How to Choose Video Editing Software – Name Your Price

The price that you are willing to pay for that video editing software will play a vital part in your choice. If, however, money is no object then whatever… just purchase everything available and go with the one you like!

But for those of us who are a little more budget challenged, the price range we are willing to enter into can be a good place to begin. One thing to also keep uppermost in your mind is a realistic evaluation of your level of skill now and how greatly you want to widen those skills.

Beginning Video Editing Software

If you are only just beginning now and don’t really see a need to progress beyond the simple basics then you may have no need to purchase specific video editing software.

You can use Windows Movie Maker which comes free with Windows. It can handle only a limited range of video file formats and comes with a similarly limited range of features. Nonetheless, it can handle simple video editing tasks reasonably well and the price is ideal! Apple iMovie is an even better free video editor for Mac users.

The other products you can check out that would suit beginners are multimedia suites such as Roxio Creator 2009 and Nero 9. Programs like this offer a range of features including video editors. Roxio is particularly suited because it contains a lot of wizard driven automatic functions to assist in the editing process.

Because they are not solely video editing programs they can also include a number of other useful features such as photo editing, sound editing and advanced DVD authoring.

The only real downside is that if you decide in the future to pursue video editing more enthusiastically they offer no upgrade path to a more advanced product. They are priced in the area $80 or so.

An interesting program of note within this group is Muvee AutoProducer or Muvee Reveal (high def). It is a simple but surprisingly effective video editing software that can automatically achieve very good results.

Consumer Level Video Editing Software

If you are already interested in video editing and know it then the choices available become much wider. Video editing software programs at the consumer level cover roughly a $50 to $120 range or thereabouts.

There are many, many choices at this level which seem to have almost nothing distinguishing them from each other. Some of the better known ones are Magix, Pinnacle Studio, Adobe Premier Elements, Corel Video Studio, Sony Vegas… and so on and so on!

A vital point to consider when choosing at this level is just how far you want to take your video editing in the future. Specifically Sony, Adobe and Magix all have attractive upgrade routes to their higher end video editing software products.

Professional or Prosumer Video Editors

As we go further up the price levels of video editors we come to the prosumer range of video editing software. At this point the difference between what is prosumer video editing software and what we would call professional video editing software.

Full versions of Adobe Premier Pro, Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas etc. The prices will go anywhere from $500 to $1000 and up from there. The problem with this software is you are paying for features that you may never use even in a semi-pro situation. They are all quite complicated and you will need to face a steep learning curve so beware.

An interesting exception within this price range is Magix Video Pro X which for around $200 makes a compelling choice for a prosumer video editor.

Which Movie Editing Software?

Take your time and have a good look at what is available today. Mark off the features of the program that you know you will need and also the ones you feel you may need in the future. Use the price to narrow the field then take a look at the upgrade possibilities if that may be relevant to you.

No matter what you decide… make use of free trials.