Video Editing Software
Editing together videos seems intimidating at first, but as many of us have learned in these past few months, the process becomes easier after a few tries. These programs allow you to make visually-appealing and engaging videos that can be used to make worship services, reading videos, and much more.
BEGINNER:
iMovie: This program comes standard with any Apple computer, and it’s a great tool, especially for beginners. Very little experience, if any at all, is needed to make engaging videos. Its options are simple, but make it easy to get started. You can easily make a trailer for your Sunday service, or edit together a service. Utilize great tools like detaching audio, so the audio will still play even if you’re not showing the video that it came from, adjust the audio levels, and make smooth transitions. Best of all, iMovie is completely free, and there are tons of resources out there for beginners and hacks to make the best of the free software.
Windows Movie Maker
Windows computers aren’t all preloaded with a specific video editing program like Apple computers. Instead, the software is built into Windows 10’s Photos app (as of the Fall Creators Update) and lets you join, trim, and even add background music, 3D animated effects, and titles to video.
From Microsoft: "Windows 10 includes Video Editor, a full-featured set of video creation and editing tools that tell your story with music, text, motion, and 3D effects. Video Editor is the successor to Movie Maker on Windows 10, focusing on easy-to-use creative tools that enable you to tell your story.” Read More
Perfect Video: A free app (with an inexpensive paid version) lets you do simple video editing on your phone. Easily edit together multiple clips, photos, and text. Great for on-the-fly Facebook and Instagram videos. Read more
INTERMEDIATE:
Adobe Premiere Pro
At $40 a month, Premiere Pro allows users to edit footage in any format, from 8K to virtual reality. For those church communicators who want more out of their video editing software, Premiere Pro is a great option. It includes a new all-in-one app that works across all of your devices and comes preloaded with Adobe Stock audio music tracks.
It also features tools for expanding accessibility, including screen reader support, text equivalents for graphics, keyboard shortcuts, change of display colors to high contrast, and so on.
ADVANCED:
Final Cut Pro
The top tier of video editing software, Final Cut Pro allows you to edit at the highest echelon, with features like Multicam editing, which lets you sync up to 64 angles of video. It’s faster than other programs, while smartly conforming each clip in your timeline to fit the others, whether they be square, vertical, or any custom size and shape. Final Cut Pro is $300 for a one-time fee.