Looking For "Holy Grail" Of Editing Software

by Kaitlyn
(United States)

Question: I am looking for what I have come to dub as the holy grail of editing software: a kid-friendly, Mac/PC compatible, free video editing software that ideally contains chroma key ability.

Have you ever come across anything close to this? Thanks so much for your help!

Answer: Hi Kaitlyn, thanks for your question. You know, I like the way you phrase the question - the "Holy Grail" of free video editing software.

Well, first, the good news. There are a variety of very good free video editing software out in the market. These are very powerful editors and contain a whole gamut of video editing features found only in professional level video editing software. I particularly like Windows Movie Maker and also Apple iMovie.

However, the bad news is that free video editing software does not offer the full, nicely integrated components you'll find in a commercial software program like Adobe Premiere Elements or Corel VideoStudio. I guess you get what you pay for. The difference in these commercial programs is that you get features like stock special effects, transitions, titles and DVD menus, amongst others. Adobe Premiere Elements also hooks up very nicely in terms of its user interface to other Adobe software like Photoshop and Premiere Pro.

I guess to answer your question, there is no "Holy Grail" of video editing software. But if I had to suggest one, I'd say something that is mid-range, e.g. Corel VideoStudio would hit the mark. Why? Because it has a nice mix of user-friendly features for those who want to cut a movie quickly, yet it also has the more professional level features you can try out if you want to customize your video production more.

For more information about video editing programs, check out this guide.

Hope that answers your question, do let me know if you have more queries :)