- Comparison of video editing software
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This is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.
Contents
General information
This table gives basic general information about the different editors:
Program Platform Developer Year of first release Year of latest release Latest version List price (USD) License Adobe Premiere/Premiere Pro Windows/Mac Adobe Systems 1991 2011
2009CS5.5 (64-bit only)
CS4 4.2.1 (32-bit)$799 Proprietary Adobe Premiere Elements Windows/Mac Adobe Systems 2004 2011 10.0 $100 Proprietary Avid Free DV Windows/Mac Avid ? ? 1.8 Dropped Proprietary Avid Xpress Pro Windows/Mac Avid 2003 ? 5.8 Dropped Proprietary Avid Media Composer Windows/Mac Avid 1989 2011 5.5 $2124 Proprietary Avidemux Windows/Mac/BSD/Linux Mean 2010 2.5.4 $0.00 GPL AVS Video Editor Windows Online Media Technologies Ltd. 2004 2010 5.1 $59(Unlimited) Proprietary Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Windows/Mac/Solaris/Irix/Linux Blender Foundation 2002 2011 2.60 $0.00 GPL Cinelerra Linux/Mac Heroine Virtual 2002 2011 4.3 $0.00 GPL Corel VideoStudio Windows Corel Corporation 1993 (Under Ulead) 2011 x4 $79.99, $99.99 Proprietary CyberLink PowerDirector Windows Cyberlink 2001 2011 10 $69.95, $99.95 Proprietary Dayang Montage Extreme Windows Dayang 2007 2009 1.2 $898 Proprietary EditDV/Cinestream Windows/Mac Radius 1997 2002 3.0 Dropped Proprietary Edius Windows Grass Valley Canopus 2002 2011 6.0.2 $799 Proprietary Edit Studio PRO Windows Mediachance 1999 2010 6.0.5 $89 Proprietary Elecard AVC HD Editor Windows Elecard 2008 2010 v. 1.0.100705 $49.95 Proprietary Final Cut Express Mac Apple Inc. 2003 2007 4.0.1 Dropped Proprietary Final Cut Pro/Studio Mac Apple Inc. 1999 2011 10.0.1 $299/$999 Proprietary FORscene Cross-Platform (Java) Forbidden Technologies 2004 ? 15 April 2007 from $2/hour Proprietary iMovie Mac Apple Inc. 1999 2010 9.0 $15; free on new Macs Proprietary PiTiVi Linux Open Source Community 2004 2011 0.15 $0.00 LGPL Kdenlive Linux/BSD/Mac Open Source Community 2002 2011 0.8 $0.00 GPL Kino Linux/BSD Open Source Community 2000 2009 1.3.4 $0.00 GPL Lightworks Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Editshare & soon the Open Source Community 1989 2009 1.3 $0.00 Open Core LiVES Linux/BSD/Mac Open Source Community 2002 2010 1.3.2 $0.00 GPL MainActor Linux/Win MainConcept 2004 2007 5.5 Dropped Proprietary Media 100 Mac Media 100 (now part of Boris FX) 2006 2010 1.5.1 $1295.00 Proprietary NCH VideoPad Windows NCH Software Non-free Proprietary Nero Vision Xtra/Nero Video Premium HD Windows Nero 2002 2011 10.6 $59.99 - $69.99 Proprietary OpenShot Video Editor Linux Open Source Community 2008 2011 1.3.0 $0.00 GPL Pinnacle Studio Windows Pinnacle Systems 1999 2011 15 $49.99 - $129.99 Proprietary Pinnacle Videospin Windows Avid 2009 2009 2.0 $0.00 Proprietary RaceRender Windows RaceRender LLC 2007 2011 2.4.1 $0.00 - $34.99 Proprietary MoviePlus Windows Serif (Europe) Ltd. 2003 2011 X5 $79.99 Proprietary Sony Vegas Pro Windows Sony Creative Software 1999 2011 11 $599.95 Proprietary Sony Vegas Movie Studio Windows Sony Creative Software 2000 2010 10.0 $45 - $125 Proprietary Ulead MediaStudio Pro Windows Ulead Systems (now part of Corel Corporation) ? 2006 8.1 Dropped Proprietary VideoThang TM Windows VideoThang LLC 2007 2008 2.0.1 Dropped Proprietary VirtualDub Windows Avery Lee 2000 2010 1.9.10 $0.00 GPL VirtualDubMod Windows 2002 2006 1.5.10.2 b2542 Dropped GPL Windows Movie Maker Windows Microsoft 2000 2010 6.0.6000.16386 Bundled with Windows Proprietary MAGIX Movie Edit Pro Windows MAGIX circa 2001 (VideoDeluxe 1.0) 2011 17 plus $59.99 - $99.99 Proprietary System requirements
This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation, as well as other system requirements. Note that minimum system requirements are listed; some features (like High Definition support) may be unavailable with these specifications. (Note: for Corel VideoStudio, see the entry under Ulead VideoStudio plus.)
Windows Mac OS X Unix-like Processor RAM HDD Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 (32-bit) Yes Yes (as of CS3) No 1.4 GHz, SSE2 compatible processor 1 GB / 2 GB when editing HD 4 GB Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 (64-bit) Yes Yes No multicore x86-64 compatible processor 2 GB 10 GB Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (as of v9) No 2 GHz with SSE2 support 2 GB 4.5 GB Avid Free DV Yes Yes No 933 MHz Pentium, 667 MHz PPC 1 GB ? Avid Media Composer Yes Yes No Pentium 4 or higher 2 GB 20 GB Avid Xpress Pro HD Yes Yes No Pentium 4, PowerMac G5 1 GB 20 GB Avidemux Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? AVS Video Editor Yes No No Intel / AMD compatible at 2500 MHz or higher 1 GB 1 GB Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes 300 MHz 128 MB 20 MB free space Cinelerra No Yes Yes 500 MHz 256 MB ? CyberLink PowerDirector Yes No No SSE2 compatible processor 512 MB 2 GB Dayang Montage Extreme Yes No No Pentium 4 or higher 1 GB 20 GB EDIUS Yes No No Pentium 4 3.0 GHz+ 1 GB 800 MB Edit Studio PRO Yes No No Pentium II or AMD Athlon XP 1 GB 50 MB Elecard AVC HD Editor Yes No No SSE-enhanced CPU (Intel® Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, AMD® Athlon, Opteron etc.) 128 MB 50 MB Final Cut Express No Yes No 500 MHz 384 MB 1 GB Final Cut Studio No Yes No 1.25 GHz G4, Intel Core Duo or Xeon 1 GB 4 GB Apps FORscene Yes Yes Yes N/A 256 MB Any iMovie No Yes No Intel based Macs 1 GB 5 GB Kdenlive No Yes Yes 600 MHz 256 MB 1 GB Kino GTK No No Yes ? ? ? Lightworks Yes Yes Yes Core2Duo/Xeon/AMD 2GBmin 100Mb LiVES No Yes Yes 800 MHz 128 MB 10 GB MainActor Yes No Yes 700 MHz 128 MB ? Media 100 No Yes No 1.8 GHz G5 or better 2 GB ? MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes No No 233 MHz 32 MB 20 MB Nero Vision Xtra/ Nero Video Premium HD Yes No No 2 GHz AMD or Intel® processor 512 MB (1 GB for Windows Vista® or Windows® 7) / 2 GB when editing HD 5 GB OpenShot Video Editor No Yes Yes 600 MHz 256 MB 1 GB Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite Yes No No 1.4 GHz 512 MB 1.7 GB Pinnacle VideoSpin Yes No No 1.4 GHz 512 MB 150 MB PiTiVi No No Yes ? ? 2 MB Serif MoviePlus Yes No No Pentium II or AMD Athlon XP 128 MB 149 MB Sony Vegas Yes No No 2.0 GHz 1.0 GB 400 MB Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes No No 800 MHz 256 MB 800 MB Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes No No Pentium 4 or higher, SSE2 when editing HD 128 MB 3 GB VirtualDub Yes No No ? ? 3 Mb Windows Movie Maker Yes No No 1 GHz for best performance 128 MB 10 Mb Windows Mac OS X Unix Processor RAM HDD "Unix" includes the similar Linux, BSD and Unix-like operating systems.
High definition import
The table below indicates the ability of each program to import various High Definition video formats for editing.
720p HDV 1080i HDV DVCPRO HD Uncompressed HD IMX AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-Intra DNxHD REDCODE Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes ? Yes (third party via codec install) Yes Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes No No No Yes (As of 7.0) ? Yes ? ? ? Avid Media Composer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Avid Xpress Pro Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Avidemux ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? AVS Video Editor Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? Blender Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? Cinelerra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No CyberLink PowerDirector Yes Yes ? Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No EDIUS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Elecard AVC HD Editor Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes ? ? ? Final Cut Express Yes Yes No No No Yes ? ? ? ? ? Final Cut Studio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes FORscene Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? iMovie HD Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) No No Yes ? ? ? ? ? Lightworks Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes LiVES Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? PiTiVi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Kino GTK ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? MainActor ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? ? ? No ? Yes ? ? ? Nero Vision Xtra/ Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No No OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes No No No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes ? ? No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? Sony Vegas Yes Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes (as of Pro 9) Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes Yes ? Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ? Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes ? Yes No Yes ? ? ? ? ? VirtualDub Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows Movie Maker Yes Yes No No No Yes ? Yes ? ? ? 720p HDV 1080i HDV DVCPRO HD Uncompressed IMX AVCHD XDCAM HD HDV AVC-1 DNxHD REDCODE Feature set
High Definition support Non-destructive editing Full-screen playback Storyboard mode Video tracks Audio tracks / max channels Linear timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes Yes, on separate monitor Yes 99 99 Yes No (CUDA on CS5 with few Nvidia card only) Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes Yes Yes 99 99 Yes ? Avid Xpress Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes 24 tracks, unlimited layers 24 tracks, unlimited layers Yes ? Avidemux Yes Yes ? ? 1 2 / ? ? ? AVS Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 1+ Yes ? Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ? Cinelerra Yes
(any resolution)Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited / 16 Yes ? Corel VideoStudio Yes Yes Yes Yes 6 4 Yes Yes CyberLink PowerDirector Yes Yes Yes Yes 100 100 Yes Yes Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes Yes Yes 99 per sequence 99 per sequence Yes ? EDIUS Yes Yes Yes, on both PC & TV monitors in realtime No unlimited realtime layers unlimited realtime layers Yes ? Elecard AVC HD Editor Yes Yes No No ? ? Yes ? Final Cut Express Yes Yes Yes, with "external video" Yes, in the Media Browser 99 per sequence 99 / 2 per sequence No ? Final Cut Studio Yes Yes Yes, Yes, in the Media Browser 99 per sequence 99 / 24 per sequence Yes Yes FORscene Input only Yes Yes (podcasts) Beta test 2 4 Yes ? iMovie HD Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 2 Yes ? PiTiVi Yes Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited ? ? Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Unlimited Yes ? Kino GTK ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Lightworks ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LiVES Yes
(any resolution)Yes
(multitrack mode)Yes
(on first, second or all monitors, configurable)No Unlimited audio per video track + backing audio / 2 channels Yes ? MainActor ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 3 Yes ? Nero Vision Xtra/Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes Yes Yes Unlimited Yes Yes Yes (CUDA) OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes No No Unlimited Unlimited Yes ? RaceRender Yes Yes Yes No 100 100 No ? Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes Yes, & on separate monitor or TV Yes, partial Unlimited Unlimited No ? Sony Vegas Pro Yes (any resolution)
Yes Yes No Unlimited Unlimited/Max Channel 16 Yes ? Pinnacle Studio Yes No Yes Yes 2 (3 via glitching the system) 4 Yes ? Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes Yes Yes, on separate monitor ? 99 ? Yes ? Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes Yes Yes 7 9 Yes ? VirtualDub ? Yes No No 1 1 Yes ? Windows Movie Maker Yes No Yes Yes 1 2 Yes ? HD Non-destructive Full-screen Storyboard Video tracks Audio tracks Timecode display GPGPU with OpenCL acceleration Output options
Please note that recording to Blu-ray does not imply 1080*50p . Most only support up to 1080i 25 frames per second recording. Also not all formats can be output, so for instance Premiere Pro cannot export AVCHD.
DVD High Definition Smart phone Java phone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting Adobe Premiere Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Adobe Premiere Elements Yes Yes (Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Avid Xpress Pro Yes Yes (Blu-ray) No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Avidemux ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? AVS Video Editor Yes Yes(Blu-ray) Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Blender (VSE : Video Sequence Editor) Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? Cinelerra Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes CyberLink PowerDirector Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Dayang Montage Extreme Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? No EDIUS Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Elecard AVC HD Editor No Yes No No No No Yes (Part 10) No No No No No Final Cut Express Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes No (as of 2.5) Yes Yes ? Yes Final Cut Studio Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes FORscene No No Yes Yes Yes (MPEG 2) Yes (MPEG 2) ? Yes No Yes Yes Yes iMovie HD Yes No Yes No Yes Yes (3rd party) Yes No Yes Yes Yes (with .Mac) Yes PiTiVi Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? ? No No ? Kdenlive Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Kino GTK No No No No No No Yes No No No No No Lightworks ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? LiVES Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No ? MPEG Video Wizard DVD Yes Yes ? ? Yes No Yes No No No No Yes Nero Vision Xtra/Nero Video Premium HD Yes Yes (AVCHD, Blu-ray) Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No OpenShot Video Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Serif MoviePlus Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes ? Sony Vegas Yes Yes (Blu-ray) No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? Pinnacle Studio Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Ulead MediaStudio Pro Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No ? Ulead VideoStudio Plus Yes Yes Yes (via plug-in) Yes (via plug-in) Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes (with DropShot) ? Blu-ray Slideshow Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No VirtualDub No No No No No No Yes No No No No No Windows Movie Maker Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes (WMV only) No No DVD High Definition Smart phone Java phone QuickTime Windows Media MPEG-4 XML/EDL Print to tape Web, not hosted Web, hosted Podcasting Target market
Consumer Prosumer Professional High-End Movie Production Least
expensive
Most
expensiveKino
Avidemux
PiTiVi
LiVES
Pinnacle VideoSpin
Adobe Premiere Express
iMovie
Nero Vision Xtra
Nero Video Premium
MAGIX Movie Edit Pro
Avid Free DV
Windows Movie Maker
AVS Video Editor
MPEG Video Wizard DVD
Ulead VideoStudio
Elecard AVC HD Editor
Pinnacle Studio
Sony Vegas Movie StudioCyberLink PowerDirector
OpenShot Video Editor
Final Cut Express(discontinued)
Final Cut Pro
Adobe Premiere Elements
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum HD
Ulead MediaStudio Pro(discontinued)Cinelerra
Blender(VSE)
Kdenlive
Dayang Montage Extreme
FORscene
Grass Valley EDIUS
Avid Xpress Pro(discontinued)
Final Cut Studio
Sony Vegas Pro
Adobe Premiere ProSee also
Categories:- Video editing software
- Software comparisons
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