Speaker 1: What is the best free video editing software for PC computers with no watermarks or time limitations for you to master as a content creator this year? This video editing software will be perfect for YouTube videos, social media content, and even commercials for your brand. I have three video editing software that I'm going to recommend in this video. I want to say this now though, all of them are great. And if you use a video editing software that I don't recommend in this video, I'm sure it's good. My goal with this video is to find the best video editing software for you, depending on a variety of different factors. Unlike every other video on the internet where the creator recommends just one software to you, I want to run you through the five major pillars that we at content creator.com use to evaluate different free editing softwares for beginners. Once you understand how the software compare to one another through the lens of these five major pillars, you will confidently be able to stop researching, download the software of your choice and edit epic videos. So the first pillar is beginner friendliness. How easy is it for someone brand new to video to open this editing software for the first time and confidently produce a video without wanting to throw their computer out the window? Up next, we have the presence or absence of high quality one click templates. These are crucial for people who want to edit videos extremely fast while still maintaining a professional style. Coming in at pillar number three, we have powerful pro tools that are still free. Yes, the templates are great, but sometimes you need access to the tools themselves that let you create almost anything that your creative brain can conjure up. Up next, we've got computer strain. Some programs require expensive computers to run without lagging, while others are relatively smooth even on older machines. Understanding how much computing power your software needs is crucial. Then finally, pillar number five is mobile friendliness. Nowadays, creators are editing videos on both computers and phones and lots of editing programs actually have versions that run on both. Okay, so those are the pillars and now we're going to take our three recommended software and rank them according to each pillar. The three free PC video editing programs that we're going to compare in this video are Clipchamp, CapCut, and DaVinci Resolve. And make sure you stay tuned because one of these is not what the internet makes it out to be. And by the end of this video, you'll know the best program for you. When it comes to the first pillar, this is what Clipchamp has traditionally been known for. A beginner-friendly editing software that's literally pre-downloaded on Windows computers. The layout of the application is clean, easy to understand, and all of the different buttons are labeled very clearly. You have this sidebar on the left of the screen where you can easily import and access your media, another tab with buttons to easily record your screen or do voiceovers, a free library containing some sound effects, music, and other editing assets, and then several more tabs all easily labeled where you'll find editing templates, title presets, transitions, and more. You've got a timeline on the bottom of the screen where you can organize your footage and start piecing together your edit. And then finally, on the right-hand side of the screen, you've got more labeled tabs for things like auto captions, sound control, color tools, speed control, and more. Clipchamp has a great layout with a balance of what you need plus some pro features. So we're giving Clipchamp a 7 out of 10 for beginner-friendliness. Now when it comes to CapCut, when you first open the software, you'll be met with a somewhat similar interface at first glance. And by the way, make sure you're downloading the program to your computer and not using the web-based version of CapCut. I see a ton of people getting confused by this. The web-based version just isn't as good. Import your videos in the top left of your screen, assemble your clips on the bottom timeline. You've got the same basic trim and split features. The playback window is in the same spot. This is really how almost all video editing programs look. But with CapCut, there is definitely a lot more under the hood as we inspect it closer. Unlike Clipchamp, which had an extremely simple and basic interface for the different tools at the top, CapCut takes it much further with a significantly higher level of control for each major category of tools. I mean, just the color adjustment tab by itself has four sub tabs, each with their own complex interface and another option to bring up color oscilloscopes. As a professional video editor, I absolutely love this level of functionality packed within a free video editor. But for the ultra beginner, it could definitely come off as a little overwhelming. The good news though, is that I truly feel if you are an ultra beginner using CapCut, you can stick to all the basic features without getting distracted or even overwhelmed by all those pro inclusions. With all this in mind, we're going to give CapCut a seven out of 10 when it comes to beginner friendliness. Hell yeah. Then finally, we have the big dog, DaVinci Resolve. This is one of the most powerful editing programs on planet earth. And the fact that Blackmagic, the parent company, has given us a free version this powerful is insane. DaVinci is packed with features, tools, multiple panels, all focused on specific subtasks like editing audio, complex custom effects in the fusion tab, and so much more. The sky is really the limit with this program and even though this is the free version that's missing a few features compared to the $295 studio version, you'll really be surprised at the level of features you get for free. However, with great power comes great responsibility. And for beginner friendliness, we're giving DaVinci a five out of 10 just because it can take a while to familiarize yourself with all the features. Okay, up next we have quality one-click templates. And as someone who edits a ton of videos, I cannot stress enough how essential templates are in an editing workflow where you want to produce high quality content but you don't want it to take you hours. And just so we're all on the same page, I consider templates to be text and title animations, transitions, built-in effects like the ones you're seeing on screen right now, motion backgrounds, split screens, that sort of thing. Clipchamp has a decent but still somewhat limited selection of one-click templates. Like always, you're going to have to wade through some pretty cheesy and amateur options to find the good ones, but especially for title and text templates, I'd say I'm actually pretty impressed with the selection. Transition templates and most other editing assets on the other hand, I would say are very limited and you also can't import any custom templates from the internet to expand the selection. So with all that, we're going to give Clipchamp a four out of 10. Up next, we've got CapCut and this is really one of the major reasons that I've been drawn to CapCut lately and I've been using it for a ton of different edits. If you've seen a trendy effect in a viral video in the past year, it's probably available on CapCut as they put a huge focus on converting all of the popular trends into one-click presets. In the top left-hand corner, you'll see sub tabs for text, effects, and transitions and there are tons to choose from. We actually just posted a video on YouTube that covers all of my favorite texts, animations, and effects in CapCut, which I'll link above, but also in the description so you can watch that later. The only major drawback when it comes to CapCut is the fact that it really only supports text, effect, and transition templates that are already built into the program. For example, you can't just go out on the internet, find an epic title template like this one, and then install it into CapCut. For these reasons, we're going to give CapCut a 7 out of 10 when it comes to one-click templates. Then we've got DaVinci Resolve, which is similar to CapCut in that it does have a lot of quality templates built into the software, but even better, DaVinci fully supports third-party templates, meaning the entire world has the ability to create custom templates and upload them online for you to download, which basically means the possibilities are endless. This is a huge bonus for DaVinci. Its catalog of templates is growing exponentially faster than CapCut's or really any editor that doesn't accept third-party templates. Comparing just pre-existing built-in templates, I would say CapCut has a slight edge with a better selection, but given the third-party support, DaVinci takes the cake and gets a 9 out of 10 here. Okay, moving on, pillar number three is powerful features. For those of you looking to get really serious with your content creation, this pillar is an essential one to consider. Starting with Clipchamp, as you can imagine, due to its beginner-friendliness, which was a highlight earlier, it comes back to bite them in the butt here. There's really no pro features whatsoever in Clipchamp outside of the auto-caption feature, and I'm not even sure if that qualifies as a pro feature anymore, and it also lacks the keyframe functionality, which is extremely important to me, and we'll talk about that in just a second. For now, Clipchamp is getting a 2 out of 10. CapCut, on the other hand, is a different story with a pretty staggering level of pro features built into the free version of the program, and just so you're aware, there is a pro version of CapCut that costs $8 per month that adds more templates and pro tools, but I don't really think most people need this. One of these free powerful tools that CapCut includes is the support of keyframes, which we mentioned a moment ago. If you've never worked on a video before, this is going to sound lame, I know, but a keyframe is essentially the process of anchoring a setting at a particular point in time. We can anchor a setting like this scale at the beginning of the clip here with a keyframe by clicking this button. You'll notice it created a visual keyframe on the clip on the timeline. We can then scrub to the end of the clip and anchor a new value for that setting, like increasing the scale, and now we've got a smooth zoom between those two keyframes, which is literally just scratching the surface of what's possible with keyframes. Keyframing is one of the most foundational tools that pro editors use to create some of the most incredible video effects you've ever seen, both on the small screen like YouTube videos and the big screen, Hollywood movies. CapCut supports keyframes, which is great, along with other powerful features like audio enhancements, advanced speed control, high-end color grading tools, and one of my personal favorites, the auto cutout or rotoscope feature that in the click of a button will remove the background of your video, allowing you to do cool effects like this, where we have elements popping up behind us. I use this effect all the time. Now, despite the fact that CapCut has a good layout of professional features, it still holds a fair amount locked behind the paywall of the pro subscription, and when you compare it to something like DaVinci Resolve or really any other pro editing software, there's still a ton that's not included in either the free or pro versions. But hey, it's still a really good balance, and I think CapCut deserves a five out of ten. Then finally, we just hinted at it, but DaVinci Resolve is going to blow this category out of the water. It would be next to impossible to cover every single pro feature DaVinci includes in the free version in just one video, but I want you to know that you can do a lot with this editing program. Honestly, the free version of DaVinci Resolve gives some of the top paid editing software options like Premiere Pro a run for their money. The biggest standout for DaVinci is the color grading tools. There is hands down nothing that beats DaVinci when it comes to color grading cinematic content. It's the go-to for tons of Hollywood production studios. Beyond that, though, DaVinci has a dedicated panel in the editing software called the Fusion Panel, which is an extremely powerful effects editor, allowing you to accomplish an insane level of complex edits. Overall, DaVinci is getting an outstanding nine out of ten here. All right, now, before we dive into the next pillar, if you are finding this content valuable, it would mean the world to us if you took two seconds and hit the like, subscribe and bell buttons. We post weekly tips, gear reviews and trainings, and we even host gear giveaways, which you can only be a part of if you're a subscriber. Back to it, though. Pillar number four is a quick one, computer strain. If you've got anything but a top of the line computer, you're going to want to pay close attention here. Now, I want to make one major point that anyone looking to edit videos needs to know. If you're editing and all of a sudden things are getting really slow and laggy and it seems like the editing software isn't working, before you blame the software, you want to look at the type of footage you're editing, because the video files themselves and how data intensive they are is the number one thing that will slow down your editing experience. If you're shooting video on a high end camera with very high resolutions or in a video codec like H.265 that's very compressed, it's going to slow down your computer, even if you've spent a few thousand dollars on your machine. But after the footage that you're working with, the editing program does play a big role. And usually the more powerful your editing program, the more it's going to slow down your computer. This is one of the most interesting categories for Clipchamp. As one of the highest recommended editing programs for beginners, you'd think it would work flawlessly on most computers and apparently it did for a while. But something has happened recently and man, have things slowed down and gotten extremely laggy within this program. Even on my fully spec'd out computers, it was lagging a ton with constant buffering notices and the inability to play through basic transitions smoothly. I even tested this on other people's computers and again, we were experiencing the same thing. And after doing some research on the topic and looking at very recent reviews, we're not alone. A lot of people are complaining about very laggy playback and the application just not working the way it should. For this reason, Clipchamp is getting a tough three out of ten in this category. CapCut has done a great job of making the program relatively low strain on most computers, which is great. But keep in mind, the second you start using some of those advanced features, it can start lagging a bit more, but that's only if you decide to use those advanced features. So overall, we're going to give CapCut a seven out of ten in this category. Then finally, as you can imagine, DaVinci Resolve is going to require more powerful computers in order to run properly. Those super advanced tools require a lot of RAM and processing power. So we're going to give it a five out of ten here. This isn't over yet. Also, if you want a detailed video explaining exactly what to look for when purchasing a computer for video editing, I've got a video linked above and also in the description. It's a comprehensive guide telling you what to buy. Then finally, we've got pillar number five, mobile friendliness. Although I pretty much always recommend people edit using a computer, sometimes for those really quick edits or when you're not around a computer, it is nice to have a quality app on your phone. Clipchamp does, in fact, have a mobile app, but it only works on iOS devices, which I find very, very confusing considering it's the editing program that's pre-downloaded on all PC computers. And to top it off, the app still has a pretty rough average rating on the App Store. So Clipchamp is getting a four out of ten here. Now CapCut shines like crazy in this category. They have the absolute best mobile video editing app in my eyes, and it works flawlessly on both Apple and Android devices. It is extremely powerful, yet still easy to use. It's loaded with all of those epic one-click templates and powerful tools that we talked about earlier in this video. You can edit horizontal and vertical video natively within the app. There's really nothing holding you back here outside of your own creativity and the small size of your phone screen. What's even better here, let's say you were away on vacation. You didn't bring your computer, but you still wanted to edit a video. You could start by using the mobile app and then back that project up to the cloud. Once you get home and you've got your computer, you can open up that same project on your computer. This is super cool. Without a doubt, CapCut is getting a ten out of ten in this category. Then finally, we've got DaVinci Resolve, which unfortunately does not have an app that works on iPhone or Android devices. It's a bummer, but not really surprising considering most professional editors using this software really focus entirely on computer-based editing. However, I will say DaVinci did release a version of the software that does work natively on iPads, which is pretty dang cool. And realistically, if I were planning on using DaVinci on anything but a computer, I wouldn't even consider a phone. A larger iPad would be my go-to. For that reason, we're still going to give DaVinci a four out of ten here. All right, my friends, the ranking process is officially over. Now that you know all of the pros and cons, we can make our judgment on which editing software is right for you. But before we do that, let me tell you about 14 Day Filmmaker. If you want the fastest, easiest, and most affordable blueprint to master the process of shooting and editing videos using both smartphones and professional cameras, this is for you. It only costs $48, but contains three epic courses and hundreds of videos that will take you from knowing nothing about using your smartphone or a pro camera to a master content creator. Oh, and we also have entire sections of the course dedicated to teaching you how to edit in both CapCut and DaVinci Resolve. When you enroll, you get three courses. The first is 14 Day Smartphone Filmmaker, which teaches you how to turn the camera in your pocket into a cinematic powerhouse. The next course, 14 Day YouTuber, is a start-to-finish masterclass that covers everything you need to know to launch and grow a successful YouTube channel in under 14 days. We go over the planning, the shooting, the editing, and tons more. And finally, you get 14 Day Pro Camera Filmmaker, which dives deep into mastering the professional gear and editing software the pros use to create cinematic masterpieces. You also get access to our private students community, where I will personally answer all of your questions on a weekly live coaching call. We have over 100,000 students in this course, and if you want to join the community, you can enroll by hitting the first link in the description below. Okay, enough selling, Anthony. Back to the video. So, looking at the results of our test here, you can see Clipchamp scored a 20, CapCut scored an impressive 36, and finally, DaVinci Resolve came in with a respectable 32. I also want to make a point here. On the spectrum of beginner to pro-focused, this video that you're watching right now definitely leans towards the side of beginner-focused, which is why CapCut scored so high. If we were looking at this same question strictly from the perspective of a professional Hollywood editor or a freelance video agency, DaVinci would have scored significantly higher as much more weight would have been placed on those additional pro features and tools. But I'm assuming if you're watching this video, you're probably more on the beginner side due to the emphasis on the software being free, and I think the results we see here are relatively straightforward. Clipchamp definitely comes in third, and I had a feeling this was going to be the case before even starting this video. The main reason I wanted to include it here was because I see so many people recommending Clipchamp on the internet, and I don't think they were wrong at the time of posting their videos, but I think things have changed a lot with the advancements of programs like CapCut and DaVinci Resolve, and the weird downfall of Clipchamp's ability to play back smooth video. And speaking of CapCut, I think for most people getting into video editing, this is more and more starting to look like the no-brainer option in my eyes. Between the beginner-friendliness, the one-click templates, the fact that it runs smoothly on most computers, and the inclusion of pro-level tools in a free package that also has an extremely capable mobile-friendly app, there's really not much more you can ask for. If you are someone who is looking to accomplish a specific goal that involves creating a lot of video content, and you prioritize free, speed, and relative ease of use, CapCut is for you. Now, on the other hand, if your goal is simply to create the best videos possible and become as skilled as you can throughout the process, then without a question, you need to go with one of the truly professional-grade editors, DaVinci being the only free option. I hope that makes sense and you can rest easy knowing you've chosen the right editing program for you. And by the way, if you want to see an in-depth breakdown of editing in CapCut, click here and I'll see you soon.