The program / application you choose to be your video editing program of choice for your tribute videos will be a matter of budget, comfort, experience and, of course, the computer operating system you prefer. It’s just a fact that not all editing applications are made for both Mac and PC (or Linux). Each platform has its standouts, and a few of the more widely accepted professional level ones are compatible with Mac and PC. But whatever your platform of choice, there are enough video editing programs for your tribute to videos to fit you, your budget and you level of familiarity with video editing. We could never cover all the programs available, but here are five (in random order) that I’ve used that I can recommend as the best video editing programs for tribute videos.
Premiere Elements / Premiere Pro (PC /Mac)
Adobe Premiere has been around since the mid-nineties and was the first program I tried to edit computer-based video with. Like some other video apps, it has a starter version and then the real deal. Adobe also makes a suite of other tools, including Photoshop, which also offers an elements and pro version. Adobe Premiere Elements is affordable, and is a one-time purchase at $99.99. There is also a version that provides both Premiere and Photoshop, which is $149.99, but is often on sale for $99.99, which is a lot of power for the money. Note, however, that Adobe releases new versions every year, and an upgrade means buying it again. Premiere Elements is a good basic editor to start with, and if you migrate to full time, you can go to the Pro version, which is available only by subscription, for @0.99 / mo. or $239.88 annually.
Vegas Movie Studio / Vegas (PC)
Until I moved to the Mac for video editing, this was my editor of choice. It is a very easy, very powerful editing system that has been around since the late ’90’s so it’s tried and true. It is published by Magix but is still maintained by the original development team. “Movie Studio” is their “consumer” version, which offers more than enough power to make the most dazzling tribute video. The full-blown version of Vegas simply adds a lot more bells and whistles, unlimited tracks of video and audio, and handles more professional high end formats, which shouldn’t be a concern for us at this point. The thing that is important to understand is that Vegas really understands music, because the developers developed their video editor from the core of their first program, Sound Forge, a terrific standalone audio editing program. They added multiple tracks in Vegas and was one of the first multi-track audio editors.
How is easy is Vegas? When I was running a company with 20 people, almost all my employees were trained by me on Vegas…. inside of a day. Once you know the basics, it’s very easy to explore. Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 17 is a one time purchase of $59.99, with an upgrade path. Vegas, the big brother can either be purchase as a one time price of $199 with an upgrade path to new versions, or can be had via a monthly subscription of $14.99 / mo. (sale price).
iMovie / Final Cut Pro X (Mac)
I moved to the Mac for video work when I was creating a complicated interactive DVD for a major client. The PC side of things offered a melange of tool to create DVDs, but frankly, they were very expensive ($500?) and each was wildly different with various feature holes no matter which I looked at. Doing Google research, I discovered that the Apple Macintosh platform offered a “Final Cut Pro Suite”, with integrated video, audio and DVD authoring tools that covered any necessity for this project. The Editor, Final Cut Pro 7, seemed reliable, and while I didn’t like everything about it, most of the video elements were being produced on Vegas (on the PC) and I could import them into the MAC when they were finished, and make changes on the Mac if necessary. Most import to me was the DVD authoring, and it was obvious to me from experimentation that it would do what I needed, from presentation elements, to interactive branching, to compressing the files for DVD, and front end menu development. 20 years later, I haven’t looked back. There was a major change in 2011, when Apple introduced Final Cut Pro X, a major change from its prior editing program. It was different, and people used to FCP7 hated it. I didn’t, because I wasn’t that heavily invested in FCP7. I loved it.
iMovie and FCPX are built around a “magnetic timeline” which automatically appends footage you drag to the timeline to the beginning of the timeline or the last available clip, for quick assembly of a rough cut. FCPX also automatically creates “stories” that attach relevant sound, video, graphics into “chunks” that move together in the timeline. This can be changed when necessary.
iMovie is free as part of the free iLife suite of products that are available to any mac owner. Final Cut Pro is $299, but includes free updates. I purchased my copy in 2011 and have gotten all minor and major updates since.
HitFilm Express (PC, Mac)
The web page says “HitFilm Express is free video editing software with professional-grade VFX tools and everything you need to make awesome content, films or gaming videos. Perfect for beginners, film students, gamers, YouTubers, or any creative without a budget.” And that says it, except there’s more. First of all, this is very capable software. And it is free, although they do ask for a donation and offer a series of add-ons that offer some incredible advanced features. If you follow their guidelines, you won’t spend more than $69 for a plethora of VFX, particle effects, footage repair tools, color correction, compositing, an audio FX kit and much more. But I’ve tried it and I can tell you that the free kit is enough if you’re just starting out. It has all the transitions you need, is fast, and there is terrific training right on the website.
Wondershare Filmora X
Wondershare’s main offering, Filmora X, is offered as a video editor, but offers outstanding capability as a slide-based editor as well. Most slideshow apps allow you to add video segments to their show flow, but Filmora X has in depth capabilities for both stills and video, as it is considered a video editing tool first and foremost. Green Screen, Audio Mixer, Pan and Zoom, Advanced Text Editing, Color Tuning, Audio Equalizer, Video Stabilization, Split Screen ad more are included.
As such, because Filmora X wants to play at the high end of the prosumer market, there’s very little limitation in what can be accomplished. It has multiple video, audio, and test tracks. Audio can be layered for fade in /fade outs, and narration can be placed on a separate track as well. It automatically keyframes camera movement effects like zoom in, pan, zoom out, etc, but gives you the ability to modify them with keyframes as well. It has a plethora of title templates, fx, transitions, animation and positioning possibilities, and some of their purchase pans include a stock footage library. Importing assets like images, video and music is easy.
Add-Ons and Plug-Ins
All of the apps described above have a wealth of plug-ins and add-ons available for them. The are often offered by 3rd party developers who specialize in providing effects, transitions, templates, animations, and other enhancements for your video editing software. You can add excitement and infographics to videos, and enhance, equalize and clean-up field recordings or narration. This is just the tip of the iceberg… this a very well-developed market and can help you save steps and add increased value for your customers.
I Don’t Care What Editing Program You Use– Try Them All!
All of these apps have free trials, up to 30 days in some cases to really get a handle on what you like and don’t like in each. And there are many more editors out there, like editors from Filmora, Magix, and free editors like DaVinci Resolve, Lightworks, ShotCut, and more. Many of the free editors work on Mac, PC, and Linux. But the ones I specifically listed and described above are the ones that I feel offer the easiest path to productivity, support when you need it, and I can recommend having used them.
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