and macOS follow this official website link.
3. Pitivi Video Editor
It is another strong contender in the free and opensource that deals in video editing. The developers have written it in Python language and offer a timeline-based interface to easily navigate through different frames of videos. This also gives it a professional look similar to Avid and Adobe premiere.
It has a quite extensive range of features such as
Unlimited video/audio track layers; Frame stepping, keyboard controls and shortcuts
Trimming, splitting/cutting, Snapping, Ripple edits/roll edits, Sound mixing of multiple concurrent audio layers, Volume keyframe curves; Keyframable audio & video effects
Audio waveforms; Keyframable effects; Opacity keyframe curves; Importing support for all video/audio/image formats provided by GStreamer plugins and more…
It is only available for Linux operating systems, one can use Flatpak to install it on all mainstream Linux distros.
Here are the commands:
Install Flatpak before using these commands:
4. Shotcut Video Editing tool
The Shotcut is an open-source video editing tool that allows to cut and convert videos quickly and easily, supporting a wide variety of formats.
In terms of audio technology, Shotcut comes up with all sorts of mixing tools and audio filters. Thanks to HTML5 support, one can also create impressive video effects. There is also a wide range of optical filters. Various display and monitor options make it easier for you to keep an overview. All of these options take some time before you can easily handle them.
Frame by frame video editing. Various filters and effects for image and sound are included for editing, such as colour filters for video and normalization for audio. Projects can be saved as an MLT XML file, while finished films are output via the “Encode” button, where properties such as resolution or frame rate can also be set. In addition to multicore support, Shotcut can also use the computing power of graphics units via OpenGL. Shotcut’s standard user interface can be customized using various skins and modular windows.
In addition to the Windows version shortcut also versions for Linux and OS X to download on the official website.
See– How to install Shotcut on Ubuntu 7 Linux. For other platforms see the official website.
Key Features:
- Webcam and audio capture
- Wide range of audio and video formats thanks to FFmpeg
- Also supports images extensions such as BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, SVG, TGA, TIFF and WebP.
- Native timeline editing
- Multiple Video Filters
- Video scopes: Histogram, RGB Parade, RGB Waveform, Waveform, and Zoom
- Frame-accurate seeking for many formats
- 3-way (shadows, mids, highlights) colour wheels for correction and grading
- Support for 4K resolutions
- USer can network stream playback using different protocols such as HTTP, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, MMS and UDP.
- Cross-platform support: available on Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring
- OpenGL GPU-based image processing
- Color, text, noise, and counter generators and more…
5. KdenLive
Kdenlive is a KDE project and optimized for the KDE desktop, real-time multitrack video editing program. The program is included in the package sources for all leading distributions thus a wide range of Linux users can install it to use without adding any third-party repository. The distributions are Archlinux, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, KDE neon, OpenSuse, Solus, Ubuntu, LinuxMint, Elementary those are not here can use the App Image SNAP Flatpak. If you are not a Linux user, then don’t worry KdenLive open source video editor is also available for Windows and macOS.
Linux Non Linear Video Editor
KdenLive is based on MLT video Frameworks and FFmpeg. The interface of the software is a customizable and unlimited undo steps and functions for organizing the timeline. Also supports 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios for both PAL, NTSC and various HD standards including HDV and AVCHD.In addition, Kdenlive supports camcorders, webcams and all common audio, video and image formats and the recording of the screen content.
It also supports all common video formats supported by FFmpeg or libav (such as QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, and Flash Video, among others).
To run on standard resources computer, the KdenLive smartly created a low-resolution video of the source clips to make sure the editing would snag-free and later after editing when the user render the same, it uses full resolution for final output.
Key Features of KdenLive:
- Multi-track video editing.
- Uses powerful FFmpeg libraries
- Arrange and save your custom interface layouts
- Can add Title Text to video with different capabilities and arrangements.
- Dozens of effects from colour correction to audio adjustments.
- Automatically create a backup file of the project every few minutes
- Supports Audio Meter, Histogram, Waveform, Vectorscope and RGB Parade
- Timeline preview, Keyframeable effects and themable interface.
- To add different effects to the video, the user can down render profiles, wipes and title templates directly online using the software.
6. Olive is a free non-linear video editor
It is relatively new software but with quite a professional interface just like Adobe premiere. In the following screenshot, one can see the timeline and editing tools including audio levels same as Adobe.
I used it on Windows 10 and the performance of this was good and didn’t face any unexpected crash. One should give it one chance if you are looking for some prosumer editing tool, definitely, it will not underestimate you.
Beside WIndows, it is available for Linux and macOS as well.
To install it on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian and other similar kinds of Linux Distro, here are the commands:
For other Linux, one can use SNAP command:
Note: The system should have SNAP before using its command.
Conclusion on Open source video editing tools
So, these were some best tools for video editing in a free and open source category. If you have never touched any video editor before then start from Openshot and those know a little bit about how these software work they can go for Shotcut or Kdenlive, well, of course, try Olive and Prithvi too as they are also worth to have one look. Whereas, those want something with strong 3D & 2D animation with editing capabilities should go for Blender.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for some free software with/without GPL license with Professional, one can try Davinci. Here is the link to see about more such as kind of free Videos editor software.
Best Free Non Linear Video Editor