I wish a had a $1 for every time someone asks “What is the best editing software for editing GoPro / drone / smartphone / etc footage? Preferably free.”
Well generally, “best” and “free” do not apply in the same sentence, but there are some good packages available, albeit with limited capability in most cases, or are restricted to specific platforms or video formats.
These include CapCut, Filmora, AVS, Lightworks, iMovie, Hitfilm and ClipChamp among others. Some only work on PC, some only on Mac, a few on both and a couple on Android for your smartphone.
(Although why anyone would want to edit on a tiny phone screen is beyond me, I admit.)
However, if I answer the question when it is asked of me directly, my immediate answer is none of the above. Instead I suggest without reservation using DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design.
And there are a few reasons, one of which is not immediately obvious to the first time or casual user. Down the track though, this reason could be very, very important indeed as skills and editing ambitions grow.
- Firstly, DaVinci Resolve is free, and at version 18.6, very, very stable and mature.
- Secondly, it is available for Windows, Mac and LINUX.
- Thirdly, it supports the majority of known formats in the free version, even 4K; it is only when you go above this that you need to purchase the Studio version, but for most, this would never apply.
- Fourthly, DaVinci Resolve is very, very feature rich and I doubt you’ll ever outgrow it.
- And fifthly, there are heaps and heaps of tutorials available covering every aspect of DaVinci Resolve. Blackmagic themselves make available a downloadable 400 page manual complete with training videos, projects, templates and assets, there is a dedicated Resolve forum on Blackmagic’s own website and of course, many Facebook and Reddit forums etc in addition.
But as I mentioned, there is one more reason to take the time to learn this package; it supports the specification / technology called OFX.
What this means is that there are hundreds if not thousands of plugins available that let you perform tasks and create things that natively, DaVinci Resolve cannot do, or if it can, using a plugin designed for the specific purpose speeds up the process as against doing it with only Resolve’s toolset.
To give you an idea, there are some examples below of just what you can do with plugins from companies such as BorisFX and RedGiant especially, who are the Big Two in this area.
If the budget is tight, there is also a healthy set of freebie plugins too in the Open Source world, covering things such as image manipulation, particle generation, animation, 3D modelling and more. These can be found here.
When you first start using Resolve, it may seem a little daunting, but once you have learned the basics, it all fits neatly into place and it is just then a case of expanding your knowledge of the available tools and commands – especially shortcut keys.
And if you get really into it, I highly recommend purchasing the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor as this makes things even faster, more comfortable and is a joy to use.
You can get the free DaVinci Resolve download from here for either Mac or Windows, and the tutorial PDF manual and supporting assets is here.